I'm just SO confused. Please help.

[aboelajo]

okay, so my neighbor was selling a pair of Yamaha msp5's (for 40 bucks, i dont get it) and i purchased them. When I bought these monitors I also bought a dual male 1/4 inch (to connect the two speakers) to a 1/8 inch male to connect to my computer. At first they sounded amazing and I never realized that there was a problem with the speakers until i heard this track. youtube.com/watch?v=2VOVStL0NW0

now @2:36 the sound starts to fade from the left to the right. to make it simple, if you had headphones in, the left would only make sound, then the right, then the left. this must be some kind of panning effect or something. hopefully you can hear what im talking about.

Now, when that part of the song comes up only the left side of the song is being outputted through both of my speakers. I figured that maybe it was the computer, so i plugged in an ipod and the same thing happened. I came to the conclusion that it was either the speakers or the way i plugged them into my computer.

Then i stumble upon a male XLR to male 1/8 inch and plugged it into only one of my speakers. I hoped that i would finally hear both sides of the song but no, i still have an awkward pause during the track because only the left side of the song is being played.This has been driving me crazy for weeks. Is it the wiring, or something else. Please help me if you can.

thanks, and happy holidays.

 

[mshilarious]

Are your cable's 1/4" plugs tip-sleeve or tip-ring-sleeve?

 

[aboelajo]

Are your cable's 1/4" plugs tip-sleeve or tip-ring-sleeve?

im not quite sure what makes the two different?

 

[cyrano]

Sounds like your dual male 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch cable is mono (a real DUAL and not a stereo) and you're hearing the left channel on both speakers. Simple solution; get a stereo cable...

 

[bouldersoundguy]

It's almost certainly the cable you're using. What you have is for splitting a stereo source to two stereo devices, like headphones. It has the stereo signal on both ends of the split, but the two speakers have mono inputs. If you put a stereo plug into a mono jack you'll just get the left channel. You need a cable or adapter that puts the left on one plug and the right on the other. Here's an example: Live Wire 3.5M (TRS)-Dual 1/4"" Y Cable and more Audio / RCA Cables at GuitarCenter.com.

 

[aboelajo]

It's almost certainly the cable you're using. What you have is for splitting a stereo source to two stereo devices, like headphones. It has the stereo signal on both ends of the split, but the two speakers have mono inputs. If you put a stereo plug into a mono jack you'll just get the left channel. You need a cable or adapter that puts the left on one plug and the right on the other. Here's an example:

ohhhhh alright i think i get it. I'll hit up guitar center tomorrow to get that, i'll let you know how it goes. thanks a million dude

 

[aboelajo]

actually another question. what cord should i use if i just want to use one of the speakers.

 

[mjbphotos]

You can use the stereo cable with just one speaker, too, but you are only going to hear the left track (or maybe the right one). Use the stereo cable and get a stereo-to-mono 1/8" adapter if you just want to use 1 speaker.

 

[austinm08]

im not quite sure what makes the two different?

For future reference, TS cables are for mono signals and TRS (one more conductor than TS) cables are for either stereo or balanced signals.

 

[wheelema]

. .

 

[buzzard bass]

Think of a headphone plug (TRS) versus a guitar plug (TS). Just put the 2 side by side and the difference will be crystal clear me ole China.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

. .

The two-conductor plug in your illustration should be labeled "Tip/Sleeve", not "Tip/Ring".

 

[Shadow_7]

Monitors have a mono input. Left is normally primary / 1st. Extract audio only from the video and examine it in audacity if you think that you're missing something. Otherwise I concur, it's the cable. TRS is not good for stereo usage IMO. You really need separate outputs for Left and Right, or else things will never quite work right. Putting a headphone preamp in the middle might be one way to bridge the gap as far as cables are concerned. Otherwise they will always be sharing a wire, which will share things between channels and is otherwise not good for the result and possibly the gear.

I tried what you're doing in reverse. TRS mono's to TRS stereo adapter. 1/4" to 1/8" headphone adapter. And 1/8" to RCA cable to my cheap PC speakers. End result ='s hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. And not on the speakers per say, but that bridges some gap that shouldn't be bridged in the other connectors on the interface and the hummm comes out the OTHER output ports. Basically you really should use mono to mono. Monitors are individually MONO devices. Any sort of adapter can work or at least seem to in a crunch, but it is never an ideal, or even an advised solution. If you need mono use a headphone preamp like the HP4 to do it right. Or close enough anyway.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Monitors have a mono input. Left is normally primary / 1st. Extract audio only from the video and examine it in audacity if you think that you're missing something. Otherwise I concur, it's the cable. TRS is not good for stereo usage IMO. You really need separate outputs for Left and Right, or else things will never quite work right. Putting a headphone preamp in the middle might be one way to bridge the gap as far as cables are concerned. Otherwise they will always be sharing a wire, which will share things between channels and is otherwise not good for the result and possibly the gear.

I tried what you're doing in reverse. TRS mono's to TRS stereo adapter. 1/4" to 1/8" headphone adapter. And 1/8" to RCA cable to my cheap PC speakers. End result ='s hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. And not on the speakers per say, but that bridges some gap that shouldn't be bridged in the other connectors on the interface and the hummm comes out the OTHER output ports. Basically you really should use mono to mono. Monitors are individually MONO devices. Any sort of adapter can work or at least seem to in a crunch, but it is never an ideal, or even an advised solution. If you need mono use a headphone preamp like the HP4 to do it right. Or close enough anyway.

There's nothing inherently wrong with TRS connectors for stereo (try to find headphones or ear buds that use something else!) except that the right channel signal isn't getting to the OP's right speaker. A headphone amp will only isolate the inputs from the outputs and add gain control, but he'll still be stuck with a connector that isn't compatible with his monitors. Your experiment is a good example of what not to do, but has no bearing on the OP's trouble. The solution is simple: split out the left and right channels from the TRS connector to two TS connectors.

 

[Shadow_7]

There's nothing inherently wrong with TRS connectors for stereo (try to find headphones or ear buds that use something else!) except that the right channel signal isn't getting to the OP's right speaker. A headphone amp will only isolate the inputs from the outputs and add gain control, but he'll still be stuck with a connector that isn't compatible with his monitors. Your experiment is a good example of what not to do, but has no bearing on the OP's trouble. The solution is simple: split out the left and right channels from the TRS connector to two TS connectors.

I think you missed the point. There's basically two wires per channel (unbalanced) for the monitors (three per channel if balanced / TRS). With a TRS connector for stereo (3 wires total), you're sharing a wire. Or the output connector in question is MONO and therefor Left ONLY. Or only partially in the output jack.

With a headphone preamp you get to split out your 3 wire connection into at least 4 wires(TS x2 / or 6 wires TRS x2) between the headphone preamp and the monitors. Via the monitor pass through ports on the back of a headphone preamp like the Presonus HP4 or Samson Q5. Not that you wont still be sharing a wire with the interface, but you can at least use appropriate cables. Or option two get an interface with the correct outputs. Or use the correct outputs and cables if your current interface has them. Basically you want independent Left and Right outputs, one per monitor. As long as you're using a standard and singular three wire jack, you'll be sharing a wire. And possibly sending the signal(s) down the wrong wire(s). As the OP has already experienced.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

With a TRS connector for stereo (3 wires total), you're sharing a wire...Not that you wont still be sharing a wire with the interface, but you can at least use appropriate cables...As long as you're using a standard and singular three wire jack, you'll be sharing a wire.

I'm not sure what you've got against "sharing a wire", especially since it's a ground and shared at the equipment anyway. That's its purpose, a common ground reference for all signals. Whether it's shared in one stereo cable or there are two mono cables with their own ground conductors makes little difference.

The OP's problem (left channel in both monitors) will be solved with a simple adapter cable that splits out the tip and ring of the TRS to the tips of two separate TS plugs, tip to one and ring to the other. The sleeves of all the plugs will all be connected together (shared) via the shields of the cables. No need for headphone amps or stress about "sharing a wire".

 

[Shadow_7]

I'm not sure what you've got against "sharing a wire"

Because what is output for one is input for the other. Perhaps if ground was some sort of sucking vacuum, but it's not, it's the path of least resistance. Sharing it is like a bathroom with the occupancy sign always on.