How to interconnect synth, pc and speakers?

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webstop

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My goal is to find a convenient way to interconnect my synth, amp with monitors and pc/sound card.
Most of the time I am playing with my synth, monitoring the sound through amp/monitors. All sequencing and mixing is done on the synth.
Eventually there comes the time that I want to make a computer recording. At this point the synth should be connected with the sound card, and sound card with amp/monitors.
My synth has only one line out, my amp has only one line in, and my sound card does not have line through when computer is not powered. Therefore I have either to swap wires every time, or have the computer idling all the time.
Is there some kind of switch box on the market that I could use?
Is there a sound card that has direct though?
Or do I need a small mixer and which one?
Some cost effective solution would be nice.
Thanks for advice.
 
Reasonably cost effective, taking into account that there is always free alternative - to swap cables.
I was eyeing Phonic MM1002 mixer ($70 at Mars) for that purpose. I am fully aware of the general opinion about Phonic mixers, but since all I need is a "switchbox", will it do?
Any comments?

And BTW, about Phonic mixers. It is know that Phonic has been an OEM mixer manufacturer for Yamaha for years. Why is it that their own brand products are considered to be such a crap? Are Yamaha small mixers crappy as well?
 
why not just mic the amp when you want to record? but then you'd need a preamp......i'm not sure i follow all this, though.....what kind of sound card do you have? what kind of tracks are you trying to record...single synth track, stereo synth, multitrack? small mixers can come in handy..they definitely can do dual single channel discrete.
 
Do this...

OUT of the SYNTH>into the LINE IN on the computer>go out of the LINE OUT of the computer> into the amp IN> go out of the amp into the speakers.

:)

spin

p.s. Depending on the INS/OUTS of your various components, you'll need to purchase some specific patch cords.

i.e. 1/4" L/R male to 1/8"stereo male, or 1/8"stereo male to RCA L/R male, etc...

peace...

oh, post us back with some more info on your cords and equipment.
 
or do this: get a low latency soundcard , either asio or wdm supported software, some soft synths.....go midi into the computer from your keyboard.....and then record some really great sounding synth tracks....you can even get a good sounding grand piano with sample playing software, called software samplers, which really don't sample at all, but excel at mapping out sounds for control with a keyboard with midi out......if you don't have a fast computer, this might not work....but it works on mine.............the cool thing about a soundblaster is that you can record midi tracks using soundfonts with ultra low latency, and then run the midi thru soft synths to acheive a different sound.
 
Thanks for taking time to respond,
j and SPINSTERWUN,
I don't use microphones - flowers die when I start singing. :) All I use is Roland XP60 synth (one mixed sound stereo line out) connected to Alesis RA100 amp (one stereo line in) and Yorkvilles YSM1 (just got them - WOW! Crisp but soft, very detailed. Who said there was no bass? Forget Events and KRKs!).
On the computer side I am starting slowly: old P266, 256 RAM (mobo does not accept more!), Sound Blaster, a couple of IDE hard disks and a burner. No USB. Basically I assembled it from the parts I had in the garage to test the idea of HDD recording and have to say that for two channels stereo recording without computer added effects it works just fine. No dropouts.
Software: Cakewalk, Wavelab.
Cables are no problem. I have a whole bunch of them with all sorts of plugs converters.
I am recording audio either both stereo channels on one track or separately on two tracks. So two tracks are my maximum.
Midi recording does not really work for me, because many patches that I use have been heavily edited. Therefore, even if I download instrument definitions for Cakewalk, instruments would not sound the same.
So, to connect everyhting I see four options.
1. Swap wires.
2. Use a small mixer. Which one? Phonic MM1002?
3. Use some kind of a switchbox, which I haven't found so far. Please advise if you know one.
4. Use two Y-cables running from the synth and into the amp. Will this create any problems?
Thanks.
 
if you're running a P266, Spinsterwun's solution sounds best.
 
All you have to do is go OUT of the synth, which in turn, goes IN to the computer (1/4" or RCA L/R male to 1/8" stereo male).

OUT of the computer IN to the amp (1/8" stereo male to 1/4" or RCA L/R male).

OUT of the amp IN to the monitors.

:)

spin
 
What are the sizes of the connections on all of your pieces?
 
OK, the problem got resolved quite incidentally in the following way.
I was really getting annoyed with my Alesis RA100 amplifier: although the channels were pretty quite, the amp itself produced a noticeable transformer's hum. It was within 30 days from the purchase, so I took it back to the retailer and got RA150 instead. At this point I found out that RA150 had one input line, but two types of connectors - 1/4 and RCA. That was exactly what I needed. I will use one connection at a time anyway. So now I only have to make Y-cables running from the synth into the amp and sound card, which would not be a problem.
And by the way, I also checked Hafler TA1100 amp. After all the rave about this brand that I read at the BB, I was shocked to find out how noisy this thing was. Channels were annoyingly noisy from about 40% volume and up, and the noice coming from the earphone jack made it totally unusable. I demonstrated this to a salesperson at Guitar center, he was shocked! All he could mumble was: "We don't really use earphone jack on the amp..." And this was called "professional" equipment? My hi-fi amp makes no noise at all, just a little "breath" at high volume. Maybe high level Hafler amps are as good as people say, but entry level equipment is crap. Shame on you, Rockford Corp.
 
j:
I'd like to ask: You say go in MIDI and use soft synths to create sounds to your liking...? I've been trying to figure out how to get the sounds from my Roland JX-305 into Cakewalk using instrument definitions... I don't know if you use Cakewalk but I haven't had alot of luck with this. My thinking was that it would be easier to record and edit MIDI than it would to go line in and edit as wav data. I just can't seem to (even with the manual) make this work. The sound fonts that I have just don't cut it either. So what about this soft synth stuff? Can you make specific recommendations on setup and on software?

Cheers
 
Why would you run your synth to the soundcard AND the amp???

That does not make sense.

spin
 
the nice thing about running the synth into the soundcard and then into the amp, is that you can use the amp for monitoring and just playing without repatching....or using a more complex setup.....the practicality of this pretty much boils down to how much recording you want to do......hope this is relevant, kinda lost the gist of this discussion.

earthcub....i haven't used cakewalk pro audio, but i've used sonar and some other software that will do soft synth stuff....with the right combination of software and hardware you can get ultra low latency matching a hardware synth, which also has some latency...everything has some latency....for low latency with a pc you need either ASIO or WDM drivers.............though fruity loops works with direct sound drivers, i seem to remember getting pretty low latency with that program.....sonar uses WDM drivers and i've been using that lately....i've played with reason and ASIO drivers and gotten ultra low latency with a midi keyboard.....reason is a very strong program if you have a use for it......unfortuneately i haven't had the opportunity to use logic or cubase with soft synths...these are the major sequencers for ASIO....besides, reason............there are also software samplers that work as standalone units....i haven't used any of these...i'm not sure what the driver situation is with regards to these, e.g., gigasampler and the bitheadz unity...these are supposed to work like hardware samplers where you trigger them with a midi keyboard....there must be optimal latency setups with these programs because gigasampler, for one, seems quite popular.
 
My synth has only one line out, my amp has only one line in, and my sound card does not have line through when computer is not powered. Therefore I have either to swap wires every time, or have the computer idling all the time.
Click to expand...

First, a disclaimer: I am just getting into home recording myself, and am currently setting up a computer-based solution. However, I've dealt with a lot of A/V connections, and have done a lot of research on computer-based recording.

Okay... first, my recommendation, which you probably won't like; switch the cables. Since all of your sequencing is done on the synth, set it up as follows:

SYNTH --> AMP --> MONITORS

When you're ready to record the synth's output, you'll need to turn on the computer anyway, so set things up as follows:

SYNTH --> SOUND CARD --> AMP --> MONITORS

The main reason for this recommendation is to avoid any output problems that might arise with a "Y"-split adapter (which will get you the result you're looking for, but may degrade the output signal - check on this). Other options would be a small mixer that would allow you to output to both the amp and soundcard simultaneously without losing signal quality, or a sound card that allows pass-through when the computer is not on.

Finally, a brief note on soft synths... while the technology is impressive, I've heard that it's not quite "there" yet. Especially with your computer's stats, I'd stick to the synth's sounds for now.

Best of luck! :)
 
Last edited:
SPINSTERWUN said:
Why would you run your synth to the soundcard AND the amp???

That does not make sense.

spin
Click to expand...

Because when I do computer recording the signal goes into the soundcard and from there into the amp.
When I am playing with the synth the signal goes straight into the amp. If it was to go into the soundcard first and then into the amp, I will have to have computer running all the time. As I indicated before my soundcard does not have line through when not powered.
Hence two routes.
Am I missing something?
 
In that case :) , I would do what HomeRec suggested.

Switch the connections when you are using the synth for different things.

When you are just playing or practicing use this configuration.

SYNTH>AMP>MONITORS

When recording use this setup.

SYNTH>SOUNDCARD>AMP>MONITORS

I had assumed that you always kept your computer on when you constructed your music. Sorry, about that assumption :( .

That is why I could not figure out why you wanted to run out of your synth into the soundcard AND the amp (at the same time) :).

You will degrade your signal if you "Y-cable" split the audio (like HomeRec has already shared with you). :)

spin
 
Thanks, HomeRec. It happened so that your reponse got posted while I was typing my response to SPINSTERWUN. For this reason it is only today that I noticed it. Your comments on Y-cables are most appreciated.

Thanks, SPINSTERWUN. You are true Force of Nature (btw, what does it mean?), and I appreciate your desire to help a newbie. :)
 
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