Which cable

[krooner]

Hi all,
I'd appreciate some help.
Think I may have been a bit quick to maligne my synth [MO8], though goodness knows, I've had it long enough; its always sounded a bit dull played live through the monitors.
I read something yesterday that started me thinking ----- maybe I've been using the "wrong" cable to link the synth [ mono out] to the preamp with a single unbalanced cable ?

Should I have been using two stereo 1/4 jack to jack cables connected to the pre, using a stereo adaptor ?

Please advise.

Kj

 

[mjbphotos]

It might help on the stereo sound patches. When you say 'dull', you need to define what's wrong, maybe it just needs some tweaking of tone, a little reverb ...

 

[suprstar]

A synth prolly shouldnt go thru a preamp - it likely needs to go to a line-in instead. Line-in is a much louder signal. The TS 1/4" in's on a mixer are suited for a line-in signal strength. You could try a steres headphones -> dual TS -> 2 channels on your mixer/interface,

 

[Mr. June]

For the best sound, analog wise, you should definiely use 2 1/4" cables into a line input on your mixer/interface (don't know what your using exactly). A single mono cable won't be able to translate the synth sounds accurately; any modulation/stereo fx programmed as part of a patch will be pretty much lost. Using a preamp, while possible, would involve direct boxes to bring the M08 down from line to mic level. Good luck!

 

[krooner]

Thanks very much, guys,
It appears that everyone agrees that, to improve the sound, two unbalanced cables should be used, and that they may run from the synth, directly to the interface [ UA-101 ] so bypassing the pre-amp, and the ADC1, which is Toslinked to the UA-101.

Please let me know if I've got it wrong, .

Thanks again.

Keith

 

[suprstar]

For the best sound, analog wise, you should definiely use 2 1/4" cables into a line input on your mixer/interface (don't know what your using exactly). A single mono cable won't be able to translate the synth sounds accurately; any modulation/stereo fx programmed as part of a patch will be pretty much lost. Using a preamp, while possible, would involve direct boxes to bring the M08 down from line to mic level. Good luck!

AFAIK direct boxes are for going from mic to line. Do they go the other way too?

 

[TyphoidHippo]

AFAIK direct boxes are for going from mic to line. Do they go the other way too?

You've got it backwards. Preamps take mics to line level. DI boxes bring line level down when all you have as inputs are preamps. Handy in live sound when a band has a lot of keyboards, synths, a DJ, bass guitar, etc etc and your snake is wired into 32 preamps. Also has the benefit of sending a balanced signal, so you get the noise cancellation voodoo going on, which might matter if the stage is 100 yards from the console... not so handy when recording (just use a line-in).

see
DI unit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mic_preamp

 

[suprstar]

From the wiki:
"DIs are frequently used to connect an electric guitar or electric bass to a mixing console's microphone input."

Elec guitar/bass arent line level! But the mixer's mic input isnt either.... So now I'm confused - I have a tube mp I plug a bass into, and run it into the line-in on my mixer. I always thought the tubemp was functioning as a DI box, but that may not be exactly true. It's definitely coming in a lot hotter than mic strength. I wonder if the wiki page is a little loose on the term 'console mic input', maybe it really means the line in? Otherwise a DI box has more to do with switching impedances and actually boosting the signal strength, and my tube mp is just pre-amping my bass to a line-in signal, not what a true DI would do.

 

[Bobbsy]

Instruments are a halfway house between mic and line in terms of output level. Generally, a DI box will reduce the level slightly so you can put a guitar into the mic input on a mixer (or interface) but the main function is to balance the signal an match impedances.

Your keyboard should be a line level output already and, unless your cable runs are very long or you're in an electrically noisy area, the use of unbalanced shouldn't really be causing a problem. The difference certainly shouldn't be audible in terms of making the sound "dull".

Before worrying about DI boxes, I'd just experiment with using two cables (unbalanced) into a couple of the line inputs on your interface and see if that helps.

 

[Farview]

From the wiki:
"DIs are frequently used to connect an electric guitar or electric bass to a mixing console's microphone input."

One of the purposes for a DI is level matching, the other is impedance matching. instruments are neither line level or mic level.

Elec guitar/bass arent line level! But the mixer's mic input isnt either.... So now I'm confused - I have

I always thought the tubemp was functioning as a DI box, but that may not be exactly true.

The tubemp is a preamp with a built-in DI box. Any preamp with an instrument input simply has a built-in DI, but it really isn't classified as a DI box. It's a preamp with a DI feature.

It's definitely coming in a lot hotter than mic strength. I wonder if the wiki page is a little loose on the term 'console mic input', maybe it really means the line in? Otherwise a DI box has more to do with switching impedances and actually boosting the signal strength, and my tube mp is just pre-amping my bass to a line-in signal, not what a true DI would do.

Instrument signals are hotter than mic signals (generally, some mics are really hot when placed in front of loud things), and instrument signals are high impedance, while mic signals are low impedance.

DI boxes are used to match the line or instrument signal to a mic input. It's a converter that takes the signal you feed it and turns it into what the mic preamp expects to see on its input.