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Balanced or unbalanced outputs?


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Hi guys

 

Hope your all safe and well during this awful time

 

I"m just setting up all my boards in my spare room today and wondered if you knew what keyboards had balanced or unbalanced outputs? Tried to research but hearing conflicting answers from what I"ve read

 

Want to make sure I have the correct cabling

 

I have the following boards

 

KAWAI MP11

HAMMOND XK1C

ROLAND FANTOM X8

YAMAHA MOTIF ES7

KORG KRONOS 2 88

YAMAHA MONTAGE 8

800.thumb.jpg.2311414bd4d31c47b66c83e3dd5488ed.jpg

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Korg Kronos 2 88 Gold Edition

Yamaha Montage 8 White Edition

Crumar Mojo Suitcase

2 x Roland Fantom X8

Roland Fantom X7

2 x Roland Fantom XR’s

Yamaha Motif ES7

Kawai MP11SE

Korg TR Rack

Korg SG Rack

Quiklok, Gibraltar & K&M Stands

Kali Audio LP-8 Monitors

Soundcraft EFX12 Mixer

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I can verify that the Kronos has balanced outs. Anything XLR is going to be balanced like on the Kawai, though I can't verify if the 1/4" outs are balanced or not.

 

Maybe the bigger question is why does it matter? You can run them all unbalanced just fine. The only reason why it may be of benefit to switch to balanced (assuming it's available) is if you're picking up some noise. In particular over long cable runs.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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Agree. If there are relatively short cable runs (under 10 feet) and you don't have a huge source of RFI in the area, you should be OK.

 

Here's a rule of thumb that will help a lot: audio flies, MIDI walks, power crawls. Keep power strips and wall warts, which are horrid sources of noise, on or near the floor. Note which cables carry AC rather than DC; the latter won't create noise but the former can. Keep MIDI cable runs near the floor, as power RFI won't affect their data. Where possible, keep audio cables elevated - think of drawing a straight line from your keyboard to your mixer, with as little sagging as possible. Cabletying to your stands is an easy way to do this. When audio cables and AC power cables MUST cross, do it at a right angle, not parallel.

 

If all else fails, slap a direct box on your unbalanced outs and run mic cables to your mixer. In a small studio with well-dressed cables, I have only ever had to do this once.

 

I hope this helps.

 

mike

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

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Yeah most of cable runs are 8ft to 12ft and no more

6 x keyboards running in stereo

(12 cables used)

I only have balanced cables at the moment

So was just asking if okay to use them on unbalanced keyboard outputs or do I have to buy extra cables

Korg Kronos 2 88 Gold Edition

Yamaha Montage 8 White Edition

Crumar Mojo Suitcase

2 x Roland Fantom X8

Roland Fantom X7

2 x Roland Fantom XR’s

Yamaha Motif ES7

Kawai MP11SE

Korg TR Rack

Korg SG Rack

Quiklok, Gibraltar & K&M Stands

Kali Audio LP-8 Monitors

Soundcraft EFX12 Mixer

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You can use balanced cables on unbalanced. The conductor connected to the ring won't be used, just the tip and sleeve.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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