sweetdiss Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Okay... this question doesn't specifically have to do with keyboards, but my experience on these forums has been so helpful and friendly so far that I have to try. I'm wondering if there's such a thing as a stereo A/B switch for instrument cables. Here's my situation: I have a keyboard and an electronic drumset running to my external sound card. The sound card has only one set of RL inputs, and since I have two things I want going in, I'm constantly unplugging right and left cables from the keyboard and plugging them into the drums, and back and forth. It'd be simpler if I could just leave the keyboard AND drums plugged into an A/B switchbox, and then switch between them with the press of a button. Does something like this exist? I've done some research but haven't found anything. Hopefully this made sense! And I apologize if this is way out of bounds of the forum's subject. - Nate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightbg Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 You would need adapters to get down to mini jacks, but this looks promising: http://electronicsusa.com/mk1and2.html Jake 1967 B-3 w/(2) 122's, Nord C1w/Leslie 2101 top, Nord PedalKeys 27, Nord Electro 4D, IK B3X, QSC K12.2, Yamaha reface YC+CS+CP "It needs a Hammond" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonysounds Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Yeah, it's called a mixer. Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetdiss Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 Jake - Thank you! That looks close! It gives me hope, at least. Tony - Haha, yes, a mixer would probably work. But I figured a small A/B switcher thingy would be a bit cheaper... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonksDream Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I'm certain you could get a small Behringer mixer for the cost of a decent stereo switch-box. I don't know where you are but I'd check Craigslist first. You can get a 12 channel Behringer for under $90 new! Instrumentation is meaningless - a song either stands on its own merit, or it requires bells and whistles to cover its lack of adequacy, much less quality. - kanker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sven Golly Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Jake - Thank you! That looks close! It gives me hope, at least. Tony - Haha, yes, a mixer would probably work. But I figured a small A/B switcher thingy would be a bit cheaper... Why would you overly complicate things? What if you get a third thing you want to route into your sound card? Another A/B switcher running into the first one? Just get the mixer and be done with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonysounds Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 You can buy NEW Yamaha MG mixers for like $100, Behringers for cheaper. Or, you could buy that switchbox, adaptors, cables, or adaptor cables, maybe some duct tape to keep the adaptors on the cables....... Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Horne Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Yeah, it's called a mixer. Not quite a laugh, but the first smile of the day. (And that was also my thought as well, ... get a mixer.) No guitarists were harmed during the making of this message. In general, harmonic complexity is inversely proportional to the ratio between chording and non-chording instruments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridog6996 Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I would have assumed that type of thing would be pretty easy to find. Guitar players often use line switching boxes to use multiple amps. Maybe stereo versions are tougher to come by. I guess I would agree that maybe a little mixer is the way to go. I don't know that those switch boxes lightbg linked to are up to the task. My YouTube Channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Dan Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 4-ch mixer - $29 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Dan Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 4-ch mixer - $29 Oops, that one's mono... 2 mono ch's, 2 stereo ch's, FX send w/stereo returns: Behringer mixer - $49 And the mono ch's are XLR so you can run mic's if need be. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillWelcome Home Studios Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 well, if your studio grows with a life of its own as so many do, you may find a simple patch panel to be a better answer to start with... no electronics to add grunge to the signal (like a cheap mixer would add) cleaner and more elegant than a couple of switcher boxes, and far more useful in the long run. The top row of a 'half-normalled' bay (typically used for $20-$60)would 'normally' route the output of a device (like your keys) to an input (your sound card) on the bottom row of the same vertical pair of jacks. No cables needed. Top row=device outputs. Bottom row=device inputs. To send a different device output to the sound card input, jack from that device to the sound card inputs. This also interrupts the output of the device 'normalled' to the sound card. Oh, and THAT device can also be jacked elsewhere. This system allows you to grow. "I believe that entertainment can aspire to be art, and can become art, but if you set out to make art you're an idiot." Steve Martin Show business: we're all here because we're not all there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveMcM Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Here you go: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/images/images345x345/371017.jpg Hosa SLW-333 3 stereo inputs to a single stereo output. Of course you can buy a small mixer for less than this unit, but then it is possible that those cheap little mixers may impart some tone colorization to the signal which may or may not be desirable, where a simple switch box will not. Wm. David McMahan I Play, Therefore I Am Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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