How can I fix the sound on Yamaha MX61?

[Leo7]

I just used it in a small church plugged up directly to a speaker right next to me. The speaker is loud, but I couldn't hear the higher notes when everyone else is playing loud, only the bass notes.

Is there a way to EQ the Keyboard to make the bass notes quieter and the high notes louder?

Or Will a small audio mixer solve this issue?

 

 

[Justin Havu]

If the speaker doesn't have any onboard EQ controls, I'd either get a small mixer, or get a powered speaker with EQ controls.

 

Also, depending on how the speaker itself is aimed, you may not hear the high end from your playing position, but it'll be present out in the room.

[AnotherScott]

As Justin mentioned, higher frequencies are more directional, and the dispersion pattern of the speaker can accentuate that. What speaker are you using?

[JohnH]

It really needs to be monitored in stereo- these are stereo samples so it's not going to be that great in mono. (Without starting that 50 page thread again-and arguing about mono vers stereo-  please.) You need two powered monitors.

[AnotherScott]

26 minutes ago, JohnH said:

It really needs to be monitored in stereo- these are stereo samples so it's not going to be that great in mono.

 

Lots of samples are not stereo (though the patches may still employ stereo effects). EPs, organ, clav, bass, numerous solo orchestral instruments, most percussion instruments and synth sounds...  mono samples.

 

And many people play Yamahas satisfactorily in mono, even if it isn't always ideal.

[Leo7]

The speaker is facing me, but I forgot the name of the it. I will look at it tomorrow to see if it has any EQ controls. 

[Delaware Dave]

Its most likely the speaker.

[stoken6]

14 hours ago, Leo7 said:

I just used it in a small church plugged up directly to a speaker right next to me. The speaker is loud, but I couldn't hear the higher notes when everyone else is playing loud, only the bass notes.

Is there a way to EQ the Keyboard to make the bass notes quieter and the high notes louder?

Or Will a small audio mixer solve this issue?

 

 

I've had good experiences by pulling the speaker a bit further away from me. 

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Doerfler]

17 hours ago, Delaware Dave said:

Its most likely the speaker.

based on the little information given, I agree with this.

 

[Leo7]

I also forgot to mention that when I use headphones, the output is very low on a lot of the patches, especially on most of the pianos. I use to play with a cheap $150 Yamaha PSR and the output wasn't as low as the MX61, but that only had 1 output.

So the speaker does have EQ controls on it. I turned the high knob all the way up, but it didn't really help much. So maybe it could be the speaker itself?

 

 

[ProfD]

I believe the Yamaha MX series has a low volume output. It's possible that onboard EQ could help at the patch level.

 

That speaker only has 2-band EQ. Replacing the Samson DI with a small mixer would boost the signal and shape tone. 

 

Then, proper gain staging would be required between the MX61, mixer and speaker.😎

[AnotherScott]

If you have the original MX61 and haven't updated its software, you would want to run the updater (link below), since it addressed the issue of particularly low output, boosting it by 6 dB. But that wouldn't affect just the highs. Similarly, picking up from what ProfD said, the line inputs on most PA speakers are not ideally matched to most keyboard outputs, and it is common to use a mixer to get the gain you need (I believe it's because the keyboard output is -10 and the PA cabinet is expecting +4)... but again, this would affect all frequencies, not just the high. (Same thing if you run the line signal into the mic input to use the boost of that preamp... it wouldn't affect just HF.)

 

I know you said the speaker was facing you.  Is the speaker in its horizontal or vertical position? (In case it's not aiming directly at you, you can be farther off center without losing HF if it's vertical than if it's horizontal.) Also even though its facing you, are there any obstacles in between you and the speaker?

 

https://usa.yamaha.com/support/updates/60810_en.html

[Leo7]

I have the version 2 MX 61. The speaker is in it's vertical position. It's not aimed at me directly. That small black object in the right corner of the second picture is my keyboard stand leg. There are no obstacles between me and the speaker.

 

Any recommendations on what mixer I should buy?

[Justin Havu]

First of all, looking at your cabling, you need to use the INPUT jacks, not the THRU.  Also, if you're only running one speaker, you'll only need the LEFT output of the MX61, which sums to mono (not very well, though.)

 

Also, that speaker has a combo LINE channel, which means you can connect the MX61's LEFT (mono) output directly to the speaker, bypassing the need for a DI.  If you have ground hum issues, then the DI is preferrable.

 

MX61 LEFT (mono) -> DI input LEFT -> DI XLR output LEFT - > Powered speaker XLR input.

 

As mentioned above, if you decide you'll want to monitor in stereo, you'll need a 2nd speaker.  Then, you'd connect the RIGHT channel the same as the left.

 

 

[Delaware Dave]

As i said earlier, it is probably your speaker.   Now i see that your are running the keys through a Proel Flash12a monitor so i'll say it again, it is your speaker. 

[pjd]

Thanks for the pictures! I wish every troubleshooting question came with pictures...

 

Not to sound like a jerk, but did you check the manuals?

 

https://samsontech.com/products/studio-tools/s-max/md2-pro/

https://www.musicalstore2005.com/strumenti_accessori/96MAN0076_FLASH12_V2_ENG_ITA.pdf

 

More comments in a sec -- pj

 

[pjd]

As to the Samson DI, it looks like the attenuation switches are in the "0" position. That's good, and is the first thing I'd check. I agree that it's better to hit the INPUT rather than the THRU. Usually they're wired in parallel, but hey, it's a black box. 🙂

 

The DI box is passive and you may be taking a drop through the box and its transformers. That means making up for the loss at the amplifier input. I don't know about Samson's transformers, but they could be affecting your frequency response. I use a budget passive DI (ART Dual Z Direct) myself, so I don't mean to throw shade on all budget boxes.  You might want to connect directly to the amp's LINE IN and see if you get the same dip in the highs.

 

As to the Proel, the Proel LINE LEVEL control is an attenuating control. MIN shuts off the signal, while MAX is full LINE level. There is no additional gain!

 

The MIC GAIN control is at roughly the 1 o'clock position. This is the place to make up any loss through the DI and the low MX output. I would dime the MX and then set the MIC GAIN.

 

Both LOW and HIGH EQ are shelving. The HIGH control provides 6dB cut or boost at 8kHz. That might not be boosting the frequencies that you need. 8kHz is kind of "up there".

 

Anyway, I hope these thoughts and the links help you -- pj

 

Music technology blog: sandsoftwaresound.net

 

 

[DroptopBroham]

Or you could just use a Roland KC400 or KC600 keyboard amp and not fool with mixers, DIs, and all that BS. Gonna sound a lot better than that Proel PA speaker too.

[Delaware Dave]

1 hour ago, DroptopBroham said:

Or you could just use a Roland KC400 or KC600 keyboard amp and not fool with mixers, DIs, and all that BS. Gonna sound a lot better than that Proel PA speaker too.

 

Doubt that.  Both are awful.

[AnotherScott]

3 hours ago, Leo7 said:

The speaker is in it's vertical position. It's not aimed at me directly. That small black object in the right corner of the second picture is my keyboard stand leg. There are no obstacles between me and the speaker.

 

I'm not sure I understand, but I think you mean the speaker is sitting on the floor, kind of aimed at your shins? You won't hear much in the way of highs out of that, you have to either raise the speaker closer to ear level, or tilt it back so that the horn is aiming toward your ears. High frequencies are very directional. With the speaker vertical, you have 60 degree dispersion from the horn, which means if there is more than a 30 degree angle between the horn and your ears, high frequencies will drop off very substantially. If you want to keep the speaker on the floor, you can flip it horizontally, then you get 90 degree dispersion and can be within 45 degrees (height-wise), but it still has to be tilted and some distance away for a 45 degree angle from floor level to reach your ears. (My earlier comment about being able to be more off center if the speaker is in vertical position referenced to being off-center side-to-side, not up-and-down, e.g. if the speaker were closer to ear level.)

 

I agree with the comment that there's not much reason for the passive direct box, something you usually wouldn't bother with unless you were connecting to a mixer that was some distance away, though in this case, I guess you're essentially using it to turn your 1/4" out to an XLR so you can use the mic preamp in the speaker...?

[Dan32]

 

Yes, I'd raise the speaker up to ear level as suggested and just plug the keyboard straight into the speaker line in. I always use a mini tripod or two with my Yamaha DXR10's.

https://www.terralec.co.uk/speaker_stands/short_speaker_stand_with_35mm_top_pole_max_height_97cm/21444_p.html?utm_source=PaidOnResults&porc=wuGDlAFCzFmvdsBsDzdBvGCiEHlHvGg

 

Should sound much clearer. I assume the speaker is the only source of keys amplification (no FOH). 

Just position it so you can you can hear the keys clearly but also so that the sound can project for a good balance out front.

[Leo7]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to try plugging the keyboard directly into the speaker and getting a tripod stand for it. 

[pjd]

Glad we could help!

 

I've been playing in various churches and church halls. When we got stuck in the church hall (think "cafeteria", I insisted on bring in and setting up my PA speaker on a tripod. (The know-it-all guitar player left his amp on the floor and thought I was nuts. Don't play there anymore...  ) We needed to get our sound out, over the congregation.

 

I've been messing with EP on MODX today. I noticed EQ boost around 1 kHz to 2 kHz. The MX has a Master EQ. Might be a way to boost your higher notes without getting a new amp. The Proel's 8kHz shelving EQ probably doesn't help much -- it's more for "air".

 

Good luck! -- pj