Can I plug directly into a power amp?

[mound]

This may sound silly, but bass has been my main instrument for the last 10 years, been studying piano for 1 year, and am now playing keys in a band for the first time. I have a Roland RD-700 and for this band which is very simple rock/pop with a touch of improv/jamming, does not call for my rack full of effects processors/loopers/mixer that I plug the my keyboard into in my home studio (and bass, guitars etc.)

 

My first few jam sessions with this band I hauled the whole big rack over.. not fun, or necessary..If this were an electronica/experimental band I'd be all for it, but for basic organ/synth sounds, my Roland can more than handle it on its own.

 

I guess long story short, can I plug the stereo outputs of the RD-700 directly into my Mackie m1400i power amp or do I need a mixer and or a pre-amp in between? If I could get away with carrying only the power amp, that would be cool. I kept thinking I needed my Lexicon MPX-G2 as a pre-amp (thinking like the bass player, have to plug into something first) but the Roland is all line level output already right?

 

thanks!

-paul

[Jon Doe]

Originally posted by mound:

the Roland is all line level output already right?

 

thanks!

-paul

Yes

[ITGITC]

Paul,

 

Start with everything off.

 

Turn the gain controls on the amp all the way down first before plugging in the keyboard.

 

Next, turn the keyboard on and raise the volume to max.

 

Finally, turn on the power amp and raise the levels to the volume you need.

 

This should work fine. You may need an EQ between the Roland and the power amp. You didn't mention which cabinets you are using.

 

My point is that you don't want to turn the amp levels all the way up and then turn up the gain on the RD700. You could get a nasty surprise, or worse, blow out a speaker.

 

Good luck!

 

Tom

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