Keyboards and Sound Quality. Some observations.

[Jon Doe]

I've been experimenting quite a bit with sound configurations on my Roland VR-760. I've discovered some interesting stuff for those interested.

 

1. Listening to a keyboard with headphones won't give you the true sound of the keyboard and I've figured out why. You can't put a 12" or 15" speakers in a set of headphones, and the throw of these speakers is what creates the sound texture of the left hand side of the keyboard. My guess is that these keyboards were designed to optimize the sound on 15" speakers.

 

2. A single monitor that can mix the stereo is ok but the 4th deminsional charactor of the sound won't come across very well.

 

 

I bought a second KC550 so I could cut through the mix better on stage in situations where there were a lot of people on the stage. I set them up as in the photo below at home and stereo-linked the 550's. So...

 

3. The VR-760 played through stereo 15's sounds like a completely different keyboard. It is very rich and deep. The leslie sim really jumps out at you.

 

All the guys I play with love this setup. I can bracket the stage with the KC550's and everyone can hear it loud and clear. The leslie sim makes their heads spin. I feed the keyboard's XLRs to the house.

 

http://www.wornfedora.com/phpatm/files/JonDoe/stereo.JPG

 

So now my dilema deepens when I go keyboard shopping. How to find the true sound of the board? Headphones sound nothing like how they sound live.

[kanker.]

Keyboards aren't necessarily designed to go through 15's, it's just that traditional keyboard sounds in general cover the bulk of the range of human hearing, and therefore require more full range amplification than headphones. If you think your stuff sounds good through those little Rolands, try running it through some real PA gear - your keyboard amps will sound small by comparison.

 

My only word of caution with running your rig stereo is that the audience will share in little to none of the effect that you'll be hearing, and quite possibly will be hearing something quite less than running mono would allow.

 

As far as what to do when it comes time to shop for keyboards, there's only one solution. If you are truly serious about buying a particular keyboard, then you need to be able to run it through the same setup that you'll be using on stage. If the store doesn't have your rig available in house, then you need to bring your rig into the store so that you can get an accurate read on what the thing will sound like through your setup. If the store is wanting to make a sale, they'll accommodate your needs.

[soundscape]

Originally posted by Jon Doe:

1. Listening to a keyboard with headphones won't give you the true sound of the keyboard and I've figured out why. You can't put a 12" or 15" speakers in a set of headphones, and the throw of these speakers is what creates the sound texture of the left hand side of the keyboard.

The problem with headphones is that they can't give you any 'physical' sense of the sound, particularly low frequencies. OTOH, good headphones should give you a cleaner, more 'detailed' sound than any loudspeakers.

 

(You can always try headphones + bass shakers. )

[soundscape]

Originally posted by Jon Doe:

A single monitor that can mix the stereo is ok but the 4th deminsional charactor of the sound won't come across very well.

A lot of FX are designed to sound 'big and impressive' end up with a lot of phase cancellation in mono.

[ITGITC]

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/whybother/real-life/images/landing/main-pic-new-bottom.gif

 

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/whybother/real-life/images/landing/main-pic-new-bottom.gifhttp://www.macmillan.org.uk/whybother/real-life/images/landing/main-pic-new-bottom.gif

 

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/whybother/real-life/images/landing/main-pic-new-bottom.gifhttp://www.macmillan.org.uk/whybother/real-life/images/landing/main-pic-new-bottom.gifhttp://www.macmillan.org.uk/whybother/real-life/images/landing/main-pic-new-bottom.gif

 

The solution is to get the band and the whole audience to wear headphones.

[Jon Doe]

Originally posted by kanker, allegedly:

If you think your stuff sounds good through those little Rolands, try running it through some real PA gear - your keyboard amps will sound small by comparison.

 

My only word of caution with running your rig stereo is that the audience will share in little to none of the effect that you'll be hearing, and quite possibly will be hearing something quite less than running mono would allow.

 

Kevin,

 

I have balanced XLR outs that I send to FOH and usually the room effect is "big sound" over the PA's. the 15's are just so the band can hear good grooves on stage. It's like a leslie. The way it sounds on stage and the way it sounds over a PA may be two diffent things. As long as they both sound good, all is well.

 

Hell, as long as everyone else on stage is happy with it ...

[JeffLearman]

With 3D glasses too, so they can see the 3D projections! Gee, I wanna be in the audience for YOUR band! ... with all the rest of the nerds ...

 

[Dick Ward MP Hall of Fame]

When buying keyboards, always make sure you can return it.

 

 

Most places I go let you play through an amp, very rarely do I have to use headphones. I'm sure if you had the money and were looking to buy, a sales associate would find a way to make it happen for you. Especially the ones that work on commission.

[MurMan]

There seem to be very few recent-vintage keyboards that have good mono samples and effects. Like soundscape said, there's lots of phase cancellation when running in mono and it sounds really thin to me.

 

I've tried lots of variations on stage. The best result is to run stereo like Jon Doe cuz it makes me and the band happy. If the house is in mono, I give them one channel of my stereo out rather than mix it down to mono.

 

Jon, why didn't you try two Leslies rather than two KC's?

[Mr. Nightime]

I was in Guitar Center in Orlando the other day and they had all the new keyboard models set up on the wall, running through a pair od near-field monitors. They had them seperated so you could get a good idea of the stereo nature of the instruments.

However, based on what I heard, what I hear from my little Keyboard PA, and the opinions of the forum members, I can tell you that this doesn't give you a good representation.

One of the boards I played with was a Hammond XK-3. I was excited to see one and hear just how good it sounded. I was disappointed, because the sound I get from my Hammond XB-2 through my rig sounds better.

I also tried out a Yamaha ES90, and a Motiv, and my Korg SP200 sounds better. Could be my amp.

 

I was even a bit underwhelmed by the Oasys. Give us a room with a real amp setup and let us crank it. That's the only way short of buying and returning or bringing in your own rig to get even close to the real sound potential.

 

True, in many cases the audience will not notice the actual stereo seperation unless it's going through the mains, but it does sound better to have SOME sonic movement.