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Author Topic: Another keyboard level question  (Read 1873 times)

Scott Olewiler

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Another keyboard level question
« on: August 21, 2019, 09:26:49 AM »

Reading another thread on low keyboard volume got me thinking of a situation I have next Sunday.

I am doing an outdoor church service where I am connecting sight unseen to a keyboard ( I think it's a Clavinova) that only has rca connections.  My plan was rca to 1/4" adapters into passive stereo DI, then Xlrs out to mixer.

I am concern about how much signal I am going to get from this Keyboard.

If I have a low input level situation, would bypassing the DIs and going straight into one the combo inputs with TR plugs likely give me better signal strength?  Very short cable run to mixer.

My brain says the Xlr input should be hotter than using the 1/4", depending on how much attenuation the DI adds. Is that right?

Not enough budget in this to make the drive to advance this.
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: Another keyboard level question
« Reply #1 on: August 21, 2019, 09:29:56 AM »

Reading another thread on low keyboard volume got me thinking of a situation I have next Sunday.

I am doing an outdoor church service where I am connecting sight unseen to a keyboard ( I think it's a Clavinova) that only has rca connections.  My plan was rca to 1/4" adapters into passive stereo DI, then Xlrs out to mixer.

I am concern about how much signal I am going to get from this Keyboard.

If I have a low input level situation, would bypassing the DIs and going straight into one the combo inputs with TR plugs likely give me better signal strength?  Very short cable run to mixer.

My brain says the Xlr input should be hotter than using the 1/4", depending on how much attenuation the DI adds. Is that right?

Not enough budget in this to make the drive to advance this.

You'll be fine running the RCAs to a passive 2 channel DI.  Shouldn't need more gain than an 58.
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Scott Olewiler

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Re: Another keyboard level question
« Reply #2 on: August 21, 2019, 09:41:34 AM »

You'll be fine running the RCAs to a passive 2 channel DI.  Shouldn't need more gain than an 58.

Thanks.  I also just realized I could easily test this out in advance with any RCA device I happen to have around here.
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Dave Pluke

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Re: Another keyboard level question
« Reply #3 on: August 21, 2019, 10:35:57 AM »

You'll be fine running the RCAs to a passive 2 channel DI.  Shouldn't need more gain than an 58.

Agreed.  I've never had to run an active DI on a modern keyboard and most of the time, have to pad the DI.

Set the keyboard's volume to 100% so they don't surprise you once the event begins.

Dave
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scottstephens

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Re: Another keyboard level question
« Reply #4 on: August 21, 2019, 11:01:38 AM »



Set the keyboard's volume to 100% so they don't surprise you once the event begins.

Amen to this!

Scott

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Luke Geis

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Re: Another keyboard level question
« Reply #5 on: August 21, 2019, 12:41:58 PM »

It should provide a hi-z signal that is nominal to -10dbv. This is fairly low vs. a typical +4dbu signal. The issue with these is that while going into the DI box is a must to deal with the impedance needs, the DI further lowers the level to possibly below mic. level. You should still not have an issue acquiring the needed gain from the HA. I have tried running longer unbalanced lines from keyboards with success, but I wouldn't suggest it.
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Paul G. OBrien

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Re: Another keyboard level question
« Reply #6 on: August 21, 2019, 06:42:48 PM »

would bypassing the DIs and going straight into one the combo inputs with TR plugs likely give me better signal strength?  Very short cable run to mixer.

If the mixer in use has stereo line level inputs just use those, with a keyboard that only has consumer level outputs and when it's not a long distance run to the mixer it doesn't make a lot of sense to "burn" 2 mic inputs and make the connection more complicated that it needs to be. Of course if this connection produces noise then there are isolation solutions that won't impact the signal level(1:1 xformer) such as the ART DTI or the very inexpensive Behringer HD400. I have both of those and use the HD400 to isolate noisy laptops but it only has 1/4 TRS I/O jacks and they are not spaced enough to allow adapters to XLR cables so proper TRS to whatever cables are necessary, but the DTI has XLR, TRS, and RCA connectors on both input and output sides.
« Last Edit: August 21, 2019, 06:53:20 PM by Paul G. OBrien »
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: Another keyboard level question
« Reply #7 on: August 21, 2019, 07:36:00 PM »

I had an opera "piano" rehearsal where the piano was a consumer Clavinova with only 1 headphone output - no RCA - and plugging into the jack switched off the internal speakers.

I used a 1/4" TRS to 2x 1/4" TS (think "analog insert") cable to split the L & R, then into a pair of whatever cheap DIs the PAC had in the locker.  I was able to send the Clavi to the mix for all my flown and wing 2 foldback speakers (normally orchestra mix for singers).  I used the "thru" on the DIs to send to a JBL Eon (again, PAC inventory) for the accompanist.

Lots of ways to do these things.  What you do depends on the tools at hand.
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Steve M Smith

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Re: Another keyboard level question
« Reply #8 on: August 22, 2019, 03:06:03 AM »

Set the keyboard's volume to 100% so they don't surprise you once the event begins.


I think the volume control on a Clavinova only alters the volume of its internal speaker.  This is the case with a lot of electric pianos.


Steve.
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Another keyboard level question
« Reply #8 on: August 22, 2019, 03:06:03 AM »


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