The Nord C1, C2 and C2D Organ Forum

Just thinking aloud ... (cabling issue)

Postby tacitus » 04 Dec 2013, 18:25

So I now have the C2D, the ALU stand, the PK27 pedals including the expression pedal and of course the speakers necessary to hear all that. Once I've assembled all the components into a working configuration, I'm left with a rat's nest of cables that, try as I might, I don't seem to be able to get tidy.

Then the germ of an idea takes hold and I'm now thinking that with the right hardware I could run the swell pedal cable and the midi cable from the pedals up one of the legs of the ALU stand and thus hide them from view, and run the outgoing signals from the C2D itself down another leg so the subsequent cable(s) could run flat across the floor (and, to keep Mrs tacitus happy, under a mat to stop tripping). I could also loom up the mains and signal cables from the sub to the satellites and not only have a neater job but having it pre-wired would slash set-up time, too.

By now, you're thinking it's all a bit anal and how would you connect the pedals to the 'upward leg' of the stand? And that's where I've ground to a halt as it would need a small enough multipin connector to mount flush inside the leg so it folds up as normal when collapsed. Not saying it can't be done, but I haven't worked through that one yet.

I'm also wondering if there's a suitable DC voltage in the C2D to power the pedals so I could dump the wall-wart.

Apologies for giving you half a story, but anybody have any ideas about the next step here? Or do I just drown in cables for the foreseeable future? I really would like to have no visible wires at all, but failing that, the very minimum of slender multicores to achieve a super-tidy look.
Last edited by tacitus on 04 Dec 2013, 18:26, edited 1 time in total.
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Just thinking aloud ... (cabling issue)


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Re: Just thinking aloud ... (cabling issue)

Postby mjbrands » 05 Dec 2013, 01:08

Regarding the power supply: unfortunately not. It does depend on how far you are willing to go though: theoretically you could mount a 2nd power supply (for the PK27) inside the C2D, as there should be plenty of space. Unless you know what you're doing that would be a bad idea (and would surely void your warranty). You'd also need to make sure the power going to the 2nd PSU would NOT go through the fuse in the Nord (might lead to blowing fuses). Instead, you'd solder the 2nd PSU to the points where the mains voltage enters the Nord. Make sure to include a properly sized fuse.

Image

This is the PSU of my Nord Rack 3, but the one in the C2D should be fairly similar.

You could solder the connections to the PSU to the underside of the PSU board, where the IEC mains connector is soldered to the board. The IEC connector is the black connector near the blue transformer. The black 'tube' on the right contains the fuse. By picking one point on that connector and another on the switch, you might be able to put the 2nd PSU 'behind' the power switch. That would require some measurements with a multimeter to find the right points though.

As for the multi-pin connector you mention: how many contacts would you need? I think there are, for example, 7 pin XLR connectors. Something like a DB9 or DB25 style connector would likely also work well.
Last edited by mjbrands on 05 Dec 2013, 01:10, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Just thinking aloud ... (cabling issue)

Postby tacitus » 05 Dec 2013, 11:02

Yes, I was sort of thinking a DB9 connector would be ok - there would (ideally) be power to the pedals, plus the midi from pedals to the organ and then the swell pedal to the organ.

I may just wait till the warranty runs out before I start going inside the case, but I could be working on the midi and swell link in the meantime. I suspected there wouldn't be an appropriate power source in the C2D, so an extra PSU looks like the way to go - unless I build a battery compartment into the pedalboard. Don't know how thirsty the pedals are, though.

Thanks for the info, it's all adding to the picture.
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Re: Just thinking aloud ... (cabling issue)

Postby brongracz » 27 Dec 2013, 14:25

It seems to me that you can achieve all of your goals with a custom built stand more easily... Or have a sort of a cable rig that you could have next to your stand. It could contain all your cables neatly preconfigured and have a high esthetical value at the same time.

Greetz,
Bron
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Re: Just thinking aloud ... (cabling issue)

Postby rb4u1 » 27 Dec 2013, 15:11

How you put it together would depend on whether or not you
want to break it down for gigs or if you want a semi-permanent
solution.

I use paper & pen to help solidify ideas or perhaps take a
couple pics.
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Re: Just thinking aloud ... (cabling issue)

Postby tacitus » 08 Jan 2014, 19:31

I've been thinking about this over Christmas. Logically I accept that a custom built stand would be the thing to do, but I doubt if I could build one neat enough and collapsible enough for gigging, and the whole point is that it needs to be a) quicker to set up than all the separate cables and the ALU stand, and b) a lot tidier to look at as all the cables would be hidden except for the mains coming in and the signal going out to the amp(s)/Leslie.

I think there'd have to be some sort of multiway between the C2D and the stand, inside which the cables would run, and any connectors or trailing leads on both the stand and the keyboard would need to be flush enough or short enough that the stand will still collapse and go into its case and the the keyboard will go into the case after a single disconnect.

I'm using pencil and paper to keep up with my ideas, so I will eventually have a picture that expresses my intention - all I have to do then is build it!
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Re: Just thinking aloud ... (cabling issue)

Postby BC_C2D » 08 Jan 2014, 21:04

I previously posted pics of the C2D stand I built using old B3 legs. I was going for the smallest footprint and lightest weight possible. I'm satisfied that oI achieved my objective. The cables run out of the back of the C2D and straight under the organ. I group the cables together and run them down one of the legs attaching them to the leg with a Velcro strip. I may eventually use a piece of that plastic cable management stuff you get at Lowes or Radio Shack. I don't like the look of a bunch of cables dangling off the back of an organ either. Looks untidy and sloppy. I don't mind them running down one leg as a group. Looks neat enough to my eyes anyway.

You can find my post on the C2D stand thread here on this forum.
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