Nord User Forum

Did you try maurus' and Mr_-G-'s suggestions?

Are your cables conventional mono-jack to mono-jack or something else?

What happens if you connect another instrument via the same cable to your monitor?

It sounds like you are plugging a stereo plug into a mono socket. If you get stereo with the headphone out, are you plugging the same (stereo) cable into the left jack? That won't work, and you'll get more or less what you're getting right now.

You need to plug a mono (TS, not TRS) plug into the left jack and a mono plug into the right jack to get stereo out of the L/R pair. If you plug a TRS jack in that is expecting stereo, it won't work at all. This is a common mistake that many people unfamiliar with the differences between jack types (TS/TRS, mono, stereo, balanced, and unbalanced) run into.

Often using a TRS stereo cable will work "on a whim" if you connect two mono sockets to one another (output and input are both mono sockets).

What will definitely NOT work is running a stereo cable from a mono TS output socket (like the Nord) into a balanced mono input with a TRS ("stereo") socket. Maybe the OP is using a TRS cable -- as I wanted to check above -- and run it into a balanced mono input in the mixer?

If the OP use two TRS cables from the Nord into two stereo inputs, then both output channels will sum in one of the input channels (unless one has the phase inverted).

So far we have very little information from the OP what he actually did/does. Hence it is difficult to do guess-helping.

Jacob: Please add the question "What kinds of cables are you using, and how many of them are you using?" to the list of questions we need to get answered before we can help.

He said he had "stereo" from the headphone jack after plugging his speakers into that (note: he said speakers, not headphone) so his speakers must be using a single jack for stereo. This obviously won't work with the L/R jacks, no matter how hard you want them to, since the output is not balanced and the ring will short to the sleeve or remain open, depending on exactly where the contact falls. Hence my targeted guess that he's trying to plug a stereo TRS rather than a balanced TRS plug (which might/might not work depending on if the ring is left floating or becomes tied to the ground - based on jack/plug brand compatibility most likely) into the mono L or R jacks.

You have some kind of issue in your external signal path, or an out-of-phase-issue, or less likely a physical problem either your left or right output. You need to troubleshoot all 3 scenarios.

DHBP

23skidoo wrote:He said he had "stereo" from the headphone jack after plugging his speakers into that (note: he said speakers, not headphone) so his speakers must be using a single jack for stereo. This obviously won't work with the L/R jacks, no matter how hard you want them to, since the output is not balanced and the ring will short to the sleeve or remain open, depending on exactly where the contact falls. Hence my targeted guess that he's trying to plug a stereo TRS rather than a balanced TRS plug (which might/might not work depending on if the ring is left floating or becomes tied to the ground - based on jack/plug brand compatibility most likely) into the mono L or R jacks.

I'm not sure I understand (or agree) to all of the above -- a TRS cable is not wired audibly differently for unbalanced stereo vs balanced mono mode in this context. They all connect Tip, Ring and Sleeve to Tip, Ring and Sleeve in the other end. A stereo balanced cable would required 5 leads.

If the OP uses a TRS from the unbalanced mono out of the Nord into a balanced mono input, chances are that only a very weak signal will appear, although it depends a lot on the input circuitry. The T from the Nord carry the + signal, and the S is 0 (ground); the R will in almost all cases I know of float, and the inpput will thus not sense a signal between T and R. Should R eventually also be shorted to 0, the TRS cable will instead work fine and carry the signal over, but I've never seen that in practice.

Either a TS or a TRS cable into an unbalanced input will work just as intended (T and S will carry the signals correctly; R doens't matter and will in any case NEVER be connected to T).

TRS from the Nord into a stereo (unbalanced, by definition) input, will cause the left channel to sound with whatever output is being fed from the Nord (left or right, depending on channel the cable is plugged into). The right channel may either be shorted to 0 or float, resulting in possibly a small amount of buzz. This is caused by the signal being sent on the T (+) and S (0) wires, which corresponds to left and 0 (R is right).

A TS cable into a balanced input will also work fine, possibly with -6 dB attenuation.

I use a Y cable feeding two mono unbalanced TS from the Nord into a stereo TRS, which my keyboard mixer (Rolls PM351) accepts. I have also sometimes used a special cable I made myself that connects the T and R of a TRS plug into the T of a TS plug (S is connected to S); I use this for e.g. creating a stereo signal from my bass so that I can just plug it into my stereo in-ear amp -- and a few other uses. The T and S connects via a resistor, so that I don't short two stereo outputs to one another.

You said exactly what I was saying, perhaps you didn’t realize I was saying that. I never said anything about "balanced stereo" and in fact made it quite clear I was discussing the two different uses of TRS as potential source of confusion already.

(Edited to remove possible confusion around phrasing)

23skidoo wrote:You said exactly what I was saying, but clearly you didn't see that I was saying that. I never said anything about "balanced stereo" and in fact made it quite clear I was discussing the two different uses of TRS as potential source of confusion already.

Well, all good then...

(Edited to avoid any possible misunderstanding).

if we all recognize that sometimes this typewritten form of communication is less than perfect, especially on an international platform where many posters have different native languages. I will confess to falling into this trap from time to time, but try to remind myself that it is often best to allow some leeway in others' posts and not be defensive OR accusatory, to avoid reading "attitude" in someone else's response and even more importantly, not giving attitude back as a result

we're all more or less friends here and I don't guess that there's any two people here who wouldn't have a lovely time together (possibly over an adult beverage) dealing with music..don't let this imperfect mode of communication invent disharmony where none would otherwise exist

bless, pablo