Everything about the Nord Electro 2, Electro 3, Electro 4, Electro 5, and Nord Electro 6.

Re: Monitor input problems

Postby Garzet » 28 Feb 2016, 15:54

pterm wrote:
Garzet wrote:So, my further questions would be:
  1. Let's assume it's a ground loop - how do I avoid it in this case?
  2. If the nord is damaged:
    a) is there some other way to reherse that you would recommend?
    b) I'll go get it fixed - do you think that it's worth it?

My only reason to think that the keyboard isn't damaged is that I can get it to work in the way it should, but it's just not consistant. I could be wrong though...


It is encouraging that you can get it to work sometimes. Please verify that you get full stereo when you listen at your Nord. If this is the case, it's possible the Nord's electronics are fine. --I don't have access to the Nord schematics, but I expect the Nord employs a circuit to detect when the monitor plug is inserted. This circuit might be damaged and affecting the behaviour of the monitor input.

It's possible too for the Nokia or Asus to work (to produce correct stereo), but the extra Mic contact introduces an unknown into this, so it best and safest to avoid those for now.

The case that I expect to work is the MP3 player, with plugs fully inserted at both ends. If you observe this case distortion-free, in stereo, but intermittent, then it might only be a mechanical problem with the Nord's jack or still a cable problem. If possible, try a different MP3 player.

If it is a mechanically-damaged or improperly-soldered jack in the Nord, the repair is quite simple (re-soldering or replacing the jack).

Please let us know what you find.

Best of luck,
-pterm


So, after excessive testing with 3 cables,2 laptops, MP3 player, home stereo, 3 smartphones and home PC with Creative X-Fi Titanium sound card I found what was causing the problem and inconsistency. So, the problem was caused by the headphones that I connected to the headphones jack on my Nord. If it is a headset (with a mic), I get that inconsistency described in the previous posts.

I totally forgot that I have a mic on my Razer Electra headphones ( Before you judge me, I'm a student and those were the only headphones I had at the student's home :P ) since you get two cables with them - one with the mic on the cable and the other one without it, obviously. As soon as a saw the 4-pin connector on the end of the headphones cable, I felt stupid. I plugged in the different cable to the headphones and did testing with all the devices and it works as it should, so... no damage was done! (I guess)

I got the problem solved, which is good, but those 3.5mm jacks with 3-pins, 4-pins, stereo, mono, mic + sound mono, mic + sound stereo (or whatever) are blowing my mind and I had some problems with them in the past, but didn't really care as much. Thanks for that picture above showing what each pin on a jack does, I'll try to remember that. If you have any tips regarding those 3.5mm bastards when working with instruments, I would be grateful. I guess I should just always use a standard 3-pin stereo cable (with no mic) then?

Thanks again,
Rudolf

The author Garzet was thanked by 2 members, including:
Berretjepterm
Garzet
 
Posts: 3
Joined: 26 Feb 2016, 12:50
Country: Croatia
Has thanked: 0 time
Been thanked: 2 times
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Electro 5

Re: Monitor input problems


Sponsor
 

Re: Monitor input problems

Postby RedLeo » 28 Feb 2016, 20:26

Garzet wrote: If you have any tips regarding those 3.5mm bastards when working with instruments, I would be grateful. I guess I should just always use a standard 3-pin stereo cable (with no mic) then?


Glad you got it sorted out - good call. Yes, clearly from your experiences, it seems best for everybody to avoid using sockets or gear designed for headset/mic use - it introduces the potential problem of all sorts of incorrect wiring possibilities. You just got unlucky in having all large collection of all the wrong stuff.

Standard 3-pin stereo cables plugged into the correct (stereo output only) type of sockets is the way to go.

Very useful posts though, this will definitely help people in future. :)
Last edited by RedLeo on 28 Feb 2016, 20:27, edited 1 time in total.
RedLeo
Patch Creator
 
Posts: 1558
Joined: 07 Aug 2011, 02:08
Has thanked: 140 times
Been thanked: 702 times

Re: Monitor input problems

Postby pterm » 28 Feb 2016, 22:26

@Garzet: Thanks for sharing your findings and closing the thread.

RedLeo wrote:Standard 3-pin stereo cables plugged into the correct (stereo output only) type of sockets is the way to go.

Also, watch out for the 1/4-inch unbalanced (2 conductor) audio outputs. I accidentally mixed a stereo (3-conductor) in with these and it produced some very distorted audio.
pterm
Donator
 
Posts: 539
Joined: 21 Aug 2012, 20:42
Country: Canada
Has thanked: 197 times
Been thanked: 205 times
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Electro 3

Re: Monitor input problems

Postby Frantz » 29 Feb 2016, 15:02

pterm wrote:Hi ArfNtz,
From the orignal post, I took the term "headset jack" to be something that accepts the four-contact plugs like the two on the right below:
445

The extra "Mic" ring on two plugs on the right are the source of the DC voltage I mentioned. --Actually the source is the 4-conductor headset jack, but since that's the female part of the connector we can't easily visualize the contacts.

Assume you plugged in a Generic sound connector to your Nord first.
Then you insert the other end into the "headset jack" on the ASUS laptop, so the Left and Right contacts on the plug have to pass the powered Microphone contact inside the headset jack. This potentially sends unexpected DC voltage into the Monitor's circuitry.

I agree (and hope) it could still be a bad cable. I just intended to highlight the risks of mixing the headphone and headset connections.


I'm late but :thanks:
http://displaychord.arfntz.fr
A mobile app to display chord names while you play, using midi / bluetooth connection.
User avatar
Frantz
Patch Creator
 
Posts: 2261
Joined: 30 Apr 2011, 13:12
Location: ♫♪ earth ♪♫
Country: France
Has thanked: 477 times
Been thanked: 556 times
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Electro 5

Re: Monitor input problems

Postby RedLeo » 29 Feb 2016, 15:20

pterm wrote:@Garzet: Thanks for sharing your findings and closing the thread.

RedLeo wrote:Standard 3-pin stereo cables plugged into the correct (stereo output only) type of sockets is the way to go.

Also, watch out for the 1/4-inch unbalanced (2 conductor) audio outputs. I accidentally mixed a stereo (3-conductor) in with these and it produced some very distorted audio.


Sure, but I was only really referring to 1/8" jacks in the first place, in which case stereo leads usually are stereo. When you get to !/4" then "stereo" leads are more often associated with balancing rather than carrying two discrete audio signals. But there is more than enough room for confusion all round. As the engineer said:

"Standards are wonderful things. That's why we have so many of them."
RedLeo
Patch Creator
 
Posts: 1558
Joined: 07 Aug 2011, 02:08
Has thanked: 140 times
Been thanked: 702 times

Re: Monitor input problems

Postby fieldflower » 16 Jun 2020, 11:35

There are adaptors from 1 x 4-pin to 2 x 3-pin 3,5 mm connectors.
Mostly meant to connect modern headsets to older computers with separate 3,5's for output and input.
Should totally solve Your problem - just connect the headphones to the 4-pin female and try out which of the 3-pin males that give sound into the Nord.
Image
fieldflower
Patch Creator
 
Posts: 389
Joined: 27 Sep 2017, 19:39
Country: Sweden
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 84 times
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Electro 5

Re: Monitor input problems

Postby fieldflower » 18 Jun 2020, 10:26

Hlaalu wrote:
fieldflower wrote:There are adaptors from 1 x 4-pin to 2 x 3-pin 3,5 mm connectors.
Mostly meant to connect modern headsets to older computers with separate 3,5's for output and input.
Should totally solve Your problem - just connect the headphones to the 4-pin female and try out which of the 3-pin males that give sound into the Nord.
Image


Well the OP seems to have solved his problems with the monitor in input long ago.

My comment was rather general in pointing out that if all it takes to potentially damage the monitor in circuitry is to connect it to a headset jack as opposed to a headphones jack, then we are probably be better off not to use it in the first place, also considering the fact that nowadays most if not all smartphones and PCs have the headset jack.

Honestly it sounds unlikely to me, but I'd like to hear some comments from someone who understands these things better than I do...


My comment was a general one to anyone having the same problem as the OP, as an inexpensive adaptor fixes this problem. :)
fieldflower
Patch Creator
 
Posts: 389
Joined: 27 Sep 2017, 19:39
Country: Sweden
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 84 times
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Electro 5

Previous

Return to Nord Electro Forum



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 19 guests

cron