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Brand new Nord Grand with noisy headphone out

Postby dcbbl » 10 Nov 2021, 13:45

Hi,

On my brand new lovely Nord Grand I'm experiencing quite some noise on the headphone out. It's kind of a floor noise level, which does not change when I turn up or down the main volume or piano or synth volume. It's clearly present even when all volumes are turned down to zero.

My headphones are AKG K-371 – solid but in no way high end.

One thing that's weird is that I don't hear that noise floor with a pair of "lesser" headphones I tried (KRK KNS 6400, came with the instrument as a bundle). However, those headphones sound muddy and much less detailed than the AKGs anyway, so probably they just cannot represent the frequencies of that noise – but that's just my speculation of a signal processing layman. Sadly, I don't have access to another good pair of headphones to compare.

Here are the things that lead me to believe it might be the headphone output on the Grand:

- I don't experience that noise floor on any other instrument or device I use the headphone with (for example an older Yamaha piano with an "e piano" box and a contemporary Moog synthesizer).
- I tried switching cables and adapters, without success.
- When I connect the line outs to my small Yamaha mixer and plug in the headphones there, I can find gain / volume settings without that noise floor. Need to crank up the Nord's main volume a bit more, but I get it to work.

So it seems like it's either the headphone out, or the combination of that with my specific headphones.

I hate the idea of sending the Nord Grand back, but of course I don't want to stuck with a bad unit.

So I'm curious to know whether somebody has experienced similar issues, or has an idea what to try.

Best,
David
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Brand new Nord Grand with noisy headphone out


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Re: Brand new Nord Grand with noisy headphone out

Postby Bjosko » 12 Nov 2021, 00:49

It might be your headphones impedance that do not match well with your Grand.
I have a pair great Sennheiser HD650, original bought for mixing.
They also sound excellent on most of my keyboards directly from the headphone out, but they do not work on some of my keyboards. Distortion, low level and crackling. I also have a pair of cheaper Shure SRH840 that are working great, also on this keyboards.
/Bjørn

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Re: Brand new Nord Grand with noisy headphone out

Postby agcohn » 12 Nov 2021, 04:48

Do those headphones have a built-in 1/4" headphone jack, or are you using a 1/8" > 1/4" adapter? I would try swapping out the adapter or headphone cable if possible.

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Re: Brand new Nord Grand with noisy headphone out

Postby NoDirection » 12 Nov 2021, 07:58

Can I ask if you have other equipment connected to your Nord-Grand ?

I once experienced noise on some speakers from my Nord Stage, but the real reason was a noisy PowerSupply to the laptop I had connected to the USB-port of my Nord. So the interference from the PowerSupply ended up as hum on the speakers.

For headphones I can really recommend German quality brand Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro - They have an impedance of 250 ohm and sound excellent.
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Re: Brand new Nord Grand with noisy headphone out

Postby dcbbl » 12 Nov 2021, 13:52

agcohn wrote:Do those headphones have a built-in 1/4" headphone jack, or are you using a 1/8" > 1/4" adapter? I would try swapping out the adapter or headphone cable if possible.


They have indeed an adapter and I tried switching. Didn't help, unfortunately.
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Re: Brand new Nord Grand with noisy headphone out

Postby dcbbl » 12 Nov 2021, 13:53

NoDirection wrote:Can I ask if you have other equipment connected to your Nord-Grand ?


I have not, but good to know for the future that this might cause problems. I do plan to use the little line in for a metronome app or so.
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Re: Brand new Nord Grand with noisy headphone out

Postby dcbbl » 12 Nov 2021, 13:58

Bjosko wrote:It might be your headphones impedance that do not match well with your Grand.
I have a pair great Sennheiser HD650, original bought for mixing.
They also sound excellent on most of my keyboards directly from the headphone out, but they do not work on some of my keyboards. Distortion, low level and crackling. I also have a pair of cheaper Shure SRH840 that are working great, also on this keyboards.


I was looking in the manual for a recommendation on impedance or other headphone specs, but Nord don't provide that.

Is there any kind of recommendation, or just experience on what works well for Nord pioanos? Or does everybody just work with a mixer?

The AKGs seem to have 32 Ohm, which is supposed to work on music equipment as well as on consumer electronics, and I've been happy with them on various instruments and devices. My impression is that they are quite sensitive, and also a bit harsh in the mids, especially on e-pianos. I'm totally willing to get new headphones for the Nord if that fixes the problem.
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Re: Brand new Nord Grand with noisy headphone out

Postby cphollis » 12 Nov 2021, 16:45

Sounds like it might be a grounding issue with that specific pair of headphones. If the grounding isn't proper in the headphones (e.g. shared ground with the mixer or keyboard), current can flow over the audio signal, creating background noise, hum, etc. A broken internal wire or similar can cause this. Since all this stuff is cheaply made (but not necessarily cheap), you should try a different pair of headphones first. Generally speaking, there are no impedance issues or similar when using headphones with a Nord.
I think I have gear issues ....
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