Nord User Forum

Is the headphone jack for the Nord Piano, or any instrument, an active signal? If it is, how much power is usually sent out?

I don't know about the Norred pianos but on the electros the headphone jack can go directly to an amp although it's not perfect it's a pretty good match.

I do not think that is a good idea. The headphone jack is stereo and amp inputs are usually mono. If you use a normal instrument mono cable, you are likely to hear only 1 channel and possibly short the other channel, with the additional risk of damaging the headphone preamp.

You certainly won't get optimal sound quality using headphone output into amp. Does it really make sense to buy the sweetest sound keyboard instrument on the planet and then degrade its sound quality for performance?

Bless,

Pablo

Can I just use a stereo to mono adapter and plug into my mono amp?

Hi E-Zero,

That is a spectacularly bad idea. This "poor man's mixer" will forcibly combine the two outputs into one, yes, but will also cause phase cancellation issues. These will vary from program to program. In some cases there will be no obvious problem, in others it will just completely destroy your sound.

Is there a reason why you do not want to use the main audio outputs which are provided on the instrument for that purpose?

Pablo

So here is what I'm going to do...

Right now the main outs are going to the PA. The headphone out is using a y-cable in which just the left channel is going to be plugged into the mono amp. The mono amp is being used as a monitor until my keyboardist buys a proper monitor.

Sound good?

That can work. It will still be better to insert a DI between Nord and PA. This will provide a feed for the onstage monitor amp.

Pablo