Output level. Again.

Everything about the Nord Stage series; features, specifications, how to operate, and questions about technical issues.
RedLeo
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Re: Output level. Again.

Post by RedLeo »

Ok, your Mackie desk has Line inputs on TRS/TS jack sockets, so you just need 2 ordinary jack-to-jack (TS - TS) leads to connect from the outputs of your Stage to the Line inputs of the Mackie, which are the sockets immediately above the XLR inputs. (Whatever you do, don't use any leads with a TRS jack at one or both ends). Set the Trim knob to about 12.00 o'clock as a rough starting point, and you should now find that all your levels are correct and your noise problems should be gone.

If you had the global phantom power switched on, it's impossible to guess whether it's done any damage or not, you'll just have to suck it and see. Hopefully everything will be ok.

To answer your question about how to connect your Stage to a mixer with only XLR inputs, that will depend on whether the XLR inputs are Mic or Line inputs. If the XLR inputs are Mic inputs, then you would use a DI box as an interface to match the levels and impedance properly. If the XLR inputs are Line level, then you would need to buy or wire a suitable adaptor lead. However I don't think you'll ever actually come across a situation where the only inputs are Line level XLRs, so I wouldn't worry about it.

As far as the M-BOX is concerned, do you mean the Avid M-BOX? If so, there's nothing special to this. Again, just use two TS jack-to-jack leads connected to the rear panel Combi sockets. As before, don't use XLRs or TRS jacks. Make sure the front panel Gain knobs are NOT pulled out - you do *not* want to engage the -20dB pad. Try setting the front panel Gains knobs to about 12.00 o'clock and use the Signal/Clip LEDs to fine-tune the gain. You should now have proper signal level with no noise.

BTW, when I say no noise or noise problems, I just mean that you shouldn't have any noticeable noise under normal operating conditions. You will of course hear some noise if you listen carefully, and you should expect the Stage to be possibly a little noisier than some other keyboards. But there shouldn't be enough noise to bother you or anybody else. In other words, there shouldn't be any *significant* amount of noise.
soundguy
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Re: Output level. Again.

Post by soundguy »

Thanks for the reply, I will try that and see what the results are next week. I emailed Nord about the Phantom Power being pushed to the outputs of the NS2, lets see what they say, because I heard some manufacturers out there have protection capacitors on the outputs, and others say Phantom power shouldn't even affect it much anyway. So yeah will have to wait and see what Nord's Engineers have to say about this, I expect they should have had this type of issue covered in their circuit design, being that they are a top end keyboard manufacturer and that the Stage 2 is a TOP END keyboard.
Last edited by soundguy on 11 Jan 2015, 06:52, edited 1 time in total.
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Frantz
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Re: Output level. Again.

Post by Frantz »

Hi, do you have some news then ?
http://displaychord.arfntz.fr
A mobile app to display chord names while you play, using midi / bluetooth connection.
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Re: Output level. Again.

Post by Red Moon »

This is an old thread, but did anyone get an answer here? Will phantom power pushed to the NS2 outputs cause a problem?
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Schorsch
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Re: Output level. Again.

Post by Schorsch »

Probably - but in this case the NS2 TS outputs have to be directly connected to a XLR mixer input which provides phantom power, which must be done with a TS-to-XLR Adapter. I suggest to avoid this and, if it’s necessary to connect the NS2 to a MIC XLR input, use a passive DI box. The DI should avoid having phantom power passed through to the NS2
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Check this https://chris55.github.io/ns3-program-viewer/ awesome tool to visualize NS2/3 programs and re-create them on the other instrument!

Gear: NS3C, Uhl X4V-1, 2-manual HX3.4 organ made by Tastendoktor, SL88 Studio
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Re: Output level. Again.

Post by Red Moon »

My audio input device is a Behringer UMC404HD, which has XLR-1/4 combo inputs. I know phantom power uses XLR, but is there any real voltage across the T-S cable? I have to leave phantom power to all channels active to use a condenser mic at the same time.
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Schorsch
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Re: Output level. Again.

Post by Schorsch »

Hi, the answer can be found here: https://forum.musictribe.com/showthread ... A-UMC404HD

No phantom power at the TS inputs ...
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Check this https://chris55.github.io/ns3-program-viewer/ awesome tool to visualize NS2/3 programs and re-create them on the other instrument!

Gear: NS3C, Uhl X4V-1, 2-manual HX3.4 organ made by Tastendoktor, SL88 Studio
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Re: Output level. Again.

Post by Red Moon »

Thanks! I had been looking for that, and I completely missed it. Appreciate your help, and sorry that it ended up being irrelevant from Nord.
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