Why do pianos sound better from headphone output?

[mon8169]

Hi Jappo,

have you tried any other synth or instrument through your hifi stereo? How was the sound?

Ramon

[Jappo]

Hi Jappo,

have you tried any other synth or instrument through your hifi stereo? How was the sound?

Ramon

No, I don't have anything else to plug in. I was expecting the Channel 1/2 separate outputs to produce basically the same sound as I get from the headphones jack, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Where I'm trying to get is to buy a couple of Active PA speakers/amps but I'm not going to blow all that money and be disappointed by the results. I guess the only answer will be to try different options out in a store but then I will feel a fraud when I end up buying the speakers off eBay

[juhana]

I am running channel 1 to the left input on the stereo amp and channel 2 to the right. The sound is muffled, bassy and distorted (on anything other than tiny volume). Through the headphone output to 2 RCA cables (split - just like you would an MP3 player) it sounds great.

By any chance, you are not plugging the 1/2 channels into LP input of you amp, are you? Are you using the same input of the amp with the headphones out?

[sudkcoce]

Yes, make sure you are not using the phono input on your amp. Tape or aux will do the trick.

[Mr_-G-]

If the input is truly stereo as you confirmed, then the other options I can think of have already been mentioned: 1) your amp is not as good as your headphones, 2) you are connecting to the wrong input (ie impedance is wrong or equalisation is wrong).
I do not think you would encounter this issue with powered speakers, these kbds sound really good.
But to make sure, can you post a short MP3 recorded from the amp to hear what is exactly the problem?

[Jappo]

Yes, make sure you are not using the phono input on your amp. Tape or aux will do the trick.

YEAAAAHHHHHH!!! Phono was the problem. Sorry to be a numpty.

Thanks so much guys

[Jappo]

Now that's sorted are there any opinions about these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251494041247? ... 1423.l2661

vs these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191113224484? ... 1423.l2649 (still available)

vs these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171280838677? ... 1423.l2649

??

[analogika]

I am running channel 1 to the left input on the stereo amp and channel 2 to the right. The sound is muffled, bassy and distorted (on anything other than tiny volume).

Others have already diagnosed, but yes — this bit made it obvious that you were using the phono input.

By way of explanation:

Distortion:
The signal that comes off a turntable is literally just the tiny vibrations of the stylus moving a magnet within a coil, whose variations in magnetic field cause by the vibrating magnet are directly sent into the amplifier. This signal is TINY — really, really tiny. (Which is why seemingly ridiculous things like how tightly screws are fastened on the turntable, or how short/thick the phono cables are can have a comparatively huge influence on sound.) The phono input runs into a phono preamplifier which MASSIVELY amplifies the signal to get it up to "line level" and make it usable by the remaining amp circuitry.
CD players, radio tuners, cassette players, and musical instruments (excluding Rhodes and guitars) already output line-level signals, so running them into the phono preamp will obscenely overload the input.

Bass-heaviness:
Because bass frequencies are very wide and slow, cutting them into vinyl would make it necessary to keep the grooves very widely spaced, so each side could only contain a short piece of music. Also, the wide swings would make it likely that a properly weighted stylus would fly right out of the groove.
To solve these two issues, record manufacturers agreed sixty years ago ago to strongly reduce the bass pressed onto vinyl, using a fixed equalizer setting called the RIAA curve. The phono pre-amp reverses this equalization by adding the bass back into the signal coming off the turntable (how this EQ curve is implemented is one of the reasons why different phono preamps sound different).

So that's why the sound was so massively boomy/muffled and distorted.