Best output Electro 3HP to Reaper ( or any DAW)

[GuiltD]

I was just wondering, I will be getting my Nord 3 HP saturday! I will have a nord 3 hp, external sound card Akai Professional EIE, and computer using Reaper and another keyboard using midi.

Is it better quality using Nord 3 HP USB to the Akai, or using the left and right audio plugs? Also I am tech retarded, if I use left and right audio plugs, would it be best to use left and right audio from nord into a single quarter inch cord to plug into the guitar inputs, or should I use left and right audio plugs into the audio inserts on the back? They just say audio inserts and there is 4 of them and when I tried sticking a regular red and white they were too small....sorry I am retarded at this...

[mjbrands]

None of the Nord instruments can send audio over their USB connection; even if they did you wouldn't be able to send the sound via USB to the Akai and then to the PC. Sure, the Akai has a three-port USB hub in the pack and you could plug it into that, but in your software would would see the audio coming from a new interface and not the Akai EIE itself.

On the Electro 3 you only use USB for updating sounds. MIDI and audio goes via the normal cables. Only the Stage 2, Piano 2 and Electro 4D can send MIDI over USB.

In your case, you could plug the Electro 3 into the USB hub of the Akai interface and you'd run audio cables from the Electro's outputs to the Akai's inputs and a pair of MIDI cables between the Nord and the Akai (MIDI OUT on the Nord to MIDI IN on the Akai and vice versa).

Note that your Akai EIE has balanced inputs on the front, while the Nord has unbalanced (line-level) outputs. The inserts on the back might be unbalanced though; they probably are. The manual would show this, but I need to register on the Akai site to read the manual and I'm not going to do that.

Balanced and unbalanced (line-level) are electrically different, but on almost all audio interfaces with balanced inputs you can force it to treat an input as an unbalanced source by plugging in a cable with a mono jack (TR, tip-ring) instead of a stereo one (TRS, tip-ring-sleeve). Depending on how the Nord is wired internally it might even work with cables with stereo jacks, but I've had issues with that (granted, on a Waldorf Blofeld) and I would use mono jacks. The same cables with mono jacks are also the cables you'd need to the read audio inserts.

Edit: I'm not sure using the inserts might be the best way to go, plugging in your jacks in the front inputs might be better with regard to input level monitoring, etc.

Something like this would work. This is just an example, pretty much any store that sells instruments, etc. should have cables like this (they might also call them mono patch cables).



All the inputs on your Akai are mono, so you'd use two to make a stereo signal (so 4 mono inputs can be turned into 2 stereo inputs).

If you mean the front inputs with 'guitar input', be aware that a 'guitar input' is yet a different electrical signal. It is often also called a Hi-Z input and on your Akai you have a switch to select between mic/line (balanced/unbalanced) and guitar (Hi-Z). Note that you could use two guitar cables to connect your Nord, as electrically two guitar cables would be the same as what I linked above. However, guitar cables are often quite a bit more expensive because they are much more sturdy (you stand on them, etc.) and they might have a switch on the guitar end that prevents a loud pop when plugging in your guitar (or a buzzing sound when you touch the jacks).

The jacks in professional audio equipment (such as the outputs and inserts on the back, or the headphone output) are 6.3 mm (1/4 inch) plugs, while on consumer equipment they are 3.5 mm. Decent headphones are often supplied with a converter from 3.5 to 6.3 mm.

The red and white connectors you're referring to might be yet another type of connector often used in consumer audio equipment: RCA connectors. You often see these as outputs on equipment like CD players and as inputs on equipment like stereos. These also carry an unbalanced line-level signal (just like the outputs of your Electro 3) and you could use a cable with 6.3 mm mono jacks on the Nord side and RCA plugs on the other to connect your Electro 3 to a regular stereo.

Don't worry about asking questions. Manuals of equipment like your Nord or your Akai assume (to a degree) you are familiar with all kinds of connections you don't normally see in consumer audio equipment.

[GuiltD]

Wow thank you so much for the great reply! I am going to try that tomorrow and get those cables...thanks~!!

[GuiltD]

That was so detailed and thank you for taking the time to write this.

[GuiltD]

I see on the AKAI on the front level/mic line switch. Which is better quality. Plugging in quarter inch mono patch cables from the back of the Nord e 3 to the back of the Akai (audio inserts) or taking 2 mono patch cables from back of nord leading into a single quarter inch into the front of the AKAI level mic line insert?

I am guessing the former. Thanks for helping me understand this.

[GuiltD]

Oh I get it now. Had to reread a couple times!!

[GuiltD]

Im also using audio engine 5+ for monitors. I guess I will have to find a cable thats small 2 (monos) leading into 2 quarter inch patch cables plugging into the back of the AKAI into the audio outputs..........whew............. I need classes!

[GuiltD]

I like the idea of using 2 mono quarter inch patch cables for everything, seems to me would be more clean separating left and right

[mjbrands]

I guess I will have to find a cable thats small 2 (monos) leading into 2 quarter inch patch cables plugging into the back of the AKAI into the audio outputs.

Yup, 2 x mono 1/4" jack into 2 x RCA. Those should be pretty easy to find and not very expensive (like $5-10 or so?).

You can often pull the two wires in stereo cables apart, should you wish to; they may have some plastic clip on the ends to prevent that from separating but that can be removed (just make sure you don't damage the wire).

You could also get a few of these: 10 for $13 seems like a good deal. Plug these into the Akai and Nord and use RCA cables.



Searching Amazon for 'jack 1/4 rca' turns up lots of useable stuff.

Like this (probably too short though, only 1 meter long):

[mjbrands]

Btw. if you hear a loud buzzing sound from your speakers (60 Hz for the US), you have grounding problems somewhere in your setup. Your Nord is grounded via the outputs to the Akai and the Akai is grounded to your computer via USB and your speakers via their inputs to the Akai. If any of the equipment has a 3-prong power lead, it might cause problems. Your audio interface is the most likely place problems will surface, but it might not be the cause (usually it is the computer). If you disconnect the USB cable between the Akai and the computer (audio interface will keep working, as this one required an external power supply) and the buzzing goes away, it is certainly the computer.

Try plugging in equipment in other wall sockets, preferably close together. This doesn't have anything to do with distance, but sockets that are located close together are usually connected to the same 'power group/phase' (not entirely correct, but you could say connected to the same circuit breaker). You could also use an outlet strip or something.

There's a chance you run into this (and I like telling horror stories ), but the chance you're not impacted by this is even bigger.

Edit: removing the earthing prong from any connector that has one (either by cutting it off, disconnecting it or by sticking some converter on it that doesn't have one) is not a good thing to do; it is there for a reason (your safety).