cables-again-mono and stereo & do all synths use unbalanced

I dont understand stereo and mono. If i have a stereo out from my synth, Is that gonna be 2 mono leads coming out of two outs or is it 2 stereo cables coming out of 2 outs on the synth. Hope thats clear.
Also do all synths use unbalanced cables because mine soesnt give a specification for this and i though i read somewhere before that this was the case.

Typically, it will be stereo out on 2 x mono ports. Usually unbalanced, but sometimes balanced (but mono-compatible if you plug in a mono cable).

If you turn up for a gig with a MPC, a synth, MIDI cable and and a bunch of mono cables, you should be good to go... but if in doubt, check the manual(s).

oh ok. Im going through a mixer and into a soundcard. Does it then matter if the synth has stereo outs or mono outs or does is it ultimately come down to whats coming out of the mixer and into the soundcard. I think the mixer has balanced stereo outs.

Oh and am i right in saying that the two rings/one ring on cables refers to them being balanced/unbalanced and has nothing to do with them being stereo/mono

martyfulu wrote:Oh and am i right in saying that the two rings/one ring on cables refers to them being balanced/unbalanced and has nothing to do with them being stereo/mono

Indeed.

martyfulu wrote:oh ok. Im going through a mixer and into a soundcard. Does it then matter if the synth has stereo outs or mono outs or does is it ultimately come down to whats coming out of the mixer and into the soundcard. I think the mixer has balanced stereo outs.

Well if your synth comes out stereo then you can add a stereo sound in your mixer and bring stereo sound out of your mixer into the sound card. It's basically a question of what comes in can go out.

you guys got me, Im interested in this topic also. to me it sound like its better to use mono cables when creating music, and stereo cable maybe @ gigs.

stereoroid wrote:Typically, it will be stereo out on 2 x mono ports. Usually unbalanced, but sometimes balanced (but mono-compatible if you plug in a mono cable).

If you turn up for a gig with a MPC, a synth, MIDI cable and and a bunch of mono cables, you should be good to go... but if in doubt, check the manual(s).

Does the second statement not contradict the 1st. one. Does it mean stereo out with 2 x mono leads. Im sorry if im coming across as a dumbass but if ya dont know ya dont know.

hello to all of you

You guys seem a little confused....... A stereo signal is a left and right signal. stereo stands for two, which is indeed two cables. forget the mono stereo cable talk.

Stereo out means there is a left and a right output (two), hooking them to a mixer and leaving the pan in the centre will still give a mono signal. it's only stereo when you pan hard left and hard right.

if you only hook the left output of your synth into the left input of the soundcard, and record on a stereo track, you'll only get signal on the left...
if you also record the right at the same time, it's stereo if you pan... it's all about routing and undestanding signal flow.

all jacks are (mono(i don't like saying that)) in the sense that you dont have one single output that splits in two.. do you see what I mean.
Certain cinch cables like the ones you hook out of your computer are stereo cause you got only one mini jack coming out of the computer and spliting left (black or white cinch) and right (red cinch).

spdif cables can be considered stereo cause you got one cable for the left and the right channel.. get it???

Balanced cables are the ones that have two rings/one ring on cables which are known as trs (tip, ring and sleeve) unbalanced only have two and do not have the earthing wire which is why you are more likely to get noise with unballanced cables.

hope this helps

pt3r wrote:

martyfulu wrote:Oh and am i right in saying that the two rings/one ring on cables refers to them being balanced/unbalanced and has nothing to do with them being stereo/mono

Indeed.

Special case: with a headphone socket (e.g. on the MPC1000 front panel, or marked that way on a PC), then the tip and ring are Left and Right, unbalanced.

If your outputs are two sockets marked Left and Right, then you're set. You don't have to worry about balanced or unbalanced in that case, just take advantage if you can, otherwise just plug in and go.