Individual outs louder than main outs?

So, I've noticed that when using individual outs (1+2) the volume from my 3K is much louder than the stereo mains. Could it be that my MPC was modified (second hand)?

In order to match the level of a sample which is at full volume in the stereo mixer, I only need about 45% of the fader length in the individual outs mixer, afterwards it starts to distort.

Perhaps the reason is that mono samples play through two mono channels (stereo), as opposed to 1 mono output with individual outs, hence the volume difference? Seems to me that if anything, it should have been the other way around.

flextone wrote:So, I've noticed that when using individual outs (1+2) the volume from my 3K is much louder than the stereo mains. Could it be that my MPC was modified (second hand)?
.

Possibly.

Would need a high res picture to see if any components have obviously changed.

Rohan

flextone wrote:Perhaps the reason is that mono samples play through two mono channels (stereo), as opposed to 1 mono output with individual outs, hence the volume difference? Seems to me that if anything, it should have been the other way around.

Could be that the MPC doesn't account for pan laws. Never tested this because I've never used the stereo outs. Also, if you are monitoring through a DAW, your mix buss is by default stereo. So a mono signal sent from the MPC will output the DAW in stereo and increase the loudness by around 6dB - provided phase is coherent.

I imagine sending the signal out from the MPC in stereo will preserve the attenuation from having it panned hard left and right. If you are able to adjust panning on L & R from the MPC Stereo Outs, try centering them and then comparing with the individual out.

Shostakovich wrote:Could be that the MPC doesn't account for pan laws. Never tested this because I've never used the stereo outs. Also, if you are monitoring through a DAW, your mix buss is by default stereo. So a mono signal sent from the MPC will output the DAW in stereo and increase the loudness by around 6dB - provided phase is coherent.

I imagine sending the signal out from the MPC in stereo will preserve the attenuation from having it panned hard left and right. If you are able to adjust panning on L & R from the MPC Stereo Outs, try centering them and then comparing with the individual out.

Pan law never crossed my mind, and there's not a word about it in the manual. I don't think it's possible to center the stereo outputs themselves, only set the panning for every sample. I'll run some tests.

And yes, I was monitoring the mono signal through a DAW while sending the stereo out straight to the monitors through my audio interface so it's very plausible that this is what caused the level difference.

Having said that, the sound was not only louder as I increased the volume in the MPC's mixer, but it also sounded compressed somehow. Like it's going through a brickwall limiter.

mpc3000le wrote:
Possibly.

Would need a high res picture to see if any components have obviously changed.

Rohan

Thank you for the offer Rohan. I might take you up on that if I don't find out that the fault lies with me, as is so often the case. Any particular part / angle?

Conclusion:

Individual outs are louder than stereo outs by around 1.5-2 db. This was tested using the same mono sample being outputted simultaneously from the stereo out (panned hard left) and an individual mono output at full level in the respected mixers into two mono channels in the DAW. When the stereo output is centered this difference grows by 3db. Stereo mixer uses a pan law of -3db.


How do these numbers strike you other 3K users? Do your individual outs output higher levels?