Low volume from record ins when sampling

Technical questions for the MPC2000xl and the MPC2000
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Low volume from record ins when sampling

By Lojic619 Mon Jan 13, 2014 5:42 pm
Just got a new 2000xl in prestine condition I opened her up and she's solid from the inside out. I just bought brand new RCA cables and RCA to 1/4" adapters but when I plug everything in ( turntable>Pyle pro phono pre-amp>record in's w/RCA 1/4" adapters) the volume is extremely low. I tried to search this forum before asking and still haven't ran across anything helpful. I tested the adapters from the headphone jack into my audio interface and it has the same low volume issue can anyone confirm it is I fact the adapters and can you point me in the direction of the ones I should purchase to fix this problem. Thanks in advance!!

Re: Low volume from record ins when sampling

By Lojic619 Tue Jan 14, 2014 7:45 pm
Pre amp is a Pyle pro pp999 it's definitely powered correctly I've been using the setup for years going straight into my audio interface. My adapters look the same but they have 2 black bands instead of the ones pictured which only have 1 nt sure if this makes a difference. Anyone run into this before?
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Re: Low volume from record ins when sampling

By tapedeck Tue Jan 14, 2014 8:19 pm
if it truly is mono rca to 'stereo' 1/4" as you describe - i dont know why anyone would even make that adapter.
it shouldn't matter, but at least you've done different tests to you can isolate the problem to not the mpc or the audio interface...it has to be the pre / adapters / cables / etc.

Re: Low volume from record ins when sampling

By Lojic619 Tue Jan 14, 2014 8:37 pm
Alright so I ditched the adapters and bought a RCA to single phono y cable going into the right record in and I'm getting full volume. Thanks for the input very much appreciated.
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Re: Low volume from record ins when sampling

By tapedeck Tue Jan 14, 2014 8:51 pm
Wal Martian wrote:Two black bands means they are balanced adapters,

yea but a balanced rca? never heard of that.

Lojic619 wrote:Alright so I ditched the adapters and bought a RCA to single phono y cable going into the right record in and I'm getting full volume.

glad it's working but you should really be using two mono-mono cables. you are only getting one channel by only using one input.

Re: Low volume from record ins when sampling

By Lojic619 Tue Jan 14, 2014 9:30 pm
Yea this obviously won't be the set up I use I was just saying now I'm getting full volume so it ruled out any other possibilities as stated above about the pre amp or other cables. I'll be picking up the right RCA to 1/4" cables today instead of using the RCA to 1/4" adapters. Thanks again for all the feedback everyone
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Re: Low volume from record ins when sampling

By Lampdog Wed Jan 15, 2014 4:16 am
tapedeck wrote:
Wal Martian wrote:Two black bands means they are balanced adapters,

yea but a balanced rca? never heard of that.


It's simply a stereo plug.
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Re: Low volume from record ins when sampling

By SimonInAustralia Wed Jan 15, 2014 4:28 am
Lampdog wrote:
tapedeck wrote:
Wal Martian wrote:Two black bands means they are balanced adapters,

yea but a balanced rca? never heard of that.

It's simply a stereo plug.

There isn't a stereo/balanced RCA plug/socket.

I too am wondering what he is talking about, not sure why they would make an adapter to change from a single mono RCA to a single stereo/TRS 1/4" plug.

Unless maybe he is trying to send stereo RCAs into a single 1/4" socket, using something like this...

Image

...which if used on a balanced 1/4" mono MPC input, would cause anything panned to the centre to cancel itself out, making it very quiet?

But in his reply above, he says they are the same as the image I posted earlier, but with two black bands instead of one. :hmmm:
Last edited by SimonInAustralia on Wed Jan 15, 2014 4:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Low volume from record ins when sampling

By SimonInAustralia Wed Jan 15, 2014 4:42 am
Lampdog wrote:It's simply a stereo plug.

OK, yes, so this must be what he has...

Image

6.35mm Stereo Plug to RCA Female Adapter

Can be used in both directions.

If this adapter is plugged into a stereo output, the signal will be converted into a mono RCA output. Alternatively, it allows a mono RCA signal to be fed to both channels of a stereo 6.35mm input.

Made to send a mono RCA signal into a stereo TRS 1/4" input, to split the mono RCA signal into both sides of the stereo 1/4" input, or vice versa, combine both sides of a stereo 1/4" output signal into a mono RCA.

When used with a balanced mono MPC TRS 1/4" input, the exact same mono signal from the RCA is sent to both the +/hot/T and -/cold/R sides of the balanced mono MPC TRS 1/4" input, and when the balanced signal is unbalanced inside the MPC, it cancels itself out, making it very quiet.

He just needs the mono RCA to mono TS 1/4" adapters, instead of those.
Last edited by SimonInAustralia on Wed Jan 15, 2014 5:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Low volume from record ins when sampling

By tapedeck Wed Jan 15, 2014 5:04 am
SimonInAustralia wrote:When used with a balanced mono MPC TRS 1/4" input, the exact same mono signal from the RCA is sent to both the +/hot/T and -/cold/R sides of the balanced mono MPC TRS 1/4" input, and when the balanced signal is unbalanced inside the MPC, it cancels itself out, making it very quiet.

that was kind of my hunch - but again i've just never heard of this adapter. seems totally pointless cause wouldn't a regular mono cable do the same thing?

nevertheless, they do exist.

and if yer telling me the xl inputs are balanced, that is awesome. honestly its hard to tell without testing cause sometimes the instruction manual and the service manual say different things (i believe the 1k or 2.5k say both).
:mrgreen:
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Re: Low volume from record ins when sampling

By SimonInAustralia Wed Jan 15, 2014 5:09 am
tapedeck wrote:that was kind of my hunch - but again i've just never heard of this adapter. seems totally pointless cause wouldn't a regular mono cable do the same thing?

Yeah, had me confused, have not seen one either.

A mono TS 1/4" cable wouldn't do the same thing with a stereo TRS 1.4" input or output, you would get the left channel in or out OK, but the right channel would be shorted to ground by the sleeve of the TS plug in the TRS socket, so you wouldn't get it at all.

Not good for a balanced input/output, you get phase cancellation going on, which is the OP's issue.


tapedeck wrote:and if yer telling me the xl inputs are balanced, that is awesome. honestly its hard to tell without testing cause sometimes the instruction manual and the service manual say different things (i believe the 1k or 2.5k say both).
:mrgreen:

Yeah, I'm telling you. :nod: :lol:

All MPCs, I think, except for the MPC500, have balanced inputs. The MPC500 shorts the ring contact of the input jacks to ground, so is really unbalanced.

The MPC2000XL operators manual also tells you...
Rear Panel Inputs/Outputs
• Record input (both L and R).......... 1/4-inch stereo phone x 2, balanced -40dBu, input Imp. 39kW; Max. input level +10dBu

...which is confirmed on the MPC2000XL schematics, balanced TRS input, T and R going to separate amp stages to be unbalanced...

Image
Last edited by SimonInAustralia on Wed Jan 15, 2014 5:55 am, edited 12 times in total.
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Re: Low volume from record ins when sampling

By SimonInAustralia Wed Jan 15, 2014 5:14 am
tapedeck wrote:so you could sample the guitar player from 200 ft away cool. :mrgreen:

As long as you plugged the unbalanced output of the guitar into a DI first, to make it balanced, before trying to send it 200 ft. :lol:
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