Korg Forums

robosardine · Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 6:14 pm Post subject: Why stereo out?

Why do the fabled Volcas all have stereo outs if none of them have any panning capabilities?

Cybearg · Joined: 20 Sep 2013 Posts: 6

I like that it is stereo out because the monotron was annoying when you could only hear it out of one headphone. Right? Maybe I'm remembering it wrong. Either way I have many 1/8 inch to 2 1/4 inch cables I get to use for maybe a wet/dry mix with one output to a guitar pedal?

Maybe it just isn't any cheaper to make a mono out.

DrHoo · Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 11:07 am Post subject:

It's a good question though. If you listen to the mix out of the beats, preset at factory, you can tell it probably wouldn't sound the same from a mono jack. Makes me hopeful that future updates or mods will allow panning. What were they thinking not having panning on a drum machine ?

The other two volcas though, why a stereo out for a monosynth ?

robosardine · Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 12:22 pm Post subject:

I have just had to order some stereo mini jack to mono standard jack leads in order to hear it while not wasting an output on my mixer.

tsutek · Joined: 20 Nov 2013 Posts: 43

My guess is that the volca's are targeted towards casual operation / entry-level synthesists? In that context it makes much more sense to use consumer-grade audio I/O like minijacks and output dual mono (so that sounds come out from both speakers / headphones)

For more advanced use cases, it's easy enough to circumvent the issue with proper cables/adaptors..

Tiax · Joined: 10 Jan 2014 Posts: 2

Okay, so I'm a total noob and I'm a bit confused.

What's the best way to plug my Volca into my mixer ? Which cable/adapters should I use ?

EDIT : Something like this ? MINI-JACK STEREO - > JACK MONO ?

analoguekid · Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:41 am Post subject:

It really depends on what you want to do with the signal, I plug mine into a mini stereo mixer via a mini stereo jack lead, then out of the little mixer into my input on the audio interface to PC, which has a stand alone mode for use without a PC. This makes it possible to have the stereo signal all the way to the output. Incidentally I only ever use the headphones out socket on all my synths as its nearly always a cleaner signal irrespective of the benifits of the fact that its stereo.
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Korg gear past and present:- DW6000, DW8000, MicroKorg, MicroKontrol, R3, Nintendo Korg DS10, VolcaKeys.
Other gear presently being used:- Tascam US1800 audio interface, Yamaha QX5, QX21, M Audio radium 49, Fender Precision lyte bass and Boss ME50B fx pedal. Yamaha TX1P, XRI xr300, Boss BX-4 mini mixer.

analoguekid · Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:43 am Post subject:

Oh and if you use that lead above, you will loose the stereo signal at the mixer, the signal would be converted to sub mono and although you hear it out of both speakers/headphones it wont be a tru stereo signal.
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Korg gear past and present:- DW6000, DW8000, MicroKorg, MicroKontrol, R3, Nintendo Korg DS10, VolcaKeys.
Other gear presently being used:- Tascam US1800 audio interface, Yamaha QX5, QX21, M Audio radium 49, Fender Precision lyte bass and Boss ME50B fx pedal. Yamaha TX1P, XRI xr300, Boss BX-4 mini mixer.

Tiax · Joined: 10 Jan 2014 Posts: 2

Actually I not using a computer in this setup, the Volca are to be plugged into my Allen&Heath ZED14-FX mixer in a mono channel (channels 1 to Cool

, line input.

As those are mono channels, wouldn't it makes sense to use a such a cable (stereo minijack to mono jack) ?

analoguekid · Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 5:33 pm Post subject:

dswo · Joined: 24 May 2011 Posts: 35

Re-Member · Platinum Member Joined: 15 Feb 2008 Posts: 657

analoguekid · Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:12 pm Post subject:

Re-Member · Platinum Member Joined: 15 Feb 2008 Posts: 657

You are indeed correct, but your point is made redundant by the fact that none of the Volcas have panning capabilities. In my set up, running a single mono 3.5 to 1/4 cable to my mixer and listening to it through headphones is the same as listening to the Volcas directly with headphones. You mention "although you hear it out of both speakers/headphones it wont be a tru stereo signal," but again, no panning feature, so what's the point? Even if I used a single mono cable to record directly into a DAW interface, I could easily just convert the audio to be doubled as a stereo track. People have been doing this with guitars for years.
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Roland Juno-60, SH-101, TR-606, MC-505, Casio CZ-101, Yamaha DX100, DX11, Kawai R-50e // Korg R3, microSTATION, Monotribe, MS-20 Mini, SQ-1, minilogue, electribe sampler, Volca series: Bass, Keys, Beats, Sample, FM, Kick, Moog Theremin

analoguekid · Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 9:40 pm Post subject: