most noobist questions ever.

iampatrick · Post by **iampatrick** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 5:37 pm

okay, I am brand new to the whole electronic/synth whatever scene. And I have been investing in products that look like they could make the music i want to.

The KP3 is on my list of things, and I have no idea how to get it to work..connection and cables wise lol.

1) I am also getting a koassilator (original, i know) and i know i use rca cables to hook them up to each other..but would i need a ac linked rca to hook it up to an amp?

2) What kind of usb would I need to hook it up to the comp?

3) If i want to connect it to other things besides my koassilator would I need a midi interface? Or just midi from the kp3 straight to like a electribe?

4) and also, what cables come with it in the box? Will I need to buy a power adapter?

sorry for being a pest and biggest noob, but until i get the hang of all this, i will keep asking dumb questions like these ):

salamanderanagram · Post by **salamanderanagram** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 7:23 pm

1. a guitar amp? i guess you would want an rca to 1/4 inch cable? you would be better off using speakers though.

2. it's a standard usb cable like the one that connects your printer to your computer. i think one should come with the kp3.

3. probably not, but i guess it depends on exactly what you want to do....

4. no you will not need to buy an adapter. you will need to get some rca cables and whatever other sound cables you need.

iampatrick · Post by **iampatrick** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:42 pm

alright, thanks a lot

people are nice here.

could you possibly give me a link to a decent speaker? I have no idea what to look for in speakers

and do rca's work on speakers?

iampatrick · Post by **iampatrick** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 8:49 pm

and for #3 I would want to hook up a electribe to the kp3

..if that works

salamanderanagram · Post by **salamanderanagram** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 11:05 pm

usually i attach my electribe thru the sound input of the kp3, but i guess you could use the midi to control stuff as well if you wanted. unless you are reprogramming your midi or trying to attach a bunch of stuff you shouldn't need a midi interface though.

as for speakers, there is a world of different stuff out there, it all depends on what you feel like spending; some may accept RCAs, though my guess would be that most good ones will not. you will probably want a mixer eventually so you can run a bunch of stuff thru them at once, otherwise you will be stuck with a single sound source.

iampatrick · Post by **iampatrick** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 11:43 pm

alright, what kind of cable would I be looking for the sound input lol

I will look into a mixer, and probably make another thread with these kind of questions lol ><

thank you so so much

iampatrick · Post by **iampatrick** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 11:44 pm

or if you have aim..I could just annoy you on that ahah

salamanderanagram · Post by **salamanderanagram** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:33 am

no no i can't be having people messaging me w/ stuff like that, no offense

.
really what cables you will need will depend on what speakers and mixer you have. when you have the necessary hardware in front of you it will become apparent what you need. probably a 1/4 inch cable for each speaker, and an RCA cable for the KP3, and another for the kaossilator.

you could probably even plug it in to your guitar amp with a 1/4 inch to RCA cable and see how that works, it's just a very limited setup is all.

iampatrick · Post by **iampatrick** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:02 am

so if i plug all those into a mixer with rca's then plug the mixer into a speaker/pa they will all come out the same amp?

and that isn't only whats gonna be in my setup

salamanderanagram · Post by **salamanderanagram** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 5:00 am

if you get a larger mixer you can plug whatever the heck you want into it (mine has 2 rcas, 2 xlrs, and 8 or 10 1/4 inch jacks). then it 'mixes' the signals together (hence the name) and gives you a single output. frankly before you invest too much in all of that gear you may want to do some serious studying about audio interfaces and gear, having a bunch of stuff won't do you any good if you don't know how to use it.

4NDRW · Post by **4NDRW** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:08 pm

salamanderanagram wrote:if you get a larger mixer you can plug whatever the heck you want into it (mine has 2 rcas, 2 xlrs, and 8 or 10 1/4 inch jacks). then it 'mixes' the signals together (hence the name) and gives you a single output. frankly before you invest too much in all of that gear you may want to do some serious studying about audio interfaces and gear, having a bunch of stuff won't do you any good if you don't know how to use it.

x2

keep reading before you spend your money
you need to know what all these things do first

iampatrick · Post by **iampatrick** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:35 pm

I am trying my best to learn. But i wont be getting the beginning of the stuff till october

thank you all.

iampatrick · Post by **iampatrick** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:45 pm

salamanderanagram wrote:if you get a larger mixer you can plug whatever the heck you want into it (mine has 2 rcas, 2 xlrs, and 8 or 10 1/4 inch jacks). then it 'mixes' the signals together (hence the name) and gives you a single output. frankly before you invest too much in all of that gear you may want to do some serious studying about audio interfaces and gear, having a bunch of stuff won't do you any good if you don't know how to use it.

do you have a pmp2000 by any change?

iampatrick · Post by **iampatrick** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 3:39 am

so is any mixer good for plugging in whatever are they all universal

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Thu Aug 07, 2008 12:12 pm

You get DJ mixers, then you get mixers like what you're probably looking for or what a live band or such would use.
A DJ mixer generally only has two or three inputs and a single fader to blend between them.
You also get Video Mixers but we won't talk about them here.

A mixer can have many inputs (that we call channels), and these usually run vertically along the mixer's panel, with a fader at the bottom. You can set the level/volume with these for each channel or signal and then these will be 'mixed' into your stereo output signal.

for example, I have a 16channel mixer, into which i plug my two synths, my electric drum kit, two microphones, a bass guitar and an electric guitar.
Then i have two RCA cables going from the main mix to my Behringer Powered Monitors (speakers).
The monitors take RCA but my mixer has jack outputs so I have an adaptor for 1/4in jack to RCA. But some mixers will also have their own Main Mix RCA outputs.

I say 'main mix' because some mixers can have more than one output bus. Mine having two or three, the second of which goes to my computer for recording and you can press a button for each channel to choose whether it goes to main mix, alternate, etc.

so basically with a mixer you can go from several inputs, mix and distribute them to several outputs.
Some mixers may give you a 'virtual bus' or such allowing you to connect the mixer directly to a computer over firewire or USB to record either a stereo mix or even individual channels seperately. These typically come with stripped-down 'learning edition' software such as Cubase LE or a version of Abletion Live.

Assuming that you use the KP (most synths and FX units will be) in stereo, you would need to use two channels for your KP, unless your mixer has stereo channels.

Something like this may be all you need in a mixer
http://www.behringer.com/1204/index.cfm?lang=eng

Or you may need something larger... Depending on what country you are in there are probably several different stores whose websites you can browse to look at mixers, compare prices, number of inputs and outputs and other connections.
I have this one - http://www.behringer.com/1832FX/index.cfm?lang=eng, and these speakers - http://www.behringer.com/MS16/index.cfm?lang=ENG

Speaking about speakers or 'monitors'. Generally I believe you will be wanting Active Monitors - these you can plug into the mains for amplification, whereas Passive ones will require you to buy a seperate amplifier or have a amplified mixer (the Headphones output on a mixer can sometimes do).

But don't just look at the products that i've shown you as they are quite clearly one-sided. there are many different manufacturers and sizes and feature sets.