After some testing, I have determined that the left output channel of my korg R3 is around 9dB quieter than the right channel.
I use two mono outputs to record into my RME babyface and all of a sudden I have an stereo imbalance in volume output from the R3.
What has caused this?
Any further information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Left output channel quieter than right output channel. (R3)
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There are lots of possibilities. If you or someone normally used the L/Mono channel to directly hook to a mixer, the output could be damaged if phantom power is turned on, with a ground loop, by shorting both outputs together with a Y adapter to attempt to go to a single mono input, or anything else that takes the output out of its designed electrical requirements. Or the output amplifier could have one or more bad components that were defective before you got it.
Only a qualified electronics repair technician or audio electronics engineer can trace the circuit to determine exactly which components have failed, which might reveal more clues to the causes. But in many cases the exact cause can't be determined by merely examining the damage.
Only a qualified electronics repair technician or audio electronics engineer can trace the circuit to determine exactly which components have failed, which might reveal more clues to the causes. But in many cases the exact cause can't be determined by merely examining the damage.
I believe I accidentally had phantom power on the left channel.xmlguy wrote:There are lots of possibilities. If you or someone normally used the L/Mono channel to directly hook to a mixer, the output could be damaged if phantom power is turned on, with a ground loop, by shorting both outputs together with a Y adapter to attempt to go to a single mono input, or anything else that takes the output out of its designed electrical requirements. Or the output amplifier could have one or more bad components that were defective before you got it.
Only a qualified electronics repair technician or audio electronics engineer can trace the circuit to determine exactly which components have failed, which might reveal more clues to the causes. But in many cases the exact cause can't be determined by merely examining the damage.
That is the reason for this.
What remedies are there for this? For the time being I am manually balancing the inputs myself.
Thanks.
The output amplifier needs to be traced with an oscilloscope to see which components may have been damaged. Because it's still working at a lower volume, then visually inspecting for heat damage may not identify the components that need to be replaced. It may be a pretty simple fix, but most of the expense will probably be the labor to diagnose the problem. It could be just a resistor or capacitor that costs only a few cents in parts, or an opamp IC might need to be replaced, which is also rather cheap in parts.
The most practical way to prevent this kind of damage in the future is to use a DI box that has phantom power protection. A DI box (stereo) is usually an essential purchase for any keyboardist who connects to mixers for live gigs, when you don't know whether phantom power might get plugged into your line outputs. The DI box also will have ground lift for ground loop protection, unbal to balanced signal conversion, and a pad switch to go to mic level inputs.
At home or in a studio, the best protection is learning to never use a direct 1/4" to XLR adapter. Phantom power is normally only sent to XLR mic inputs, not 1/4" or RCA line inputs. Those kind of adapters should contain a big warning about phantom power damage, but they don't, and most gear stores will gladly sell them to people without explaining the danger and why a DI box is needed instead of a cable adapter for hooking line outputs to XLR mic inputs that may have phantom power.
The most practical way to prevent this kind of damage in the future is to use a DI box that has phantom power protection. A DI box (stereo) is usually an essential purchase for any keyboardist who connects to mixers for live gigs, when you don't know whether phantom power might get plugged into your line outputs. The DI box also will have ground lift for ground loop protection, unbal to balanced signal conversion, and a pad switch to go to mic level inputs.
At home or in a studio, the best protection is learning to never use a direct 1/4" to XLR adapter. Phantom power is normally only sent to XLR mic inputs, not 1/4" or RCA line inputs. Those kind of adapters should contain a big warning about phantom power damage, but they don't, and most gear stores will gladly sell them to people without explaining the danger and why a DI box is needed instead of a cable adapter for hooking line outputs to XLR mic inputs that may have phantom power.