How to get Volcas to play on both speakers?

Discussion relating to the Korg Volca Series.

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Gaijin1717
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Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2015 10:04 pm
Location: Oakland, California

How to get Volcas to play on both speakers?

Post by Gaijin1717 »

I've been playing around with a Beats, Drum, FM2 and Bass, and I noticed that they only play out of the left or right speaker, but never both. There is no mixer with them panned hard left or right, and I've tried a ton of different cables, including mono and stereo. I've had them going into a Moukey mixer and directly into my UA Volt 476 and had the same issue. Do each of the units need 3.5mm stereo jacks to L and R TRS or RCA jacks? That's the only thing I can think of that I don't think I've tried. Do I really need to use two inputs on the mixer for each Volca, even if they're mono synths? Help! I've searched and searched and can't find anything. Thank you!

Edited to add: I returned the Moukey because I figured that was the issue, but now I'm wondering if I should repurchase it as an affordable 8-channel mixer...
LM
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Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2017 3:46 am

Re: How to get Volcas to play on both speakers?

Post by LM »

Gaijin1717 wrote:Do each of the units need 3.5mm stereo jacks to L and R TRS or RCA jacks? Do I really need to use two inputs on the mixer for each Volca, even if they're mono synths?
Yes. For mono Volcas, use just one of the two (panned center) and leave the other one disconnected.
Koekepan
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Post by Koekepan »

Some volcas are mono. Keys and Bass, I'm pretty sure are both mono. For them, just put them into a centre-panned mono channel, and away you go.

Some are stereo. The FM is stereo, so you want a TRS/TRS connection. With that, you can play with the balance as you please.

The alternative is to first put them (especially the mono ones) through effects units that give stereo out. Many guitar pedals will do this.
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