Volca keys midi controller/audio out issue [half-solved]

bees · Post by **bees** » Mon May 11, 2015 10:01 am

Hi, I have a strange issue: when i insert the 3.5mm cable in the volca keys the midi controller stop working. I tried with 2 differents cables, they are minijack to rca with mono jack adapter.

Tried with or without rca to monojack adapter to a mixer or a computer soundcard.
With headphones or the speaker buit int he controller work without problems. All suggestions are welcome, thx

analoguekid · Post by **analoguekid** » Mon May 11, 2015 10:44 am

I think its one or the other with the Volcas, either midi or sync and not both

bees · Post by **bees** » Mon May 11, 2015 11:16 am

analoguekid wrote:I think its one or the other with the Volcas, either midi or sync and not both

Sync? i'm speaking about AUDIO OUT

chris-korg · Post by **chris-korg** » Mon May 11, 2015 11:25 am

Sorry but could you pls be a Little bit more specific?

Which Volca Keys input are you talking about? (headphones out, Sync In, Sync Out?) Where does the other end of this cable go into?

What "Midi Controller" are you talking about (do you mean the Midi-In socket on the Volca Keys?) If you mean Midi-IN, where does the other end of this Midi-cable go into?

"3,5mm cable"? Do you mean your cable has on one end a 3,5mm mono - minijack and on the other end a mono rca-jack ?

Just to make sure: from where do you go into your mixer?

I think there is some confusion conc. Audio / Midi / Sync ...

analoguekid · Post by **analoguekid** » Mon May 11, 2015 11:28 am

Oh sorry I misread your post, in that case I am not sure then, as far as I know if your controller is working and you can hear the notes being played on your headphones there doesn't seem to be any reason why you cant send that signal to a pair of speakers via an amp, laptop, whathaveyou unless the leads you are using are iffy. In my knowledge the headphones socket sends sound as dual mono (same signal both sides) but I am sure some of the more techy members on here will confirm that, so unless you are using a cable that cuts out either sides signal you should at least be getting a sound from either left or right speaker.

bees · Post by **bees** » Mon May 11, 2015 11:43 am

chris-korg wrote: Which Volca Keys input are you talking about? (headphones out, Sync In, Sync Out?)

headphones out

chris-korg wrote: Where does the other end of this cable go into?

soundcard line in with rca to mono jack adapter OR pa mixer in tape in (RCA plugin)

chris-korg wrote:What "Midi Controller" are you talking about (do you mean the Midi-In socket on the Volca Keys?) If you mean Midi-IN, where does the other end of this Midi-cable go into?

yes midi in, i use a novation impulse midi controller

chris-korg wrote:"3,5mm cable"? Do you mean your cable has on one end a 3,5mm mono - minijack and on the other end a mono rca-jack ?

yes

chris-korg wrote:Just to make sure: from where do you go into your mixer?

Line in with mono jack adapter OR tape in without mono jack adapter

chris-korg · Post by **chris-korg** » Mon May 11, 2015 12:33 pm

Thanks for providing more details

I think the problem is (and that´s my guess) that you put a mono-jack into a stereo-headphone-input - thereby as it seems corrupting your Volcas internals...

I´m not an electrician but according to Wikipedia there is sometimes the possibility of a short-circuit if you connect a mono-jack into a stereo-Input.

Pls have a look at my YT-Video on how I connect my Volcas with my mixer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwzWwe4VGQA

bees · Post by **bees** » Mon May 11, 2015 12:53 pm

chris-korg wrote:Thanks for providing more details

I think the problem is (and that´s my guess) that you put a mono-jack into a stereo-headphone-input - thereby as it seems corrupting your Volcas internals...

I´m not an electrician but according to Wikipedia there is sometimes the possibility of a short-circuit if you connect a mono-jack into a stereo-Input.

Pls have a look at my YT-Video on how I connect my Volcas with my mixer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwzWwe4VGQA

sorry but the cable is the same of your video: stereo minijack to 2xRCA.
I'm lost

bees · Post by **bees** » Tue May 12, 2015 10:31 am

The usb-powered external midi controller Novation impulse is the cause of the issue, if it is powered by wall usb charger it works well (but i lost the pc to controller connection=no time sync), when i use the pc (DAW) usb power i've got issue.

Actually the volca keys is powered by AA battery, could the optional power adapter give me a chance?
Do you use it?

chris-korg · Post by **chris-korg** » Tue May 12, 2015 12:37 pm

You can not power your Midi-keyboard with Volcas Midi-Out!

Conc. the other issue I suggest to look at the Novation-manual or contact Novation-Support.

bees · Post by **bees** » Tue May 12, 2015 2:24 pm

chris-korg wrote:You can not power your Midi-keyboard with Volcas Midi-Out!

Chris, i'm not powering my midi-key with Volca midi-out, where did you read it?

The problem is the low PC usb power to the midi-controller, cabled via midi to the volka. Since i use only AA batteries in the volca, could the optional Volca power adapter give me a chance? Should i buy it?
Thx

analoguekid · Post by **analoguekid** » Tue May 12, 2015 2:52 pm

The plot thickens, what you are saying is that the usb powered keyboard works the Volca via its MIDI in port and you can hear the notes being played via headphones or its internal speaker but as soon as you connect an audio lead from the volca to your PC audio interface it all then chucks a wobbly, is that correct?

Very strange

bees · Post by **bees** » Tue May 12, 2015 2:55 pm

analoguekid wrote:The plot thickens, what you are saying is that the usb powered keyboard works the Volca via its MIDI in port and you can hear the notes being played via headphones or its internal speaker but as soon as you connect an audio lead from the volca to your PC audio interface it all then chucks a wobbly, is that correct?

Very strange

Correct! only if i power the midi-controller with the pc-usb, if i power it (novation impulse) via wall charge usb it works

chris-korg · Post by **chris-korg** » Tue May 12, 2015 6:28 pm

My last try

1) when you "can not hear the notes being played into the keyboard" what happens when just press "Play" on your VKeys? Do you hear the actual sequence that is stored on the VKeys?

2) To your previous question: I never use batteries - instead I always use power adaptors. Anyhow if you test with new batteries it should not make any difference

3) Are you sure that you setup your keyboard properly? You have two different situations: (I hope I finally got it right)
a) a Midi-Connection straight from your keyboard to the VKeys only
b) a USB-Midi Connection from your PC to your Keyboard AND a Midi-connection from your Keyboard to your VKeys AT THE SAME TIME
I wonder if there are no adjustments necessary on the keyboard-settings..

4) Finally, in the Novation Manual they say conc. power supply:
Impulse will not power up properly when connected to a laptop computer via USB. When a USB connection is used to power the Impulse from a laptop computer the Impulse may not power up successfully. This is due to the Impulse not being able to draw enoughpower from the laptop computer. When powering Impulse from a laptop’s USB port, it is
recommended that the laptop is powered from AC mains rather than its internal battery.
See tip on page 10 for more information.
We also recommend that you connect Impulse directly to a computer’s native USB port,and not via a USB hub. Correct operation cannot be guaranteed if a hub is in use.
Alternatively, for stand-alone use power the Impulse from a suitable AC:USB DC poweradaptor

bees · Post by **bees** » Tue May 12, 2015 7:00 pm

chris-korg wrote:My last try

1) when you "can not hear the notes being played into the keyboard" what happens when just press "Play" on your VKeys? Do you hear the actual sequence that is stored on the VKeys?

YES!

chris-korg wrote: 3) Are you sure that you setup your keyboard properly? You have two different situations: (I hope I finally got it right)
a) a Midi-Connection straight from your keyboard to the VKeys only
b) a USB-Midi Connection from your PC to your Keyboard AND a Midi-connection from your Keyboard to your VKeys AT THE SAME TIME
I wonder if there are no adjustments necessary on the keyboard-settings..

The setup is correc, it works well without the headphones out connection minijack, it works also with headphones this drive me crazy...

chris-korg wrote: 4) Finally, in the Novation Manual they say conc. power supply:
Impulse will not power up properly when connected to a laptop computer via USB. When a USB connection is used to power the Impulse from a laptop computer the Impulse may not power up successfully. This is due to the Impulse not being able to draw enoughpower from the laptop computer. When powering Impulse from a laptop’s USB port, it is
recommended that the laptop is powered from AC mains rather than its internal battery.

Ok, so the problem is power related, the only solution i see is connect the pc and impulse midi-controller via midi din cable and use the controller usb port for power supply. Amen
Thx Chris