Korg Forums

[Cathy]

Anybody using all 4 audio outs or just the left and right?
I would love to be able to route the drums and bass to a separate sound system.
Thanks

[karmathanever]

I use all 4 - I use 1&2 for vocals and to maintain the stereo spectrum from the harmoniser - everything else through L&R


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PA4X-76, Karma, WaveDrum GE, Fantom 8 EX
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[Cathy]

[Jonyblues]

Hi Cathy, I am using output 2 for my vocals ‘out’ and also wanted to take the drums out of output 1 (with the rest of the keyboard sounds coming out of the L/R main outputs).

I have, however, found two major problems doing this, which have been really frustrating for me.
Problem 1: There is no option to send the voice to only output 1 OR output 2. For some very strange, and frustrating reason, if you want to send the Mic/voice to an output it sends to both outputs 1&2.

And, in my opinion, just because some effects are stereo we should still be able to send a mono mic to a mono output!

The benefits of taking the vocals out separate from the main mix are significant (i.e. better control of vocals in a mix, more/better eq options, less feedback problems (especially useful when using the pa4x speaker), the volume of vocals don’t go down when you turn the main kbd volume up/down etc.).

So, overall, taking them out separately is a big plus, in my opinion. Unfortunately, not being able to assign an individual output for the mic, means that when/if you want to take a bass part or drum part out too, you end up with vocals on the drum/bass output! Which to me is crazy (and unusable). For, not only do you end up with two vocal parts but if you mix/eq your bass or drums in a certain way (or want to send them to a drummer as a virtual track to follow, they end up with badly eq’d vocals on their monitor mix too).

The second issue that you should be aware of is: if you still decide to take the drums or bass out of the outputs, you will find that if you regularly use the master volume knob on the kbd to adjust overall loudness, it will not affect the drums/bass coming from the separate output. Therefore, you’ll be in a situation where (just to turn down a particular style) you may be turning down the master volume on the kbd and having to turn down a separate channel for the drums/bass (and possibly vocals) on a mixer. This challenge also occurs with midi files too (ie you can no longer control the whole volume from one place (unless you can create a group on your mixing desk, which adjusts multiple channels at once).

Sorry for the lengthy reply/rant but as you can probably tell, I have recently attempted to set up, what should be a really simple monitoring solution for my drummer but have found the options on the kbd to be really limiting and problematic.

Anyway, I hopes this helps a little and gives you a few insights into what to expect.

Best wishes,
Jon
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Korg PA4x, HX3 (B3 Sim module), Korg PA3x, Korg i2, Korg i40m, Roland AX-7, Roland FC300.

[Cathy]

[mintjamman]

This is a limitation of the routing and as we know many musicians need to hook up things in a far more flexible way.

I have never been able to get along with my vocal mike being processed by the Pa4x and its routing structure or the TC harmoniser. I like to have immediate control over Levels of the lead microphone, EQ, Effects and Harmonies.

To that end I use a spiltter box as follows:

I connect my lead mic to the input of the splitter box, then take an output from the splitter box to the Pa4x to drive the harmoniser, a second output from the splitter box then goes direct to my mixer and the harmoniser is sent to outputs 1 & 2 which then go to my mixer. This gives me full control of my vocal mike and backing vocals and I can add Reverb or whatever from my Lexicon Effects unit to both the lead mic and backing vocals.

It would have been great if Korg had given us six outputs, two L & R Main, 4 Auxs
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Yamaha S90ES, Korg Triton Pro, EXB Moss, Roland XV5080, Korg EX8000, Korg Pa4x 76, Korg Kronos 88, Crumar MOJO, Logic Pro X, V Collection, Novation SL61,Vienna, Korg Pa4x , EC-5, Vienna, Arturia V Collection, Roland SC88 Pro, Roland D110, Alesis SR16, Alesis D4

[mintjamman]

This is a limitation of the routing and as we know many musicians need to hook up things in a far more flexible way.

I have never been able to get along with my vocal mike being processed by the Pa4x and its routing structure or the TC harmoniser. I like to have immediate control over Levels of the lead microphone, EQ, Effects and Harmonies.

To that end I use a spiltter box as follows:

I connect my lead mic to the input of the splitter box, then take an output from the splitter box to the Pa4x to drive the harmoniser, a second output from the splitter box then goes direct to my mixer and the harmoniser is sent to outputs 1 & 2 which then go to my mixer. This gives me full control of my vocal mike and backing vocals and I can add Reverb or whatever from my Lexicon Effects unit to both the lead mic and backing vocals.

It would have been great if Korg had given us six outputs, two L & R Main, 4 Auxs
_________________
Yamaha S90ES, Korg Triton Pro, EXB Moss, Roland XV5080, Korg EX8000, Korg Pa4x 76, Korg Kronos 88, Crumar MOJO, Logic Pro X, V Collection, Novation SL61,Vienna, Korg Pa4x , EC-5, Vienna, Arturia V Collection, Roland SC88 Pro, Roland D110, Alesis SR16, Alesis D4

[Cathy]

[Korghelper]

In response to the OP, who only wanted to separate bass and drums from the main mix (thread seems to have gone a little OT talking about vocals!), the main issue with this is any non-insert effects are gone. So your drums are bone dry...

This isn't such a big issue with the bass (unless it uses a chorus send, not an insert) but bone dry drums can be a little off-putting unless you are in a big room and already have some natural reverb.

Sadly, you can't insert a reverb on the drums, because enough on the snare is too much on the kick, etc..

[Cathy]

[mintjamman]

[Korghelper]

Good point, but perhaps the OP’s issue should be addressed first, or at least acknowledged that the post doesn’t address the issue at all…

The bottom line about direct outs is to realize that, in a live situation, different constraints apply compared to using them for recording purposes. Loss of all send effects can make a radical difference to how useful they are when on stage. This is not the case when using them for recording, and effects can be applied after the fact. In fact, you could mute out individual drums and record a kickless drum output for reverbing, and a separate pass just for the kick. That’s not an option on stage.

Korg’s paucity of insert effects is a definite drawback when using direct outs...