How to Connect Your Keyboard to an Amplifier or Mixer
Published on Thursday 8 July 2021
A question we’re often asked is, ‘how do you connect a keyboard or digital piano to a mixer or keyboard amplifier?’ Maybe you’re preparing for your first ever live gig, maybe you’re figuring out how to make home-studio recordings, or your sonic instrument of choice needs more volume if it’s going to compete with your drummer in the rehearsal room. If you’re not familiar with them, the sheer number of different ways of connecting up your gear can be a little overwhelming. But luckily, it’s all pretty straightforward once you know how.
Bear in mind that, since the sound engineer will probably (well, around nine times out of ten) connect up your instrument to the sound system for you, you might only need to take your current setup to any booked shows since there are often cables and other stage accessories at the venue. If you’re playing shows in less professional venues, then it’s definitely worth having your own gear on hand – especially some longer cables and definitely some power extension cords.
- In a Nutshell
- Keyboards & Digital Pianos
- Mixers & Keyboard Amplifiers
- MIDI Keyboards
- Do You Need a DI Box for Keyboards/Digital Pianos?
- See Also…
In a Nutshell
In most cases you can use a simple and familiar 6.3mm mono jack. Just stick one end into the Left (mono) output of your keyboard or piano, then stick the other end into a mono input of the mixer or keyboard amplifier you want to use. If there are a bunch of different sockets on the back of your instrument, or if you want stereo sound, then read on!
Keyboards & Digital Pianos
Most keyboards will have two ‘line’ outputs. These are 6.3mm jack outputs fitted next to each other and are usually found around the back. Most of the time, the jack socket on the left will be labelled ‘L/Mono’ or ‘L/L+R’, while the jack socket on the right will be marked with an ‘R’. As such, you’re free to use both outputs for stereo sound or just the left output for mono sound. Mono is usually all you’ll need, but if your keyboard has stereo sounds, like an effect that moves the sound from the left to the right, or a big 3D-sounding piano then you can use both outputs to get the full sound.
- Keyboard setup 1: If you’re just using the L/Mono output, then you can just use a 6.3mm mono jack cable (also known as a TS jack cable). You could also use a stereo jack cable (also known as a TRS jack cable) since the sent signal will still be mono.
- Keyboard setup 2: If you’re using both the left and right outputs, two 6.3mm mono jack cables are used to make the stereo connection. Here, you can also use two stereo cables, but this won’t necessarily add anything to the stereo image, since both cables will be carrying the single left or right channel.
- Keyboard setup 3: Some keyboards or digital pianos only have a headphone output. Headphone outputs are always stereo outputs. Using a cable with a stereo (TRS) 6.3mm jack plug at one end and two mono (TS) 6.3mm jack plugs at the other end, you can make a stereo connection. If you have a smaller, 3.5mm mini-jack headphone output, then you can just use a cable with a 3.5mm TRS mini-jack plug at one end and two 6.3mm TS jack plugs at the other end.
Note: If you’re setting up to play live, bear in mind that stereo sound is not as important on stage as it might be in your living room. To get the full stereo experience, you need to be sitting right in the middle of it, which isn’t always going to work when you have a crowd of people that might be standing more to the left or right of you, so they’ll only get one half of the stereo effect. As such, don’t be worried about setting up your keyboard in mono when playing gigs.
A keyboard with a big headphone output on the left (a 6.3mm stereo jack output) and a set of line outputs on the right:
Mixers & Keyboard Amplifiers
Good, now you know what cables you need to use and where you need to plug them in, it’s time to take a look at the mixer or amplifier side of things. When we talk about amplifiers in this blog, we’re not talking about the stereo amplifier you’ve got set up for your stereo speakers at home, since you’ll be in danger of blowing them up. Here we’re talking about keyboard amplifiers that are specially designed to amp-up the sound of digital pianos and synthesizers as well as keyboards.
- Mixer/Amplifier setup 1: Some keyboard amplifiers simply have a 6.3mm mono jack input, so you can plug a 6.3mm mono jack cable into the L/Mono output of your keyboard and the mono line input of your amplifier or mixer (see the example we’ve helpfully included below).
- Mixer/Amplifier setup 2: Mixers (and some keyboard amplifiers) usually have at least one stereo channel. You’ll recognise it since it’ll be a pair of 6.3mm jack inputs with one fitted above the other. Here, you can simply use two 6.3mm mono jack cables to connect the L/Mono and R line outputs of your keyboard to the two inputs of the stereo channel of your mixer or amplifier.
- Mixer/Amplifier setup 3: If your mixer or amplifier only has mono channels, but you want to set up stereo sound, you can connect the L/Mono output of your keyboard up to one mono channel of the mixer/amp, and then connect the R output of your keyboard up to the next mono channel of the mixer/amp. All you need to make sure of is that 1) the volume if both channels is always at the same level, so that the left channel is never louder than the right and the other way around, and 2) that the ‘pan’ control knob of the left channel is pushed all the way to the left and that the pan control knob of the right channel is pushed all the way to the right.
- Mixer/Amplifier setup 4: A bad situation: you’ve got a keyboard or digital piano with just one headphone output (therefore stereo), and now you want to hook it up to a keyboard amplifier that has just a single mono input. Unfortunately, no single cable can be used to convert a stereo signal into a mono signal. While you could try using a stereo or mono jack cable, you would get sound but it’s unlikely to sound ‘right’. There are two ways to solve this problem – one of which is clean while the other is a bit more messy.
- The clean solution is to hook up a little mixer in between. So, you connect your keyboard to the mixer in the same way as in Keyboard setup 3, then connect the two mono jacks up to two mono channels of the mixer, as explained in Mixer/Amplifier setup 3. Make sure not to connect the cable to the stereo input of the mixer, and in this case you can leave the pan knob of both mono channels set to the middle. Then, you can take either the L or R main output (it doesn’t matter which) of the mixer and connect this up to the input of your keyboard amplifier using a 6.3mm mono jack cable. This solution will only work if you have a little mixer with separate main outputs for the left and right – and most mixers will have this.
- The more messy solution is to use a jack cable with one stereo plug at one end and two mono jacks at the other end. You don’t need to add a mixer to your setup to do this, but by connecting the stereo plug to your keyboard and one of the mono plugs to the amplifier, you only get one side of the stereo audio image and one jack plug is left unplugged. Most of the time, you may not need the full stereo audio image of your keyboard, but if you use effects that pan the sound from left to right or use a really full, 3D-style piano sound, then this setup is likely to sound less full and balanced, since the left side will probably sound much louder or quieter when compared to the right. It’s worth trying out to see if the result will work for you or not.
Note: most keyboard amplifiers have one built-in speaker. In other words, most keyboard amplifiers only deliver mono sound. That’s not to say that some amps don’t come with a stereo channel though, it’s just that this channel is usually intended for hooking up a stereo source.
Below, you can see a really straightforward mixer. Channels 1 and 2 are both mono channels, and are for plugging in gear like a microphone (‘mic’) or audio equipment like a keyboard (‘line’). Channel 3/4 is a stereo channel with a separate input for the left and right channels.
Below, you can see a keyboard amplifier with many connection options. On the left, there’s a mono channel for a microphone or line input, and next to that, there’s a stereo channel with separate left and right channels. Channel 3 is another mono-channel which (as indicated by ‘Hi-Z’) can be used for string instruments with a jack output like an electric guitar, bass, or an electro-acoustic instrument.
MIDI Keyboards
A MIDI keyboard doesn’t come loaded with sounds or ‘make’ any sound itself since the keyboard simply controls the sound loaded onto the laptop or computer it’s connected to:
- Here, you can connect your computer or laptop up directly to a mixer or amp via the headphone/line output using a cable with a 3.5mm stereo mini-jack plug at one end and two 6.3mm mono jack plugs at the other end.
- If you also use an external audio interface with your laptop (which we actually recommend since it can give the sound quality a nice boost), then it’s very likely to have a set of two 6.3mm mono jack outputs. In that case, you can connect it up to two inputs of your mixer or amp using a pair of mono jack cables (further instructions included earlier in this blog).
Do You Need a DI Box for Keyboards/Digital Pianos?
A DI box, or just ‘DI’, is a small device that converts an unbalanced signal into a balanced signal, which is explained in more detail in this blog. Most of the time, your keyboard will sound just fine when connected to the line input of a mixer or audio interface, but many sound technicians use a DI box to connect instruments like keyboards to a mixer, and they do this for a number of reasons. For a start, there are mixers that simply don’t have any line inputs and only have microphone inputs. Here, a DI box is useful since it prepares the (usually unbalanced) line signal of your keyboard for a microphone input. A DI box can also weaken the signal and prevent it from overloading the microphone preamp. It also protects your keyboard from phantom power which often comes built into mixers to provide specific microphones with power. With most mixers, the phantom power function can be switched off, but you can’t always do this per channel. So, by using a DI box, you can happily feed your condenser microphones with power without any danger of frying the output of your keyboard. Linking up a lot of audio equipment can cause signal ‘hum’ which is usually the result of a ground loop. To help counter this, many DI boxes will have a ground-lift switch which, when active, breaks the ground loop and removes any hum from the signal. As we’ve already mentioned, most keyboards have unbalanced outputs. As long as you don’t use really long cables, this won’t cause any issues, but if your cables need to travel all the way from the stage to the back of the hall, then your sound is likely to suffer signal loss and noise, all of which is solved by sticking a DI box in between.
Below is an example of a setup including a DI box. If stereo sound isn’t so important to you, then you can just use a mono DI box. The cable used to connect the DI box to the mixer is normally an XLR cable.
See Also…
» Can You Connect a Microphone to a Computer?
» How to Connect a Turntable to an Amp or Speakers
» How to Connect a Guitar to a Computer
» How to Connect a Microphone to a Speaker
» How to Connect Your Speakers to Your Audio Gear
» How to Connect Up Studio Monitors
» Help! My MIDI Keyboard isn’t Making Sound!
» All Keyboard Blogs
» Standard Jack Cables
» Jack Adapter Cables
» XLR Cables
» All Audio Cables
» DI Boxes
» Mixers
» Keyboard Amplifiers
» Audio Interfaces
» Keyboards
» Digital Pianos
» Stage Pianos
» Synthesizers
» All Keyboard Instruments & Accessories
@Luigi77
I think your keyboard wants to act as audio interface, hence the playback over your keyboard’s speakers. Whether you want to use your keyboard’s audio system or your PC’s own audio system is probably a choice to make within your PC, most probably within the application you’re going to use.
HI,
I don’t know if you can help me, I just bought a Yamaha Psr SX600 keyboard.
Yesterday I had an evening where I connected: keyboard and lap-top to the mixer.
I also connected the keyboard to the PC via USB because they also requested karaoke, in this case I wanted to use the keyboard as a midi expander to improve the basics, the keyboard did it very well!
The problem, however, is that when I used the midi bases the audio no longer passed through the mixer but came out directly from the speakers built into the keyboard!
From the PC I had a Spotify playlist and when I played it the audio came out correctly from the speakers connected to the mixer.
If I started a midi base the audio came out of the keyboard speakers.
There will probably be a way to “suppress” the keyboard audio so that it is diverted into the mixer and comes out of the speakers. Would anyone be able to give me some advice, a solution? Because unfortunately I can’t find the solution in the manual.
Many thanks for all your advice, it’s so great to know help is out there for us all. My query is, my keyboard has only a headphone port and I need to connect to my mono amp, if I understand correctly I need to plug a stereo jack into my keyboard and one mono Jack into my amp. What do I gain with this set-up rather than using a single cable such as guitar lead. Many thanks.
Hello Mike,
Thank you for your enquiry. I think you can just use a guitar lead for this as there’s no real benefit from having it go stereo out from the headphones jack first. The end result will be a mono signal, so as far I’m aware a single instrument lead would suffice.
Edit: before we try this I first need to know which keyboard you are using. Perhaps there’s an other way of doing this. But the best way probably is to use a small and simple mixer, like the Devine MX-4, because most of the time when you’re summing a stereo signal to a mono destination it has to be a dedicated mono destination, often labeled ‘L’ (mono) otherwise the end result will lack certain sounds in the total sound image.
Quick question please:
I have a Roland fp-90x and want to use
my home stereo for audio output.
I have 2 1/4” to RCA cables and have hooked from
digital piano to AUX jacks on receiver. But
I’m not getting much volume – which was the whole point.
Obviously newbie here. Any advice is appreciated.
John
Are you connecting the R and L/mono outputs of your keyboard to a stereo set of RCA inputs of your amp? Are you using a cable like this?
-Make sure you’re not using a phono input on your amp.
-Make sure the output of your keyboard is high enough.
Hi Marnix, Thank you for your reply above. Much appreciated.
So, as long as I understood right, if I don’t need a stereo sound diffusion for the audience (like piano concert or recording), the best LIVE connection for a keyboard would be using only 1 x mono jack plugged either into a mono channel or a stereo channel (L/mono). Am I right? Best wishes.
Correct!
Hi there, very informative post, thank you. Have one question if you have time to answer,
what would be the difference between using 1 x mono jack from the L/mono key output into a mono mixer channel and using 2 x mono jack from the L & R key output into a stereo mixer channel? Would there be any benefit in terms of the sound, power etc? Thank you in advance for you attention and help. Kind regards.
Hi Leo,
The only difference would be that the sound is in stereo, meaning that the sound from the left can be different from the sound on the right. For instance, a piano sound where you hear the low keys on the left, and the high ones on the right. However, in a live setting that wouldn’t be useful and perhaps even detrimental to the overall sound because the audience on the left side of the stage will hear the low keys on a much higher sound level, vice versa for the other side. In other words, the sound wouldn’t be balanced the way it’s intended. Better to only use stereo sound in situations where the listener is somewhere in the middle and can properly enjoy the stereo image.
Marnix | Bax Music
Hi
I have recently purchased a Yamaha MG20XU and have connected a keyboard to the stereo inputs on the mixer (channel 13 & 14) from the L & R outputs on the keyboard. The problem is I get no sound through the PA just from the keyboard speaker itself. If I connect to 2 mic inputs (channel 11 & 12) all is good????? Totally confused.
Dear Michael,
The only difference between the two connections that I can figure out are that the two mono inputs on channel 13/14 are unbalanced, and the two mono channels on 11/12 are balanced connections. Depending on the type of cable that you use, the behavior of the onboard speakers of the keyboard might be different. Can you explain what cables you use, TS jacks or TRS jacks? And what keyboard do you use?
Hi, your Mixer Keyboard setup3 is excellent. Truly helped me since almost I thought I need to get rid of my mixer. The sound was phasing out.
Thank you.
Hi, thanks for a very interesting and informative article!
My band have purchased a Yamaha P90 stage piano and I listened to it at purchase through the sellers keyboard amp sounding very good.
We are connecting it to a Yamaha stagepas 600 PA (passive speakers) using mono 6.3mm guitar lead to the mono line input.
our problem is that it sounds rubbish, quite a harsh and thin sound. We have played with EQ but it doesn’t seem to help, and I guess that using stereo won’t make any difference to the audience experience.
is it just that some PA don’t work well with keyboards?
Have you any suggestions?
thanks
chris
Hi Chris,
That’s a known problem. PA systems usually don’t make your piano sound great. It’s a matter of testing your piano with different PA-systems until you’ve found a good one, although we cannot promise that the piano will ever sound as good as through a keyboard amp or headphones.
Having said that, you could try using a different piano sound on the P90. One that may not be your favourite, but that will perhaps sound better through the PA system.
Marnix | Bax Music
Thanks for the useful post. I’ve got a question about the wiring. Given a keyboard with separate 6.3mm R / L(mono) outputs and an analog mixer. The proper way for connecting these devices is to use two cables with TS connectors if I’m not mistaken. The mixer utilises two channels with the panorama set to L and R respectively.
What if we leave keyboard outputs as well as mixer inputs and settings unchanged, and use one microphone cable instead of two? As a result, the connection will have a common ground (sleeve) and the two signal wires for L and R channels.
Will it cause any issues if connected that way? If not, will there be any difference in output compared to a ‘proper’ connection? Thank you.
If I understand correctly you suggest using a cable which has two TS plugs on one end and an XLR or TRS plug on the other so you can connect the L and R outputs of your keyboard to one microphone input. This will not give a disirable result. Your mixer will treat the L and R channels from your keyboard as positive and negative channels instead. One of the channels will end up with an inverted polarity which cause all the sound in the center of the stereo image to cancel out.
Hey. Excellemt discussion of the topic of using a home electric piano with a (guitar) amplifier. Nice to learn about mixers as well. Thanks.
Playing local gigs without keyboardist, but just inherited a Yamaha PSB 225 GM electric piano. Incredible unit, which has more features than I can use in this lifetime.On the back of the unit,apart from midi in and out access points, there is a place to plug in, via a 6.3 mm jack, headphones. But this point is labelled phone/aux. Your discussion of using stereo headsets clearly informs how these are typically for stereo out put. and sure, could check into a starter level mixer to access only one channel to feed the VOX Valvtronic guitar amp with the Yamaha piano. hoping that this aux plug in point is one channel, but if uses for headphone, probably not. Then there is the possibility of plugging in the amp connector 6.3 mm cable only part way to capture L or R. Any idea?
If your guitar amp has an aux input you can connect the headphone output of your piano directly to your amp. The left and right channels will be summed to mono.
Hey. Excellemt discussion of the topic of using a home electric piano with a (guitar) amplifier. Nice to learn about mixers as well. Thanks.
Playing local gigs without keyboardist, but just inherited a Yamaha PSB 225 GM electric piano. Incredible unit, which has more features than I can use in this lifetime.On the back of the unit,apart from midi in and out access points, there is a place to plug in, via a 6.3 mm jack, headphones. But this point is labelled phone/aux. Your discussion of using stereo headsets clearly informs how these are typically for stereo out put. and sure, could check into a starter level mixer to access only one channel to feed the VOX Valvtronic guitar amp with the Yamaha piano. hoping that this aux plug in point is one channel, but if uses for headphone, probably not. Then there is the possibility of plugging in the amp connector 6.3 mm cable
Excellent information, thanks for sharing it. One question:
Is there any benefit volume/output-wise to running from both outputs (L + R) v. just mono into a mixer? I am less concerned with stereo image v. getting volume up. I sometimes struggle to keep up with the guitars with volume and wondering if there is any output loss by only coming out of one output (and particularly with respect to my Nord Electro which does not have a dedicated mono output).
Thanks for any insight you may have.
Hi Seth,
No, unfortunately there wouldn’t be. Instead, you should look into getting a more powerful amplifier. What are you using now?
Marnix | Bax Music
hello .I want to connect a home keyboard which has only one 1/4 inch stereo output fpr headphones to one powered speaker which has XLR input.You did not cover this.
Hi James,
You can use this type of cable:
https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/xlr-jack-adapter-plugs-cables/procab-cla709-classic-male-female-xlr-to-male-stereo-jack-cable-3m
And then leave one of the two XLR’s unplugged. It’s basically the same as the ‘messy solution’ onder Mixer/Amplifier setup 4.
Better would be to use the suggested clean solution.
Or maybe your speaker has RCA inputs as well? That would be better since you can then use both channels.
Marnix | Bax Music
Hello. Firstly thanks for a great article – really useful. I’d like to ask a further question please. I’m preparing for a gig with my wife singing and me playing two Roland keyboards. We normally just use my small Roland 110 stereo amp which gives great sound quality for the size and power of the amp. But we’re in a bigger venue with no PA system. I also have two Roland keyboard amps – a KC60 and KC100 which are more powerful. I’ve heard I could get get stereo sound by using these two amps together but am not sure how to connect them. The smaller KC110 has stereo out sockets. Could I run the output from my smaller speaker into the two bigger ones and if so how? Any help appreciated! Best wishes Colin
Hi Colin,
First of all, best wishes for 2023!
By the looks of it you can indeed connect your powerful KC amps to the output of the 110 amp. All you need is a set of jack cables. You can use your 110 amp as a monitor speaker for you and your wife. The other two amps you can use for the audience.
Bit of a dumb question, if I plug my keyboard direct (no amplifier) into the mixer how is the output amplified?
Hi John,
If you connect one or more active speakers to your mixer, then the amplification is done by the internal amps of the active speakers (you connect active speakers to an outlet).
https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/speakers/active-full-range-speaker
You could of course also connect your mixer to an external amp and then connect passive speakers (no internal amp) to the amp.
https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/speakers/passive-full-range-speakers
https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/pro-audio/amplifiers
A third option is to use a powered mixer, to which you can connect passive speakers directly.
https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/pa-mixers-mixing-desks/powered-mixing-desk
Most people prefer the first option.
Marnix | Bax Music
Thank you for your reply!!! I will give it a shot through the two outputs in the back of the Casio.
@Shay
I think it will work. There is a slight thing to keep in mind: there’s professional-line en consumer-line. And these signals are different (prof-line is louder). However: if you carefully connect your keyboard/piano to your soundbar, close the volume of the Casio down and gradually open it up, you should be safe. Probably your Casio manual mentions the output in dBu, and your soundbar may state the same for its input. Naturally, if the Casio’s output might be way too large, then you’ll notice serious distortion in the audio, that should ring the alarm bell then – time to lower the volume of the Casio down then. Personally I doubt it’d be a problem. These Casio products are typically household instruments, and Casio could expect their customers to want to connect it to their household amplifier. Just be gentle with the volume.
Hello, thanks for the article. I think I know the answer but I’d like to ask just to confirm. If I have a Casio pxs1000 with the L/R line out, am I able to use a L/R 6.3mm cable to a 3.5mm jack to connect to a regular 2.1 soundbar, specifically the philips tab7305? Your article said it’ll be in danger of blowing them up. Just wanted to confirm that I should not be trying this out? And if so, is the right option to connect the headphone output on the casio to the 3.5mm input on the soundbar? Thank you!
Hi! Great article.
I am curious – relatively new at the connection game – I want stereo outputs (doesn’t matter to me if its XLR or 1/4 inch) because I use effects and phasers etc, AND I want to connect an in-ear-monitor to my keyboard. I can’t use the headphone jack bc it then mutes the other outputs. The IEM’s are 1/8 inch, I have a converter patch to make it 1/4 inch. Any suggestions? Should I run the 1/4 inch (IEM) from the output on the keys, and then use XLR stereo to an amp or PA? Or should I use two line out 1/4 inches to PA or Amp, and then connect the IEM some other way?
Hi Matt,
The best way would probably be to connect the keyboard to a mixer, and to use a headphone-output or Aux-output on that mixer to connect your personal in-ear monitors to.
First; thanks so much for responding. I don’t think I’ve ever had anybody get back to me so quickly. Also; I’m not very technically inclined so buffers and device are quite foreign to me. The synth has a dock on it which accepts 30 pin connection from an Iphone (up to 4th generation) or an Ipod. I’m using an Ipod that I found in a junk drawer. I downloaded the app (synthstation) from the app store so I guess that’s the device you’ve referred to. This morning, I connected my PA and used the headphone out jack to connect it to the PA with 2 1/4″ jacks plugged into 2 channels. I got better sound in this fashion rather than the RCA outputs. However; the synth still lagged and the sounds were nothing like when I have it plugged into a bluetooth speaker. Do I maybe need a DI box or something? Thanks so much for your time.
Hi Chuck,
What kind of inputs does your PA have? Maybe your bluetooth speaker and your PA just sound different. I don’t think a DI box is going to make a difference. The synth sound is generated by you iPod which is basically a tiny computer. Computer processing takes time so that’s probably the lag you’re experiencing. On a desktop computer or a laptop lets you set the buffer. A lower buffer will result in lower latency (lag) but higher work load for your computer. I don’t think it’s possible to adjust buffer settings on your iPod.
I have an old Akai Synthstation 25 that I’d like to connect to my PA. It has a 3.5mm headphone jack and 2 rca outputs. I can get sound with the rca jacks down to 1 trs in one line but it’s very weak and delayed. Is there a fix for this?
Thanks
Hi Chuck,
The delay is probably caused by latency in your iPad/iPhone. Maybe the app you’re using has a setting to lower the buffer. As for the weak sound: what device did you connect the Synthstation to? What kind of connection? Since you’re using the stereo RCA outputs you should connect it to an unbalanced stereo input. This can be a mini jack input or a dual RCA input. Two 6.3 jack inputs will work fine too.
The “clean solution” of “Mixer/Amplifier setup 4” doesn’t make sense. You say to connect according to “Keyboard setup 1” which is a single cable, then you say to connect “the two mono jacks”. What two mono jacks? They weren’t mentioned in “Keyboard setup 1”. Did you mean “Keyboard setup 3”?
Hi Lauren,
Thanks so much! You’re right, this should be setup 3. We’ve fixed it.
Marnix | Bax Music
We have trying to connect our midi keyboard to our amp. But the sound is not comimmg up, tho we have one amp. And one loudspeaker.please can u guide me on how to connect them.
Midi keyboards can be used to control synthesizers and software instruments, they don’t generate sound themselves. In other words, you can’t connect a midi keyboard direcly to a speaker or an amp, it won’t work. If you have a synthesizer or a computer with software instruments installed you can connect those to you amp.
Great post. My rig is 2 synths and 1 KB controller using sounds on my DAW.
I send all 3 signals to my small KB mixer, which I set, before sending the sound to the main mixing board (so the sound man only gets 1 signal)
Question: do I need a DI at any point in this loop? Should I use balanced or unbalanced cables?
Synth > Keyboard Mixer > Main Mixer ( do I need a DI in there)?
If I understand correctly you have two hardware synths, each with its own output and a keyboard controller controlling a soft synth in you DAW. I assume you use an audio interface to connect your computer to the keyboard mixer? If your hardware synths and audio interface have balanced outputs you won’t need any DIs to connect them to your keyboard mixer. Please make sure to use balanced cables. If any of your devices has an unbalanced output I recommend using a passive DI. Connect the unbalanced output of your device to the input of the DI using a short unbalanced cable. Then connect the balanced output of the DI to the mixer using a balanced cable. Your keyboard mixer probably has balanced outputs. If this is the case you can just connect it directly to the main mixer whithout any DIs.
Your post is very informative. I have been searching for an explanation and it led to you. I am having difficulty understanding why my Yamaha P121 sound weaker and thinner when plugged correctly into a zoom L8. I’ve tried mono and stereo configuration but the sound does not come close to the beautiful tones I get when using the same koss pro as headphones directly into the piano. I have confirmed my hook up is correct and I’m afraid for recording and live performance this mixer may not be a good choice. I intend to use powered speakers live. Any suggestions?
Many thanks!
Hi Thomas,
– Have you tried a different cable, to make sure that the cable isn’t defective?
– Have you ever connected other instruments/line-level devices to the Zoom L8? Did that work?
– To which channels did you connect the piano?
Marnix | Bax Music
I would like to know where in London you are located.
Hi, unfortunately, we have no physical stores in the United Kingdom.
Currently, you can only order through our online store.
Marnix | Bax Music
Hi, the above info is very clear and informative. My problem is that i have 2 Technics T60 stage keyboard amps. When plugged into my Technics GA3 organ, the sound from the amp is through all of the speakers, BUT a very low sound, similar to small cheap tinny transistor radio.. I have had the amps tested in a electrical workshop. they sounded fine when connected to a small mobile phone! Crazy! My connection leads are Piranna make, having a 6.3 mono jack plug at each end. I have tried the L and the L/R jack plug holes, with just a poor quiet sound with all volumes turned up. any ideas PLEASE,, i really am stumped. Steve.
Hi Steve,
Two things you could try:
– The organ has output settings with which you can control what parts should be output to the line out terminal. See page 140 in the manual to see how you can set all of these to ‘on’: https://www.manualslib.com/download/890625/Technics-Sx-Ga1.html
– If this doesn’t work, connect the organ to some other speaker, a simple Bluetooth speaker for instance, like this one: https://www.bax-shop.nl/jack-jack/devine-va5030-jack-3-5mm-stereo-2x-jack-male-3m-verloopkabel If that doesn’t work either, there may be something wrong with the organ.
Marnix | Bax Music