Ok so i have got my Little Phatty

[Bert]

And i am really excited to get playing with it.. However, i think i must be an idiot, i have tried reading most of the manual and also referred to my sound card's manual but cannot seem to find how to connect it up so i can have playback through my monitors.

It is the stage 2 LP and i have an RME baby face sound card, i am running it through logic pro 9.

On my sound card the inputs i have are XLR inputs and also a separate input on the side that says it can be changed to an instrument input if put to hi-z mode, i have tried for hours but can't get it to work!

Here is how i have it set up..



Uploaded with ImageShack.us



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I am using 1 audio 1/4'' balanced jack cable to route the audio from my moog to the instrument input on my sound card - however nothing seems to be inputting to my sound card - is there something i am missing?

Thanks guys

[Sir Nose]

The LP puts out line level, way hotter than instrument level. Maybe that's the problem.

[narrowcaster]

Have you made sure that the Output On/Off switch on the front panel isn't set to "Off"?

[Bert]

Yeh its definitely output on (Red light on) - I have managed to get sound through my sound card but only through the right speaker i cannot seem to get anything through the left, unless i turn my speakers to mono (pressing the mono button on my mackie big knob) - really confusing.. don't you just love learning curves

[narrowcaster]

When you say you're using a balanced 1/4", you mean TRS? One issue might be that the Audio Out from the Phatty is designed for a TS 1/4" jack, and I would guess from the guitar icon on your interface that it is expecting one as well. So if you haven't tried it already, maybe it would help to try a standard instrument cable (TS) rather than the balanced one.

[Bert]

Oh yeh, i hadn't thought of that man, could that explain only coming in from the right?

I don't have any standard cables in my house at the moment everything is balanced, i will however call at the music store first thing tomorrow and pick one up and try that!

My RME Does also come with a breakout cable - http://www.rme-audio.de/images/products ... _cable.jpg - But i thought a jack cable would be the best - i really don't know too much when it comes to routing etc!

[narrowcaster]

I don't know how likely it is to help -- just mentioned it because I noticed it. But as a rule it's good to match cable types as closely as possible. If you're going to buy some stuff anyway, and your interface has XLR inputs, you'd probably get the best results by using a 1/4" TS cable from the Phatty to a DI Box, and then connect the XLR out from the DI box to your interface XLR input. That may or may not affect the L/R issue, but you'd know that you have the best possible connection between the Phatty and the interface. Just be sure to use a passive DI box unless your interface provides phantom power. I actually use a passive DI all the time with my Phatty and never felt the need for active, since the signal is already hot and punchy.

P.S. I don't know your interface at all, but one guess about what might be happening is that the instrument input jack on your interface is seeing the TRS plug and assuming that it's being fed a stereo signal. The Phatty audio signal would be on the tip and would get sent to one side of the stereo audio path, but the sleeve would just duplicate the Phatty ground and would end up sounding blank when it gets sent to the other side of the stereo path. So again, if that's what's going on then it might get solved more simply by just using a 1/4" TS cable to the interface instrument jack, if that jack is wired to automatically respond differently to mono and stereo inputs. You'll want to have one of these hanging around anyway in case you ever need to connect the Phatty to an amp.

[Bert]

Yeh thats great man i think my interface does provide phantom power, however i don't actually know what it is as of yet so i have some reading to do.. i have managed to get the sound recorded for now but i am going to check in my computer store tomorrow, thanks a lot man

[Spitfire]

Buddy, don't go into that guitar input! The impedence difference between line and guitar level is significant! You could damage either unit doing this and DO NOT switch phantom power on anything but an unpowered mic. I use balanced mogami trs cables on everything I've got and it makes no difference here. However, they must sell 1/4" to xlr cables at ur local shop. Use that if your babyface only has xlr ins. In logic make sure your LP track is mono and not stereo. Beyond that, good luck!

[Gil]

Buddy, don't go into that guitar input! The impedence difference between line and guitar level is significant! You could damage either unit doing this and DO NOT switch phantom power on anything but an unpowered mic.

Actually, I frequently connect keyboards' unbalanced outputs to instrument (guitar) inputs - seeing as most keyboards' outputs are low impedance and instrument inputs are high impedance, you can't damage anything, and you get a better signal than simply plugging the synth directly into a line in. Most keyboards output a weak line level signal and you'd need a DI box to get them to line level.

[Barely]

And i am really excited to get playing with it.. However, i think i must be an idiot, i have tried reading most of the manual and also referred to my sound card's manual but cannot seem to find how to connect it up so i can have playback through my monitors.

It is the stage 2 LP and i have an RME baby face sound card, i am running it through logic pro 9.

Judging by the pic, you have Logic setup to process Audio to and from the Virus TI,right?
If that's the case, in the logic options, choose the Fireface as adio interface, not the virus
If you already did that, is the track the LP is on "live" (orange input button "on" in logic?)

I never got the Virus and my Focusrite audio interface to work properly side by side,
so you might think of unplugging the virus and trying it with audio only via Fireface.
It's a long shot, but maybe it works... good luck!