Problem: No Audio on Balanced Outputs when Using as a Module

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gfrees
Posts: 5
Joined: 04:16, 16 December 2012

Problem: No Audio on Balanced Outputs when Using as a Module

Post by gfrees »

I have a problem with the Balanced Outputs on my RD-700NX. They are producing no signal when I try to use the RD-700NX as a sound module.

I have recorded a MIDI track in Pro Tools which I then play back to the RD-700NX. When I do this I get audio from the unbalanced outputs on the RD-700NX, but no audio signal from the Balanced Outputs.

If I play notes on the RD-700NX keyboard, then I get audio from both the Unbalanced and Balanced outputs.

Unplugging the Unbalanced Ouputs does not solve the problem. There is still no audio signal on the Balanced Outputs when sending MIDI to the RD-700NX.

Therefore, it seems as if the RD-700NX blocks the audio output from its internal Sound Module from going to the Balanced Outputs when it is receiving an external MIDI stream.

Let me mention one important anomaly that may be important. When I send the external MIDI stream to the RD-700NX there is no audio signal appearing on the Balanced Outputs (as mentioned above)... except for a very brief (maybe 5 msec) of sound that will appear on the Balanced Outputs when I terminate the MIDI stream to the RD-700NX. In other words, if I stop playback of the MIDI stream from Pro Tools to the RD-700NX, there is a very brief bit of audio that appears on the Balanced Outputs. For example, I can hear the tails of the last notes that were being played when the MIDI stream was terminated. This behavior lends evidence to my hypothesis that the RD-700NX blocks audio from the Balanced Outputs when it is actively receiving an external MIDI stream.

I cannot find anything in the System Menus regarding signal routing to the Balanced Outputs. I also can't find anything in the manual.

As a last resort, I can use the unbalanced outputs to record the audio from the RD-700NX back into Pro Tools. But I would prefer to use the Balanced Outputs as it seems like they should work in this application.

Does anybody know why I'm having this problem and if there is a way to fix it?

Best regards,
Greg
gfrees
Posts: 5
Joined: 04:16, 16 December 2012

Re: Problem: No Audio on Balanced Outputs when Using as a Mo

Post by gfrees »

The problem is NOT with the RD-700NX. The problem is with Pro Tools.

Pro Tools -- for reasons that I still have not figured out -- will not show any audio on an Audio Track. I can see the audio from the RD-700NX from both the Unbalanced and/or Balanced Outputs on an Aux Input Track or an Instrument Track. But the audio will NOT show up on a Audio Track in Pro Tools. Even if I bus the audio from the Aux Input Track to the Audio track, it will not show up in the Audio Track while I'm playing MIDI from Pro Tools.

This seems to be some kind of bug in Pro Tools ver. 8.0.5. ... or some setting in Pro Tools that I don't understand.

Anyway, just wanted to let everybody know that the RD-700NX happily produces audio simultaneously on the Unbalanced and Balanced outputs while it is receiving MIDI.

-G
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