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Dull Keyboard Sound

Posted: 05:22, 4 February 2018
by kctsang
Hi all,

So I posted here awhile back about a certain issue with the sound coming out of my Juno DS 88. I'm still dealing with the issue, but here is a refresher.

So, I got a Roland JunoDS 88 plugged into a Scarlett 2i2. The Scarlett is plugged into an Alesis RA150 amp going into a pair of Alesis MKII passive monitors. All connections are done using Monoprice TRS cables.

My problem is that, when I plug in my headphones to the keyboard itself, the piano patch sounds great. But when I listen to it through my monitors, or when I listen via headphones plugged into the interface, the piano sounds rather dull/flat.

I also tried arming a track in my DAW (Studio One) so that I can hear it in stereo. It sounds a little better, but not as good as headphones into the keyboard.

Any suggestions? I read that a higher quality of TRS cables might help. Another factor might be because the amp isn't feeding enough watts into the monitors. The speaker manual suggests 150W into 4ohms. My current RA150 only feeds 75W into 4ohms.

I also heard a better audio interface or even getting a DI box might help.

Thanks in advance!

- Ken

Thanks!

Re: Dull Keyboard Sound

Posted: 16:05, 11 February 2018
by joelfan
There must be a problem with the OUTs.
I cannot see anything else.
Please send back to your dealer for reapir.

Re: Dull Keyboard Sound

Posted: 00:13, 20 February 2018
by Gearhead
Ken, I don't really know anything about the Scarlett unit, but have a few basic troubleshooting quesitons. Before that, I seriouly doubt the quality of the cables is a problem. Low level signal does not require fancy cables. Better cables may last longer or have better interference shielding, but my opinion is that they won't sound better. I also doubt that the problem is too little power into your speakers.

1) Have you tried to run the line outs of the Juno directly into the amp, skipping the Scarlett?

2) Have you tried running some other sound source through the same signal path to see if it sounds dull as well?

These could help isolate the problem. Good luck!

Jeremy

Re: Dull Keyboard Sound

Posted: 15:29, 28 May 2020
by KevinB
I'm having the same issue with my DS and I've not only tried running it through my audio interface, but also through FR powered stage monitors.

in both cases, there is a very noticeable audio quality difference between what I get out of the headphone jack vs the Left and Right outputs.

I've edited the master eq settings on the keyboard and while it does effect the eq, it's not addressing what I believe to be a D/A conversion, or preamp issue on the keyboard itself.

The audio out of the headphones sounds great, while the audio out of the "Left" or "Right" output sounds like a lower bit-rate quality where there is some compromise being made to the converted audio.

If there's no fix for this, I'll likely have to return the keyboard.

Re: Dull Keyboard Sound

Posted: 06:37, 17 June 2022
by SHAcoustic
Kevin, I have verified the same issue on my Juno DS88. Did you ever get any resolution with this discrepancy in sound quality through the headphone jack versus out the main L&R jacks?

Re: Dull Keyboard Sound

Posted: 20:42, 28 June 2022
by vespina
Did you trying connecting your headphones output to your Scarlett interface and AMP ? if you get the same dull output I would say that this is the typical case where the keyboard never sounds as well when using PA vs using headphones, and the only way around is playing with your keyboard and AMP EQ settings.