Juno DS-61 Loses Output Volume or Cuts Out. Help!

[donalddemon]

I bought a used DS-61 a few months ago and the sound either keeps cutting out completely or losing volume to where you can barely hear it. I'm using the stereo outputs (Hosa Y-Cable) direct to my mixing board and through our PA speakers. It seemed to work fine for a few weeks but has been doing this the last month.

I'm not a keyboardist but I bought this for my studio so others don't have to bring their keys. We have been practicing for upcoming shows and it was a huge problem last night, had to keep turning it on and off mid song, which fixed it for a few minutes.

Since this is used and not covered under warranty, where should I start looking to fix? Anyone had these problems? I'm pretty bummed, I hope I'm not screwed on this thing. I did do a factory reset when I first got it, I guess I can start there?

[vespina]

Sounds like a hardware problem with your output jacks. I am afraid the only solution is to take it to an authorized repair shop.

[donalddemon]

Sounds like a hardware problem with your output jacks. I am afraid the only solution is to take it to an authorized repair shop.

Could be. If it's just jacks I can replace them myself, just trying to rule out other things first.

[vespina]

If you are handy with those kind of things then check the output jacks... maybe there is a loose weld or something, that can be easily fixed.

Good luck!

[donalddemon]

If you are handy with those kind of things then check the output jacks... maybe there is a loose weld or something, that can be easily fixed.

Good luck!

Thanks, I will look into the solder joints if I end up disassembling it. I'm handy enough to replace parts, just not great at diagnosing what need to be fixed. So far, disconnecting the EV-5 has seemed to work. No clue why the Roland expression pedal doesn't work with the Roland keyboard but maybe they are incompatible or there is something wrong with my EV-5.

[vespina]

It seems that the problem could be either:

a) A fault in your EV5 expression pedal
b) A fault in your JunoDS expression input jack
c) An incompatibility between the EV5 pedal and the JunoDS

You could test by connecting your hold pedal into the expression jack and see if you can use it to start/stop an audio track in your JunoDS. If that works then the expression input jack its most probably ok. That would left you with one less choice, at least.

[donalddemon]

It seems that the problem could be either:

a) A fault in your EV5 expression pedal
b) A fault in your JunoDS expression input jack
c) An incompatibility between the EV5 pedal and the JunoDS

You could test by connecting your hold pedal into the expression jack and see if you can use it to start/stop an audio track in your JunoDS. If that works then the expression input jack its most probably ok. That would left you with one less choice, at least.

It looks like the EV5 is the recommended compatible pedal so maybe mine is faulty. I don't have a hold pedal otherwise, It didn't come with one at least. I've been playing it without the EV5 and that seems to be working so far.

[vespina]

Good news then!

[dbuser]

I bought a used EV-5 pedal and I get the same behaviour on certain patches. Haven’t nailed down the cause yet.

I might take the EV-5 apart and clean it, see if that helps.

I also have a cheapo ‘Nekker’ Ev-5 clone pedal that works fine and has not done it yet, so I assume it’s some issue with the used pedal causing this.

[dbuser]

Got round to dismantling the EV-5 and discovered the root cause was an internal cable fault near the pedal itself.

I confirmed the fault with a multimeter on circuit continuity checker mode by clamping one terminal on the jack ring (the middle section of the connector) and the other terminal on different parts of the circuit.

See here for TRS diagrams and explanations: https://mynewmicrophone.com/how-do-head ... -diagrams/.

Then I moved the other terminal around the internals to see when circuit continuity broke. In my case, it happened when I rotated the pedal to a certain angle, which I eventually realised was due to a pinched/damaged cable.

To fix, I unsoldered the three connections (red, white, ground) from the pedal, cut the cable after the suspected break, stripped wires and resoldered. Now it works fine.

[donalddemon]

Got round to dismantling the EV-5 and discovered the root cause was an internal cable fault near the pedal itself.

I confirmed the fault with a multimeter on circuit continuity checker mode by clamping one terminal on the jack ring (the middle section of the connector) and the other terminal on different parts of the circuit.

See here for TRS diagrams and explanations: https://mynewmicrophone.com/how-do-head ... -diagrams/.

Then I moved the other terminal around the internals to see when circuit continuity broke. In my case, it happened when I rotated the pedal to a certain angle, which I eventually realised was due to a pinched/damaged cable.

To fix, I unsoldered the three connections (red, white, ground) from the pedal, cut the cable after the suspected break, stripped wires and resoldered. Now it works fine.

Good info, thanks! I've had to repair these before as well and the last one I had I ended up installing a 1/4” TRS stereo jack instead of fixing the cheap wiring they use, I was able to use my own stereo cable with the length of my choosing. I need to find that one because the other one I've been using must be doing the same thing. It's ridiculous what they charge for such a cheaply built pedal.