Interconnection problems

[fresnel355]

I have two wires that convert, a headphone pin to a male XLR, and I have a Stereo cable(red and white, you kno) that converts it into a male XLR also, when I use them they sound weird, like they have only vocals, and stuff,, I dono wats wrong it sounds alien like, anything?oh and I should mention, I dono if this changes it but I have a mono speaker system

 

 

Moderation: Title changed as "I need help" could apply to any thread on the BR. Board rules clearly state topic names should be descriptive of the content and not just say "I need help" in order to enable others to have a better idea of the topic's content.

[Ynot]

I have two wires that convert, a headphone pin to a male XLR, and I have a Stereo cable(red and white, you kno) that converts it into a male XLR also, when I use them they sound weird, like they have only vocals, and stuff

HUH???

I have to say that you have made absolutely NO sense there!

 

Any chance you could be a little more specific about some of those connectors? (pictures?)

Also what are you connecting these cables to?

I can't actually think of anything that a cable would do to a signal that would remove everything but vocals from a prerecorded track, either...

[david.elsbury]

Write in full words, and use some punctuation!

 

He has a cable, 3.5mm stereo minijack to male XLR and also a cable that is 2x RCA to male XLR.

 

I would hazard a guess that it is wired 1- Gnd 2- Left 3- Right.

 

When fed into a balanced mic input there is a cancellation effect occurring, possibly removing vocals, possibly removing everything but vocals.

 

The solution is not to plug into a balanced mic input, but to use either a DI, a cable that goes 3.5mm to 2x jack, or if you must use the XLR input (it will sound pants this way) to combine the left and the right signals via resistors, 1k should do, and make that signal go to pin2 of the XLR, and the ground go to pin 1.

 

Please Nathan, write better that you did if you expect to get any help!

 

David

[lightsource]

The original question really needs to be asked in a better fashion, If you want a quality response to a question, then please ask the question in a way that BR members can respond.

 

Please re-post the question, in a manner that's understandable by all. :) Remember, ypu know what you're asking, but we we can only go by the info you've given us, which in this case, is not a lot :P

[Bobbsy]

The others are right. We need a better written, more precise question to be able to answer in detail. Things like how your connectors are wired and what you're trying to use them for are essential information to get a meaningful answer.

 

However, based on what I can fathom from your original post, I'm reasonably confident that david.elsbury is on the right track. Both a mini headphone jack and a pair of phono plugs are ways of feeding an unbalanced stereo signal; XLRs are (almost always) used for a balanced mono connection (often at microphone level rather than line level). When you combine the two halves of a stereo feed incorrectly you introduce phase cancellations which would account for the strange effects you're hearing.

 

Yes, there are ways around this but what to recommend will depend on exactly what it is you are trying to do.

 

Bob

[Simon Lewis]

I'd agree with the tentative diagnosis given above.. WHen presented with a stereo signal across pin 2 & 3, the mixer's balanced input will tend to cancel any signal which is common to both pins. Therefore, it is likely that material present equally in left and right (I..e. panned to centre) will "disappear".

 

Have a look at the Soundcraft website. There is a handy cable connection guide there.

[KevinE]

I also agree with david, you're trying to force a stereo unbalanced signal into a mono balanced input. The electronically balanced input preamp is subtracting the left from the right channel and just giving you a kind of echoey vocal lacking bass.

 

It's a common mistake, just because you can buy the right adapter doesnt mean the signals are compatible.

 

Choose a different input on your mixer..one for stereo music eg twin phono inputs, or use two mono channels with the pans set to left and right respectively.