Stereo Out to Mono Amp

[Swolock]

Total newbie here with a Yamaha CP 4. I'm planning to get one powered speaker. I noticed that many of the powered speakers have 2 inputs.

• Is it OK, or does it even make sense, to plug the left channel from the keyboard into one of the powered speakers inputs and right channel into the other?
• Could that cause some kind of electrical damage in the keyboard or powered speaker?
• If I'm using only one input, is there an advantage in going through a mini mixer first?

Thanks

 

[CowboyNQ]

Is it OK, or does it even make sense, to plug the left channel from the keyboard into one of the powered speakers inputs and right channel into the other?

You can do it if you want, not sure what benefit you'd gain though. Personally I'd just use the mono out jack from your 'board (it's the left one) into one of the speaker inputs.

If I'm using only one input, is there an advantage in going through a mini mixer first?

I don't think I'd bother with a mixer unless you were using multiple audio devices simultaneously (other keyboards, vocals, iphone, whatever) and wanting to run through the speaker. Unless your mixer does some fancy EQing or effects that you want to take advantage of, that your keyboard can't do.

 

[Swolock]

Thanks CowboyNQ. Here's another question.

Is it better to use a balanced XLR or TRS cable vs an unbalanced TS cable. My board and the powered speaker have both.

 

[happyrat1]

Balanced is always better than unbalanced if your gear allows it.

Gary

 

[delaware dave]

It is quite conceivable that you will get phase cancellation in trying to take the mono out from your CP4 to the your powered speaker. Some keyboard manufacturers samples handle this better than others. As an example, Kurzweil does a pretty good job around this when using the left/mono jack from a stereo piano. Some older Nord products did a lousy job and the phase cancellation was very apparent. Check to see if the CP4 actually offers a mono piano where the recording was done in mono. The results will be more satisfying.

http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/phase-cancellation/

 

[Swolock]

Gary, can you elaborate a bit on why balanced always better in not too technical terms?

Delaware Dave, so what do you think is a good solution for amplifying the CP4? 2 powered speakers or a stereo keyboard amp?

Sorry I'm such an ignoramus on this stuff. I'm learning and I appreciate everyone's help.

 

[happyrat1]

Some easy reading for ya.

http://www.aviom.com/blog/balanced-vs-unbalanced/

Gary

 

[delaware dave]

Two powered speakers. Keyboard amps are generally sub-par as compared to powered speakers. The CP4 is a rather nice board, don 't ruin it by running the output through a crappy keyboard amp.

 

[Swolock]

Two powered speakers. Keyboard amps are generally sub-par as compared to powered speakers. The CP4 is a rather nice board, don 't ruin it by running the output through a crappy keyboard amp.

That's the direction I'm heading. One QSC K-12 should be here today.