when a minijack is not just a minijack

[DGBX]

hey guys

so I'm trying to sequence my Novation Bass Station Rack with CV/Gate from my MC-202. I had some 1/4" - 1/8" adapters but those were pretty cheap and I was getting poor tracking so I went and got some actual cords with one size on each end. those didn't work at all. so I did a little test. the minijack end that I bought last night fits into the headphone jack of my laptop, but the adapters I was using did not fit. so they were a different size.

my question is exactly what kind of cords do I need to bring the CV/Gate signal out of my MC-202. this seems a very simple problem, but I don't really have anyone to ask where I am. any help would be appreciated. thanks guys.

[ontheyslay]

Did you try 3.5mm?

[pricklyrobot]

Did you try 3.5mm?

1/8" is 3.5mm, isn't it? Or to put it more correctly, the phone plug size that people sometimes inaccurately refer to as 1/8" is in fact 3.5mm, is it not?

[nathanscribe]

Indeed.

The MC-202 uses plain old regular 3.5mm minijacks, as far as I recall. Mono, not stereo. My own experience with those adapters is that almost all of them are not very good. I'd rather make my own cables. If you can solder, it's much better that way. Making leads is easy, and you can control the quality of the components. With a bit of practice you can knock up a Cv/Gate cable with the right jacks at either in a few minutes.

If you must buy ready made leads with adapters, my advice would be to get some 3.5mm to 3.5mm leads, and use the 3.5mm-to-6.35mm adapter at the wider end. This should put less pressure on the sockets than using heavy step-down connectors at the small end.

It may also be that your sockets are dirty, corroded, or mechanically dodgy in some way.

[mr.cabra]

I use some cheap 3.5 mm to 1/4" Jack cables from Radio Shack. They work fine sequencing my Sh 09 from the 202. And as stated above they must be mono. Good luck.