Vintage Synth Explorer Forums

I ran a test tonight.

First, I ran a test with my Nord Lead 3. I compared the volume level of Output A to Output B, both in mono. (No panning and no stereo Unison were used.) Output A is considerably louder than Output B! (Of course, I set M1 for Out A and M2 for Out B in the audio routing section, which I believe are, respectively, the appropriate routings for mono recording).

Second, I tested my Prophet '08. I compared the volume level of the "Right" output to the "Left" output, both in mono. (No panning was used in the patch, whatsoever. Also, global audio out was set to Mono.) The "Right" output is considerably louder than the "Left" output!

Why, under these mindful circumstances, are there huge differences in the volume of the left and right outputs? From which output should I record in mono? The loudest?

Do they have volume balance controls?

The Tetra has settings in the global menu to alter each voice's output level individually... also there is a function in the manual that auto-calibrates the voices, maybe that will also change this..

(I am assuming you used the same mono mixer channel to test each side of the output... if not, maybe the mixer's channels are what are off)

I suppose it could be that one is the 'preferred' mono channel.. BUT I would have presumed that in that case, it would be LEFT.. and even then, it seems unlikely the channels would purposely be different...

No, the Prophet '08 does not have individual output volume balance controls.

I calibrate the voices fairly often, but calibration only concerns the oscillators and the filters.

Yes, I used the same mono mixer channel to test each side of the output.

Hmm...this was Clavia's response for the NL3:

"There are trim pots on the main board that a service tech can use to match the levels of the digital, analog converters. Do not attempt to do this yourself. Get the unit to a qualified, experienced Nord tech and see if he can do anything."

Ok, then why would my cousin's NL3 have the exact same output discrepancy? Clearly, this discrepancy is not unique to my board...

I was able to fix the discrepancy on the Prophet '08 by altering the Balance Tweak option to -2 instead of 0.

Still unsure about the Nord. I really love the sound of the NL3, but I've realized it's a but unwieldy with all these small problems...

Which output is labeled as the mono output for each board? I would assume that output combines both the L and R signal if nothing is plugged into the other jack, otherwise it wouldn't really be a mono output, would it? That would explain why one is louder than the other. In one jack, both the L and R channels are combined and in the other, only one channel is sent.

For instance, on my Moog Voyager, the LEFT output jack is labeled as the MONO output. If nothing is plugged into the RIGHT output jack, the LEFT and RIGHT signals are combined in the LEFT output and that output is louder. Nothing wrong with that.

b3groover wrote:Which output is labeled as the mono output for each board? I would assume that output combines both the L and R signal if nothing is plugged into the other jack, otherwise it wouldn't really be a mono output, would it? That would explain why one is louder than the other. In one jack, both the L and R channels are combined and in the other, only one channel is sent.

For instance, on my Moog Voyager, the LEFT output jack is labeled as the MONO output. If nothing is plugged into the RIGHT output jack, the LEFT and RIGHT signals are combined in the LEFT output and that output is louder. Nothing wrong with that.

That's what I was about to say.

EC, it seems like you don't really like your Nord. Nothing wrong with that, just sell it and get something else and stop looking for little reasons you might find as excuses. Much more productive that way.

No, I love the Nord. Really do. Mostly because it's fun to program, but I also get great sounds, especially FM.

b3groover -

The Nord Lead 3 has a routing submenu where you can designate a mono sum to any given output. For example, you can send your current patch to be summed to mono in any of the 4 outputs. Therefore, I think the whole "designated mono" output becomes redundant unless you choose not to use the routing submenu.

Output B is the "designated mono" output...but, once again, I believe that's only true if you don't access the routing submenu. (Stereo output is the default.)