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Hi All,

I finally have my HD8CD but need a little help on setting it up.

Here is my equipment:

Keyboard, Sound Module, Active Monitor Speakers, HD8CD.

Sometimes, I am going to want to practice the piano, without having it hooked into the HD8CD... how can I go about this?

I want to be able to practice through the speakers or headphones (whichever I choose) and record.

I also have a Behringer Mixer (if needed).

The back of my monitor speakers take XLR or normal jacks, however the HD8's master output is only the small red/white ones... what type of leads do I need for this in order for it to work on my speakers?

Could I run the master out, through to a separate mixer, where my speakers are plugged into?

Or would you just recommend turning on the HD8 everytime I want to practice?

Any help is muchly appreciated!

Thanks,
Amnesia

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Comments

RemyRAD Sun, 06/15/2008 - 12:48

It sounds like you have complete Amnesia of your recording course?? Amnesia from any books. Amazingly, you found your way here. I'm not sure what your name is because you obviously have.... Amnesia?

So those little connector thingies. They're called thingies. And you only need to use the right thingies. Not the wrong things. Those thingies are available where you stole your equipment from. Otherwise, you would have purchased them at the time. You should have stolen some books instead.

So, yes, just turn on your CD recorder. Depress the record button without the disk installed. This will generally put into "E to E" mode which means, whatever goes in? You'll hear coming out. You don't need a separate mixer as you could get arrested stealing another one.

Try walking into a music store or Radio Shaft with some cash so you can get the patch cords you need with those thingies on the end.

Playing with my thingies
Ms. Remy Ann David

Red & White thingies = RCA phono-graph connectors
1/4" tip & sleeve=mono = 1/4" phone plug
1/4" tip ring & sleeve=stereo = 1/4" phone plug
1/8" tip ring & sleeve= stereo = 1/8" mini phone plug, etc.
XLR =3 conductor professional microphone & line connectors who's arrangement is generally standardized as, pin 1 = ground. Pin 2= high side of balanced. Pin 3= low side of balanced. (to convert balanced to unbalanced, short pin 2 to pin 1, ground. Voila'!

Now go purchase a book.

RemyRAD Sun, 06/15/2008 - 14:58

And so you could glean nothing from what I said? That's more than amnesia.

As you have surmised, there are many ways to accomplish what you want. The easiest being, TURNING THE CD DEVICE ON TO MONITOR THROUGH. Not sure what your problem is with turning it on? The amount of electricity it takes is about the same as your clock radio next to your bed, minimal. Your time is worth money so turning on your CD device save you money. Obviously the time I spend here is worth nothing. Nobody wants to read their instruction manuals, trade publications nor books. I never even had this luxury when I was younger as our resources were minimal at best. I became a great engineer in spite of this because I've read everything I could find and then tried what I read. So yes, sarcasm when you haven't so much as read the instruction manual that was included with your device.

Now how about asking me how to make a good record?
Ms. Remy Ann David

Codemonkey Sun, 06/15/2008 - 15:01

Remy, if I'm correct in thinking, suffers from an overflowing of sarcasm and wit and as such, always posts something ridiculous.

I'll ask, can you get a signal from a record out on the piano, while having headphones plugged into the Phone jack? (for monitoring on speakers, get some adapters that split the line out to 2 jacks - one for speakers, one for recording).

Ditch the Behringer. If you can possibly get away without using it, do so.

anonymous Mon, 06/16/2008 - 00:52

Hi All,

Thanks for your replies. RemyRAD, yes I briefly read through my manual... however, I have not even turned my machine on yet. I need a UPS (because of road works going on at the bottom of the road). This is on mail order and has not arrived yet. As you could imagine, I am VERY eager to want to use this, and without being able to play with it... i'm just in theory right now. Apologies for being a little too over-enthusiastic. I was hoping to get a foot up on the ladder before the UPS arrived, and I found I don't have the necesary cables/leads etc.
You also mentioned that simply turning the HD8 on will allow me to practice. I know this, but my question was how can I get thinks linked together without having to constantly plug/unplug devices.

Codemonkey;

I don't really want to use the Behringer if I can help it. It seems to be making the right channel sound very "dusty"... making lots of "noise", which can get very annoying!

I'm assuming something like this [="http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2049644&cp=&sr=1&origkw=selector+switch+audio&kw=selector+switch+audio&parentPage=search"]this switch[/]="http://www.radiosha…"]this switch[/] or equivalent will do the job? with regards to splitting?

However, you are correct, I can still get a signal out whilst having headphones plugged in. The same for my Roland XV5050 sound module.

Codemonkey Mon, 06/16/2008 - 10:08

Well, there you go. Use the headphone out (eliminates latency problems) when using the keyboard.
By splitter, I was thinking along the lines of a simple Y adapter - one plug, with 2 jacks that feed both at once. Then you could keep it plugged into the recorder and speakers at once. So you could turn off the speakers and use the headphones, while recording or not. Or you could forget the headphones and turn on the speakers.

anonymous Wed, 06/18/2008 - 00:41

Thanks Codemonkey, it actually seems to make sense what you said! And much easier than my long 100,000 cable idea.

Quick question regarding speaker hum. Will a simple ground loop isolator eliminate this problem? I seem to get a fuzz/hum when my speakers turn on and are connected to the HD8. I do not get they are not plugged into anything, only if it goes into the Stage Piano, or the HD8, or a mixer etc.