Stage 4 Outputs

General Discussion of the Nord Stage (EX), Nord Stage 2 (EX), Nord Stage 3, and Nord Stage 4 Synths, FAQ, Troubleshooting etc.
Post Reply
ovrdrvn
Posts: 22
Joined: 14 Oct 2024, 17:44
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Stage 4
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 1 time
United States of America

Stage 4 Outputs

Post by ovrdrvn »

I noticed an interesting phenomenon that doesn't seem to happen on any other synth or guitar unit I own (and own quite a few). If I use a two into one stereo cord (high quality) out of 12 from the Nord into a single stereo input on my mixer, most electric pianos and possibly another piano or two have NO sound. If I pull one cord, there is sound. If I switch the outputs off the default 12 (A) Arrow to (B) I can get sound. HOWEVER, 2 straight stereo cables allows me to leave the settings as 12.

Is there something different about the Nord's 1/4" outputs in terms of Tip/Ring or such and/or why is it only some piano sounds that are affected?
User avatar
cphollis
Posts: 1795
Joined: 01 Mar 2013, 20:56
12
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Stage 4
Your Nord Gear #2: Nord Piano 5
Location: Vero Beach, Fl
Has thanked: 71 times
Been thanked: 811 times
United States of America

Re: Stage 4 Outputs

Post by cphollis »

The symptoms you are describing can be caused by phase cancellation, e.g. two very similar mono signals combined out-of-phase which mostly cancel each other out so you hear little to nothing. Remove one mono signal, and presto! It's likely a mis-wired cable or similar.
These users thanked the author cphollis for the post:
Eumel
I think I have gear issues ....
ovrdrvn
Posts: 22
Joined: 14 Oct 2024, 17:44
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Stage 4
Has thanked: 9 times
Been thanked: 1 time
United States of America

Re: Stage 4 Outputs

Post by ovrdrvn »

Is it possible the electric pianos in the Stage are mono? Most other sounds work great.
User avatar
maxpiano
Patch Creator
Posts: 6808
Joined: 27 Jun 2011, 13:29
13
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Stage 3
Location: Italy
Has thanked: 504 times
Been thanked: 2385 times
Italy

Re: Stage 4 Outputs

Post by maxpiano »

ovrdrvn wrote: 15 Feb 2025, 04:02 Is it possible the electric pianos in the Stage are mono? Most other sounds work great.
Electric pianos are mono by definition, like the real ones (the Fender Rhodes has a single mono output jack); to make them stereo you usually add effects like Auto Pan, Chorus...

However your problem seems phase cancellation, check you didn't plug one of the cables into Headphones OUT instead of 1/2
User avatar
Mr_-G-
Moderator
Posts: 4735
Joined: 18 Aug 2012, 16:48
12
Your Nord Gear #1: Nord Stage 2
Has thanked: 1459 times
Been thanked: 1268 times

Re: Stage 4 Outputs

Post by Mr_-G- »

It could also be that cable is wrongly wired (2 mono to stereo plug) or has a shorted connector (check with a multimeter), or the mixer has an "invert phase" switched on, or the mixer is wrongly wired (unlikely but maybe not impossible).
The other thing is to try two mono cables into different channels and see if that still suffers from phase cancellation.
Post Reply