M4 I/O and cables
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 5:54 pm
Hi everyone, first post here.
I'm an amateur musician doing some simple home recording with my MOTU M4 via usb into an
old Macbook Pro running Performer Lite. I'm looking for recommendations on audio connections.
I'm primarily a guitarist and record guitar through a Line6 HX Stomp, configured for line level output,
via balanced TRS to line inputs 3 and 4 on back of the M4. That unit has good options for
setting output impedance and level and I've been able to use the nice metering on the M4 to find a good
recording level.
I've also picked up a synth keyboard as a 2nd instrument and would like to record that as well.
I'm pretty sure the synth (Roland
XP-30) has L/R unbalanced line outs. I'm currently connecting via unbalanced TS into the
mic/line/guitar inputs 1 and 2 on the front of the M4. This seems to be working fine, and I've got
the gain knobs at about 9:00 there with the synth volume slider at max. I'm wondering, though,
if I ought to be using a direct box, such
as the Radial ProD2 passive 2-channel DI, running TS from the synth to the DI, then XLR balanced into
the combo inputs on the front of the M4. I've also noticed that the headphone out on the synth
is absurdly loud, such that I have to just nudge the volume slider to barely above zero
(There might be a setting for this somewhere in the synth system menu). Maybe
I could be using a TRS/TS splitter cable from the headphone out?
I'm not interested in coloring the sound or questing for
tone improvements, and again, I'm able to record everything just fine.
I just want to make sure I'm doing everything properly in terms of signal level,
impedance, grounding, shielding, etc. I found this article from Soundonsound,
(https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advi ... -keyboards), which generally does
recommend DIs. It seems one big advantage would be protecting my gear against accidentally hitting
the 48V phantom power buttons. But that article is a bit old and doesn't mention mic/line/guitar
combo inputs, as far as I can tell.
Please let me know if I'm fine as is, or if investing in a DI
and XLR cables would be wise. And, for that matter, am I connecting the HX Stomp correctly?
Maybe I should be going the other way around, sending an unbalanced instrument level out from that into
inputs 1 and 2 (using the 'guitar' capability), and sending TS from the synth into line
inputs 3 and 4? Maybe I'd be better off avoiding the M4 mic/line/guitar inputs altogether and
using the USB out of each unit into a USB hub on
the Macbook? Official literature recommends against using usb hubs. The 2nd USB port on the laptop is
already taken with a hub connecting hard drives, mouse, etc. I'm also open to the idea of finding
an interface with more inputs, but then again would want to know what kind of inputs I would
actually need.
Thanks for your help.
I'm an amateur musician doing some simple home recording with my MOTU M4 via usb into an
old Macbook Pro running Performer Lite. I'm looking for recommendations on audio connections.
I'm primarily a guitarist and record guitar through a Line6 HX Stomp, configured for line level output,
via balanced TRS to line inputs 3 and 4 on back of the M4. That unit has good options for
setting output impedance and level and I've been able to use the nice metering on the M4 to find a good
recording level.
I've also picked up a synth keyboard as a 2nd instrument and would like to record that as well.
I'm pretty sure the synth (Roland
XP-30) has L/R unbalanced line outs. I'm currently connecting via unbalanced TS into the
mic/line/guitar inputs 1 and 2 on the front of the M4. This seems to be working fine, and I've got
the gain knobs at about 9:00 there with the synth volume slider at max. I'm wondering, though,
if I ought to be using a direct box, such
as the Radial ProD2 passive 2-channel DI, running TS from the synth to the DI, then XLR balanced into
the combo inputs on the front of the M4. I've also noticed that the headphone out on the synth
is absurdly loud, such that I have to just nudge the volume slider to barely above zero
(There might be a setting for this somewhere in the synth system menu). Maybe
I could be using a TRS/TS splitter cable from the headphone out?
I'm not interested in coloring the sound or questing for
tone improvements, and again, I'm able to record everything just fine.
I just want to make sure I'm doing everything properly in terms of signal level,
impedance, grounding, shielding, etc. I found this article from Soundonsound,
(https://www.soundonsound.com/sound-advi ... -keyboards), which generally does
recommend DIs. It seems one big advantage would be protecting my gear against accidentally hitting
the 48V phantom power buttons. But that article is a bit old and doesn't mention mic/line/guitar
combo inputs, as far as I can tell.
Please let me know if I'm fine as is, or if investing in a DI
and XLR cables would be wise. And, for that matter, am I connecting the HX Stomp correctly?
Maybe I should be going the other way around, sending an unbalanced instrument level out from that into
inputs 1 and 2 (using the 'guitar' capability), and sending TS from the synth into line
inputs 3 and 4? Maybe I'd be better off avoiding the M4 mic/line/guitar inputs altogether and
using the USB out of each unit into a USB hub on
the Macbook? Official literature recommends against using usb hubs. The 2nd USB port on the laptop is
already taken with a hub connecting hard drives, mouse, etc. I'm also open to the idea of finding
an interface with more inputs, but then again would want to know what kind of inputs I would
actually need.
Thanks for your help.