The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

Are all the patches quiet or just some? What are you using for an
amp? Could it be a cable? Problem with the amp? Did you buy the synth
new or used?

If it's a used synth, check the patches. What's the VCA setting? The
filter settings? There's a lot of ways to mess up the volume. The
output volume of my An1x is louder than my other synths.

Rainbow Jimmy

Thanks for the reply Jimmy!

> Are all the patches quiet or just some?

All patches are low in volume.

What are you using for an amp?

I have been using headphones ( a couple different types)

Could it be a cable? Problem with the amp?

Not a cable or amp problem

Did you buy the synth new or used?

Used

> If it's a used synth, check the patches. What's the VCA setting? The
> filter settings? There's a lot of ways to mess up the volume. The
> output volume of my An1x is louder than my other synths.

I checked all the parameters corresponding to volume and
reinitialized the synth, but still the volume seems just a little too
low.

Can anyone verify that the AN1x editor allows you to make the
changes in volume as described above?Thanks,
Shakti

Hi Shakti,

>Thanks for the reply Jimmy!
>
>> Are all the patches quiet or just some?
>
>All patches are low in volume.
>
>What are you using for an amp?
>
>I have been using headphones ( a couple different types)

It could be a combination of the AN1x and the headphones you are using. I use a pair of Sennheiser HD580's, and while the volume is adequate, it's not overly loud. I was prepared for this: All of the reviews said that the Sennheisers really need a strong amp to drive them, because of their high impedance.

Years ago, most headphones were 8 ohms, and all headphone outputs on stereos, etc. were set up to handle this load. These days, headphone impedances are all over the place, from around 30 ohm to tens of thousands of ohms.

Regards,

-BW
--
Bruce Wahler
Ashby Solutions™ http://music.ashbysolutions.com
978.386.7389 voice/fax
bruce@...

Bruce Wahler said:

> Hi Shakti,
>
>>Thanks for the reply Jimmy!
>>
>>> Are all the patches quiet or just some?
>>
>>All patches are low in volume.
>>
>>What are you using for an amp?
>>
>>I have been using headphones ( a couple different types)
>
> It could be a combination of the AN1x and the headphones you are using. I use
> a pair of Sennheiser HD580's, and while the volume is adequate, it's not
> overly loud. I was prepared for this: All of the reviews said that the
> Sennheisers really need a strong amp to drive them, because of their high
> impedance.
>
> Years ago, most headphones were 8 ohms, and all headphone outputs on stereos,
> etc. were set up to handle this load. These days, headphone impedances are
> all over the place, from around 30 ohm to tens of thousands of ohms.
>
> Regards,
>
> -BW

Sorry but no, you have it backwards, Bruce. Years ago, most speakers were 8
ohms, and headphones were designed to be driven by the same amp circuit that
fed the speakers without anything getting overloaded (the speakers, the
headphones, or most importantly the amp itself, usually tube-driven in those
days). To do this they had to have a very high impedance, 600 to 2000 ohms, so
they could be strapped across the amplifier with the speakers without
affecting the amp load much.

When portable cassette players came out and required lower-impedance
headphones to get decent level from their tiny battery-powered amps (and
didn't hook up to speakers anyway), that's when impedances started to drop.

Many good headphones today still use a 600 ohm impedance, but others are
specifically being designed with lower impedances. As an example, AKG still
makes the excellent K240 M headphone, a 600 ohm phone that's often used for
orchestral sessions where many headphones can be chained in parallel without
the net impedance dropping too low (you can chain 75 sets and still have an
8-ohm load). But AKG also recently released the K240 Studio, a redesigned
headphone with a 55 ohm impedance.

mike

--
"Run for your lives! Lofty's figured out he's BIGGER than all of us!!"

> < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > <

metlay / atomic city / metlay@... / http://www.atomiccity.com

Thank you both for your comments. I will try the An1x out with
monitors tonight. It probably is the headphones. I'll let you know.
Shakti


- In AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Metlay" <metlay@a...> wrote:

>
> Bruce Wahler said:
> > Hi Shakti,
> >
> >>Thanks for the reply Jimmy!
> >>
> >>> Are all the patches quiet or just some?
> >>
> >>All patches are low in volume.
> >>
> >>What are you using for an amp?
> >>
> >>I have been using headphones ( a couple different types)
> >
> > It could be a combination of the AN1x and the headphones you are

using. I use

> > a pair of Sennheiser HD580's, and while the volume is adequate,

it's not

> > overly loud. I was prepared for this: All of the reviews said

that the

> > Sennheisers really need a strong amp to drive them, because of

their high

> > impedance.
> >
> > Years ago, most headphones were 8 ohms, and all headphone outputs

on stereos,

> > etc. were set up to handle this load. These days, headphone

impedances are

> > all over the place, from around 30 ohm to tens of thousands of

ohms.

> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > -BW
>
> Sorry but no, you have it backwards, Bruce. Years ago, most

speakers were 8

> ohms, and headphones were designed to be driven by the same amp

circuit that

> fed the speakers without anything getting overloaded (the speakers,

the

> headphones, or most importantly the amp itself, usually tube-driven

in those

> days). To do this they had to have a very high impedance, 600 to

2000 ohms, so

> they could be strapped across the amplifier with the speakers

without

> affecting the amp load much.
>
> When portable cassette players came out and required lower-impedance
> headphones to get decent level from their tiny battery-powered amps

(and

> didn't hook up to speakers anyway), that's when impedances started

to drop.

>
> Many good headphones today still use a 600 ohm impedance, but

others are

> specifically being designed with lower impedances. As an example,

AKG still

> makes the excellent K240 M headphone, a 600 ohm phone that's often

used for

> orchestral sessions where many headphones can be chained in

parallel without

> the net impedance dropping too low (you can chain 75 sets and still

have an

> 8-ohm load). But AKG also recently released the K240 Studio, a

redesigned

> headphone with a 55 ohm impedance.
>
> mike
>
> --
> "Run for your lives! Lofty's figured out he's BIGGER than all of

us!!"

> > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > <
> <
> metlay / atomic city / metlay@a... / http://www.atomiccity.com

Mike Metlay wrote:

> Many good headphones today still use a 600 ohm impedance, but others are
> specifically being designed with lower impedances. As an example, AKG still
> makes the excellent K240 M headphone, a 600 ohm phone that's often used for
> orchestral sessions where many headphones can be chained in parallel without
> the net impedance dropping too low (you can chain 75 sets and still have an
> 8-ohm load). But AKG also recently released the K240 Studio, a redesigned
> headphone with a 55 ohm impedance.

I have the K240Ms. Excellent headphones, but you really need to turn the
volume up. On the AN1x, this used be somewhat of an issue, but they're
connected to the mixer now, where they have their own volume control.

- Peter

Hi Mike,

>Sorry but no, you have it backwards, Bruce. Years ago, most speakers were 8
>ohms, and headphones were designed to be driven by the same amp circuit that
>fed the speakers without anything getting overloaded (the speakers, the
>headphones, or most importantly the amp itself, usually tube-driven in those
>days). To do this they had to have a very high impedance, 600 to 2000 ohms, so
>they could be strapped across the amplifier with the speakers without
>affecting the amp load much.

No, the Koss headphones that I used in '71-73 were definitely 8 ohms. I worked for Radio Shack all through college, and nearly every headphone we ever sold in those days said "8 ohms" on the box. Back then, most stereo manufacturers powered the headphone jack by putting a 100-500 ohm resistor in series with each side of the main outs, to both prevent the cans from loading down the main speakers, and to prevent the headphones from taking the full brunt of the amplifier. My trusty Sennheiser HD414's, OTOH, were about 2,000 ohms, and so were relatively easy to fry by turning the levels up; that 150 ohm resistor didn't help at all. :^(

None of this changes the fact that some headphones are much more efficient than others, particularly when driven by the AN1x -- whether the impedance is too high, or too low. I can get a satisfactory sound from my HD580's for late-night tweaking, but I've never tried them in a recording environment. I'd probably be disappointed.

Regards,

-BW
--
Bruce Wahler
Ashby Solutions™ http://music.ashbysolutions.com
978.386.7389 voice/fax
bruce@...

> Sorry but no, you have it backwards, Bruce.

Lab equipment... man I want an analyzer to solve this with! A Google search
for "headphone output impedance" got back a range of 30 to over 600 ohms.

Ed Edwards
Leader: Ezekiel's Wheel »»»»Retro-Progressive Rock««««
http://www.untiedmusic.com/ezekiel
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/227/ezekiels_wheel.html
°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°·.·°

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Metlay" <metlay@...>
To: <AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2003 3:24 PM
Subject: [AN1x] Impedance and volume


>
> Bruce Wahler said:
> > Hi Shakti,
> >
> >>Thanks for the reply Jimmy!
> >>
> >>> Are all the patches quiet or just some?
> >>
> >>All patches are low in volume.
> >>
> >>What are you using for an amp?
> >>
> >>I have been using headphones ( a couple different types)
> >
> > It could be a combination of the AN1x and the headphones you are using.
I use
> > a pair of Sennheiser HD580's, and while the volume is adequate, it's not
> > overly loud. I was prepared for this: All of the reviews said that the
> > Sennheisers really need a strong amp to drive them, because of their
high
> > impedance.
> >
> > Years ago, most headphones were 8 ohms, and all headphone outputs on
stereos,
> > etc. were set up to handle this load. These days, headphone impedances
are
> > all over the place, from around 30 ohm to tens of thousands of ohms.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > -BW
>
Years ago, most speakers were 8
> ohms, and headphones were designed to be driven by the same amp circuit
that
> fed the speakers without anything getting overloaded (the speakers, the
> headphones, or most importantly the amp itself, usually tube-driven in
those
> days). To do this they had to have a very high impedance, 600 to 2000
ohms, so
> they could be strapped across the amplifier with the speakers without
> affecting the amp load much.
>
> When portable cassette players came out and required lower-impedance
> headphones to get decent level from their tiny battery-powered amps (and
> didn't hook up to speakers anyway), that's when impedances started to
drop.
>
> Many good headphones today still use a 600 ohm impedance, but others are
> specifically being designed with lower impedances. As an example, AKG
still
> makes the excellent K240 M headphone, a 600 ohm phone that's often used
for
> orchestral sessions where many headphones can be chained in parallel
without
> the net impedance dropping too low (you can chain 75 sets and still have
an
> 8-ohm load). But AKG also recently released the K240 Studio, a redesigned
> headphone with a 55 ohm impedance.
>
> mike
>
> --
> "Run for your lives! Lofty's figured out he's BIGGER than all of us!!"
> > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > < > <
> metlay / atomic city / metlay@... / http://www.atomiccity.com
>
>
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>

Hi Peter
Nice to see another EX5er amonst the crowd. I havent been at the EX5
site much lately. I have the same headphones as you and I believe
they, not being powered enough, are what is causing the low volume. I
don't have my mixer hooked up right now so I guess I better go hook
that up. Thanks for the advice.
Shakti

>
> I have the K240Ms. Excellent headphones, but you really need to

turn the

> volume up. On the AN1x, this used be somewhat of an issue, but

they're

> connected to the mixer now, where they have their own volume

control.

>
> - Peter