Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards HELP: Urgent Yamaha P45 Hookup Question

I'm getting married in a few days and, after some unfortunate last minute venue shuffling, we needed to find a way to play a Yamaha P45 at the new place. The venue has a MUSYSIC mu-p6mx (link below), and I recently bought a Yamaha P45 to play through it (link below).

I need help making sure I'm connecting it the right way so there aren't any issues at the wedding (we're far from the venue and the piano isn't arriving until two days before, so no chance to test the system out early, hence the urgency and need to get this right). My aunt-in-law has been practicing for this and I want to make sure the sound is solid and that I don't totally screw up the connection. After doing some research, I think using a 1/4 inch TRS to Dual 1/4 inch TS Insert Cable may be the best bet (link below). That said, I also noticed that something like a ¼” TRS to ¼” TRS Balanced Cable 10 feet male to male (link below) might work too.

I'd be so thankful for any help/guidance on this, and I'm sorry if I may have posted this in the wrong section of the forum.

https://www.amazon.com/MUSYSIC-CHANNEL-Watts-PROFESSIONAL-AMPLIFIER/dp/B00A7I7DH8
https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-88-Key-Weighted-Digital-Sustain/dp/B00UJ9LNDK
https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-STP-201-inch-Insert-Cable/dp/B000068O1N
https://www.amazon.com/LyxPro-Balanced-Crystal-Noiseless-Flexible/dp/B01ATMM3OE

Best get a long lead (you never know) with a stereo jack on one end for the piano, and a mono on the other for the mixer since it appears to have no single stereo input. The longer the better; nobody needs to trip up over it.

Get two in case somebody (the best man) does . . . . . . ! There'll be no speaker feedback from the piano, so situate it close to one of the speakers.

Good luck!

The P45 Headphone socket is for TRS stereo, it has to be split into 2 TS mono. Any such cable should be adequate (to insert cable means the 2 signal are split, and it is made for a sending signal and a receiving signal, but is the same as a stereo cable).

a) The headphone output on the P45 is a _unbalanced stereo_, 1/4" jack. I don't see any way to get monophonic output.

It uses a TRS (tip-ring-sleeve) plug as follows:

. . . Sleeve: ground
. . . Tip: probably right-channel signal;
. . . Ring: probably left-channel signal.

b) The mixer has 6 _balanced single-channel_ (= "monophonic" or "mono") line-level inputs, each one with a TRS (balanced) input jack.

It happens (the explanation is long) that you can plug a unbalanced, single-channel "TS" (tip-sleeve) plug into a balanced, monophonic TRS jack, and everything will work OK.

So what you need is something called a "splitter cable" (any music shop will have one):

. . . A _stereo_ TRS plug on one end;

. . . Two TS, monophonic plugs on the other end -- one right-channel, one left-channel.
. . . Those plugs should be marked "right" and "left" (or "L" and "R").

Then:

Plug the TRS plug into the P45's headphone jack.

Plug one TS plug into one input on the mixer, plug the other TS plug into another input on the mixer.

You now have a choice, assuming that there are two loudspeakers attached to the mixer:

Either:
. . . _use_ the "stereo" sound of the P45, by running the "R" input channel into the "right" loudspeaker,
. . . . using the "L/R" knob for its channel;

. . . and running the "L" input channel into the "Left" loudspeaker (using the "L/R" knob for its channel).

Or:

. . . Set the "L/R" knobs for _both_ input channels to their center position,
. . . which will put the same signal -- "left + right" -- into both loudspeakers.
. . . That gives you (more or less) "monophonic sound" from the P45.

My bias is to use the second option -- "mono" sound is easier to work with, than "stereo" sound. Some people would do it differently.

Remember, when you plug or unplug cables, either turn the mixer off, or turn the "master gain" _all the way down_.

Good luck, and have a nice wedding!

Yes, the HOSA cable you referenced (STP-201) is the right cable to use. It uses "T" and "R' labels, instead of "right" and "left" labels, but the connections are good.

I suggest getting the 7' or 10' cables. They will give you much more freedom to locate the P-45 where you'd like it to be.

The "L/R" knob is labelled "Pan".

Charles, I mentioned this above. You can buy a cable with a stereo standard jack on one end, and a mono one on the other which combines the two signals. I know, because I have one for a bass guitar if needed. It saves a load o' fussing.

Can't thank you guys enough. This is incredibly helpful. Have a great weekend!

Yes, you did -- sorry I ignored it.

Such a cable probably connects the outputs of two amplifiers (left-channel headphone amp, and right-channel headphone amp) together. I don't know if that's good practice, or not. But it's simpler than re-combining the signals using a mixer. As you say, less fussing.