Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Please help with monitor and Yamaha 515 volume settings

Hello,

I am back in desperate need of help...

Following other discussions I just installed JBL 305 monitors. I have a volume problem

Master keyboard is set to 100%
Monitors volume turned all the way to 10
Tried playing with the -4dB +10bD switch

I tried setting onboard speakers to off, tried also leaving then on. When I leave the onboard speakers on, I cant really hear the monitors since they are much quieter than the onboard speakers...

Whatever I do, the sound volume is low, audible but low, lower than onboard speakers

I read the manual and tried looking online but nothing helps.

I am using regular TRS 1/4inch cable from the Yamaha 515 out directly to the monitor, one for each side.

Side note: the volume is higher when I play stuff from the iPad on flow key, but not necessarily when I use the onboard demo songs.
Also, even before the monitors, my piano volume is always much lower than flow key.

I realize those aren't meant for a concert hall, but is it normal that the volume level is barely acceptable when I max out everything?

Thank you in advance

There are cases when 1/4" jacks in monitors are "balanced" for noise immunity and you may lose 1/2 the signal if you are not using a three ring cable.

Thats a smart thought but when I listen to something recorded from flow key its actually super loud.

My cables are balanced.

Yes -- but the "Line Out" from the P-515 is probably _unbalanced_.

. . . Even so, a TRS (tip/ring/sleeve) cable should work OK.

EDIT -- I'm not sure if that's right! A TS (tip/sleeve -- "guitar cable") should work, but I can imagine a situation where a TRS cable would not.

. . . If you have a TS cable, test it and see if the situation improves.


If I understand the problem, the monitors work OK from one signal source (Flowkey, running on an iPad) -- so they are probably _not_ the cause of the problem.

I assume that the TRS cables are plugged into the P-515 "Line Out" jacks --

. . . Is that right?

A suggestion:

. . . Set the LSR305 gain to half-scale (50%),

. . . Set the P-515 volume control to half-scale,

. . . Use a sound on the P-515 that's _not_ a piano:

. . . . . Does anything come out of the monitors when you play ?

If not, try this:

. . . Turn off one monitor, leave the other one turned on.

. . . take the TRS cable connected to the "On" monitor
. . . . out of the P-515 "Line Out" jack.

. . . . . . Did the monitor "pop" when you did that?

. . . Holding the insulated part of the cable, touch your finger to
. . . the "tip" contact of the TRS cable (that was plugged into the P-515):

. . . . . Do you hear hum from the monitor, and does it go away
. . . . . when you remove your finger from the "tip" contact ?

Thanks --

Hold the thought on 2-wire audio “unbalanced” versus 3-wire “balanced” audio cabling and potential benefit when using the latter. Your low volume monitor output from 515 could be affected by “noise” but i doubt it.

Proxy, are you sure your DP supports balanced audio?

Many DP audio outputs support 2-wire, some support 3-wire, whether or not the manufacturer indicates either in it’s literature is another question. I have not yet seen/found Yamaha’s statement that P-515 supports balanced audio. On the monitor side, JBL provides both types of jacks ..... it may be you are attaching 2-wire outputs from your DP to XLR inputs on the monitors. If you have regular 2-wire patch cords, you could see if they make ant difference.

There are regulars here who also own the 515, perhaps they can provide helpful insight.


Here is a brief but sufficient explanation of using 2-wire versus 3-wre cabling.

https://www.boxcast.com/blog/balanced-vs.-unbalanced-audio-whats-the-difference

Thank you all.

Can we step back for a second with what might be the mystery
How come something form flow key sounds much louder, even on onboard speakers? I set all volume to max on the instrument.
I was reading somewhere that the 515 line out are unbalanced. No word on that in the manual.
I didn't realize there was a difference when I got my cables... to be clear I am using TRS TO TRS balanced x2. So I ordered on amazon a TS to TS unbalanced and a TS to XLR unbalanced to do my experiment.

Surely someone with a 515 has run in the same issue.

Thank you again, I am going to do the experiment that Charles suggests.

Have you tried another input source and/or cable just to rule out the monitor or cable itself being defective?
TRS balanced cables is what the monitors call for. Set input sensitivity to -10dBv.
I assume you are using the Aux Out on the back of the P515 and not the headphone jacks on the front.
Set both Binaural and Stereophonic Optimization to off.
Are the cables stereo or mono?

The only thing I can think of to try is from the user manual of the JBL.
Turn the monitor off. Turn the keyboard down all the way.
Turn the monitor on, wait 7 seconds. Turn the monitor volume up mid way. Then start turning the keyboard up while playing notes.
I can't imagine the JBL circuitry being so finicky that it would require such an exacting setup process, though.

So again, with the monitors connected to the aux out behind the 515, anything played from the iPad (connected to 515 USB) is loud, like super loud on the monitors so they seem fine.
It's almost as if the piano volume cursor is at 50% while everything else is at 100%.
The problem is when I play myself.
I have the same type of situation with onboard speakers but not as marked. My playing is 20-30% lower than a recording, at max volume.
I am using 2 cables, one for the right one for the left, so 2 mono cables.

I have not tried yet to turn off binaural, (But I thought it only impacted headphones?)


I will try the JBL manual trick



Thank you !

Turn off the Stereophonic Optimizer too. Did you set Sound Boost to "on", level 3? You can play with touch sensitivity and individual voice volumes too for testing, but as that is going to start messing with your expression you may want to explore other alternatives at that point. I agree it would be helpful if other P515 users that had experience with this particular JBL monitor to chime in.

From another recent P515 thread:

https://forum.pianoworld.com/ubbthre...phone-sound-vs-line-out.html#Post3133494


“When headphones are connected, the Voices in the Piano group automatically change to the sound of Binaural Sampling or the sound enhanced with the Stereophonic Optimizer, by the default settings. However, when headphones are connected, these functions affect the sound from the external speaker connected to the AUX OUT jacks or the sound for Audio recording (page 61), and may result in those sounds sounding unusual.
If you want to turn these functions off, you can switch them on and off via the “System” menu display. Press the [FUNCTION] button repeatedly to call up the “System” menu display: “Sound” → “Binaural” (page 99).”

-drew

Excuse my dumb suggestion, but does the P-515 have a separate adjustable volume control for audio out? I mean as a function in the menus. That's where it is on my P-255. There are actually two functions. One is AUX OUT volume control, and the other is Fixed AUX OUT volume, in which it seems to have a set value instead of syncing with my master volume slider. The default is synced (1), but you can cancel this then choose the FIXED volume. Could this have happened accidentally to your P-515? Excuse me if this has already been covered.

Another thought: My P-255 gives a pretty harsh signal, and I found I had to apply pad to the audio interface. I presume that this affects the signal in more ways than simple volume. Is it possible that the JBL monitors are trying to protect themselves by triggering some sort of cutout?

Not dumb at all. That is how it works on ES-8 too.

It's puzzling to me, as a past owner. I had the instrument connected to an HS8i pair, which I believe is almost the same as JBL305 except for dedicated volume control on the monitor.

The line outs are unbalanced. If they are balanced, the user manual will specifically say balanced (e.g., RD-2000 I think). Line Outs are normally +4db, so if the input sensitivity on your JBL is set to +4db, the two are matched and you should be able to control the volume from the instrument.

The situation looks like:
- Local Control: Off. Audio Loop Back: On. Play flowkey - and everything is swell.
- Local Control: On. USB (flowkey) disconnected. Master Volume: 100%. Reduced volume, at barely audible levels sent to the monitors.

Connecting headphones/binaural settings/Sound boost/speaker on/off etc. should not affect what's sent via line outs, so I can't imagine a problem with those and related settings.

I am trying really hard to think if I made any other specific setup on the instrument/monitor, and I will post back.

Meanwhile, this is worth a shot: try changing the volume setting on the Song -> Volume menu (page 52 in the manual)

Because midi tracks are quiet too, maybe you’re not playing with enough force

Thanks all.

I tried everything to no available, I really thing it's the cables.
There is no aux out volume setting (that I found) on the 515
I tried playing with a ton of force, doesn't change much.
The suer manual states several time " standard mono cable" maybe that is the mystery as many suggested.
I tried to factory reset, didn't do anything
I tried waiting 7 seconds and start with volume at mini...
Tried the sound booster, didn't change much.
I did change the voice volume to max at 127, that is the most sound I can get out of it.

Lets assume its the cable, somethings not right still, why would they be able to carry super sound with local control off but not on, ie sound from the iPad vs form the keyboard playing

I'll report back when I get the unbalanced cables!

Speaking mostly for myself even though i suspect everyone else who has posted here did so for the same basic reason - to hopefully help you resolve a problem with a new DP that might be due to “ cockpit error” 😊 and not a defect in your new DP..... we may not be there, yet, but are getting closer.

What are the causes for a set up such as you have to produce expected/normal sound output from a sound source external to the DP while the same setup has problems producing expected/normal sound output from the DP’s internal sound source? ...... anyone ..... Bueller .... ?

I really think I have the wrong cables.

The manual states " Standard" cable, "no resistance" cable, I am assuming they mean unbalanced.
Still doesn't explain why from the iPad it's loud

Thank you all!!

Just humor me please, if you will, and try editing the volume settings in the "Song" menu (not the "Voice Edit".) I'm talking about this:



I apologize if I misunderstood and you have already tried the above.



---
Let the volume setting in the "Voice Edit" menu be at its max.

These volume controls are for recorded songs, played back by the P-515 itself.

For any external signal source (like FlowKey) you must turn the volume down at the source (using the volume buttons of your iPad for example), until the balance is right.