robertmcollins3 Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Love the way this thing sounds so far, especially for the $199 I paid for it. So I'm sure there is a technical reason for this, and I'm hoping someone can enlighten me. When I plug my phone/mp3 player into it directly, it sounds like garbage. But when I plug my phone into the HD500x jack and then go to the Alto, it sounds great again. Does it just need the amplification from the HD500x or similar unit? All the other speakers at GC did the same thing when tested, so it's not the Alto itself. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pianoguyy Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 input/output levels. You are using (I assume) a headphone jack. That puts out a different output level than a guitar or the pod. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbagchee Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 What cable are you using to connect your phone directly? Remember that the speaker is mono so a stereo signal might get a little funky depending on the mix and how you are connecting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertmcollins3 Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 I was using an aux cable from my iPhone to a 1/4" adapter into the Alto. It sounded the same on all the other speakers at GC too. Not a big deal for me since I can just go through the POD to practice along with a song anyway. But it would be more convenient for simply listening to music to not have to go through the POD to get good sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pianoguyy Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 input/output levels. You are using (I assume) a headphone jack. That puts out a different output level than a guitar or the pod. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomssy Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 I just got the same Alto speaker and encountered the same thing. I believe the Alto - and all the other speakers you tried - expects a (mono) balanced input on the 1/4" TRS. The stereo unbalanced output from the iPod will get treated as that. As a result, all centre-mixed vocal and instruments will get cancelled by the balanced input's 180-degree phase shift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 But it would be more convenient for simply listening to music to not have to go through the POD to get good sound. "Good" is gonna be difficult to achieve unless you get yourself another Alto. A stereo mix is exactly that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexKenivel Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 I found the same thing with my Alto TS112a. Stereo audio cable and 1/8th to 1/4th adapter. I'm planning on just getting a small mixer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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