DaveLeeNC Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 I bought a HD500X a few months back and at the time it drove a single JBL LR305 (5 inch) monitor speaker connected via a single 1/4" TS cable. NOTE - the LR305 has balanced XLR and TRS inputs. It worked just fine for my guitar purposes (Gibson ES-175D), But primarily so I could stream stereo music through my laptop, I recently bought a second speaker and a pair of balanced XLR cables. And for whatever reason the volume that I get out of this configuration is dramatically lower than it is using one speaker with a TS cable. For example if I set up the simplest conceivable preset of just a Blackface amp with no effects or anything else, and set my neck pickup at max volume, amp Master at MAX, Channel Volume at MAX, amp Tone controls at 10, and the Drive at 50% you have to listen very carefully to be sure that what you are hearing is coming from the speakers and not the guitar (which is not as loud as a normal acoustic but louder than a Stratocaster). Just swap out the speaker cable to the TS driving one speaker (take other speaker out) and it is MUCH louder. And I notice the same phenomenon when streaming music, although it somehow seems less pronounced. I know darn little about this stuff but this is backwards from what I would expect. The TS input into the balanced TRS input of the JBL's should be half the total signal, so I would expect the volume to be lower in this case. But as I said I know very little about this stuff. Thoughts/comments on this? Thanks. dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillBee Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 I believe it has to do with the signal strength of the unbalanced outs vs the XLR. I "think" the XLRs are mic level outs. Still find it a bit daunting myself as I usually use an power amp/cab hence the peppering of "thinks and believe". :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indianrock2020 Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 where is the master level control on the upper right top side of the POD set? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveLeeNC Posted July 28, 2016 Author Share Posted July 28, 2016 BB - an interesting possibility. I have not yet found those levels spec'ed anywhere, but I assume it is out there somewhere. I will say that, based on my limited knowledge and limited effort put in so far, I would judge the configuration that I am using to be unworkable (which is surprising, so I still suspect user error). Rock, I started out controlling things with my laptop through the PODHD software, but to take that variable out I ended up doing it directly from the controls on HD Pod device. So the Master (and other referenced controls) were done on the POD device (hence, the Master Level Control was on 10). Thanks. dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceatl Posted July 28, 2016 Share Posted July 28, 2016 XLR outputs are mic level....the mic model is generally the last in the chain the intention is for it to hit a console at the same level as a real microphone as the general case. This means that you may need a mic preamp to get the level up to the line level the XLR input on your speaker is expecting...Some monitors have a mic pre...Seems like you found the correct setup (TS cable from 500 1/4 out to TRS in on your speaker). TRS inputs can accept balanced or unbalanced signals...Unless you cables are 50' or longer, there is no advantage to running balanced...Actually, a balanced signal is always a converted signal and will have less bandwidth than the source signal...source signal is always unbalanced. Seems like you found what works on your own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveLeeNC Posted July 28, 2016 Author Share Posted July 28, 2016 Space - THANKS! Sounds like it was user error, and the error was my choice of configuration (where the intended design was that XLR inputs would go to places where you would normally be plugging in a mic - obviously not a active speaker). dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaceatl Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 You are welcome Dave, I took a look at your JBL and that is a line level only input....The XLR is a matter convenience. It is curious to me that they did not choose to use the XLR/TRS combo jack as that would have saved a little space... The give away is the presence of the -10/+4 line level switch....basically, your speakers will take consumer or pro Line Level signals....mic level is much lower and a different impedance as well...way down around -60 dBV which is why a preamp is needed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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