OrangeBlackstar Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 Hello, I hope everyone who is reading this is doing well. My question is regarding the helix and my studio monitors. I currently own a pair of Sterling MX3 monitors which I haven’t used with my helix due to a lack of a connection between the two. The only input for these monitors is two RCA slots. I would need an instrument to RCA cable; however, before I purchase one I wanted to ask around for sound quality opinions. From what I understand, RCA cables are unbalanced, and unbalanced is supposed to be less hi-fi than balanced. Is this something really worth getting new monitors over? Like will the quality be that bad? I know each pair of monitors colors sound to some degree, and being that these monitors were around $100 I’m not expecting a completely flat frequency response. I’m more concerned with what the cables will do to the sound since they’re unbalanced. Is this something that I’ll notice and will be annoying to listen to? Or is this like the difference between recording in 48k vs 44.1k, where technically there’s a difference but people don’t really hear it? Any and all help is appreciated, thank you in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DunedinDragon Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 I'm far more familiar with pro audio gear than consumer gear, but I seem to remember there's a different signal level used by consumer gear, particularly those that use RCA plugs. That being said I suspect you should be able to at least hear a representation of the sound from the Helix using a 1/4" to RCA adapter plug. I've done that in the past. But quite frankly I can't imagine why you would want to plug a premium quality modeler into a consumer grade set of speakers. You're certainly not giving the Helix the respect it deserves... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBCrocky Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 You'll be fine with standard 1/4" TS to RCA cables, just so long as you don't make them extremely long and don't run them around interference causing stuff like rheostats or some laser printers. 6 to 10 foot cables should be fine, you can also get adapters and use with standard RCA or 1/4" cables. You will probably want to change your 1/4" output level to line level on the Helix global parameters menu. The quality you get will have way more to do with the quality of the monitors themselves and almost nothing to do with 1/4"TS to RCA cables. IMO. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrangeBlackstar Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share Posted November 24, 2020 Thanks for the help guys. Follow up question that I forgot to add in the original post: my monitors have a spot for headphones, if I listen to my helix using headphones through the monitors will it sound noticeably different than listening with the same pair of headphones directly in the helix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 7 hours ago, OrangeBlackstar said: Thanks for the help guys. Follow up question that I forgot to add in the original post: my monitors have a spot for headphones, if I listen to my helix using headphones through the monitors will it sound noticeably different than listening with the same pair of headphones directly in the helix? Nobody can answer that for you...A/B them both, and inside of 10 seconds you'll have your answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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