Hi Elektronauts, I’m still getting used to the A4 and pouring through the manual. Sorry if I have missed something, but I can’t seem to figure out why my A4’s headphone volume seems nice and punchy - I have to keep it at 1/4 usually, but my main outs seem so damn quiet going into Ableton Live. All of my other synths seem effortlessly loud, but the A4 seems very weak even when the main volume knob is at 100%.
Maybe just my perception of the low volume but the main out seems strange too, like a veil or gauze is thrown over everything.
I’m hoping I’m just missing some simple tip/trick when it comes to main out volume.
I love sitting on my couch with headphones and programming the A4. Everything sounds nice and punchy.
But when I hook it up to record into Ableton Live… everything seems so weak and watered down. MS20 sounds good, Nord sounds good, Diva sounds good, Volca Bass sounds good, why not the A4?
Hmmm, what am I doing wrong? Perhaps there is a gremlin in my machine?
I measured the output from Out Left and Out Right compared to the Headphones output and they are exactly the same when connected to the same stereo input on my sound card.
Using headphones is another story since different headphones are more or less “loud” compared to each other. So if the same master volume setting on the A4 gets to loud or not to when you’re using headphones depends on the headphones and not on the outputs. (Unless by chance your A4 is broken.)
I’ve set my inputs on my sound card to +4dBu, which is standard for connecting equipment like the A4, and I’m getting a very clean and good signal. Other gear, like a Moog Minitaur I used to own, had a lot hotter output but I wouldn’t say that made it sound better, just louder.
What if you raise the level of the A4 in Ableton, perhaps with a compressor (you got the lovely “Glue Compressor” in Ableton right?) just a few db. Does it get it’s punch back or is it still dull sounding to your ears?
There was a similar thread posted about a week ago, about the weak output on some Elektron machines. I don’t have an A4, but my Monomachine has the same “issue”.
In the other thread I never saw a definitive answer as to why the Elektron’s output is so quiet, but it is a common issue, and not a broken machine. It must be the preamps inside the boxes.
Some sounds you make will be inherently quieter than other sounds, obviously. Part of the solution to getting your volume level up is designing and EQ’ing the sounds better, so they sit in the mix with more breathing room. Muddy frequencies can cancel out frequencies of the other sounds.
My remedy (as well as other’s have done) was to buy a small but good quality mixer. Most mixers will have plenty of GAIN for boosting those low level signals. Not too mention that the sound IS BETTER when the Elektron machines are run into individual inputs of mixer, versus daisy-chaining them together via the ins and outs of the Elektron boxes.
One last tip: On the Monomachine there is the ability to turn Filter Tracking off. This one thing alone can double the volume of certain sounds, and make them much richer and fuller (still don’t understand why the default is for filter tracking to be ‘on’). I don’t know if the A4 has the same feature, but if it does, try it!
Thanks for the tips everyone. I’ll give these a shot as soon as possible.
I’m 99% sure I am using balanced cables on balanced soundcard inputs. I think I have my ins set to +4db as well. But yes, need to double check everything to be 100% sure. Not sure why I would have it different in the A4’s case, as those are my “usual” for synth inputs. But you never know - there’s a mess of cables under that desk!
I do have a mixer, but was trying to scale back gear and just go directly into a soundcard to save deskspace. Maybe I should keep the mixer if I can’t boost volume in other ways.
Yes, I have been playing with using The Glue on the A4 track. Just don’t want to over-compress. I’ll figure out how to boost volume without compressing. I think it’s something like turn the Range setting down and turn the Make-up up? Experiment and research time.
I had time last night to search for the Filter Tracking setting on the A4, but didn’t find it. I’ll keep looking.
I guess I still find it strange that everything other synth I own is almost too loud and the A4 struggles to be heard. But that’s perhaps due to individual manufacturer choices? Or maybe user-error? Yet to be determined. Quiet is not necessarily bad I don’t guess, just extra work to get it standing out in a mix, and I’m lazy.
