Improve sound of Yamaha DGX-650

[Diane Shelton]

I am trying to improve the sound of my Yamaha DGX650. I have a Behringer 300 Watt 4Channel PA System/Amplifier with FX and FBQ feedback detection. It is the Ultratone K3000FX model.

I have it connected to my piano and obviously I can increase the volume but the sound is not good. I use headphones connected through it and they sound good.

Any suggestions! I am a novice when it comes to most of this!

 

[Fred Coulter]

What don't you like about the sound? Symptoms?

 

[happyrat1]

How are you hooking up the Yamaha to the PA? Thru 1/4" TS line outputs or thru 1/4" TRS headphone jack?

There may be impedance matching issues here.

Gary

 

[Diane Shelton]

The sound is not crisp and clear using the built in speakers. I contacted the amp manufacturer and purchased the cables according to their specs. I am plugging the headphones into the amp and the sound is great through them. I believe it is a 1/4" line from the piano to the amp. I connected it while on the phone with the manufacturer.

 

[Diane Shelton]

What don't you like about the sound? Symptoms?

The sound is dull coming through the amp but I have my headphones connected through the amp and the music sounds great.

 

[happyrat1]

Sounds to me like the problem is with the amp. Maybe a dicey output stage.

If the headphones sound clear plugged thru the amp to the keyboard then then connection is fine. In fact the entire signal chain is fine until it hits the PA.

The problem is with the amp. At least that's my best guess.

Gary

 

[Diane Shelton]

Sounds to me like the problem is with the amp. Maybe a dicey output stage.

If the headphones sound clear plugged thru the amp to the keyboard then then connection is fine. In fact the entire signal chain is fine until it hits the PA.

The problem is with the amp. At least that's my best guess.

Gary

I am using it for my own person enjoyment and I have been considering getting a couple of monitors to try with it instead of the amp to see if the quality of the sound is better.

 

[happyrat1]

Rent or borrow a pair of monitors first before you buy just to make certain the problem is indeed the PA.

Gary

 

[Diane Shelton]

Rent or borrow a pair of monitors first before you buy just to make certain the problem is indeed the PA.

Gary

Good idea. I don't know anyone with monitors but I'll find someone. Thanks

 

[happyrat1]

One other thing.

If you are connecting thru the headphone jack on the keyboard to the PA system. On yamahas which allow dual connections from the headphone jack to either headphones or speakers, there is a setting in the menus to set the output levels and impedance from headphone to line levels.

Make certain this setting is correct else you will overdrive the inputs on the PA and possibly blow them out.

Fred or Michael can be more specific about which setting you have to change.

Gary

 

[SeaGtGruff]

See "Setting the Output Gain Level" on page 55 of the Owner's Manual. In a nutshell, press the Function button, navigate to the "Output Gain" function, and select the "Line Out" option.

 

[Diane Shelton]

See "Setting the Output Gain Level" on page 55 of the Owner's Manual. In a nutshell, press the Function button, navigate to the "Output Gain" function, and select the "Line Out" option.

Thanks. I will double check this.

 

[Diane Shelton]

See "Setting the Output Gain Level" on page 55 of the Owner's Manual. In a nutshell, press the Function button, navigate to the "Output Gain" function, and select the "Line Out" option.

I just checked and I did have this set correctly. Thanks though.

 

[happyrat1]

Just checking the plugs here.

Does the plug going into the keyboard have two black bands and three silver parts and does the cable branch out into a Y arrangement of two cables each with a single black band and two silver bands?

Google TS and TRS cables.

The Piano end should be TRS and the amp plugs should be TS.

That would be an appropriate stereo Y cable for the setup.

Anything else might cause a short circuit.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

I just checked on Hosa's Cable Finder Website and the cable you need is the STP-202 or STP-203

http://hosatech.com/products/cable-finder/

https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-STP-202-inch-Insert-Cable/dp/B000068O1O

https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-STP-203-inch-Insert-Cable/dp/B000068O1P

These should be the correct cables for your setup assuming the headphone out on the keyboard is a 1/4" connector.

Gary

 

[Diane Shelton]

Just checking the plugs here.

Does the plug going into the keyboard have two black bands and three silver parts and does the cable branch out into a Y arrangement of two cables each with a single black band and two silver bands?

Google TS and TRS cables.

The Piano end should be TRS and the amp plugs should be TS.

That would be an appropriate stereo Y cable for the setup.

Anything else might cause a short circuit.

Gary

It plugs into the piano like headphones would plug in and it does split into acY with two cables. One is black and the other is red.

 

[happyrat1]

Check if they're TRS at the Keyboard side and TS at the PA side.

Or upload a closeup pic of the connectors if possible.

Gary

 

[Fred Coulter]

A mono cord connecting the keyboard to the amp would cause all sorts of strange things to happen to the sound. It's not something I thought about, because I used the stereo plug on the back through a stereo cord to the stereo input of a video camera.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I don't know if it's related to your problem, but I just read the following in a Roland manual. It also applies to Yamaha and all other keyboard brands.

You can also connect external speakers. If the sound is
distorted when external speakers are connected, slightly
lower the volume of the FP-30.

You turn down the keyboard until any distortion is gone, then turn up the amp to the level you want.

 

[Fred Coulter]

I don't know if it's related to your problem, but I just read the following in a Roland manual. It also applies to Yamaha and all other keyboard brands.

You turn down the keyboard until any distortion is gone, then turn up the amp to the level you want.

Excellent point. You want to send a hot signal to the amp so that the noise picked up is very low compared to the signal, but not so high as to overload the input stage of the amplifier.