Hi Folks,

I’ve been using the VH-100 in my Motif 6 Classic for a couple of years now. Never had a problem. I connect from the mic into the A/D Left(mono) input (xlr-jack lead), let the card work its magic, and then out through the Assignable Left. That jack to jack goes into a DI box and an XLR out of the DI plugs into a snake to take it to the FOH Mixer.

So, this weekend I had a few problems - the desk couldn’t get a signal. Panic ensued as I changed all the leads involved etc. Still no fix (ok - lets just jump to the fix --- somehow the DI had switched to the -40Db setting using a switch which I didn’t even know existed!)....anyway back to my point.

Our guitarist and bass player, when trying to help fix the issue couldn’t understand my setup. Their fundamental problem was that they said I shouldn’t be using the xlr (from the mic) directly into the A/D input and that I should go into another DI box prior to going to the Motif. This is because the xlr is balanced and the jack obviously isn’t (in this case). Therefore their logic was that this was ‘wrong’ and that I should use a balanced xlr-xlr into a DI box and then jack out of that into the Motif.

After an amount of my claims of “so why has it not been a problem for the past 2 years?” I committed to getting the definitive answer from the learned peoples of Motifator. I guess my question boils down to “does this really matter” - why would I introduce another DI box and yet more leads? Am I running some kind of risk with my current set up and just been lucky so far?  How do other people cable up when using the VH100 in the live environment?

Thanks, Boyler.

Hi,

I believe that the Motif Classic’s analog inputs are unbalanced anyways (just like the outputs). So putting a DI in the middle would be of no use.

And the Motif has a sort of mic preamp inside (that’s why you can switch from Mic to Line setting) so in case your guitarist had worried about a mix of line and mic input levels, well it wouldn’t be worth it either.

In fact the only parameter is the length of the mic cable, which should be as short as possible. One way to keep it the shortest is to use a wireless microphone where you put the receiver just on top of the Motif :)

-- Julien

Sorry I missed the original post the first time around. The jack on the Motif is a 1/4” jack but the impedance is very much neutral, so you can use either a high impedance or low impedance mic

Many folks confuse the XLR cable connector with something more than it is and the 1/4” cable connector and what it is.

In making the Motif the most flexible unit it can be it is designed to work with either high or low impedance sources (be they guitars, basses, microphone or line level sources like mixers, CD players, DAT machines etc.)

Also many musicians associate XLR with “professional” and 1/4” with not-pro… They, of course, are free to think whatever they like but nothing could be farther from the truth. Professionals know that you can use either and keep your professional carrying card, the key is knowing when you should and when you should not use a particular connection.

You use XLR connectors or T-R-S (Tip-Ring-Sleeve) connectors when you are going to run extremely long cable runs. The TRS is the 1/4” equivalent of the XLR connector… XLR or Cannon (the company credited with developing the connector and TRS (its 1/4” brother) do the same thing.

In general there are three connectors in each: plus, minus and ground… hot / cold / ground…

A twisted two wire pair (TS, no ring commonly called a signal cable or guitar cord) tends to, at very long lengths, become an antenna… So if you have a 50 foot unbalanced cable (sic)*… it will make a good antenna for your radio.... At these type of lengths you want a balanced cable - not because it does not become an antenna, because it certainly does pick up radio interference (cooper wires do that, it is what they do) ... it is simply because once it reaches the business end, since the interference is equally in the + and - cable they cancel out.

* (note on long unbalanced cables) One reason you hardly ever see guitar cords more than 20 or 25 feet… is simply because why would you do that? Not saying you couldn’t sell them to guitar players and bass players (lol), but it would just be silly… If you see one - leave it alone… or just light that money on fire (you’ll get the same result) lol

There are very good reasons to use unbalanced wires at short distances besides just economic reasons… short cable runs (anything under 25ft) should not present a problem… unless, of course, your studio or gig is in the same room with the radio broadcasting gear (lol).

All that said, you can safely plug a low impedance microphone directly into the A/D INPUT of your Yamaha synthesizer, without a DI box; without a transformer of any kind, simply get an XLR (female) to 1/4” (male) cable, period. As long as the cable is not 50 feet or more, there will be NO PROBLEMS. (Of course, do not use a condenser microphone that is seeking +48V, because the Motif will not supply this).

You A/D inputs are designed to receive a wide variety of input sources from mic to line level sources.