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Overwater bass outputs.


ambient
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My Overwater has two outputs on the side. One is a standard jack, the other an XLR. I read somewhere, and someone has told me that the XLR is a better output to use.

[attachment=255970:unnamed.jpg]

I've got an XLR to XLR cable, if I plug that into my bass and run that direct to my audio interface it works fine. So I bought an XLR to jack cable, if I plug that into my bass, and the jack plug into the first unit on my pedal chain, all I get if a funny sound.

Any ideas ?

:)

Edited by ambient
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Guest Jecklin

That's a balanced output on the XLR.
Effects pedals generally aren't designed to deal with balanced (3 connector) signals.

The XLR to jack lead you have - is it to a mono two connector Jack or a three connector trs?

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Firstly they are both outputs, not inputs because the bass is a signal generator. The XLR will be a balanced output designed go girectly into a mixer channel. You don't say what sort of XLR to jack cable you are using but it could be you are grounding one leg of the balanced signal.

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[quote name='Jecklin' timestamp='1508591391' post='3393147']
That's a balanced output on the XLR.
Effects pedals generally aren't designed to deal with balanced (3 connector) signals.

The XLR to jack lead you have - is it to a mono two connector Jack or a three connector trs?
[/quote]

[quote name='obbm' timestamp='1508591418' post='3393148']
Firstly they are both outputs, not inputs because the bass is a signal generator. The XLR will be a balanced output designed go girectly into a mixer channel. You don't say what sort of XLR to jack cable you are using but it could be you are grounding one leg of the balanced signal.
[/quote]

Thanks for the replies.

It's an XLR to mono jack cable that I bought from Amazon. It's a good quality one, Van Damme cable and Neutrik plugs. I'm not very technically minded as you may have noticed :).

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[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1508591844' post='3393156']
It's an XLR to mono jack cable that I bought from Amazon. It's a good quality one, Van Damme cable and Neutrik plugs. I'm not very technically minded as you may have noticed :).
[/quote]

Without knowing how the inside of the XLR is wired it's difficult to advise but balanced outputs were fitted to some basses to improve the signal when recording directly into a desk. For use with pedals you are much better off using the normal unbalanced jack output. I should return your Amazon cable and get a refund.

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[quote name='geoffbyrne' timestamp='1508684045' post='3393747']
XLR to Mono is somewhat defeating the purpose, I think.

G.
[/quote]

Thanks for your reply.

It maybe is, if you know what the XLR does, in my case I don't hence my post asking.

:)

Edited by ambient
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The XLR output is balanced line at DI level for connecting direct to mixer for recording etc. Unless you are connecting to another piece of equipment with a balanced input you should use the standard unbalanced output as you won’t be gaining any advantage from a balanced output. Also IME the balanced output doesn’t work unless you also have a jack plug plugged into the other output to activate the circuitry.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Hi Geoff/Everyone,

As has been stated, the XLR out from our current 3 band EQ (fitted to our Progress series,  + some Perceptions and Hybrid basses) is an additional balanced output and can only be run directly into a balanced input. It is similar to that found on a Wal bass,  although in our case the output is electronically balanced rather than using a transformer, but essentially has the same function of delivering a high quality/low noise signal direct into a desk or console...

It is important that the XLR lead is wired correctly (not all are the same - though ours is the most common configuration). The pin-out for our XLR is:

                                                Pin 1 - Ground 

                                                Pin 2 - Positive +

                                                Pin 3 - Negative - 

Yes - you do need a plug in the jack socket to connect the battery. Like most companies, we use a stereo jack socket to connect the battery via the negative side of the circuit with the barrel of a mono jack plug - so you can use a 'dummy' jack as it doesn't need to be connected to anything.

However - you can also run both out-puts in parallel - one direct into a balanced input and the other via an amp/effects or whatever...

If anyone has any further questions - please contact me directly ( [email protected] ) - or indeed our electronics consultant John East will be able to give further technical background, as he did most of the design work for this and most of our other circuits...

Hope this helps!

Chris

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