Man the output on my PSR-550 suffers from cheap construction.. I've got my little studio all set up now and have been doing some recording.. When I plugged in the 550, geez what a hiss.. Anyone have any idea on how to reduce that noise??? I noticed this hiss a great deal when I used to run the keyboard through the Roland Monitors, and I just cut down the treble a bit to reduce the noise. hmmmm I wonder if adjusting the Hi EQ settings on the multitrack will fix this.... My PSR-540 also suffered from the same cheap output..

Squeak

Squeak,

I seriously doubt if the output is the problem. More often than not, hissing is caused by the lack of preamplification between the amp and keyboard. You can also create the same problem by cranking up the amp volume too high and having the keyboard volume too low.

First and foremost, test the keyboard's output by disconnecting everything and plugging a quality set of headphones into the headphone jack. If you don't hear the same hiss or humm sounds, then the problem is not in the keyboard.

If the keyboard's output is going directly into a multitrack recorder, you may have an impedience mismatch, which is also a common problem. Additionally, use the heaviest guage, sheilded, instrument cables you can find--they make a big difference in the amount of outside interference that's picked up from other instruments or pieces of equipment.

One last thing, make sure that all of the equipment is well grounded to a common, electrical ground. Essentially, this is done by plugging all of the equipment into the same power strip. Some wall outlets, especially in older homes and buildings, are not well grounded, which also poses a noise problem.

The relationship of your equipment to other noise generating devices can also be a problem. Florescent lights that run on ballast transformers create lots of 60hz interference. If your speaker or keyboard wiring is close to your computer moniter, this too creates lots of 60hz interference. I have an electric space heater than must be turned off when recording because of high frequency noise generated by the heating elements.

Hope this is of some help,

Gary

Squeak, back when you were considering buying the 550 I posted
"------if you can live with just a headphone output "
well, that is the problem, it does not have a true "line out" and you are hearing the noisy headphone amp on your recordings. In some ways I like the 550 better than the more expensive Yamahas,but the lack of a proper output is not one of them. Gary posted some good info, I hope that it helps.
Bill

Gary,
Good solid info.
squeak,
Hate to say it, but when you don't pay alot you don't get alot either. Ideally, it should all work perfectly for all situations, but we don;t live in an ideal world. Do you hear the hiss like that from the speakers?
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jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

[This message has been edited by trtjazz (edited 02-22-2003).]

Travlin'easy..,
Thanks for all the tips I have to say it's the keyboard.. I also owned the PSR-540 and it too suffered from the same problem. When using Roland Monitors I can really hear the hiss. I end up having to turn down the treble just to cut the noise a bit. I am using good cables, and was sure to keep everything on the same surge. I'm also away from anything that might cause any static as well. The hiss isn't really bad, but I know it's there and I tend to get picky over that type of thing.. I'm the same way with my guitar. The second I hear the slightest buzz in the neck, I have the rod adjusted to get rid of it.

Trtjazz,
You're right in that you get what you pay for. Too bad Yamaha cheesed out on the output on this keyboard.. It wouldn't have killed them to at least of added stereo RCA outputs. Oh well, I'll find a way around it.. I've been playing with the Hi EQ settings on the recorder, and it seems to dropping the hiss a bit..

Thanks everyone,
Squeak

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 02-22-2003).]

A thought just occured to me. If you are using Sound Forge XP or GoldWave for editing, you can filter out the hiss using either program. This may eliminate your problem.

Good Luck,

Gary

I was surprised to find so few outputs on the PSR550. My Roland EM20 (less expensive then the PSR550) has two headphone jacks and a Left Right line output. The 550 only one output. Sigh.
Starkeeper