I have been having a little trouble getting the best dynamic range on recordings in to the OP-1. If I am sending a stereo mix via a Y cable and it gets summed to mono in the OP-1, could there be some phase cancellation going on? How do you all get the best recordings using the line in?
I use a Klotz y-cable with a stereo 3.5 mm jack on one end and two mono 6.3 jacks on the other. I run the mono jacks into a Behringer Xenyx mixer’s stereo L-R line inputs and it sounds & records all right. Never experienced any phase cancellation. Also tried running only the L mono in one of the mixer’s normal mono instrument inputs and because these channels have 3-band EQs the OP1 sounds better, too. The only reason I don’t always plug it in like this is I usually run low on mono inputs so I have to use the stereo line ins as well. That’s why I’d so love to add a Monolith input conventer (made by Pendeo) to the synth but it wouldn’ work with my setup ( I keep the OP on a laptop stand so I can’t use the hefty Monolith on the side just like that…) .
I think I should have clarified that I am writing about sampling external sounds INTO the Op-1. The Op-1 sounds fine using a stereo 3.5 to dual mono output cable. However, I am curious about settings/levels for bringing line level sounds into the Op-1. Do you all record at 0 db on the input or add a little gain?
I believe that stereo sources are summed to mono. Make sure to turn USB charging off if you are connected to anything. I might add gain depending on the source. It is more ideal to crank the source and use as little gain boosting as possible in the unit. You can also raise the volume after the fact if you are recording into one of the samplers.
Yes OP-1 sums to Mono. Also if you have filled the memory up with drum samples and then start sampling a lot into the open drum slots, those samples will be pretty lo-fi as you have used up most of the memory and I think it samples at a lower quality when it has less bits to work with or something. Sounds kind of cool for the lo-fi heads tho.
That is interesting, I will have to try that out. I am really new to the OP-1. Picked one up on a trade recently, but I am REALLY enjoying it as a sketchpad for ideas. Tape mode is an amazing tool for playing with linear material…
I will experiment with a few different methods of getting audio into the OP. I would like to compare sampling material from a mixer/audio interface with loading .aif files that were recorded with nice convertors and see how they sound on the OP.
@Virtual_Flannel That’s interesting about the lower sampling rate. I’ve never paid close attention, just rolled with it if I liked the sound.
@sydilaxe Let us know your findings.
I find stuff sounds much better when loaded via USB. Like drums from the drum utility sound much better than drums sampled straight in.
i love when u sample in u get those lil noise tails sometimes on your drums tho that can sound awesomely beautiful w/ the comp/drive up
I’ve always just recorded from my laptop or field recorder’s headphone out to Tape via the line in, and made sure the levels were all up there (device, and orange knob on OP-1).