Lately, I have been downloading some youtube videos for learning stuff about the OP-XY. I run my tablet and the OP-XY into the TX-6 mixer so I can follow along. The audio from the tablet has the highs rolled off so the resulting sound is rather muffled. I also noticed that if I play higher octave notes on the OP-XY, the higher the notes go in pitch, the volume really starts to drop off.
Googling this issue, it turns out that is the way the TX-6 was designed. Because the circuit is so small and does not handle louder sounds very well without overloading, the design decision was to roll off the highs.
I a able to make the tablet more understandable by turning the highs all the way up, the midrange most of the way up, and the bass most of the way down to compensate.
This also explains why, when I connect the AUX output of the TX-6 directly to the input on my video camera and record the sound along with the video, the resulting sound is noticeably different from what I am hearing directly from the OP-XY.
If anybody has encountered this and found a better way to achieve what I am doing, please do let me know. With any piece of gear, there is an experimental phase in which we learn what its shortcomings are and how to work around them.
Could you share where you read that, about the TX-6 design decisions? Iād love to read more.
Iāve recorded a lot through it and have never noticed that, but I wasnāt really looking. I adjust EQ until is sounds like what I want. But Iām recording music instead of IRL so matching what I hear hasnāt been the goal.
Maybe thatās a valid solution though, just adjust it until you get what you want to hear. But thatās still annoying that it isnāt transparent to the input right from the default.
Unfortunately, I am now unable to find that specific reference. Other references indicate that the TX-6 doesnāt inherently roll off the highs. What I can say for sure is that when I plugged my tablet into channel 6, which I have never used and therefore never changed settings on, the sound from it was muffled. When I connect the same headphones directly into the tablet (via the dongle for that purpose, it sounds fine.
However, what I did discover is that I can set a high or low pass filter to get a very intelligible sound from the tablet. Between that and the low/mid/high controls, I can get a decent sound. So my solution will be to always use channel 6 specifically for my tablet when watching videos to learn a piece of gear that is also connected through the TX-6 so I can leave the settings as needed for a clear speaking sound.
Everything on my TX-6 seems to work fine, so I doubt that there is anything wrong with it. I have no explanation for the initial muffled sound, or why I have to make rather severe adjustment to the filter to work around it. I never noticed this when putting just music through it, other than that the very high notes seemed to lose volume. That is easily remedied with a simple adjustment of the tone controls.
If I find the original link, I will post it. I thought this was probably something others already knew, so I didnāt bother to save the link. Apparently that is not the case. But it is odd that subsequent google searches seem to say the opposite - that there is no inherent rolling off of the highs.
You should contact TE because there may be something broken with your mixer. My TX-6 doesnāt roll off high frequencies, Iāve recorded a lot of sources through it.
That is possible. However, I should try a few other vocal sources through it to determine if it has something to do with the interaction of the dongle used on my tablet and the input of the TX-6. The tablet is a Samsung and these no longer provide a 3/8" TRS headphone output. Instead, they use a little white dongle that plugs into the USB port and the other end is a 3/8" TRS jack. This device has components(s) in it that draw a small amount of power from the tablet to run. My cell phone has a 3/8" TRS jack to plug headphones directly in, and that may make the difference.
This morning, I played around again with the TX-7 and roll off. I tried the direct headphone output on my cell phone playing a youtube talking video and had the same thing.
But then, I just started pushing buttons. When I pushed the FX II button, suddenly the sound was crystal clear. One of the effects is a filter. The manual doesnāt say anything about it other than that it is a filter and the screen is shown. But since one āknobā is ācutā, that would explain what I was hearing.
I do have a normal size Tascam mixer in my studio where everything is seen, which is much easier to work with. I just have to get used to menu diving to find things on the TX-6 due to its small size.
Anyway, I am relieved that my TX-6 is acting normally and doesnāt need to be returned. Also, I still havenāt found that URL that I found yesterday saying that the TX-6 is rolled off to prevent clipping. That entry did not say for the user to roll anything off to prevent clipping, but instead that due to the TX-6ās small size, the components are packed in and there is less circuitry to handle a wide range of signal level so the roll off is a part of its design. Clearly, that isnāt the case.
I know very little about this kinda thing, but is it possible they had the limiter enabled and were describing what the limiter does?
Also if you were hearing a difference with the TX-6ās Aux Out, I wonder if it was an issue with pre-/post- send or something similar. By which I mean āI donāt know what Iām talking about but I know you can switch which output is 1V and which is 2V so maybe that causes some weird change?ā
there is no attenuation of higher frequencies on the tx-6. but it is a small and enigmatic device so its possible there were some effects on main but not on aux, or vice versa, and it can be hard to figure out what is going on sometimes with this thing haha. but for sure there is no high freq attenuation in the device itself.
Considering that there is menu diving involved, there could be a number of reasons for what I was hearing, but I did get it figured out (this timeā¦) with FX II.
For sure! I am a happy camper. I have the whole ecosystem (at least as I understand t to be) and I fully expect some frustrations with any new (to me) piece of gear. Fortunately, since the ecosystem is all TE, everything connects and just works for the most part. As I understand it, the Field ecosystem consists of the CM15 mic, TP-7 recorder, TX-6 mixer, OP-1 Field, and OP-XY. I have no real use for the OB-4 speaker and it isnāt presented as part of the ecosystem. I typically either use the OP-XY stand-alone or, if with the OP-1 Field, I midi them together via USB and control the OP-XY from the OP-1 Field. Of course, everything goes through the TX-6 and the TP-7 I have connected via the AUX for recording.
Next week, the fun really starts in that āfrustrationā respect because I will be taking delivery on an Elta Solar 42F synthesizer from Perfect Circuit. I wasnāt planning on buying one until later this year, but with the tariff craziness, I am fairly certain that if I wait, I will be paying noticeably more for it. As it is, they only had two in stock. One is a āBā stock, which may not have all the little pieces that go with it, and the other is a demo, which is complete. I am sure there will be a lot of learning with that too. This is an analog synth and tends to go in and out of tune. Since I am used to tuning my guitar by ear, I shouldnāt have a problem with tuning it.
Here is how it looks. They took mine off the site and shipped it yesterday. Mine is the green brown one. As you can see, the new ones are back ordered/special order and I suspect that customs will be a mess for a while until things settle down.
Thanks! I do have a youtube channel, but so far I have limited my videos to the local synth meetup group. I can publish for all to see, but I am still in the learning phase with electronic music. I think a couple of weeks with the 42F and I will be ready to make a public video.