Can use both 1/4" and XLR input on each monitor simultaneously?

[ankursamtaney]

On the Behringer B3031As, would it be OK if I used both the 1/4" inputs and the XLR inputs at the same time?

Here's why:
Have just bought a Saffire Pro 40, which I'll only use (or need) while recording more than 2 tracks at once. For other times, I have a bus-powered Line6 KB37, which I'd like to use for all normal Windows audio -- everything from Media player, to Skype, etc. and to take care of small-time recording like a single guitar or vocals.

The whole idea behind the setup is to NOT have to turn on anything except my computer for normal use and normal sound, as the speakers have an auto standby feature, so they'll turn on automatically when a signal is detected through the KB37 which is also bus-powered so turns on automatically.

If I have the KB37 plugged into the 1/4" of the monitors, and the Saffire Pro 40 plugged into the XLR inputs, would it ruin my monitors? I think I should be able to manage this without running into Driver-related issues (will know soon), but am concerned about my monitors receiving simultaneous signals from both sources. (DAW through Saffire, and everything else through Line6).

 

[blueprintstudios]

have you bought it yet? maybe try calling any dealer carrying the behringer monitors and asking them?

or try http://www.behringer.com.sg/EN/Support/Find-Answers-or-Ask-Behringer.aspx

 

[kongwee]

Very highly it will work. Due to the complexity of these three device, I suggest not to use both XLR and 1/4' inch. Even one will be on and another is off. Plug in either one. You choose your speaker for sonic quality, not for convenience. Or I may be wrong about that.

 

[blueprintstudios]

ankur : when someone is wrong, and your speaker blows or gets some kind of hardware failure. it's at your own risk. give the dealer / shop you bought from a call and have someone real to point blame at.

 

[ankursamtaney]

Ron, yes, already bought 'em. Will check with the dealer.

kongwee - to be honest, yes, i did get them partly for their sonic quality, but have to admit i also got these because they have an auto-standby feature which I thought was very handy and something I've been looking for for a very long time. Now I can literally hook up a simple CD player to these speakers, or play music from my comp on them and head to bed without worrying about them remaining on all night long!

 

[kongwee]

Your ribbon and Kevlar driver put your system to be very sensitive to changes. I have tried amps with both XLR and RCA input together. There is a sonic different with plug both in when one is active and other is off. Also the speaker placement is very important, if you are audiophile type, I don't think I need to explain further.

 

[l0u5y]

Definitely, it will not work. Only 1 input will play at one time. Unless there is an unbalanced input then you can use them simultaneously.

 

[ankursamtaney]

Yea, on second thought, I'd rather not experiment with it. To be honest, i don't even trust most dealers here to know for sure (their guess might be as good as ours I'd imagine); and those who do, i fear, may not claim responsibility should anything get messed up.

Guess i'll run my Line6 out into 2 ins on the Saffire (got enough ins to spare while at home!) and plug the monitors into the saffire directly. Or better still, just knock off the line6 and use only the saffire to run and process all audio coming from the computer.

Kongwee - i understand what you mean about sonic difference when using 2 inputs. When I was a kid, many guitar amps had 2 inputs (I now assume, 1 for hi impedance and the other for low impedance sources). Like any kid would assume, I'd call a friend of mine and we'd plug both our guitars into each and its funny how different it would sound.. as if to say if i raised my levels, his would drop (or some weird stuff like that; i don't recollect exactly).

l0u5y - (damn! it's hard typing your nickname! haha) - they're both balanced inputs. Sorry, I'm not too much of a technical guy -- but curious, how would it change things if the 1/4" was unbalanced?

 

[blueprintstudios]

how bout some sort of audio switcher? or a mixer so you turn off one and turn on the other

 

[ankursamtaney]

how bout some sort of audio switcher? or a mixer so you turn off one and turn on the other

would help, but then beats the purpose -- if i must switch anything on and off (be it a mixer, or switch from one source to another), I might as well just switch the monitors on / off whenever needed

can't wait for the day when you get affordable pro-audio / home-studio gear with a remote control for everything! given the pace of overlap between prosumer and professional gear (and the fact that man clearly isn't getting less lazy over time!), i'm sure its only a matter of time!

 

[blueprintstudios]

Haha alright man I'm not that lazy I guess.gd luck and happy new year!

 

[ankursamtaney]

Thanks and wish you the same!

 

[smurfpiss]

You just need a small mixer, something like this http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/502.aspx

Patch the outputs of your KB37 and Saffire into their own seperate channels on the mixer, send the main out from the mixer to your monitors. No switching necessary, just do your thing. An extra plus side is you get an extra headphone out from the mixer this way too.

 

[blueprintstudios]

smurfpiss : I did suggest a mixer, he doesn't wanna turn on/off anything else.

btw using a small mixer like that, I'm not sure myself, but does it colour the sound coming out of the monitors? last time the trend was to use a Mackie VLZsomething something. would mackie and a behringer play out a different sound?

 

[kongwee]

Well, I did a small experiment with my Pro14. Do the mixer setting in the comp first and switch off the comp. My Pro14 still can accept input without the comp. Itself is a small mixer. Actually, a lot of portable audio interface can do it, unless they need bus power.

 

[ankursamtaney]

Patch the outputs of your KB37 and Saffire into their own seperate channels on the mixer, send the main out from the mixer to your monitors. No switching necessary, just do your thing. An extra plus side is you get an extra headphone out from the mixer this way too.

Guess there are many different ways to do this I'm sure, but yea, as blueprint reiterated, I'm looking for the laziest option - where I don't need to power anything on or off manually ..
Besides, I do have a big-ish mixer around. But I've only really used it for monitoring vocals / acoustic guitar (with its onboard FX); other than that it just acts as 8 preamps going to my Saffire via ADAT.

would mackie and a behringer play out a different sound?

This might throw open a whole new debate I think! But i would imagine both mixers would sound very similar if used as described by smurfpiss, because all you're doing is routing the line ins to the line outs, without any effects or anything else. So the only stuff that sounds different about the two mixers would be the grade of solder used. (I'm sure there's much more, but you know what I mean). Of course, this is only for analog mixers.. and only for line ins; Mics might sound notably different due to different preamps. Also on digital consoles the A/D D/A converters could different significantly from mixer to mixer, despite which I personally wouldn't imagine THAT MUCH of a difference assuming you're using any half decent mixers.

What do you think?

 

[blueprintstudios]

i don't know if it's the same system as if you use a behringer preamp vs a mackie preamp (my preamp comparison thread) already did show some kind of significant difference, even though you're just using line ins. but about 6,7 years ago I had an Alesis Studio32 and someone who initially was interested was using it for this purpose and said the sound run through on the alesis was shit (which I too agree). then I start to see the popularity of Mackie VLZs being used for this purpose because the sound is better? I'm not too sure cos I was much too inexperienced to say anything back then.

 

[kongwee]

Every I/O of any audio device will have a opamp circuit(talking about analog only). They are very important to sound quality. Cheaper will intend to use embed stuff and more expensive one they will use more discreet stuff. Also the PCB board will play important part to play too. That are some of the factor that affect the sound quality. Like adding a mixer as suggested, actually you are letting signal to pass a lot of unnecessary component and most of the time it will degrade the sound quality.

Those skill in electrical component, they will open up their expensive gear and mod their gear with expensive component. The most common(and easiest) replacement is using expensive capacitor. You just need to find the exact spec and replace it. For capacitor, Rubicon is very common in affordable device. ELNA is a better grade as it being used in very sensitive equipment. Nichicon mostly used by high end Japanese device.

Off topic, even passing line level(or any kind) signal in the interconnect/patch cable, the impedance of the cable also vary according to length. Longer the cable, the more voltage drop, lesser current. That every one know. In AC signal, it is more complex, different in length also you vary the impedance of the cable. In simple term, you are doing different frequency filtering in different length. That is also truth in the PCB signal routing in any audio device.

 

[smurfpiss]

Sure it'll be colored but honestly it won't be anything game changing. At least I know for sure I would not be able to tell the difference between a Mackie/Behringer mixer playback in a double blind test and that is good enough for me.

 

[kongwee]

Well, you will not know which brand sound like what, but it it easy to tell the sonic difference. In live situation, I'm more concern to bring something up and down easier on mixer. Of cos, brand ones does it easier.