How would i set it up so that it all sounds nice? One of the main concerns i have is me setting my master out to mono or stereo, since i have 1 speaker…
I was told that I can go straight from my card to the mackie via a trs to xlr (which I have) then from the mackies to the KRKs via the through male xlr ont he mackie. Is that right? would i be able to send out my sound from traktor on stereo?
if so, would i need like an xlr to red/white mono split rca to get to the krks?
Whats going to be important is the doubler you use after the through on the Mackie.
Theoretically the TRS (Tip/ Ring/ Sleeve) from the Audio 2 is sending a ground, left channel (positive and negative signals combined), and the right channel (positive and negative signals combined).
Now if the Mackie through leaves this configuration unchanged (as in it doesn’t come out of the through as a combined signal, with left and right information combined over the signal lines (XLR is three lines) as two mono signals) This might be the case as the through connection on powered monitor speakers are intended to send the signal going to that speaker to another powered speaker on the same channel (left or right).
If it leaves the mackie through port with stereo imaging then you can get a cable that takes that single xlr and doubles it (to RCA probably your best bet for maintaining stereo phonics).
If it leaves the mackie in mono (you can verify this by using the PAN inside traktor and see if you get a response on your KRK’s. If Panning is working correctly, then when you move the knob all the way to the left, the right speaker should be silent, or near silent, and the mackie should just get quieter, as your only sending it “half” the mono signal you were before) Then you are going to have to double the TRS as it comes out of the Audio 2.
Then you go TRS to XLR for right or left (your choice) into the mackie, and then that sides KRK, and the other TRS direct to the opposite channel.
In this configuration panning will not work perfectly, as witch ever channel has the mackie is going to be louder when panned too.
Im not exactly certain how the through on the mackie affects stereo phonics, so thats where your next bit of research and/or testing lies.
so the main thing I need to investigate now is how the signal leaves the through on the mackie (be it mono or steareo). Then, if it leaves it mono, I would need some patch that goes from xlr (from makie) to one of the ins of the KRKs (rca, TRS, xlr). In other words whichever the unbalanced input is since it is coming out unbalances from the audio 2. So I would need an XLR to rca…right?
Also, know if the information i need is here? Sorry, I amnot all that good in understanding specs at times
So what that is saying, is that the through is going to be “parallel” to the input with regards to signal balance (i.e. is it grounded, or merely shielded) So in a theoretical situation, if the device sending the xlr signal is not grounded properly inside where the xlr connection is soldered to the devices circuitry, or if it merely ungrounded xlr (rare, as it would defeat the purpose of xlr, witch is a dedicated ground wire) then the resulting connection to your mackie, and thus anything after the through would be unbalanced.
My suggestion?
Get a TRS adapter that goes from two female TRS to one male TRS.
Get an XLR adapter that goes from two female (your choice:XLR/TRS/RCA) to one male XLR.
Two of whatever female end choice you made above.
Then one male plain TRS cable.
Then get an XLR male to TRS male cable.
Once you have all of that you can test both configuration and see witch one yields best results.
As a continued reference… Perfect stereo imaging is not really going to matter all that much as you are going to use this setup for small house parties/gatherings.
MOST bars and clubs(even edm focused clubs), and many huge touring line array system are ALL run in mono. Its good enough to charge for. And have repeat buyers.
With that being said, probably the most “balanced” setup you could run would be thus:
Audio 2 Main Out -} {- TRS to XLR -] [- Mackie -] [- XLR to XLR1 -] [- XLR to XLR -] [- KRK 1
…(empty space)…\to XLR2 -] [- XLR to XLR -] [- KRK 2
If that comes out in stereo, witch you can test with a pan. Awesome, your perfect. If not I can almost guarantee you will never notice something “missing” from any of your tracks, and you probably don’t even use the pan at all… I know I don’t, lol.
