Kemper & MOTU M2: Headphone (DT770) cracks, input signal too hot?

    Hi there! :)

    Let´s try to explain my issue: Coming from a Helix, I´m used to record with a solely digital signal. Aware of the SPDIF option the Kemper has, my MOTU M2 doesn´t provide a SPDIF connector, therefore I have to go down the analogue path (stereo main out --> input 1 & 2 via 6.3 jack).


    Now i´m struggling with my headphone sound quite a bit - and that might indeed just be my own fault due to my lack of experience with leveling input signals on my own ;).

    Using my Beyerdynamics DT770 directly with the Kemper, the sound is full and without any flaws. Plugging the DT770 into the MOTU though leads to some cracks & hisses. I´ve dialed the input knobs to approx. 20% (only!!), which of course reduces the input volume quite a bit and I still feel that the sound quality declines against what orignally comes out of the kemper.


    Do you habe any idea what might be my issue here? Is this normal? Any recommendations (even videos regarding dialing in the input meter) would be very much appreciated!


    Thanks a lot!

    The Kemper's output is very-high, so the fact that you're attenuating to 20% on the MOTU suggests to me that you're hitting the unit way-too-hard.


    Try setting the MOTU to unity gain (no attenuation or gain - "0", IOW) and adjusting the Kemper's output level thereafter.


    There are also options in the Kemper's Output menu to scale the output level back to-taste, so if you like you could dial things back in the menu first and then use the volume knob for final settings:


    If you set the Main Volume to -12 -> -18 dB on page 2 of the Output menu, that should theoretically scale things back nicely for you. Maybe try moving the volume knob to a typical physical recording position such as 80% of full-rotation and adjusting the menu's attenuation from there. That way you'll still have a little room to move up or down using the physical knob if and when you need it, all without having to touch the MOTU, leaving the latter at unity gain.


    I don't know about the M2, but I've owned MOTU interfaces that've allowed you to set inputs to "consumer" or "professional" operating ranges, so maybe check that inputs 1-2 in your case haven't been deemed "consumer", which may be identified as "-10dB" or something like that. What you want, if indeed the option's there, is "+4dB", which is the pro standard. This all relates to level calibration so I've mentioned it 'cause the Kemper's being "too-hot" and the MOTU's being "too-cold", or Heaven forbid, the double-whammy of both being the case, can and most-likely will make setting clean-sounding levels tricky, if not impossible.


    If ensuring that you're not overloading the MOTU's inputs via the above procedures fails to correct your headphone-monitoring issue, logic would dictate that the headphone amp is faulty, unfortunately.


    Phew! HTH, mate.

    Wow mate, thx a lot Monkey_Man! Sorry for my late reply, I was on a hiking trip during the weekend :).

    That indeed helped me a LOT! Setting the main volume made things a lot better, i´ll do some test recordings tomorrow to check the overall sound quality with this setup. Will let you know how things are going :)