Please confirm my understanding of Doepfer CV connections

ark

I just got a Doepfer R2M ribbon controller that I want to use to make my Slim Phatty fretless, as it were. I knew that Doepfer uses 3.5mm connectors and Moog uses 1/4, but I had a cable with 3.5mm TRS on one end and dual 1/4 TS on the other, so I thought I was all set.

Well... I connected one end of the cable to the ribbon controller and the TS connector labeled "Tip" to the Moog and nothing useful happened. So I tried the connector labeled "Ring" and still nothing useful happened.

I next tried searching the documentation to see if it would explain how CV was connected to the connector. No joy. So I got out the voltmeter.

What the voltmeter suggests is that the CV is between the tip and ring conductors, and the shield floats. By implication, I should be able to use a cable with 3.5mm TS (not TRS) at one end and 1/4-inch TS at the other and all will be well.

However, if someone reading this is more familiar with Doepfer gear than I am, I would appreciate a sanity check on this belief while I wait for the appropriate cable to arrive from Sweetwater.

BobTheDog · Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 3:41 pm Post subject:

Well I have a Doepfer system amd have never used trs, just ts only.

wmonk · Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 12:53 pm Post subject:

There might be two things going on here: the Moog requires a gate too to get sound, or another cable.
The doepfer website states:

ark · Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 12:59 pm Post subject:

The issue wasn't the gate, it was that at the time I posted the original query, I simply did not have any cables with 3.5mm TS at one end and 1/4" TS at the other. I did have a cable with TRS at both ends, but that one didn't work; that's why I broke out the voltmeter.

Since then I have gotten my hands on some appropriately sized TS cables, and now all works as I would expect.

EATyourGuitar · Joined: Oct 28, 2010 Posts: 59 Location: Providence, RI

when plugging stereo cables into TS jacks you are gambling that they are not using stereo jacks with the ring and sleeve setup as a cable detector or switch. like say you had a cable you made that is a mono cable and you used a stereo jack at one end with nothing connected to the ring. when you use it to plug into a battery powered guitar pedal, the pedal will never turn on cause the ring floats. that pedal needs a real TS cable so the ring and sleeve of the jack get connected through the cable and provide power for the pedal.