# Nerve center sound help



## kprimm (Mar 14, 2009)

Hello guys and gals,
I am having trouble with my nerve center regarding the sound. I am using this for my pneumatic zombie and the controller works great. The problem is the sound jack. The nerve center uses a 1/8 jack output. I was using powered computer speakers and they were just not powerful enough for this prop. I have since went up to a guitar amp. The problem is the guitar amp uses a 1/4 jack, so I bought a 1/8 adaptor stereo jack. The nerve center jack outlet is very sloppy fitting for every thing I plug into it. The sound is horrible for the prop. I need to figure out how i can get a good connection so that i can use the power of the amp.I cannot find an audio cable with 1/4 male on one side and a 1/8 male on the other. And I'm not sure if that would
solve the issue anyway. It seems like the nerve center 1/8 female outlet is just not a snug fit on any male adaptor I plug into it. If anyone has any ideas, please help. I am running out of time getting this up and running. I have also contacted Dean and waiting for a reply now, But figured i would also tap into all the knowledge here.


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

I forsee a couple of possibilities. If it is a super cheap jack, you may be able to open the cover and see the 'tabs' which grip the audio jack. A few quick bends on the tabs should firm up the fit. If it is built as a unit, you may be able to wire in a new jack. Or if you can tolerate a permanent cord, you could just solder the leads of an audio cable directly to the board and run your cord out to the amp. a lot just depends on the situation.

I guess it's also worth noting there are stereo and mono plugs. The stereo have 3 bands...common, left +, right +. While the mono just have 2 bands.... - and +. Sometimes a mono in a stereo won't fit 100% or vice versa.


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## stagehand1975 (Feb 22, 2010)

Adapters in small jacks can tend to be heavy on the jack causing it to become loose. If you have guitar center nearby, they have a cord that is stereo 1/8 to mono 1/4. Radio shack should have a cord like this as well. I haven't used a nerve center. I use a pecoboo controller which is the type of setup. Most of these type of controllers put out a small amount of power to run small speakers. This power output can cuase distortion in amplified speakers if not compensated for. The the track you recorded into the controller has to high of a level than that will help cuase distortion as well. These controllers don't have there own volume controls so you may have to record your sound effect a a lower volume from the source to reduce distortion. It is something you may have to play with to get it right.


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## fritz42_male (May 5, 2009)

Why not email or call Dean at MonsterGuts - he has always been very helpful to me?


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## drwilde (May 14, 2008)

Having a sound issue with my new nerve center also. Emailed mg, see if they have any recommendations. The sound going in from iPod sounds great on the speakers running thru the controller and during recording then when it plays back it's so muffled and distorted and alot of hissing , white noise. I've adjusted my iPod sound level to about 80%. I know it's not cd quality but should be a bit clearer. Could it be that I Need to use a mono cord instead of stereo?


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## smoker360 (Mar 29, 2009)

drwilde said:


> Having a sound issue with my new nerve center also. Emailed mg, see if they have any recommendations. The sound going in from iPod sounds great on the speakers running thru the controller and during recording then when it plays back it's so muffled and distorted and alot of hissing , white noise. I've adjusted my iPod sound level to about 80%. I know it's not cd quality but should be a bit clearer. Could it be that I Need to use a mono cord instead of stereo?


I would be interested to know if you have found a way to correct the problem. 
As it stands now, I can't use the audio feature at all because the quality is so bad. Just going to use it as simple prop controller for now...

Thanks!


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## HalloweenZombie (Jul 22, 2007)

I haven't had any sound issues with my Nerve Center. I'm running through computer speakers, but they are good quality speakers. Of course, the recording is just screaming and grunting, so that might be why I don't notice a sound quality issue. I don't get a hiss though. Come to think of it, the cable I used to record might have been mono. I'm sure Dean will get back to you. He's good like that.


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## drwilde (May 14, 2008)

I did hear back from Dean. Sounds like it's just the limitation of the sound chip. It's passable for a loud scream but not for intricate sounds. I got a cool sound effect of a hissing snake. And it's loud sudden strikes but it doesn't sound like a hiss more like a dog bark when it plays back. I'm going to have to experiment more to get my sound effect just right to work on it. I've tried diff speakers and I get the same compressed sound just like a 20sec toy sound recorder. Otherwise the controller is great. Lots of cool features. Wish it had better sound. I got a pico boo also. sound is better on it but not by much. It'll work for a haunt though!


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