Keylab 88 does not work with external 5V DC supply

[m1ke]

Hello,

just got a Keylab 88 and just some problems.
I started with an external power supply 5V DC/1000mA and midi. But this was not successful.
As I switched on the Keylab, the display was quite bad to read, see picture "keylab88_ext_5V.jpg". And I was a little bit afraid too.
OK, then I started to play around with some stand alone VSTi. The middle C and G key did not work and after some time the sound got more and more crazy, wrong notes were triggered.

So I searched an USB cable and plugged it into my USB hub. Ah, the display
got readable and bright, see "keylab_USB.jpg" (same exposure of my cam!), but still playing nonsense.
After turning off and on the keylab worked well.

I checked my 5V DC, it had about 5.1V still connected to the keyboard and measured 2.1V between the
USB 5V and 0V pins at the and of my disconnected USB cable. Just for a test.

If you can take a view of
http://forum.arturia.com/index.php?topic=14223.0
there a different voltages mentioned. But with such a dark display I'm sure, the external 5V DC is not
the right voltage.

How can I get my keylab 88 working with an external DC supply?

Regards, m1ke

[m1ke]

I tested another 5V adaptor but this was not successful too. Result was just the same.

Please can anyone test this without USB but with an external 5V supply instead?
I can't believe that my brand new keylab88 is faulty right out of the box.

Thanks.

[Jacas]

Hi all,

my first post in Arturia forums. I got my Keylab 88 last week and it works pretty well without issues. It's an excellent keyboard controller and I'm very happy with it. It's updated to firmware 1.0.17

That said. I've plugged to my KL88 two kinds of external power supply unsuccessfully.

The first one came with a hub powered kit 5V DC/1000mAh and the right connector to plug in my KL88. The powered hub worked pretty fine with several USB devices but when I used it separately to plug in my keylab the screen didn't get bright enough. I returned this USB powered kit for that reason.

The second one is an specific power supply 5V DC/2000mAh with the right connector for KL88 too. The screen got too much bright so I returned this power supply too.

I purchased both in a specialized electronic devices shop and the shop assitants are technicians and they don't understand the reason why those power supplies don't work fine.

I've forgotten the idea about the power supply and connect the KL88 via MIDI right to my sound card so I connect my KL88 right to my computer via USB cable provided and it works fine. I'm a bit annoyed with this issue because I always do my work with a laptop and it's got a limited USB connectors and several USB devices like KL88 and sound card need a dedicated USB connector.

Could anybody write down any model that works fine ?

Thanks

[m1ke]

Jacas, thanks for your reply. You wrote that your display was too bright if you used your external 5V apaptor?
This is just the opposite of my oberservations, see pictures. Mine was too dark. Can't believe that!

So, I tried to use the 5V out of my USB HUB using an USB to DC connector adaptor. Using the USB
HUB worked if I use the keylab with the USB cable and USB powered but - as expected - using the USB as
5V adaptor did not work. Just then same as using the various 5V adaptors.

Regards, m1ke

PS: USB ports are sometimes rare...I agree

[Jacas]

Sorry, I'm late

Jacas, thanks for your reply

You're welcome

You wrote that your display was too bright if you used your external 5V apaptor?

Yes, I did. The second one.

So, I tried to use the 5V out of my USB HUB using an USB to DC connector adaptor. Using the USB
HUB worked if I use the keylab with the USB cable and USB powered but - as expected - using the USB as
5V adaptor did not work.

I didn't check the KL88 plugged  to the USB powered hub so I can't report you if it works or not. I only used the power supply which came with the USB powered hub kit and connected it direct to the KL88 DC In.

PS: USB ports are sometimes rare...I agree

I think so.

I would like Arturia made that accessory. At least they wrote down some well-known model that works fine. They have already written a breath controller model in the manual.

Regards

[m1ke]

Can't be true that it is so difficult to find a working 5V DC supply. I tried many different ones without success.
An I measured the voltage at the DC input. Always OK.
The display and the behaviour of the keyboard show very clear that it is an under voltage problem.

Reasons could be:
1.) My brand new keylab is broken right out of the box.
2.) Spec is not correct and it needs a different (higher) voltage as claimed.
     There was a lot of confusion in the past regarding the supply. I read first 12V then 6V and at last 5V.
     ... and those 5V do not work ...

I could send back my keyboard but then I might get back a new one maybe with the same problem.
Before I send it back I will ensure that the keyboard has a fault or not. Perhaps only a few use the
DC input.

Regards

[aemiolia]

Hello m1ke and hi all,

just bought my Keylab 88 and I found problems in using the keyboard via DC power supply...

After a brief research on the web, I found in this discussion the same described problem.

The wrong behaviour is exactly the same to me. In using an external power supply 5V DC/600mA (bought to the purpose), the display is unreadable and after a few seconds the sound becomes totally instable (volume is lowered, pedal control goes off, strange notes...)

With USB cable connected to PC, all is OK instead.
But I would also be able to connect the keylab to an expander and trigger my performances/patches, since the Arturia product can work as midi controller in stand-alone mode...   

m1ke, have you solved in the meantime the problem ? Or anyone else had the same issue?


Regards, aemiolia

[m1ke]

Hi aemiolia,

I had a longer correspondence with the arturia support. Although they write in the latest manual
from 2014 and in this article http://www.arturia.com/faq/utilization/wich-power-supply-psu#KEYLAB
to use a  5V 500mA it does not work.

The discussion with them was confusing because they first warned me to use other voltages than 5V and
in the last mail they wrote me: "You can use a 12 V, there is no known issues related to this."

But this is not official yet. I hope they do it soon.

I've tried a 6V supply and it worked. But on your own risk...

Regards

[aemiolia]

Hi m1ke, many thanks for your reply. 

Taken suggestion from your experience, I changed the voltage selector from 5V to 6V (at my own risk...)... well, seems to work fine to me too.

It remains a sense of uncertainty, these voltages ranging up and down between 5 and 12V. Hope the Arturia staff can clarify this matter in the future.


Thanks again and regards.

[JB ARTURIA]

Hi everyone,

I'm tester at Arturia

The fact is that 5V (500mA) supply work fine with all the Keylab series exept for the KL88. The Keylab 88 require more than 5.5 V at least to work prefectly.

We recommend
AC/DC Adaptor (5.5V to 9V - DC 500mA)
Center Positive

Such a PSU will do the job:
http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Center-Positive-Adapter-Charger/dp/B0064THKKE/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1383458349&sr=8-3-fkmr0&keywords=AC%2FDC+Adaptor%285Vdc500mA%29+Center+Positiv+5%2C5mm+X+2%2C1mm+X+12mm

During our test we were wrong by using a 5.5V power supply so we didn't see that it was not working with a 5V.

Sorry for the inconvenience, and the problems you have faced. We will now correct the Keylab 88 manual and the different ressources about this topic.

[aemiolia]

Okay, now I'm more comfortable in using this excellent keyboard.

Best Regards!

[Jacas]

[...]
You can use 6V power supply it will cause any damage to the unit.
[...]

So, will or won't? not clear for me yet. Please, what's the right voltage for KL88? ...  6V? And if it was OK, when the KL88 is PSU powered, could be connected by USB to midi transmission or should we use midi cables?

I'm still waiting for an official answer  ... come on Arturia I don't think it was so difficult!   

Thanks and best regards

[JB ARTURIA]

Sorry for this misspelling, I was meaning ,that you can use 6V power supply it will NOT cause any damage to the unit.

I hope it's clear now =)

Regards

[Jacas]

I cannot believe it. Today I've tested a 6V 500mA PSU and the KL88 turn on fine but the display background light has got too much intensity and it's difficult to read. There's no contrast function to set the brightness. So there's no PSU which works like the USB cable, at least not for me

Please let me know what can I do

Regards

[JB ARTURIA]

If you want a PSU that work perfectly you should find a 5.5V one. The display should not have too much background intensity with an higher one but there is an issue with the voltage regulator. But  it will not cause any damage to the unit.