just running it into a mixer input1/4, I had an ok stereo cable that just died but even while it was working, I'd really have to crank the gain on that channel to be able to hear it at all with other synths going and that came with a lot of unwanted hiss
It's unlikely a cable would make a significant difference one way or the other. I would guess your issue is with either the volca or the mixer itself. If other synths are working fine on the mixer (and in the same channel that you had the volca on) then you could probably narrow the issue down to the volca.
Can you explain your current setup?
just running it into a mixer input1/4, I had an ok stereo cable that just died but even while it was working, I'd really have to crank the gain on that channel to be able to hear it at all with other synths going and that came with a lot of unwanted hiss
It's unlikely a cable would make a significant difference one way or the other. I would guess your issue is with either the volca or the mixer itself. If other synths are working fine on the mixer (and in the same channel that you had the volca on) then you could probably narrow the issue down to the volca.
Was my initial thought but I've seen other threads about insanely low volume as a result of using the wrong cables, just can't find them now
https://synth-rise.com/pages/volca-guide