Headphone mix monitor for musicians

[FirstCoastFm]

@-mjk- Right... My only question left is how to do that for the vocals since it seems that running the vocals through the patchbay is not advisable.. Any thoughts? Thanks

 

[-mjk-]

@FirstCoastFm if you only have the vocals that you wan to add, I would use an Aux send from that channel.

 

[-mjk-]

A pleasure meeting you too fellow broadcaster. I have to say this has been one of the most helpful forums and courteous contributors that I've experienced in a long time.

I've got a few things cooking.. Preparing to apply to the FCC for a LPFM license so that I can start an FM station here in my town to give a chance to learn broadcasting, film, editing, podcasting, etc., to low income kids who can't afford to go to a school, or whose grades are not up to par, but have talent, an ambition to move up and to stay out of trouble. I've got almost everything I need for the radio station which will go online first. Should I be granted the FCC permit, then I'll get the transmitter, receivers, antenna, etc. They give you 3 years to build the station and go on the air, so I have time to raise the $$$$ for it..

But, I'm lacking a great deal of knowledge in the topics we've been discussing here and much more.. But I can learn.. Thanks again for the help.

I hope your LPFM goes through. I hope you can get funding for that project because not many young people are entering the field (they all want to be YouTubers) and there are virtually no young new broadcast engineers coming up. The shortage of broadcast engineers was already critical about 40 years ago, and clearly demonstrated when I was at a meeting and one engineer said that he has to service all the radio stations in his area, including competing stations. He had to walk a tightrope of not using that information for the advantage of one station over the other.

 

[FirstCoastFm]

@FirstCoastFm if you only have the vocals that you wan to add, I would use an Aux send from that channel.

That makes sense.. Thanks.

 

[FirstCoastFm]

I hope your LPFM goes through. I hope you can get funding for that project because not many young people are entering the field (they all want to be YouTubers) and there are virtually no young new broadcast engineers coming up. The shortage of broadcast engineers was already critical about 40 years ago, and clearly demonstrated when I was at a meeting and one engineer said that he has to service all the radio stations in his area, including competing stations. He had to walk a tightrope of not using that information for the advantage of one station over the other.

Thanks my fellow broadcaster. It is exciting to venture into new horizons. We'll see what tomorrow brings...

And thanks for all the input from you and the other fellows. Yesterday I played with my model 12 and plugged my keyboards and bass using the DI boxes. It was fun..

 

[BazzBass]

ha! In the end I told my drummer it will cost too much to achieve and that he has to use the one monitor mix, it's not THAT hard to make sure everyone can hear themselves as that is the aim of recording innit?

 

[BazzBass]

a couple of years ago I bought a Behringer HA6000 headphone amp in case I needed more outputs than my existing 4 output amp.

Only looked at it again yesterday and low and behold, each of the 6 channels allows you to mix the main signal with your instrument's signal. VERY handy indeed. It cost around 220 bucks AUS so under 200 US dollars

 

[-mjk-]

That's a good solution, looks like.

 

[FirstCoastFm]

a couple of years ago I bought a Behringer HA6000 headphone amp in case I needed more outputs than my existing 4 output amp.

Only looked at it again yesterday and low and behold, each of the 6 channels allows you to mix the main signal with your instrument's signal. VERY handy indeed. It cost around 220 bucks AUS so under 200 US dollars

Far out! I have the HA8000. I'll take a look again.. Thanks!

 

[BazzBass]

POWERPLAY HA8000 V2
An articulate headphone mix can make all the difference in the outcome of a recording session. The 8-channel POWERPLAY PRO-8 HA8000 features superior performance, routing and mixing functions to accommodate even the most discerning set of ears. Two independent stereo Main Inputs, along with a dedicated Direct Input on each channel allows individual performers to obtain a more customized monitoring mix. When optimized mixes have to reach multiple listeners, each with their own specific requirements, the HA8000 delivers high-quality headphone mixing – in a class all its own!

 

[BazzBass]

so all this time, we BOTH had the solution and didn't know it lol

 

[FirstCoastFm]

True, but I learned a lot and all of you were very generous in trying to help me out.. I thank you all..

 

[mixerizer]

Hi folks - awesome Ha8000 info! I may just grab one.

Right now, the way people set up custom monitor mixes round here is by using the various headphone outputs located on my MOTU devices (which are distributed in the various racks). Using the MOTU ipad or web app, each person can create a custom mix onscreen for the headphone jack they are using. I use a little 4 output headphone amp to send that same mix to multiple people. It works okay, but I prefer physical interfaces and workflows for music, and may well have settled for a physical control surface for this workflow, if MOTU made one.

For independent physical 16ch digital audio monitor mixing, I have been looking at the Presonus EarMix 16M. I havent tried them in my studio yet, but they would be AVB listeners to my board’s outgoing busses/directs/auxes, and can be customized as needed (drummer might want all drum sounds but guitarist might want a stereo drums mix + kick and snare, then wet and dry tracks, pitch/fx returns, etc.) I have never heard the D/A converters in them, but I am sure they are fine.

They can go wherever you put them. They are $400-450 each so you pay for the added features - but in addition you get the simplicity and independence from having to mult or run direct cables, just the Ethernet RJ45 to the AVB network streams. They have been around a while so the fact they arent going for less than their retail price is somewhat encouraging that people who get them, like them.

I am probably going to explore it in the coming year, has anyone else used them before?

 

[BazzBass]

it turns out ONLY the HA6000 has the aux in feature.

 

[FirstCoastFm]

@BazzBass Bummer..

 

[BazzBass]

although......it DOES have a direct in on each channel so maybe that does the same thing? It doesn't have a balance knob between the main in and the direct in.

 

[-mjk-]

@BazzBass said:

although......it DOES have a direct in on each channel so maybe that does the same thing? It doesn't have a balance knob between the main in and the direct in.

The level of "me" into the Aux input would have to be adjusted from the console Aux bus feed (or wherever that is coming from).

 

[shredd]

Hey @FirstCoastFm - shredd here, resident maroon...so I dunno if this will help you, or if it's an affordable solution (looks pretty pro/hi-tech), or if it's even a solution for your original request. But I stumbled across it looking for something else, and remembered your inquiry, so here it is:

Hear Technologies Hear Back Pro series

I clicked through to a couple of dealer links ("Buy")...it looks like they start in the few-hundred-bux range, for simple units, up to several thousand for pro-studio-level full systems...

Also - I remember @BazzBass having interest in solutions/options for this problem?

 

[BazzBass]

the Behringer HA6000 can do what we want, under two hundred dollars US