So I've been working with a band for a while, doing stuff like pub/club gigs and smaller music festivals, and monitoring has always been an issue - I have a couple of wedges we can use, but positioning them so everyone can hear them is a pain, and, of course, ringing out in a venue full of people isn't a nice thing to do.
Since the desk I'm using has 2 pre-fade Aux sends for monitoring, I figured I could use some cheap wireless headphones to do what I'm after.
It goes like this: Aux1 goes to the transmitter left channel, Aux2 to the right.
Since the transmitter frequency is fixed (86MHz), I figure I can use a lot of receivers and they can all get the same signals.
I'm going to distmantle the receivers/headphones, keep the circuitry, but have the output on a 3.5mm jack socket, with a switch. The outputs from the headphone PCB will go to the switch, left to one side, right to the other. The 3.5mm jack output will be driven from the switch wiper, with the left and right outputs of the socket wired together.
Then the user plugs in their favourite earbuds, the headphone circuitry gets attached to a belt clip, and they can set volume and which monitor mix they're on.
Thoughts?
Pictures coming soon - so far I've dismantled the cheapie wireless headphones.
Chris
Since the desk I'm using has 2 pre-fade Aux sends for monitoring, I figured I could use some cheap wireless headphones to do what I'm after.
It goes like this: Aux1 goes to the transmitter left channel, Aux2 to the right.
Since the transmitter frequency is fixed (86MHz), I figure I can use a lot of receivers and they can all get the same signals.
I'm going to distmantle the receivers/headphones, keep the circuitry, but have the output on a 3.5mm jack socket, with a switch. The outputs from the headphone PCB will go to the switch, left to one side, right to the other. The 3.5mm jack output will be driven from the switch wiper, with the left and right outputs of the socket wired together.
Then the user plugs in their favourite earbuds, the headphone circuitry gets attached to a belt clip, and they can set volume and which monitor mix they're on.
Thoughts?
Pictures coming soon - so far I've dismantled the cheapie wireless headphones.
Chris
Never seen one, but from what you see on the TV the ear pieces look to be moulded to the individual ear - presumably to keep out as much external sound as possible?.
Have you tried an ear piece that you're considering using it just hard wired from the mixer output? (via a little amplifier, or the PFL from the mixer - if it has it).
Assuming that works OK during a full power practice session, then you could worry about making it wireless.
Yeah, I've done headphones actually plugged into the Aux sends. Worked fine, surprisingly.
The guys I'm working with all have some kind of earbuds. I think the kind that go right into your ear will work fine - plenty of isolation.
The idea is, to keep this as cheap as possible, to get the musicians to supply their own transducers, and I'll provide a little box that makes them wireless.
I suppose I could use a headphone splitter and physically plug everyone into the desk, but that could end up more trouble than its worth - someone's bound to try to walk off the stage while still plugged in.
Chris
The guys I'm working with all have some kind of earbuds. I think the kind that go right into your ear will work fine - plenty of isolation.
The idea is, to keep this as cheap as possible, to get the musicians to supply their own transducers, and I'll provide a little box that makes them wireless.
I suppose I could use a headphone splitter and physically plug everyone into the desk, but that could end up more trouble than its worth - someone's bound to try to walk off the stage while still plugged in.
Chris
Advantages with in-ear monitoring:
Practically no risk of onstage feedback, and potentially ear-drum shattering levels.
Makes the FOH mixer's job much easier, and if you're doing live recording or a TV mix, is a godsend.
Disadvantages:-
You need all your instruments in the PA desk. For a stadium gig they'd be there anyway, but frequently in a smaller venue a number of instruments don't need amplifyinf separately.
It is impossible to do one mix that suits everybody - drummers just aren't listening to the same things as horn players. And finding the compromise mix that everyone can work with requires lots of rehearsal/sound check time, in a realistic environment (not a rehearsal room, normally).
I try to avoid battery powering whenever possible - had too many performances where batteries have given up. Or the contacts have ceased to contact. And decent batteries are expensive, who remembers to turn off at the end of a set?
There's a loss of audience contact - it becomes more a studio environment than a live gig.
Your cheap radio phones aren't going to get loud enough for rock and roll or reggae, and something that will can seriously damage your ears. So it needs limiters and calibrated level outputs. Easy enough to do, if the potential peak levels are there, but more to carry around.
Very often prefade aux sends don't mute with the channel, leaving any open mics feeding your ears - only important when you're changing mic setups during the gig.
Remember, big touring bands with in-ear systems have a separate console for mixing them, separate mixes for each musician, a guy who does only monitors (indeed, sometimes, more than one) and can keep watching the musicians for the slightest cue to adjust a mix, and it's not all show off.
Practically no risk of onstage feedback, and potentially ear-drum shattering levels.
Makes the FOH mixer's job much easier, and if you're doing live recording or a TV mix, is a godsend.
Disadvantages:-
You need all your instruments in the PA desk. For a stadium gig they'd be there anyway, but frequently in a smaller venue a number of instruments don't need amplifyinf separately.
It is impossible to do one mix that suits everybody - drummers just aren't listening to the same things as horn players. And finding the compromise mix that everyone can work with requires lots of rehearsal/sound check time, in a realistic environment (not a rehearsal room, normally).
I try to avoid battery powering whenever possible - had too many performances where batteries have given up. Or the contacts have ceased to contact. And decent batteries are expensive, who remembers to turn off at the end of a set?
There's a loss of audience contact - it becomes more a studio environment than a live gig.
Your cheap radio phones aren't going to get loud enough for rock and roll or reggae, and something that will can seriously damage your ears. So it needs limiters and calibrated level outputs. Easy enough to do, if the potential peak levels are there, but more to carry around.
Very often prefade aux sends don't mute with the channel, leaving any open mics feeding your ears - only important when you're changing mic setups during the gig.
Remember, big touring bands with in-ear systems have a separate console for mixing them, separate mixes for each musician, a guy who does only monitors (indeed, sometimes, more than one) and can keep watching the musicians for the slightest cue to adjust a mix, and it's not all show off.
Hi Chris,
I insist on having all instruments going into the desk whenever possible, even in small venues. So much better I control levels than leaving the musicians to guess what it sounds like out front.
I've usually got a couple of spare compressors in the rack, so yes, I'll definitely run the monitor send through a compressor with some aggressive limiting. Thanks for that.
There'll be two aux mixes to choose from. The bands I work with are typically English/Irish folk bands, so I'd probably do a melody-dominant mix and a vocal-dominant mix, and let the musicians choose what they're after.
I've done the being-a-monitor-guy thing for a while, working on a crapped-out SM12 and lots of Betamax cabs. Much prefer FOH work at that venue, as there's an ML4000 available.
I'm hoping to avoid total isolation by having the musicians only use one of the earbuds. Routed through clothes from back pocket to one ear, I think that'd allow audience interaction, look fairly neat, and still make sure they can hear themselves.
Of course, I've never done something like this before. One of the guys is quite enthusiastic about the idea, so we'll see how it goes.
Chris
I insist on having all instruments going into the desk whenever possible, even in small venues. So much better I control levels than leaving the musicians to guess what it sounds like out front.
I've usually got a couple of spare compressors in the rack, so yes, I'll definitely run the monitor send through a compressor with some aggressive limiting. Thanks for that.
There'll be two aux mixes to choose from. The bands I work with are typically English/Irish folk bands, so I'd probably do a melody-dominant mix and a vocal-dominant mix, and let the musicians choose what they're after.
I've done the being-a-monitor-guy thing for a while, working on a crapped-out SM12 and lots of Betamax cabs. Much prefer FOH work at that venue, as there's an ML4000 available.
I'm hoping to avoid total isolation by having the musicians only use one of the earbuds. Routed through clothes from back pocket to one ear, I think that'd allow audience interaction, look fairly neat, and still make sure they can hear themselves.
Of course, I've never done something like this before. One of the guys is quite enthusiastic about the idea, so we'll see how it goes.
Chris
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