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Thread: Simple Group Monitoring of Recording?

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    Registered Mandolin User mandopete's Avatar
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    Default Simple Group Monitoring of Recording?

    The other night I had to throw together a quick demo recording of a 5-piece bluegrass band so I pulled out the trusty Zoom and put it into 360 degree mode and away we went. I put on a pair of headphones to monitor the recording and overall it worked well.

    What might have been nice would be if everyone could have put on headphones to monitor their individual levels. Is there a simple device available that allows for multiple headphones to connect to a single mini stereo output on a device like the Zoom?

    My main goal is simplicity and this might be stretching it a bit, but if there is something out there like this it would be handy!
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    Default Re: Simple Group Monitoring of Recording?

    Is the input 1/4"? I have a 1/4 Y cable that enables me to connect 2 sets of headphone, I imagine that you could get a couple of those to cobble together a system. I don't imagine that the sound would be all that great but it would work well enough to monitor yourselves. (I think).

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    Registered User mando.player's Avatar
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    Default Re: Simple Group Monitoring of Recording?

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    Default Re: Simple Group Monitoring of Recording?

    Quote Originally Posted by mando.player View Post
    Even better, that's professional.

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    Registered User almeriastrings's Avatar
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    Default Re: Simple Group Monitoring of Recording?

    There are a whole range of devices that will do it. Just look for 'Headphone Distribution Amplifier'.

    Up to 4 outputs is common, and you can find some very low priced units that actually perform surprisingly well. At the cheap but works well end these are OK:

    http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HA400/

    Once you go above 4 outputs the field narrows quite a lot. They tend to change to 6 and 8 output racked units. We have one of these in the studio and it is very good indeed, offering several mix options to feed the different outputs, ability to vary the click track level, talkback function, and a few other things but probably over-the-top for the more basic function you need:

    http://www.presonus.com/products/hp60

    If you just need a basic 5 output model this is actually very good and reasonably priced:

    http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HeadAmpV/

    One very neat feature this has (that most don't), is an insert jack for three of the channels. This is particularly useful when overdubbing lead vocalists, as you can give them some 'comfort reverb' in their headphones. That is, reverb they hear, but which is not recorded. Many vocalists really like that and perform better with it. This can be done in software, but you have to be really careful of latency issues - with a headphone amp with an insert, you can just use a hardware reverb and avoid those problems. I've used a little Alesis Nanoverb for that job. As it is not recorded, you don't need the ultimate in reverbs, just good enough to keep the vocalist happy. Obviously, you don't normally need it at all for instrument parts.
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    Registered Mandolin User mandopete's Avatar
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    Default Re: Simple Group Monitoring of Recording?

    Quote Originally Posted by mando.player View Post
    Excellent - it looks like this would do the trick.

    Thanks for the response!
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    Registered User Pete Martin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Simple Group Monitoring of Recording?

    Most of those devices will not allow for individual mixes, just different levels of the same mix. If you are looking for 5 different mixes, that gets $pendy.
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    Registered User almeriastrings's Avatar
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    Default Re: Simple Group Monitoring of Recording?

    The HP60 does, but yes, if you want individual mixes the cost does rise. Not just the headphone amp (around $300), but also figure in an interface/mixer with sufficient AUX outs to create those mixes.
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    Registered Mandolin User mandopete's Avatar
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    Default Re: Simple Group Monitoring of Recording?

    Quote Originally Posted by Pete Martin View Post
    Most of those devices will not allow for individual mixes, just different levels of the same mix. If you are looking for 5 different mixes, that gets $pendy.
    Nope, just looking for everyone to hear the same thing. Most bluegrass bands, and especially those used to a single mic, do a pretty good job of mixing themselves. I would just like to have a way for people moving in and out of the mic to get a sense of the level.
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    Default Re: Simple Group Monitoring of Recording?

    Regarding this thread, I had a great experience last night. Three of us got together to finish recording a song and layered harmonies for a DVD I'm making for a friend. After we finished each individual track we decided to hear ourselves doing some three-part harmonies on our favorite songs. We were in a hurry. So we set up two mics and sat around them. We did a first take of half a song and then listened to it, moved our chairs to get the right distance from the mics, rerecorded, did it again, and by the third take we had a great, evenly mixed sound, all on one track. It was a blast.

    This is a suggestion for those who don't want to spend big bucks on equipment they will only occasionally use.

  11. #11
    Registered Mandolin User mandopete's Avatar
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    Default Re: Simple Group Monitoring of Recording?

    Yes, that's the general idea of what I was trying to do. If you were able to have headphones you may have been able to save time getting the balances right, but at the end of the day that's what I was trying to do. My other "challenge" was this was all live with no overdubs.
    Last edited by mandopete; Dec-12-2013 at 10:19am. Reason: speeling
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