Studio monitor switching question

famous beagle

famous beagle

Well-known member
I wasn't sure where to put this, but I figured this was as good a place as any.

Right now I have a pair of passive monitors (Yorkville YSM 1) and an Alesis RA 100 as my main monitor setup. I'm thinking of adding an Avantone Mixcube as a mono reference too, but I'm trying to find the easiest and cheapest way of doing this, logistically speaking.

The passive mixcube is cheaper, so I'd rather get that if I can. I don't plan on using the Yorkvilles and the mixcube at the same time, so I'm hoping I can just use the RA 100 to power them both. But there are a few issues:

1. The Yorkvilles and mixcube have speaker terminals - not 1/4" jacks - so it's not as easy as just using my patch bay.

2. However, the RA 100 does have 1/4" outputs, so maybe the patch bay idea is a possibility?

If so, would I need to add a 1/4" plug to one end of the speaker cables? Then I could plug the RA 100 and the speakers into the patch bay. I could have the Yorkvilles normalled to the amp. Then, when using the Mixcube, would I need to use a Y cord? Or? ....

Any ideas on this? Am I on the right track?

Thanks
 
If you are handy, make a speaker switching box.
with the patchbay if you have a half normal set up do like this.
upper jacks. ...amp output
lower jacks.....Yorkville inputs
get another input for the mixcube and feed the best input from the amp out, hit the mono button on the mixer. Good to go assuming you have mono switching.
 
Last edited:
Do you mean you are getting a single mixcube or a pair of mixcubes?

You can't bridge the RA100. That is, it's a 2-channel only reference amp. You can't combine the left/right outputs together and feed them into a single speaker. So if you have only one Mixcube you can only listen to the left or right channel of the RA100, not both through one speaker.

Am I understanding what you're trying to do here?
 
This issue has still not been adressed .Does the mixer has a mono button?
Active or passive you still need a mono output for just one speaker.
 
RFR said:
This issue has still not been adressed .Does the mixer has a mono button?
Active or passive you still need a mono output for just one speaker.
Click to expand...

The problem is not the mono thing, the problem is that they want to switch a stereo amp that is connected to 2 speakers to a single speaker, therefore you can not short the stereo output of the amp to a single mono speaker. If you have a mono button on the mixer then you would get mono if you switched to one side of the stereo amp, but the unused side on the stereo amp would be un-loaded so that will damage the amp.

If they were using 2 cubes and then used a mono button no problem, but that is not the question.

Alan.
 
My idea was 2 cubes, set them together with NO separation, then hit the mono.
I can also see your idea of an active cube, no channel on the amp without a load.
 
RFR said:
My idea was 2 cubes, set them together with NO separation, then hit the mono.
Click to expand...
I got the feeling that he wanted one Mixcube. If he used an active mixcube, you can make the switching on the line to the amp/active mixcube, with a stereo to mono bridging circuit before the mixcube?

Alan.
 
So the stereo to mono switching would occur AFTER the stereo out from the mixer or whatever beagle is using,
Hmmm more stuff for you to buy, beagle.
☺
 
RFR said:
So the stereo to mono switching would occur AFTER the stereo out from the mixer or whatever beagle is using,
Hmmm more stuff for you to buy, beagle.
☺
Click to expand...

Well, actually its simple because if I remember right the Alesis RA 100 has an unbalanced input, so you could use a cheap passive switcher that a home system would have for adding inputs to an amp, only used reversed, but you could make one but any stereo or electrics store will have them.

The Mono bridge is a very easy circuit made up using a few resisters. So using the Alesis RA 100 and the stereo speakers every things is stereo, switch the mixer output to the Active mixcube and the stereo to mono bridge makes the signal mono and the cube is getting both side of the stereo mixed to mono, like a mono button would do on mixers that have them.

Alan.

---------- Update ----------

bouldersoundguy said:
Stick a dummy load on the unused channel.
Click to expand...

Still only gets one side of the stereo id there is no mono switch on the mixer?

Alan
 
This is why I'm waiting for clarification. Depending on what he's trying to do some of the ideas may work, but regardless the ideas so far are doing it the hard way. Best if he has a mono monitor output on the mixer. Short of that there are other options, but some will change the character of his main monitors. Best to have a simple A/B switch with no funky circuitry to compensate for impedance... if we're going to do it that way. A lot of the switches intended for home entertainment systems are not suitable in a studio setting for reference monitors.

On another note the RA100 can be used one channel at a time if the volume for the unused channel is turned down and/or there's no signal at the amp input for the unused channel. Dummy load resistor would work too if you don't want to go to the trouble having so many steps just to check mono.

That's the thing... reducing the amount of steps and keeping to a minimum the devices one has to purchase before buying the powered Cube would be cheaper, or at least so close it's not worth the trouble.

Another question: Why? I've never used a single speaker to listen in mono. Just hit the mono switch on the console and listen through the main monitors, and hopefully we have a mono switch. ;)
 
Thanks for all the input y'all. I had originally intended on getting one Mixcube after reading Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio by Mike Senior, in which he suggests such a thing. And I was thinking I could get a passive one and save some money since I already had a power amp.

Beck: Of course you're right that I can hit mono and listen through the main monitors, but I wanted to have another set of speakers for reference.

Anyway, I ended up finding a pair of passive Mixcubes for the cost of one of them new, so I snagged them up. So I'll just use a speaker selector box with the RA-100, and I should be all set.
 
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