control room monitoring question

famous beagle

famous beagle

Well-known member
I was just curious how different people deal with this issue.

Let's say you have a two-channel A/I and you're recording some vocals (or anything with a mic) in the control room. Obviously, you'll use headphones and you don't want your monitors on while you're recording because:

1. At worst, you could possibly get feedback.
2. At the least, the speakers will be bleeding into the mic.

So, what do most people do to deal with this?

Do you turn off the monitors when recording?
Do you have things running through an external mixer and mute the channels when recording?

What are the different ways people deal with this?

Thanks
 
MY interface allows me to turn monitor level down to nothing, so I can track with headphones and feedback and bleed free.
 
gecko zzed said:
MY interface allows me to turn monitor level down to nothing, so I can track with headphones and feedback and bleed free.
Click to expand...

So, you mean your interface has a headphone level knob that's not affected by the main output knob (which controls the signal sent to the output jacks). Is that correct?

Thanks for the info. What interface is that, by the way?
 
The mixer that I use for my monitoring uses the same knob to control my monitors and my headphones. So I just unplug my monitors at the mixer while I'm tracking.

Not ideal, and I'm bound to wear out those jacks on my mixer's C/R out. Never did understand why Yamaha made the MG10/2 CR and ST outputs like that...there are even separate knobs for ST and CR out, but they're interdependent. I can't find a way to make the headphones independent of the mains.
 
I have forgotten to turn my monitors off a few times when recording on a mic and I just get bleed, I haven't gotten any loop-back, just noise I didn't want. Plus, since there is some latency, it doesn't match perfect. Extra noise is all I have gotten.
 
I do the same thing....turn off monitors during tracking, since my studio is just one room, so monitors would bleed into the mics....though I have occasionally forgot to turn them of when going back-n-forth between monitors/headphones, and the bleed wasn't anything terrible, but when I did that I just re-recorded the tracks over....just makes for cleaner tracks.

I have a main monitor control knob (TC Electronic Level Pilot) that controls m monitor levels....and the input to the monitors coming from any of my my interface's outputs is not tied to the headphone level of the interfaces, which all have their own level knob just for the headphone output
When I use my mixing console, which is how IK track most of the time, and the console lets me create cue mixes and easily basic FX/processing during tracking using outboard gear... I can just hit a button on the console that kills the monitors, but there is a separate headphone level section.

Yes, a bit more involved than your setup...but, you gain a lot more flexibility with the added routing options.
 
famous beagle said:
I was just curious how different people deal with this issue.

Let's say you have a two-channel A/I and you're recording some vocals (or anything with a mic) in the control room. Obviously, you'll use headphones and you don't want your monitors on while you're recording because:

1. At worst, you could possibly get feedback.
2. At the least, the speakers will be bleeding into the mic.

So, what do most people do to deal with this?

Do you turn off the monitors when recording?
Do you have things running through an external mixer and mute the channels when recording?

What are the different ways people deal with this?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I press the 'cut' button on my audient ID22 interface, that's how easy it is, one of the main reasons I bought it actually, very well thought out design.
 
I turn the monitors off and pop on my headphones.

My master volume controls speaker + headphone outputs which is why I have to power the speakers off.
I've thought about buying, or making, a passive speaker volume knob to save time + power cycling, but I never get around to it.
 
I get to use a space with -70dB isolation between control room and recording room, and there are separate knobs for all the mixes. The monitors can stay on during tracking.
 
Tadpui said:
The mixer that I use for my monitoring uses the same knob to control my monitors and my headphones. So I just unplug my monitors at the mixer while I'm tracking.

Not ideal, and I'm bound to wear out those jacks on my mixer's C/R out. Never did understand why Yamaha made the MG10/2 CR and ST outputs like that...there are even separate knobs for ST and CR out, but they're interdependent. I can't find a way to make the headphones independent of the mains.
Click to expand...

Everyones mixer is different. You need to get out a block diagram of your mixer and determine how to supply headphone independent of speakers outs. In radio we used a RANE headphone amp- you can use any brand and you can determine how you want to feed them. With speakers in a studio the real mixers have a mute out and or ducking signal that lowers the audio volume to on but not very loud.
Sometimes when mixers are not made right with status signals they need to me modified to provide them.
For instance you could take a lamp signal from a Mic on button and use it with some circuitry to mute speakers. Two module inputs or more could be combined using the OR function of diodes. You get a good engineer on board- not a guy that just mixes music, but one who can build and fix things.
 
my monitoring is thru my reference stereo so I just turn it down ...... I have no latency issues since I don't record to a 'puter.
There have been a few times I failed to turn the monitors down ....... sometimes it mattered and I had to retrack ...... sometimes it didn't really hurt anything and at least once the background sound seemed to fatten the track and was desirable.

But, once again, no latency exists in my rig which would make having the monitors on a big problem.
 
Thanks for all the answers. Wow, I'm shocked to see that there are so many people that either turn off their monitors (or unplug them) while tracking! I was doing this too, because I didn't have separate control of headphone/output jack level on my interface, but I figured it was just my laziness that kept me doing it and that most other people would be doing something else.

Finally I got fed up with it (because it really is kind of a pain, IMO), and so I got the TC Electronic Level Pilot, which Miroslav referenced, and yeah I love it; I can't believe I went without it for so long. You just put it in line between your interface's output jacks (1 and 2) and the monitors, and you have a separate level control for your monitors from your headphones. It's a lifesaver for anyone with only two outputs on their interface!
 
Lt. Bob said:
my monitoring is thru my reference stereo so I just turn it down ...... I have no latency issues since I don't record to a 'puter.
There have been a few times I failed to turn the monitors down ....... sometimes it mattered and I had to retrack ...... sometimes it didn't really hurt anything and at least once the background sound seemed to fatten the track and was desirable.

But, once again, no latency exists in my rig which would make having the monitors on a big problem.
Click to expand...

Bob, to what device do you record?
 
gecko zzed said:
MY interface allows me to turn monitor level down to nothing, so I can track with headphones and feedback and bleed free.
Click to expand...

Same with me Tascam US800. Never thought about it before, but I guess this is why people like Dave (ecc83) reguarly mention using a mixer as a monitor controller.
 
Steenamaroo said:
I turn the monitors off and pop on my headphones.

My master volume controls speaker + headphone outputs which is why I have to power the speakers off.
I've thought about buying, or making, a passive speaker volume knob to save time + power cycling, but I never get around to it.
Click to expand...

I have an A Designs ATTY sitting around collecting dust. Passive volume control with mute button. I'll give it to ya if you pay for shipping. :)
 
mjbphotos said:
Same with me Tascam US800. Never thought about it before, but I guess this is why people like Dave (ecc83) reguarly mention using a mixer as a monitor controller.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's kind of one of those things you don't hear many people talk about, but it's something that obviously requires some kind of a solution if your interface doesn't allow separate control. As I said, I was surprised to hear that many people are still putting up with turning on and off their speakers like I was for so long! :)
 
Mackie Big Knob does the switching and volume control for my setup.

The easy/cheap way is to use a power strip with switch to just shut the monitors down.
 
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