Monitor Management with Talkback

  • Thread starter Thread starter BeniRose
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BeniRose

BeniRose

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I'm taking a look at a lot of the monitor management units that are out on the market now (Samson C-Control, Presonus Central/Monitor Stations, Dangerous Music Monitor ST) and I don't really understand how these projects could ever fit in to a proper studio. I'm currently using the Samson C-Control right now, which works just fine, although it's a bit cheap, but there's a few things it doesn't do that I'd like it to. I'm trying to run my Output 1-2 as main, and have 3-4 and 5-6 as submixes. I assumed this is how many studios do it, but it doesn't seem like there's any Monitor Management units that will take in the 2 additional stereo inputs and just pass them along without hosing things up. All I really want it to add talkback to my two submixes, and possibly add a cue from the main inputs with talkback as well. I figured many studio owners would want a setup similar to this, but I can't find a unit that does it. How do most people run their monitors and submixes, do I have it backwards or something? Someone please clarify this for me because I feel like I'm going crazy!! :D
 
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From what I understand, talkback is taking a mic from the control room and piping it to speakers in the recording room to facilitate communication between two separate and soundproof rooms. To be used sparingly and only when you press a button or other activator. Otherwise you're probably not looking for a talkback device specifically. And might be looking more at mixers and other things to send mixes out to the recording room. You're probably looking at a combination of mixers and headphone preamps. Mixer in the control room to determine what's going out, and headphone preamp in the recording room to provide some control at the receiving end. Volume / mono / multiple headsets from a single source / ???.
 
Thanks for the reply Shadow, I always appreciate a quick response :)

I actually don't have a control room, I just have had drummers that have asked for their own mix and guitarists that have asked for their own mix when I'm recording live. I'd like talkback to pipe into those two different mixes (outputs 3-4 and 5-6 in my case) because as lazy as it sounds, taking headphones on and off can get really tedious. I almost made my own talkback mic a bit ago which had a hold switch and a button on it, but I never finished it. I guess having 3-4 and 5-6 pipe out to a small mixer that has a talkback "device" (homemade or just a mic I mute and unmute maybe) might be a good idea. Bascially I'm just looking to have a passive device that places a talkback mic onto the submixes and the main mix going to my cue mix, and shouldn't expect the same device to do my monitor management as well.
 
You could always tell them NO.

I think some of those 36+ channel boards have that feature, if you've got a spare $60K. Otherwise you could always use walkies as a talkback. Or a baby monitor, or......
 
Shadow_7 said:
You could always tell them NO.

I think some of those 36+ channel boards have that feature, if you've got a spare $60K. Otherwise you could always use walkies as a talkback. Or a baby monitor, or......
Click to expand...

Hahahahaha, I actually used to use Radioshack wireless intercoms at my old place :)
 
BeniRose said:
Hahahahaha, I actually used to use Radioshack wireless intercoms at my old place :)
Click to expand...

I too used to do use the R.S. units - the one people use to monitor their baby.

I really question the use of headphones at this point - as soon as you put them on it gets unnatural is what I've found... I don't use them and solve all these type problems the simple way we did when we started playing in a room together.
 
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