using passive and active monitors together

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toddallman

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I have a pair of older Alesis monitor twos. I really like using them for listening and playing mixes for clients. However, I am not convinced they are the best for mixing and they are passive and HUGE. I would like to get a pair of active KRK's that I can set on the desk for some true near field monitors. Does anyone have any good ideas about how to use these two together? I would like to switch back and forth. This means I am A/B-ing between passive and active. Anyone....?
 
It's no different than switching between two set of active monitors. You will need something to switch between the two sets of monitors. For me, it's the Digi-003 Rack. It has capabilities to switch between two sets of monitors. Mackie Big Knob would be another options, Presonus has options. I think Samson has a $99 options.
 
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You're just switching the monitor output of your desk or DAW between two line level destinations...you have to think of the power amp which drives your passive monitors as being part of those monitors. Then it's exactly like switching between two active monitor pairs.

I use a Coleman LS3 in my studio.
 
How to do it for free...

Take each track on your mixes and rout them all to a bus, not an output.....ie instead of analogue out 1-2 on each track, use something like bus 19-20.

Then, add an AUX track and put it next to your master track, make it's input bus 19-20, then make it's output your normal 1-2 for your krk's, then plug the amp for the alesis' into output 3-4. delete your master track, and now use the aux we made as you new master track. to change which speakers you are using, change the output of said aux.

For something even cooler, watch this video I made on how to stream your audio wirelessly in full resolution to another room and control your computer from there using remote desktop on an iPhone or iPod Touch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdOOuYE6HUM
 
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That sounds like a clever idea Graham. Your method assumes the OP has an interface with at least 2 pairs of outputs (4 outputs), but other than that, it sounds like a solution. Although, there might be a short pause while the software changes the bus output, right?
 
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