Hello All.



ML> Hear Technologies makes the Hear Back personal monitoring
ML> system.  The basic system consists of a Hub and from one to 8 Hear
ML> Back Mixers.

 RW> YEp knew you'd be able to throw out something relevant.



 RW> The product that generated the thread that spun me off on
 RW> this tangent as I think I noted is one that one could
 RW> control with an iPhone iPod or iPad.
 RW> I note one significant thing I'm curious about.  YOu wrote:

[SNIP]
ML> There is an optional modification offered where the mixer loses the
ML> Limiter and becomes a full 8 channels.  The stereo 1-2 input becomes
ML> channel 1 and the limiter becomes channel 2; the rest of the
ML> channels remain unaffected.

 RW>   I hope you folks recommend against that one, I can
 RW> understand offering it, but ... I never run headphone or
 RW> in-ear monitor (those little earbud) mixes without a
 RW> limiter. But then, to me that's a safety issue.

Actually it's very popluar.  Although the SPL available at the ear drum varies
with the type of headset, it can get quite uncomfortable.  It's rather up to
the individual to exercise common sense.

ML> In the service department I see lots of them (there are many tens of
ML> thousands out in the field.) The come from lots of
ML> churches, recording studios, educational institutions and
ML> individuals.

 RW> I'm curious how many of them you see where they've used that
 RW> modification. 

I've installed about 80 of them so far; it is a new offering as of a few
months ago. (I'm the guy that does all the mods.)

ML> Multimedia churches and recording studios comprise a large chunk of
ML> the client base, as do live performance sound reinforcement
ML> companies.  They all seem to love the flexibility of letting
ML> individuals control what they hear in their own monitor mix, without
ML> having to have an additional person sitting FOH to try and
ML> "administer" the monitor mix.  The compact in-ear headsets (ear
ML> buds) seem to be the favorite.

ML> The fact that all this is done over one cat 5 cable from the main
ML> mixer is a big plus.

 RW> OH yeah, it sure would be.  See our recent thread on digital snake
 RW> for remote truck .

IIRC, I believe we also have an adapter to take ADAT optical input and produce
a Hear Back output (Cat 5).  I'll check on that - that's something I never see
in the service department. 

ML> I'm going to defer to my colleague Charles Snoddy for further
ML> comment from the recording studio/performance standpoint... once he
ML> gets a few minutes in his crowded schedule to write his
ML> views. 

 RW> Remember a lot of my work back in my live sound
 RW> reinforcement days was mixing monitors.  I recall when I
 RW> first read the phrase "friends don't let friends mix
 RW> monitors."  I've found though back when I was doing it that
 RW> performers who knew you were being diligent about getting
 RW> them what they needed to perform well did indeed thank you
 RW> for it.  i actually enjoyed it more than not.  When I didn't it was
 RW> suually working with less than professionals who
 RW> engaged in the volume wars all during the performance.

That's where this type of system comes into play... virtually eliminating the
volume wars and making it SO much easier for the FOH guy.

ML> Hopefully this will give you a little more understanding of the
ML> hardware end of at least the Hear Back version of the personal
ML> monitoring system.

 RW> I've used one but only in the studio, and only in someone
 RW> else's.  ONe time, and this was years ago, producing an
 RW> album project for some people who were less than
 RW> professional.  I'm comfortable in my own skin getting a
 RW> blend of what I need to hear whether on stage or in the
 RW> studio, but my encounters with personal mixing stations were doing
 RW> producer/engineer, hence the other side of the glass.
 RW> MOst of the performers picked up on the concept and could
 RW> work with it, but one in
 particular couldn't quite wrap his
 RW> head around it.  I finally hooked a paralleled set of cans
 RW> up, set his mix up and told him to leave it alone from that
 RW> point on so we could finish the foundation tracks .

There's one in every bunch, Richard. 

Best regards,
Marc

--- timEd/2 1.10.y2k+
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