Personal monitor mix systems are one of the more misunderstood, and therefore perhaps undersold, categories of gear in the music production space.
They come in many shapes and sizes, but all seek to solve the same problem: Usually, everyone in a band hears themselves as being too quiet and others as too loud. Anyone who has ever gotten into volume wars in their weekend cover band has experienced this, but it can plague any gig where all the musicians are plugged into the same PA system and have to rely on whatever monitor sends it offers.
Some bands can specify a dedicated monitor console and engineer. For the rest of us, personal monitor mix systems (PMMs) are the solution. They let each musician reach for a knob to control how much of his or her own signal he or she hears, while also letting them hear more or less of everyone else (either separately or as an overall mix), all while affecting neither other musicians’ monitor mixes nor the main mix of signals being fed to the main mixer.
In short, they’re the peacemakers in the volume wars. They give each singer and player “more me” and “less them” without flagging down a house sound engineer. This results in better musical performances, which is one of the main things you should be telling your customers about them.
Some PMMs are one-box products; others are modular multi-component systems that can be scaled as large as the musical application requires, with personal mixing stations and central audio routing hardware connected via garden-variety computer Ethernet cables.
“Me”-Boxes
Single-product solutions come in two flavors: Those that let one musician control the volume of his or her own signal versus an overall background mix, and those that allow small groups to gig or rehearse together with each bandmate hearing exactly what he or she wants. Think of these as “me-boxes” and “us-boxes,” respectively. Let’s cover the me-boxes first, as they’re the simplest.
ART MyMonitor
The original MyMonitor from ART is as simple as the PMM concept gets. It lets a vocalist hear him- or herself (via an XLR input) plus a stereo-capable line-level source (via a 1/4” TRS monitor input) through headphones, but pass only the microphone input to the main mix via an XLR “Mic Thru” output. One use is to sing along to a favorite song piped in from an iPhone or CD player while recording or amplifying only your vocal. A more likely real-world use is if you’re not hearing enough of yourself onstage. Connect your mic to the XLR input. Connect the Mic Thru jack to your input channel on the main mixer or stage snake. Grab a monitor aux send from your gig’s main mixer into the 1/4” monitor input. (If the ambient sound onstage is loud enough, you could skip the monitor input.) Now, you can use the knobs to blend yourself over the rest of it in your headphones, sending only yourself to the main mix that the audience hears—the desired result.
Note that the MyMonitor expects to be connected to a microphone input on the main mixer. It doesn’t have as much gain as a stand-alone mic preamp, so that as well as phantom power for condenser mics has to come from the main mixer by way of the Mic Thru jack. On the other hand, there’s no need to restrict the MyMonitor to vocals. One could point the mic at an amp, acoustic guitar, sax, et cetera, or use a 1/4”-to-XLR cable for a synth or digital stage piano.
ART MyMonitor II
The MyMonitor II adds a bit more by letting you blend an incoming stereo feed plus two “me” signals – one XLR mic as above and one 1/4” line or instrument (e.g. guitar) signal – in your headphones, sending only your mic and instrument signals to the main mixer via separate Thru outputs. So it’s ideal for a singer-songwriter who self-accompanies on guitar or stage piano, but who also has a band member or three who plays loudly. It also has both 1/4” and 1/8” headphone outs, so no worries if you’ve lost that pesky adaptor.
Rolls PM351
The PM351 is much like the MyMonitor II, but like most Rolls gear, comes off as a bit more “industrial.” That said, it has added flexibility. It can be switched based on whether the monitor mix is mono (as with your typical pre-fader aux send) or stereo (as with backing tracks or many modern mixers’ subgroups). Likewise for the instrument input: An easy-to-set jumper toggles it for mono input from a guitar pedalboard or stereo from a synth or drum machine. In the latter case, dual XLR outs are on hand to pass the “me” signals to the main mix – and it offers a ground lift like on direct boxes, to kill annoying hum from possible ground loops. All this adds up to a somewhat more professional package that can be readily patched in using the most common cables bands and clubs are likely to have around. In this product category, it is indeed the Rolls.
Why Not a Compact Mixer?
“All these things are sort of like a mini-mixer meets a direct box,” your customer may observe, “so why not just use a mini-mixer for your stuff?” Good question. A compact mixer from the likes of Mackie or Yamaha could do a similar job, using aux sends for the personal mix and the main outputs for front-of-house. For, say, a multi-keyboardist who needs more inputs, this indeed makes more sense. But for less tech-enthused customers, here are the main benefits of the me-boxes to call out.
- Simplicity: You get all the control you need and none that you don’t. There aren’t a lot of knobs to reach for, so there’s virtually no chance of grabbing the wrong one.
- Portability: These things are tiny enough to disappear into a messenger bag, and except for the Rolls, can be battery-powered.
- Affordability: Street price for all of the above is well under $100.
“Us”-Boxes
The products we’ve looked at so far are best for individual musicians trying to hear and play better in a loud, live-sound environment where bandmates and venue sound personnel may be less than attentive. What we’ll call “us-boxes” focus on more cooperative experiences – jamming, rehearsing, recording, and sometimes gigging together – in which all musicians in the group plug into the same product.
JamHub’s own marketing focus began with the idea of quiet rehearsal through headphones, so the band doesn’t incur the wrath of neighbors and landlords. But their products are absolutely full-fledged PPMs in that they let from four to seven musicians (depending on model) each control their own monitor mixes, and some recent models have sprouted sophisticated main mixing and even multitrack recording features.
What they all have in common is that bandmates pick a “pie slice” input section on the semicircular unit. Each section features mic plus line/instrument inputs, overall headphone level, trim controls for incoming gain, and the main attraction: Knobs for the level of everyone plugged in, dedicated solely to what that section’s occupant hears. Some models add stereo recording to an inserted SD card or via USB. The brand new and top-of-range JamHub Stage also has a main fader section that sends an independent stereo mix to your PA via XLR outs, making it a complete live sound, um, hub for small gigs where the band has to run its own monitor and main mixes. If there’s a front-of-house engineer, the Stage can pass 14 analog channels to the main mix using an optional breakout cable, and these are unaffected by any other mix volume control on the unit It can also pass those 14 channels to a computer over USB for multitrack recording. The sell? Hear yourself, make yourself sound great to the audience, and if you want, record yourself, all using one product. Also, even the entry-level BedRoom model ($300) has integrated effects.
In situations where not everyone can reach the JamHub (e.g. drummers and keyboardists), one or more SoleMix Remote units can duplicate the controls and inputs of a “pie slice” section and connect to the mothership by a single cable. (Some models include one or two remotes; most can take up to four.) Just try any of this with a conventional compact mixer!
Roland HS-5
The HS-5 Session Mixer is quite similar to the JamHubs in design and philosophy, allowing up to five people to rehearse through headphones, hear exactly what they want, and output a main mix that’s of course independent of the monitor mixes. Recording can be done to a thumb drive in stereo, or exported as separate tracks to a computer DAW. Roland’s highly regarded COSM and vocal effects are on hand, and there’s even a ground screw for turntables in case one of the participants is an old-school DJ.
Final Notes
All of these products use headphone jacks as the only outputs for the personal mixes. But some musicians prefer to monitor through a powered floor wedge, which will have line-level inputs for which the headphone-amped signal can be too hot. So back off on the headphone volume and the wedge’s gain control and you won’t blow any speakers or eardrums. Also, avoid running a stereo headphone out into a balanced mono in such as an XLR jack, as stereo phase cancellation can create volume reduction and other sonic issues that make the customer go, “It’s broken!” If this can’t be avoided, use a cable that’s TS (not TRS) on the headphone-jack end. You’’ll only get one side of the stereo picture, but this is preferable to phase cancellation weirdness.
In very brief summary, you can think of what we’ve called “me-boxes” as marketed towards single musicians who want to control their hearing situation in whatever band they find themselves, and “us-boxes” as marketed to the whole band.
Got more complex monitoring needs than we’ve covered here? Come back next month, when we’ll cover the multi-piece, networkable systems from Aviom, Behringer, Digital Audio Labs, HEAR, Movek, and more!
