I’ve seen the 15 minute video on youtube regarding control room and it has been useful. However I’m not entirely sure how to go about the physical connections at the back on my interface, and then on toward the performers headphone.
Example setup: I want to record together
Vocalist
Guitarist,
Bassist
Drummer (playing E-Drum kit triggering VST superior drummer kit).
The available inputs/outputs on my MR816 CSX are all 8 inputs and outputs 3-8.
So, I obviously plug in a mic into channel 1, line guitar pickup into 2, line lead into 3. The drummer is triggering Superior Drummer via the Roland E-Drums.
So my big question is, how do I assign the outputs in the control room setup? I ask because ideally I want each performer to have a stereo headphone mix. So to use the vocalists headphone mix as an example, do I take the outputs 3 & 4 and into a single stereo jack (female for the headphone connection to plug into), i.e. a ‘Y’ cable? Or am I way off?
I think I will be able to work out the routing of cue sends but the physical outs to headphones is the bit I’m not getting.
You can have up to 5 stereo mixes out of your MR816, 4 cues with monitoring. Assign outputs for your cue channels. If you want to use all 4 cue channels + monitor, one cue has to be assigned to a digital output. Go to Devices - Audio Hardware Setup and assign two of the cues to Phones 1 and 2. Make sure one of them is the digital output using cue (assuming you don’t actually want to use the digital output). Now you have two players covered with headphones. For the remaining two, buy a headphone amplifier or two adapters 2 mono → 1 stereo.
If you´re talking about line outs - You plug them into a Headphone amp. The headphone amp feeds the headphones. You don´t plug the phones directly into the line outs.
Thanks for these two replies. So I dodn’t realise I had to get a seperate heaphone amp.
Cant I just take a ‘Y’ twin mono jack cable out of the back of the interface, say channels 3&4 into a stereo mini jack female? And the singer plugs his headphones into that?
If I absolutely have to get a headphone amp, am I right in saying this would need to be one with four stereo inputs as well as outputs?
You can do that, you just won´t get a very loud signal
If you want 4 different mixes - yes
Yes
The controlroom does not negate the use of a headphone amp, just as it does not negate the need for a proper power amp for your speakers, or just like the mixer does not negate the need for a proper mic preamp on the input stage.
Al - the main ‘outs’ of most multi-output Audio Interfaces are of course line-level signals only; no power amp component on these. If they did, they’d have a physical volume control of some sort, to adjust individual output.
thinkingcap has your answers.!
Good luck; should end up with a nice, flexible system for you (and musicians) to work with. The Control Room will really come in to its own.
Thanks Bob. And yes thinkingcap I hear you loud and clear. Thank you for that informed reply I appreciate it.
It makes a lot of sense now. One last question. If there are only four cue mixes within cubase, how would I work around having an extra two musicians wanting to be part of a cue mix?
Good question actually.
I ahve always thought it odd that these interfaces - Fireface, Saffire Pro40, etc. have 1/4" mono jacks on the back. Why not XLR’s?
For that matter, if, as the designers claim the outputs are to used for headphones mixes or cue mixes, why not have four, five or six headphone outputs on the interface, with suitable software routing?
I suspect the manufacturers just copy each other without thinking too deeply about how people actually use the products.
Another one: Why do so many interfaces have just two Hi-Z inputs, and 8 line-level? Could it be that they have not envisaged the possibilty that a band night have three guitar-players or four? Five? How many bands have a vocalist, bass player and three synthesizers? Ha. [Yes I am sure there must be some. ]
No need for it really, was there - I had you down as an alright guy til that…
You’re actually expecting folk (other than the OP) to read and ingest the entire contents/detail of embedded links (especially any that you post…). The conceit is beyond me.
Test your equipment before purchasing a headphone amp if you don’t have any other use for it. At least my AKG K240 Studio phones could blow my ears away when connected to MR816’s regular outputs. You’ll probably do fine with just Y-adapters.
It’s too late unfortunately. I’ve purchased the behringer HA8000 based on info I got on this thread that suggested I would definately need one. It’s not the end of the world was only £97
Besides the HA400 will not do the job as there is only one stereo input ye? The HA8000 has 8 stereo ins.
I’ve used one of these before and if memory serves there are indeed 8 outputs with separate output volumes. But there are only two ins. So you would only be able to generate 2 distinct cue mixes fed to this device. Each output on the headphone amp is switchable between the A and B input. So if you were hoping for four individual headphone mixes this won’t do but it will of course allow volume control of the total mix level for each output.
And the one I used was really noisy, but can’t be absolutely sure that it wasn’t noise BEFORE the headphone amp.
This unit has 8 x stereo ins on the back which when operational, render the two stereo ins disabled. So this unit will in fact do all four separate cue mixes yes?
Ah ok … sorry that seems to have been a curve that I threw you … yes it indeed looks like you’re right … I don’t remember the unit I used having individual ins but indeed that looks like the case (sorry for any confusion/anxiety caused)
