newbie question - headphone mixes

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to figure out how to setup the monitoring section of the little
home studio I'm trying to build. I'd like to be able to record from 8
sources (for now) simultaneously and provide independent headphone mixes for
the musicians. I only own part of the gear below, for now I'm just trying to
understand what else I need to buy. This is what the signal chain would be
like:

mics and instruments --> preamps (those are probably going to be RME unless
I find something used that's nicer) --> analog to ADAT converter (that's a
Swissonic AD24) --> PC via RME HDSP 9652 (recording software is Nuendo
1.53) --> ADAT to analog converter (probably Behringer ADA8000) -->
headphone amp (???)

I would use an external effects unit as well as an external compressor (only
one of each for starters) for the musicians mixes.

I would use the Totalmix feature
(http://www.rme-audio.com/english/techinfo/hdsp_tmsoft.htm) of the HDSP 9652
to route different submixes to the individual physical outs. These outputs
would then be converted to analog and sent to the headphone amp.

The problem is that I don't know how I should include effects and
compression with the headphone mixes. What kind of headphone amp should I
get and how should I connect it to the fx unit and the compressor?

Thanks

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

"Arny Krueger" wrote

> If you want zero latency multitrack monitoring (and everybody does!), the
> best way to do that can often be to do the monitoring before the signals
get
> tangled up with the computer interface.

Hi Arny, thanks for your response. I never thought about doing the
monitoring before the PC, although it's still not clear to me how that would
work (with a patch bay maybe?).
I think the RME HDSP 9652 is a very fast card (1.5 ms latency according to
it's specs, almost zero) that can handle a lot more than 8 or even 16
simultaneous channels. Anyway, I think that if I wanted *zero* latency
monitoring, the RME card would let me send the input signals directly to the
outs with no delay.

> I question the advisability of putting compression and EFX into the
> monitoring environment. I think musicans work best if they hear their work
> as clear and unvarnished as possible.

I agree with you Arny, I'm thinking that maybe some of the people I would
work with(mostly musicians I play with and friends) would want me to change
a little bit what they hear in the headphones, maybe they would like a
little reverb or maybe some musicians are not used to the possibly increased
dynamic range because usually when they perform with the band things sound
kind of "compressed", maybe a singer won't hear the other instruments when
she/he sings louder (I don't know if I'm saying something stupid here +
forgive me for my English).

Thanks again