ME-1 Alternatives

[AlrodParticipant]

I love the specs and looks of the ME-1 Personal Monitor Mixer but I cannot bring myself to pay the current asking price for it. For me it amounts to more than 1/3 of the price of what I paid for the QU-16. You can get a Zed 16FX mixer for about the price of a ME-1! Something is very wrong with that picture.

Does anyone have hands on experience with the several less expensive alternatives that are on the market? Better yet, are there any ME-1 group buys or discounts given to members of this forum? I would prefer the ME-1, but again, It’s awfully expensive for what you are getting (IMHO).

[[XAP]BobParticipant]

The only one I am aware of for less money is the Berry system – although that would require a 16 Channel input device, and would be limited to the outputs you can spare on the QU.

IIRC the Stageboxes are also Aviom compatible.

If you want to look at what I consider to be the next level up look at the Roland M48s – their biggest advantage is that they can be controlled from the console – or mirrored to another M48 sat by the monitor station. That means the mucisians can get help with the mix.

My solution is to use QuYou apps, and a decent headphone amp (would be really nice if the stagebox had selectable (physically or electronically) headphone amp to power IEMs directly – but it’s alot of hardware for a rare use case (although maybe the first 4 could have them?)

The cost is minimal, most musicians have an android/iOS device available, and they each get a mix to control, and you can intervene as well. That option is ONLY offered to musicians with IEMs.

[AlrodParticipant]

Thanks! I would be using IEM’s (UE Reference Monitor). I will look into your suggestions. Any decent headphone amp suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I would also be interested to hear more about the IOS/IEM solution. What does that set up look like?

[[XAP]BobParticipant]

Have you got the QU?

Plug it into a network and grab QuYou on an iPhone/android device (free app)

They can control the Mix outputs, so you just push those outputs to your headphone amp and bingo.

(It’s easier to see than to explain)

[AlrodParticipant]

I won’t have the unit until later this week (according to FedEx). I have downloaded both the Qu-Pad and QU-You apps. They are impressive. It’s a shame the QU-You app doesn’t pass audio. How cool would that be to simply plug your IEM’s into you iPhone!

[[XAP]BobParticipant]

The issue would be the latency.

My “small” setup is a QU16, with a quad channel headphone amp, and a 4 channel mixer (one musician uses a stereo IEM, so we use this as a headphone amp – the diddy Yamaha desks are exceptionally good value for this).

We also run three wedges (IIRC one of the headphone amp channels is empty normally)…

So:
Drums/Bass/Guitar get a wedge each off Mix1-3, and I control those from the iPad (desk stays on stage)
3*Vocalists get mono IEMs that they can control, although they get help from me (much less now as their mixes stay basically constant between venues)
1*Keyboard(and Guitar) player gets Mix9/10 via a Yamaha desk

These last four all have QuYou apps available. In general I don’t need to do anything for them any more (except the lead vocalist who can get a bit lost – normally because he wants everything louder, so I tend keep an eye on his mix for clipping, and make subtle adjustments as needed)

Normally I run the show from an iPad (or two) and I also have IEMs, a UHF pack which I plug into the AltOut and feed with PAFL.

[HawkParticipant]

QuYou + Powerplay P1

[DavidCoParticipant]

I’ll just remind everyone that the ME-1 is a 40 channel mixer in its own right, not just a simple D/A converter and headphone amp 🙂

DC

[[XAP]BobParticipant]

It is, but for most places that is somewhat overkill…

[DavidCoParticipant]

And for the lower price point, Qu-You is provided free of charge. As you mentioned previously, it inherently comes with the caveat that it does not pass or process audio itself.

DC

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