Mono Listen

[tourtelotParticipant]

A friend has a new SQ6. He ask me the other day how to set up a mono listen.

I was looking at my SQ6 today, watched one of Keith’s videos, and still can’t answer his question.

He’d like to find a way to listen in his control room to stereo speakers (easy) and then with a button-push, listen to his mix in mono, either mono’d to his stereo speakers, or to a mono speaker, stereo speakers muted.

I am pretty sure this can be done, but I cam’t seem to puzzle out how.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Doug

[Phil DriscollParticipant]

I did this by writing an application to fire some midi in to the desk. I waste 3 channels on the job, but it allows me to do dim, polarity reverse, mono L&R, mono L, mono R, cut L, cut R, mute, volume, balance and somewhat more sophisticated talkback than is built into the desk (more destinations, speakers dim when talkback button is pressed). The code is specific to a particular setup in my outside broadcast van. I suspect you could do a similar thing with a Bome box, without needing to write code.

If you route your monitor bus through some channels, you might also be able to do it by changing scenes, but you’d lose the benefit of scenes for other purposes.

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[tourtelotParticipant]

Thanks. I was hoping it wasn’t complicated. 🙂

Guess I can build a passive switching box from L/R Listen and Mono Listen to his powered monitors. Shouldn’t the ability to mono your mix be a part of every mixing console?

D.

[SQuserParticipant]

> He’d like to find a way to listen in his control room to stereo speakers … and then with a button-push, listen to his mix in mono … to a mono speaker, stereo speakers muted.

In his (2nd) variant with 3 speakers it would be possible to send his L/R to a stereo and a mono matrix as his outputs.
If he places the mute buttons of the both matrices next to each other (also Soft Controls), he can with one push (with 2 fingers) mute his mixes alternately.

[Phil DriscollParticipant]

Prior to sorting out my application, I was using a Glensound DK2/21 for monitor control and metering. https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co8355737/glensound-dk2-21-meter-unit-meter-unit
Far more versatile than any of the current commercially available monitor controllers. Mine was about £100 but I had to replace some electrolytic capacitors.

A passive switch box won’t be too complicated, but I find it hard to work without the full set of monitoring options my app, or the DK2/21 give me. I’ve been spoiled by very expensive desks at the BBC 🙂

[GeoffParticipant]

” Shouldn’t the ability to mono your mix be a part of every mixing console?”

You’d think so, but there have been plenty of broadcast consoles that didn’t include this feature. The first day we put a new Studer On Air 2000 to air, we had a problem with out of polarity audio (turned out to be a jackfield normalling error) that resulted in silence from the mono FM transmitter. The new Wheatstone consoles we installed at the new plant 10 years ago also didn’t include this feature, although with a user defined button and some clever programming, we were able to implement it. Of course operators have to actually use it.

For the Studer, I built this little box a few days later, and plunked it on the top of the console. STEREO is straight through on the two pairs of XLRs. MONO takes + from one channel and – from the other to create a mono sum at the differential input of the powered speaker.

Geoff

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[tourtelotParticipant]

Yep, your box was exactly like the one that I though of to do the trick. I like that you used a recycled box too. 🙂

D.

[GeoffParticipant]

OK, here’s an idea.

Configure MTX 3 to be MONO

Assign Main L and R as the only inputs to it, at 0dB gain.

Then assign a spare Soft Key to PAFL that matrix.

The downside is that it won’t work for stereo sources or buses (when PAFLing them), but at least it covers your Main mix, and you don’t actually have to burn a channel strip, just a Soft Key.

Geoff

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