Advice on IEMs

I'm currently looking at a headphone mixer, but unsure if this one will best suit my needs...

I want to basically unplug the 1/4" cord ( or Hosa Speakon to 1/4" adapter) going into the wedge monitor with the drummer's monitor mix from the board, plug it into the device, as well as have an input for a click track, and then plug my in-ears into the module.

I'm not sure if this one will allow it...

Would I use an XLR -> 1/4" adapter to plug my click in via Mic-In?

PM50s_Large.jpg

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/rolls-pm50s-personal-monitor-amp
 
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I'm currently looking at a headphone mixer, but unsure if this one will best suit my needs...

I want to basically unplug the 1/4" cord ( or Hosa Speakon to 1/4" adapter) going into the wedge monitor with the drummer's monitor mix from the board, plug it into the device, as well as have an input for a click track, and then plug my in-ears into the module.

I'm not sure if this one will allow it...

Would I use an XLR -> 1/4" adapter to plug my click in via Mic-In?

Short answer: No, this Rolls headphone amp does not allow you to take a 1/4" speaker cable and plug it straight in. The 1/4" input is labled "monitor input" but the manual shows it to be a line-level input, not a speaker-level input. If your sound man can send you the drummer's monitor mix directly (instead of sending it to the amplifier), then you can use this or any other small mixer with no problems (and the signal will probably be cleaner!).

I would still recommend the Rockbox, even though it is a little pricier, because you can use either line or speaker level inputs, and it has a limiter built into it that prevents a sudden loud signal from frying your eardrums. I would not play with In-Ears without using a limiter, period.

Long answer, just for educational purposes:

If the floor monitor is unpowered or "passive", then the signal going to the monitor is "speaker level" (i.e. already amplified) and it travels through a speaker cable with either a 1/4" jack or a Speakon jack on the end. Unless the device specifically states that it can accept a speaker level input, then you cannot just take the 1/4" speaker cable from the monitor and plug it into the headphone amp. It will fry the input on the amp. Just because a "signal" cable and a "speaker" cable both have 1/4" jacks DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU CAN MIX AND MATCH. You will fry something if you plug it into the wrong thing.

If the floor monitor is "powered" (meaning that it has its own amp built into the wedge), then the signal going to the monitor is going to be "line level" and is sent through a standard XLR cable (mic cable). This can be plugged into a headphone amp (XLR->1/4" adapter if necessary). Most floor monitors are not powered, they are passive.
 
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Does anyone wear these for the usual, run of the mill pub gig?

I'm tempted but I fear I'd feel a bit of a plonker wearing these in a pub gig.
 
Short answer: No, this Rolls headphone amp does not allow you to take a 1/4" speaker cable and plug it straight in. The 1/4" input is labled "monitor input" but the manual shows it to be a line-level input, not a speaker-level input. If your sound man can send you the drummer's monitor mix directly (instead of sending it to the amplifier), then you can use this or any other small mixer with no problems (and the signal will probably be cleaner!).

I would still recommend the Rockbox, even though it is a little pricier, because you can use either line or speaker level inputs, and it has a limiter built into it that prevents a sudden loud signal from frying your eardrums. I would not play with In-Ears without using a limiter, period.

Long answer, just for educational purposes:

If the floor monitor is unpowered or "passive", then the signal going to the monitor is "speaker level" (i.e. already amplified) and it travels through a speaker cable with either a 1/4" jack or a Speakon jack on the end. Unless the device specifically states that it can accept a speaker level input, then you cannot just take the 1/4" speaker cable from the monitor and plug it into the headphone amp. It will fry the input on the amp. Just because a "signal" cable and a "speaker" cable both have 1/4" jacks DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU CAN MIX AND MATCH. You will fry something if you plug it into the wrong thing.

If the floor monitor is "powered" (meaning that it has its own amp built into the wedge), then the signal going to the monitor is going to be "line level" and is sent through a standard XLR cable (mic cable). This can be plugged into a headphone amp (XLR->1/4" adapter if necessary). Most floor monitors are not powered, they are passive.

Gotcha... thanks for that info, I didn't know that.

Do you own a Rockbox? Where did you purchase it? I can't seem to find retailers online with it in stock.
 
Does anyone wear these for the usual, run of the mill pub gig?

I'm tempted but I fear I'd feel a bit of a plonker wearing these in a pub gig.

I do! I don't care what people think, I want to be able to hear what I'm doing as I do a lot of backing vox and sing lead on a few songs too. They fulfil the dual purpose of protecting my hearing too! I've been using inears constantly for 7 years now and would really struggle without them.
 
Can I just run the cable from the wedge into the Rockbox and a metronome for the click track and my IEMs all into it? Would I be able to control the volumes for all of those separately?

What are the big differences between the Rockbox and the Tasty Blender. Could someone please explain what the $50 difference is for? Is the Tasty Blender really worth it over the Rockbox?
 
Can I just run the cable from the wedge into the Rockbox and a metronome for the click track and my IEMs all into it? Would I be able to control the volumes for all of those separately?

What are the big differences between the Rockbox and the Tasty Blender. Could someone please explain what the $50 difference is for? Is the Tasty Blender really worth it over the Rockbox?

I believe for what you want to do, you'll need the Tasty Blender. Plug the monitor into the Line 1, plug your click into Line 2, and then you control both volumes separately with the respective volume knobs on the controller.

The Rockbox, from what I understand, just takes the monitor mix.
 
I believe for what you want to do, you'll need the Tasty Blender. Plug the monitor into the Line 1, plug your click into Line 2, and then you control both volumes separately with the respective volume knobs on the controller.

The Rockbox, from what I understand, just takes the monitor mix.

You can plug the monitor mix and the click into the regular Rockbox, but the volume on the click would have to be controlled from the click itself. The Tasty Blender does have individual volume controls for each channel, so that might be a better fit for what you are trying to do.
 
How do you do that with only one input, use a Y-connector or something?

Also where did you buy it? I can't find it in stock anywhere.

There is a 1/4" output wired in parallel with the 1/4" input, meant as a "pass-through" if you wanted to daisy chain multiple units together. The side effect of that is that both 1/4" jacks can be used as input jacks. Since the Rockbox isn't a mixer per se, just a headphone amp, there is only one volume control for the overall volume. If you want to make one signal louder or softer, you have to control that at the source (usually by turning down the click track, since that is the source that you control). The new Tasty Blender is a true mixer, and has both a master output volume as well as an input gain adjustment on each input channel.

I bought mine directly from the manufacturer at Rockonaudio.com.
 
There is a 1/4" output wired in parallel with the 1/4" input, meant as a "pass-through" if you wanted to daisy chain multiple units together. The side effect of that is that both 1/4" jacks can be used as input jacks. Since the Rockbox isn't a mixer per se, just a headphone amp, there is only one volume control for the overall volume. If you want to make one signal louder or softer, you have to control that at the source (usually by turning down the click track, since that is the source that you control). The new Tasty Blender is a true mixer, and has both a master output volume as well as an input gain adjustment on each input channel.

I bought mine directly from the manufacturer at Rockonaudio.com.

Just got your PM on how to wire up the click.... you rock! Thanks for the info, going to order one right now.
 
Ah ok thanks for the info!

So I assume your wiring goes something like this?

Monitor cable -> Rockbox Input
Click source -> Rockbox Output
Headphones -> Rockbox Headphone jack

Is that correct?

Yep, exactly. I just PM'ed you a more detailed list of what order to plug everything but this is the gist of it. The main thing to remember is to turn the headphone volume all the way down before plugging things in, and to bring it up slowly until it is comfortable.

The more I read about the new Tasty Blender (Rockbox 2.0) the more I like it. I will have to order one and play around with it, and keep the Rockbox as a backup unit.
 
Yep, exactly. I just PM'ed you a more detailed list of what order to plug everything but this is the gist of it. The main thing to remember is to turn the headphone volume all the way down before plugging things in, and to bring it up slowly until it is comfortable.

The more I read about the new Tasty Blender (Rockbox 2.0) the more I like it. I will have to order one and play around with it, and keep the Rockbox as a backup unit.

Perfect, thank you so much! I'm guessing the tasty blender is more of what I need.

Will I need nay special converters or cables or anything else besides the Tasty Blender? I don't know if I have to take the cable from the wedge and convert it so it fits inside of the tasty blender.
 
Yep, exactly. I just PM'ed you a more detailed list of what order to plug everything but this is the gist of it. The main thing to remember is to turn the headphone volume all the way down before plugging things in, and to bring it up slowly until it is comfortable.

The more I read about the new Tasty Blender (Rockbox 2.0) the more I like it. I will have to order one and play around with it, and keep the Rockbox as a backup unit.

Awesome, just ordered the Rockbox!

Do you happen to have a pic of your stage setup? How and where do you mount the module? Since it requires a plug, I assume you bring an extension cord just in case?
 
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Perfect, thank you so much! I'm guessing the tasty blender is more of what I need.

Will I need nay special converters or cables or anything else besides the Tasty Blender? I don't know if I have to take the cable from the wedge and convert it so it fits inside of the tasty blender.

I would (and do!) carry the following:
2 x Speakon to 1/4" adapters
2 x 2' XLR male to 1/4" TRS adapters
2 x XLR female to XLR female gender changers
I'm the "sound guy" for our band so I have a lot of this stuff on hand anyway, but I keep my personal monitoring gear separate so when we play venues/festivals that provide sound I have that gear on hand without bringing a truckload of gear.

It's always good to also keep some adapters and gender changers around anyway, since you never know what you might need to plug into. If you play at a gig where the sound guy uses 1/4" speaker cable, then you don't need any adapters. If you can get a line-level monitor send, that send might be XLR male or female, so having a little toolkit with your own adapters prevents you from having to ask the sound guy for them (and you will look more professional in front of the sound guys!). Make sure you label them clearly and get them back at the end of the night, and always keep 2 of everything on hand so if one cable goes bad you have a backup!
 
Awesome, just ordered the Rockbox!

Do you happen to have a pic of your stage setup? How and where do you mount the module? Since it requires a plug, I assume you bring an extension cord just in case?

Yeah, I carry a 20' extension cord and power strip just in case there isn't power right near my drums. I also power up a small fan with it. ;)

I either use a couple of velcro straps to attach it to my hi-hat stand (which makes it easy to reach down and adjust the volume if I need to), or put it on a case next to my floor tom, whichever works for that particular gig. I want to get one of those small accessory tables and mount that table on my hi-hat stand.
 
I would (and do!) carry the following:
2 x Speakon to 1/4" adapters
2 x 2' XLR male to 1/4" TRS adapters
2 x XLR female to XLR female gender changers
I'm the "sound guy" for our band so I have a lot of this stuff on hand anyway, but I keep my personal monitoring gear separate so when we play venues/festivals that provide sound I have that gear on hand without bringing a truckload of gear.

It's always good to also keep some adapters and gender changers around anyway, since you never know what you might need to plug into. If you play at a gig where the sound guy uses 1/4" speaker cable, then you don't need any adapters. If you can get a line-level monitor send, that send might be XLR male or female, so having a little toolkit with your own adapters prevents you from having to ask the sound guy for them (and you will look more professional in front of the sound guys!). Make sure you label them clearly and get them back at the end of the night, and always keep 2 of everything on hand so if one cable goes bad you have a backup!

Absolutely. I could not agree more with all of this post. Especially the gender adapters (No, Larry) - they can be an absolute lifesaver and I've been caught short on one occasion when a stagebox send channel went and we didn't have the adapter to switch the return around. A brilliant bit of advice that.

As for two cables? Absolutely. I make my own cables (unless I see a quality cable going in a bargain bin) and mine are all colour-coded with shrinkwrap. Red for right, white for left but I also have strips of velcro that can go around the cable to differentiate it from its neighbour.
 
I suggest that if you are going to use the click for more than a beginning of song reference that all members of the band have access to it and are tasked with being aware of it.

Anyone who has had the band start pulling away from the pulse of the song while you are trying to wrangle them into the click they cant hear know what I'm talking about.
 
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