Nord User Forum

TLDR: I see people recommending a FOH + me -type of solution, simply summing together and adjusting levels on a small mixer. Does that not introduce weird frequency reaponses (= bad sound) when the FOH is delayed compared to the split signal from my keys? Or is the effect just ultimately not that bad?

Long version:

I'm looking to overhaul my approach to monitoring on stage, and I think IEM (in-ear monitors) are the correct solution for me, as they are for many. I didn't want to create a new thread because this seems like the correct subject.

I've played in the same band for seven years. We've always handled the tech ourselves. We've played through the same digital mixer, with everything routed to the mixer, and everyone getting a personal auxiliary output channel, (be it mono or stereo, in-ears, or a monitor wedge). We've always had full control over the mix balance. So, straightforward. But now I'm going to move to a new city, and most likely going to join new groups, which means I won't be using the same tech. I can't rely on the same system at all.

The solution that first came to mind, or that so far has felt the most reasonable, is this:
1. Get a copy of the main mix
2. Split my stereo keys, and my vocal mic signal
3. Mix them on a small mixer like Yamaha MG06
4. IEMs

The reason I like this solution is that I know every band is going to have a stereo main mix. I just need to get a copy of that somehow (prob. wont be a problem). And my two keys channels and my one vocal channel, those are all under my control, as I can just split them from the signal I send to front of house.

Simple. But:
If I send my keys and my vocals to front of house, and then route it back to my personal mixer, most likely, especially if the front of house has any digital parts in the signal chain, that signal will be delayed. And so, that inevitably will lead to some phase cancellation issues. Especially if the signals happen to be the same amplitude, I'll literally not hear certain frequency bands. How is this not a huge problem?

PS any other solutions and ideas are appreciated as well

cgrafx wrote:Using a fron... ...in it and nothing else.

Yes. It is a compromised solution, but I'm looking for the most universal setup possible here. I know this would not get me even close to ideal results. But if the main mix does not have any guitar or bass in it, neither will a monitor mix (the bass is not run through the console). But as long as the FOH engineer is doing their job, all instruments and voices should be (A) loud enoigh without FOH reinforcement OR (B) fed to the FOH and thus the main mix, to make them louder. And me being on stage, I can naturally (more or less) hear everything that falls under "A", and the ones that fall under "B" are in the main mix.
(and the "more me" you mentioned later is more precisely what I meant. I never meant I would only be listening to the main mix as is... more on that below)

cgrafx wrote:You would be better off getting a monitor feed from the sound system / FOH / Monitor mixing board with the things you actually want to hear in your mix and running that to your IEM system.

Yes. Absolutely. And I will do this whenever possible. And whatever setup I choose, it will be able to do this as well. But sometimes a monitor feed might not be an option. I might not get my own mix, but still want to be able to hear myself and others on stage.

cgrafx wrote:Alternatively you could do a "more me" setup where you use a keyboard/Voc mixer which drives the FOH and also drives your In-ear mix and you can directly control how loud you are in the mix (Only add the additional channels you need into your mix from the Monitor/FOH mix - don't double add your keyboards/vocals)

Sure. A good option. But still requires a dedicated mix channel for my. One that has everything but my keys and vocals. So it does not solve the problem of not getting a personal AUX mix. Although this has one benefit as opposed to completely relying on an AUX feed: Here if I only get a mono AUX feed I can still hear my keyboard stereo.

cgrafx wrote:Don't worry about the latency from the FOH console it won't matter. Phase issues would only occur if you double send the feed which you don't have to do in either scenario. In the first your personal mix would be coming entirely from the Monitor/FOH console. In the 2nd scenario you would only receive mixer channels other than your voc and keys as those would come directly from your mixer.

All of this is true, but my main issue (maybe wasn't very clear in my first post) is when neither of these is available. When I can't get a personal AUX feed from the console. Granted, I might be overly concerned about an unlikely scenario here, but I want to be equipped for any scenario. If I can.

cphollis wrote:I use two small mixers when playing with bands other than my own.

Mixer One sends keys to FOH and Mixer Two. Mixer Two combines FOH and keys to drive my IEMs. One knob will give you "more me" without affecting performance volumes.

It's clunky, but it works. Strange that no one has made a dedicated product for this role.

All right, so you have something very close to what I'm looking at.

What exactly do you mean by the FOH signal? Is it a copy of the main mix or is it a custom mix?
If it is the main mix, are you getting problems with double feeding keys into your monitors? (one copy inside the main mix, and another directly from your splitting mixer)