hardwired in ears question

[Leadfoot]

If anyone is using hardwired in ears, how are you interconnecting the hardware for a stereo feed to a headphone amp such as the behringer MA400.

I need to come out of the ADA8000 left and right XLR (stereo mix out) to some kind of stereo cable somehow, (I'd like to use a single XLR but not finding the right adapter cables to do that) then run to the personal monitor amp stereo TRS input. I'm not finding the right adapters or cables to make this happen.. I don't have time or desire to make my own really. How are others achieving this, if at all?

Thanks,
Tony

[Leadfoot]

Yeah but to get a stereo mix, you have to use two XLR's coming from the ADA's. What do you use (physically) to get from two XLR male out's on the back of the ADA's, to a single 1/4" stereo input on the MA400 is my question.

Thanks,
Tony

[905shmick]

Yeah but to get a stereo mix, you have to use two XLR's coming from the ADA's. What do you use (physically) to get from two XLR male out's on the back of the ADA's, to a single 1/4" stereo input on the MA400 is my question.

Thanks,
Tony

You'll need a Y cable that has 2 x XLR-F to 1 x 1/4 TRS.

You'll be sending an unbalanced, stereo signal down the cable to the headphone amp.

We do things slightly different, we have an 8 channel headphone amp in the same rack as the ADAs and then we use the the Jump Audio RXM packs to allow the performers to control their volume. This way we don't have to power a bunch of headphone amps on stage.

[Donnie Frank]

Yeah but to get a stereo mix, you have to use two XLR's coming from the ADA's. What do you use (physically) to get from two XLR male out's on the back of the ADA's, to a single 1/4" stereo input on the MA400 is my question.

Thanks,
Tony

A client of mine (drummer) used this same unit last night. If you run everything in his console straight up (no panning), then just send him the left or the right balanced signal down the audio snake to the Monitor TRS Input. That's what I did last night. You shouldn't need a Y splitter. Here's the show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaQiMZGRxJ4

Here's his IEM mix:

http://drummerdonnie.com/sound/SAC/L...sIEM_Set-1.mp3

The cowbell is a sample courtesy a Roland Sampler of some sort.

Concerning the guitar, I had initially forgotten to bring a mic stand for the guitar amp, so during sound check I just hung the mic in front of the speaker. Naturally for show time I brought a stand. The new position of the mic netted far more gain than during sound check, so I reset the gain structure and adjusted Matt's EIM mix a little bit, too. Being a drummer who's used IEM's myself for about a decade, I can usually nail an EIM mix for just about any artist via my headphones. My clients have come to trust me, as I occasionally audit IEM mixes during a set and communicate any changes I am about to make to them. This way a simple nod is all they have to do to communicate back to me.

Another thing I did was run a hard limit on his sampler. Some of the samples were much louder than others. So the hard limit kept Matt from getting blasted away by his sampler. He really appreciated that.

This is yet another instance where SAC really shines. F-Keys and Solo chase are a god-send. I can get to an artist's monitor mix and back to FOH in an instant. But I digress....

[wd5don]

We do the same thing as 905shmick does...the headphone amp is in the rack with the ADAs. Plain old 18-3 unshielded cable (left IEM, right IEM, common) is used to connect the outputs from the headphone amps to the stage jacks. The impedance is so low on this circuit that interference has never been an issue.

When I wired the rack, I found the easiest thing was to get some Hosa STP201 insert cables that already have the 1/4" TRS connector on one end. I cut off the 1/4" TS connectors on the other end and replaced them with female XLRs. Not the greatest cables by any means, but more than adequate for a fixed install. Splitting a 1/4" TRS connector by soldering two cables into it is a first class pain...which is why I purchased cables with this end already terminated.

YMMV...

[cgrafx]

I purchased a set of mini-body packs from a company out of germany.

Was actually cheaper and really a better wired solution than anything I could find here in the USA.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/fischer_amp...t_lsregler.htm

Didn't cost that much to ship. I think I paid about $65 per unit and then about $60 bucks to ship all five pieces.

This solution still requires a headphone amp. I purchased a Behringer 8-channal unit but haven't finished wiring up the connection plates yet.

just like everybody else said, the headphone amp goes in with the D/A converters and a single XLR cable is run to each headphone position.

[Leadfoot]

Thanks for the ideas guys.

So Donny, I guess that means a mono mix for the drummer correct. I was hoping to get stereo feeds so I could kinda put each instrument/vox in their own place.. maybe it doesn't much matter I don't know. Thanks for the insight on how you do it. I did just notice in testing, that when listeneing to my voice thru the monitor mix out in SAC with the system running at 2X64, it's slightly phasey cause of the latency. I might just use the mic input direct from our mics into the MA400 headphone amp, and the rest of the mix into the monitor input of the headphone amp. so much to consider, let alone the cabling of all this for everyone. But it should be fun.

Wd5don, good idea about the Hosa cables. I'm probably gonna use these xlrf to trsf barrel adapters I have that I forgot about. I just don't like the fact that they are rigid and kind of heavy for hanging off the back of the ADA's like that, but oh well. I'm surprised no one makes a dual XLRF to XLRM unbalanced L/R type adapter thingy.

Thanks again,
Tony

[905shmick]

I didn't see these pre-made with a 1/4" plug, but you could used a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter.

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/272646.html

[kylesoundman]

I am using a whirlwind PA-1 that is going to get modified to use one 6 pin xlr connector(balanced stereo) and then put the required connectors on the output panel of my SAC rig as well with a couple of 3pin xlr cables out of the ADA8k outs into the 6 pin xlr panel jack inside the rack, its quite simple to do.

Here is one of the connectors I will be using. http://www.redco.com/shopexd.asp?id=1299
This is the cable I will be using: http://www.redco.com/shopexd.asp?id=455
One of the jack panels I will be using: http://www.kvconnection.com/product-p/t-nc6md-l-1.htm
I am tired of burning up 2 to 4 xlr cables for one IEM mix...they will then be free to be used else where.I will probably just paint the 5 pin xlr cable connectors orange so it doesn't get mixed up with my other cabling.

[Sound Machine Inc]

I am using a whirlwind PA-1 that is going to get modified to use one 6 pin xlr connector(balanced stereo) and then put the required connectors on the output panel of my SAC rig as well with a couple of 3pin xlr cables out of the ADA8k outs into the 6 pin xlr panel jack inside the rack, its quite simple to do.

Here is one of the connectors I will be using. http://www.redco.com/shopexd.asp?id=1299
This is the cable I will be using: http://www.redco.com/shopexd.asp?id=455
One of the jack panels I will be using: http://www.kvconnection.com/product-p/t-nc6md-l-1.htm
I am tired of burning up 2 to 4 xlr cables for one IEM mix...they will then be free to be used else where.I will probably just paint the 5 pin xlr cable connectors orange so it doesn't get mixed up with my other cabling.

A better option for the route you are going is to use this plug
http://www.redco.com/shopexd.asp?id=1884
and replace the boot with
http://www.redco.com/shopexd.asp?id=245

that way it's a permanent color code.