9. Planning an In-Ear Rack
If your band wants not only the advantage of using in-ear monitoring but also full control over your own monitor mix, it's worth putting together your own in-ear rack.
Part of such a rack includes individual in-ear systems (wired or wireless), a mixer, and ideally a way to split input signals so musicians and the FOH (Front of House) technician can work completely independently.
With wireless systems, it's crucial to ensure that the transmitting antennas don’t interfere with each other. When using multiple radio systems simultaneously in one rack, combining the transmitting antennas via antenna combiners ensures higher reliability to prevent failures.
For the mixer, the choice often leans towards a digital rack mixer. Such consoles have the advantage of possessing many inputs and outputs in a compact space.
Moreover, they're remotely controllable. Each musician can create and fine-tune their own monitor mix using a smartphone. Some mixers even allow for connecting personal monitor mixers. With the ability to store all parameters, the monitor mix remains consistent everywhere.
The input signals should be split before processing in the monitor mixer so they can be tapped unprocessed by the on-site FOH technician. This is typically done using analogue signal splitters.
For each input, two outputs are available, one connected to the in-ear mixer, and the other output signal can be accessed by the on-site sound technician.
As a musician, you maintain the accustomed monitor sound in your ear, while the technician has complete freedom in shaping the room's mix. This saves stress and time during soundchecks and gigs.
The implementation possibilities for an in-ear rack are versatile. Our specialists in the PA department are more than happy to help with details when planning your own in-ear rack.
