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[kristianjohnsen]

I'd say 4 monitor mixes is the most common that I see because most smaller- to medium-sized boards stop at 6 Aux sends (and everyone needs their FX, don't they ).  Once boards start to have 8 or more Aux sends, you tend to get into FOH and MON worlds being separate anyway.  And once that's the case, most smaller groups either travel with their own engineer, monitor mixer, or aren't a "small" group anymore.

Whether I'm mixing monitors from FOH or there's a separate MON world, I try to keep the total number of mixes to a minimum.  At the "lounge" level, most people don't have a clue what they want/need in their mix anyway and "getting it j-u-s-t right" eats up the group's time for soundcheck, er…the first song.

Here at least, Soundcraft MH3 (with 12 auxes) is a very common desk in nicer clubs.  Very rare to see a monitor split in those clubs, though.

[Jordan Wolf]

Here at least, Soundcraft MH3 (with 12 auxes) is a very common desk in nicer clubs.

I'd take that any day over the "mixers" I've gotten in the past...

[Robert Piascik]

My mixers are: Midas Venice 320, A&H GL2800, MixWiz 16:2, Mackie 24-4VLZ so everyone gets FOUR mixes from FOH. When more are needed we run a monitor board

[Dave Dermont]

Hi guys,

I feel pretty bad making another thread within 48 hours but something's been tugging at me and the search function isn't helping me much. I was wondering how many monitor mixes/foldback sends/call them whatever you want - you guys tend to run?

The reason why I ask is I've been looking for a new desk with at least 20, preferably 24 mono XLR inputs and was considering the Midas Venice 32 due to the ability of the Firewire recording. Now before you all yell and scream saying get a digital console, the desk is purely for bands in small to medium venues where changes have to be made rapidly and I just generally feel more comfortable on an analog desk.

The problem I'm seeing is that the Venice only has 4 aux sends and 2 monitor sends. Once you have taken 2 channels for FX you are only left with 4 aux sends for wedges. I regularly use 3 sends on an A&H MixWiz and have just recently run lighting on a band (whom I normally run sound for) where they were running 5 sends for a 5 piece.

I'm beginning to think that I may have to expand my budget slightly and fork out for something like a Verona 320, APB Pro8, or a Soundcraft MH2.

Thoughts? How many on average do you use?

Since nobody has brought it up yet, the auxes on the Midas can be switched to Pre Fader, so you can use them as monitor sends if you like.

I think four mixes from FOH is as much as anyone would expect at this level.

I am a fan of the "sidefill style" downstage vocal monitors, especially if there is a roving lead singer with a wireless mic. This technique makes it so they can hear just about anywhere on stage, and they usually like that.

You could put both of the fills on the same mix. A wedge Downstage Center, and a Drum Mix would make three. This leaves an aux open for a "utility" monitor mix for stuff like ampless keyboard players, sax players, and even horn sections.

I suggest taking a look at the Soundcraft GB4. It's got eight auxes, and I imagine it's in the same ballpark as the Midas as far as cost. No Firewire thingy on the Soundcraft though.

[Timothy J. Trace]

Normally 3x wedge mixes and 2x stereo ears.

I've driven as many as 4x wedge mixes and 3x stereo ears from FOH, but it sucked most of the fun out of the gig for me.

[Jay Barracato]

Since nobody has brought it up yet, the auxes on the Midas can be switched to Pre Fader, so you can use them as monitor sends if you like.

I think four mixes from FOH is as much as anyone would expect at this level.

I am a fan of the "sidefill style" downstage vocal monitors, especially if there is a roving lead singer with a wireless mic. This technique makes it so they can hear just about anywhere on stage, and they usually like that.

You could put both of the fills on the same mix. A wedge Downstage Center, and a Drum Mix would make three. This leaves an aux open for a "utility" monitor mix for stuff like ampless keyboard players, sax players, and even horn sections.

I suggest taking a look at the Soundcraft GB4. It's got eight auxes, and I imagine it's in the same ballpark as the Midas as far as cost. No Firewire thingy on the Soundcraft though.

I think the answer is:

As many as needed dictated by the number of musicians and the size of the stage, modified by the equipment available.

At some bluegrass festivals, it is not uncommon to have 6 wedges and 2 sidefills run from FOH.

[kristianjohnsen]

My mixers are: Midas Venice 320, A&H GL2800, MixWiz 16:2, Mackie 24-4VLZ so everyone gets FOUR mixes from FOH. When more are needed we run a monitor board

Seems a hard sell to get the client to spring for a splitter snake and a second mixer+outboard as well as a second tech, when all they really need is a slightly bigger FOH mixer...

[Matt Vivlamore]

I run 4 separate wedge mixes on my bar gigs/small gigs, and it has worked very well for the 4-5 piece band.

The wedding band I work with uses 9 mono mixes for 10 people (4-wireless IEM, 4-wedges & 1-wired IEM mix).

[Chris Chambers]

Thanks for the replies guys, I'm thinking any more than 6 sends (2 FX) and I'll just run another board. I'm also strongly beginning to rethink getting a Midas desk in general after they were brought out by Behringer :S The deal stated that Behringer couldn't change the designs for 1 year but I think thats over now.

[Travis_Valois]

I'm using an old Yamaha MC2404 II board. It has two pre and two post auxes, so I'm stuck with two monitor mixes from FOH, leaving the other two auxes for effects.

[ProSoundWeb Community]