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[SteveKanaris]

Hey all,

I have seen a few front of house set ups with a pair of studio monitors (or some kind of near-field) being used. I have only seen this in pictures, not in real-life application so I haven't been able to experience this kind of set up. Do any of you use this? How does it benefit? Are they just used as PFL listening sources or are they used to mix in some way? Would love to know more about this kind of set up.

Thanks!

Steve

[Frank DeWitt]

We had them.  we ONLY used them during practice They were connected to PFL and we used them so more then one person could hear  "What do you think of this?  Should I move that drum mic? ETC.  We never used them during the service for a number of reasons.  Others outside the booth might hear them. They might get left on causing the main level to be adjusted wrong.  They could interfere with hearing the real mix.

I have heard of them being setup with there own EQ to give the FOH the same sound that is on the floor.  If I had a FOH position that needed that, I think it would be a very strong argument for a mixer with a remote.

[DavidTurner]

I like to have them on the cue bus and aligned to FOH. I can  listen to an individual input without having to put on headphones and losing the ability to hear the PA or turn them up and compar the overall mix to what I am hearing where I sit.

Hey all,

I have seen a few front of house set ups with a pair of studio monitors (or some kind of near-field) being used. I have only seen this in pictures, not in real-life application so I haven't been able to experience this kind of set up. Do any of you use this? How does it benefit? Are they just used as PFL listening sources or are they used to mix in some way? Would love to know more about this kind of set up.

Thanks!

Steve

[Steve Milner]

I've done this a handful of times... typically on corporate type ballroom jobs, where FOH is buried WAY back 150-200' in the room (not by our choice) and we're using various zones to cover the whole room. I can obviously still hear the PA from where I'm sitting, but with speech programs, it's nice to be able to have my own monitors to see what's going on in a bit more detail.

You've absolutely got to delay them to the FOH system, and when you get it right, the results are pretty cool. I monitor pretty low with these setups, just bringing them up until you feel the sensation that you are physically moving closer to the main hangs. I bring them in to spot check mostly, I don't typically build my mix on them as you would in the studio... but rather use them as an addition to my headphones for normal FOH monitoring tasks. I typically do not PFL with near-field monitors... I go to the cans for that.

FYI- It can help quite a bit if you have a desk with TWO monitor sections (at least I prefer it) so I can have my PFL go to my headphones, and the program staying in the monitors. It's a pain in the butt to have to constantly remember to turn your monitors WAY down before you PFL a kick drum channel. The DiGiCo SD series make easy work of dual monitoring setups (I love being able to keep my money channel, or other important mix sends as the default mix in my headphones).

Everything about this is COMPLETELY personal preference... no real right or wrong as long as it gets you the results you're after.

[Mac Kerr]

You've absolutely got to delay them to the FOH system, and when you get it right, the results are pretty cool. I monitor pretty low with these setups, just bringing them up until you feel the sensation that you are physically moving closer to the main hangs. I bring them in to spot check mostly, I don't typically build my mix on them as you would in the studio... but rather use them as an addition to my headphones for normal FOH monitoring tasks. I typically do not PFL with near-field monitors... I go to the cans for that.

The results are cool for you, not so much for the people sitting 10' in front of you. Because they are timed to the PA, you have to run them louder than you think to hear them. For the people in front of you, who are closer to the PA, and farther from your monitors, they are an annoying second sound source from behind them. I tried that once, years ago, and stopped when I got complaints about the monitors that I could just barely perceive. I use them for PFL with no delay during rehearsals, and not at all during performances.

Mac

[Steve Milner]

The results are cool for you, not so much for the people sitting 10' in front of you. Because they are timed to the PA, you have to run them louder than you think to hear them. For the people in front of you, who are closer to the PA, and farther from your monitors, they are an annoying second sound source from behind them. I tried that once, years ago, and stopped when I got complaints about the monitors that I could just barely perceive. I use them for PFL with no delay during rehearsals, and not at all during performances.

Mac

 Thanks for the tip Mac. Like I said, I've only worked this way a handful of times, so I'll absolutely trust your experience and rethink doing this in the future.

 As I said, I bring them in to spot check and I don't feel like I've ever had them loud enough for the lighting guy or video guys next to me to even notice, let alone have them be heard 10' in the other direction. But it's great advice, I would have honestly never thought to go listen in that spot to see if there was a distraction created... so I'll be interested to go check that out the next time this comes up on a job.

 

[DavidTurner]

YMMV. never had a complaint.

[SteveKanaris]

Thanks for the great input everyone!

[Bob L. Wilson]

The results are cool for you, not so much for the people sitting 10' in front of you. Because they are timed to the PA, you have to run them louder than you think to hear them. For the people in front of you, who are closer to the PA, and farther from your monitors, they are an annoying second sound source from behind them. I tried that once, years ago, and stopped when I got complaints about the monitors that I could just barely perceive. I use them for PFL with no delay during rehearsals, and not at all during performances.

Mac

I can hear and be annoyed by my own headphones at FOH if I take them off and don't mute them. It all depends upon the levels in your sanctuary.

[g'bye, Dick Rees]

Thanks for the great input everyone!

I believe you have to have such a source approximately 10dB hotter than ambient to really distinguish it.  That'll definitely make a noticeable difference in the near surroundings.

[ProSoundWeb Community]