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There are two basic concepts (mixer channels 1-16 or 16 flex mixes 1-16), how to use the EarMix 16M, but there are many more ways and concepts to expand the usability of the personal mixer(s). Especially when you are dealing with two and more personal mixers, it needs some good ideas to make musicians happy. In this thread I want to share some concepts for concerts and I start with a setup for a Worship Service on Easter Monday (in Germany we have two celebration days on Easter):

01 OVERHEAD LEFT
02 OVERHEAD RIGHT
03 TOM LOW
04 TOM MID
05 TOM HIGH
06 SNARE
07 KICK
08 BASS
09 GUITAR E+A
10 PIANO LEFT
11 PIANO RIGHT
12 VOC 1
13 VOC 2
14 VOC 3
15 VOC 4
16 MIX

It's by chance that there are only 15 inputs channels needed for the music, so I can use the 1:1 patching and make all individual channels available on the two 16Ms, used by the drummer and the bass player. But there are more microphones involved: one at the piano (prophylactic) and one for the speech. And there is talkback from FOH. For this and whatever might come on Easter Monday I will use Aux 16 and send this mix to channel 16 of the EarMixers. The AVB sends in use are 1-8 and 9-16. Aux 16 is routed to AVB send 16 (the AVB send of input channel 16 is deactivated to prevent conflicts).

The photo shows the new place for the 16Ms in a flight case. This system is "expandable"... ;-)

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by adamfoldes on Thu Apr 18, 2019 4:30 am
I just got mine, so right now I’m trying to figure out what would be the best way to implement it into my home studio setup (and eventually live gear). I had no plans buying it, it came as a “gift” from PreSonus (2 thumbs up guys :thumbup: :thumbup: ) so I haven’t spent time thinking about it’s place in my setup and to be honest I was already super happy with the SL32/32R combo and using aux for monitoring.
However I see the potential in this little box so I will start using it.

What is clear for me already that I will have to use a different setup for in-studio use and on the road - at least as a starting point.
In my studio I have 19 channels coming from my drums only, so using the inputs one-to-one is obviously not an option... :D
On the road though I use an electric drumkit and the total number of inputs are 22 or so, still more than 16, so again I will have to send aux mixes to the EarMix... but it’s fine.
How exactly I will lay everything out, I have no idea yet, probably it will evolve in the next couple of weeks... ;)
So probably I’ll be back with more...

SL32III | SL32R | E16M | Apollo8 | Genelec 8040 | Mac mini | Studio One 4 | AIR15 | Mackie Thump12
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by SwitchBack on Thu Apr 18, 2019 5:46 am
A very effective concept is subgrouping on the network’s mixer. By stereo grouping drums, brass and (backing) vocals (where available) it’s making life easier for all:
- only one mix to manage on the mixer
- FOH subgrouping is a good idea anyway
- all 16Ms get access to these main mix subgroups
- it leaves most of the second bank of AVB streams to the 16Ms for user specific inputs

So on a 16M it could look like this:
1&2 = drums (stereo subgroup)
3&4 = guitar (stereo inputs from pedalboard)
5&6 = keys (stereo inputs)
7&8 = brass (stereo subgroup)
9&10 = backing vocals (stereo subgroup)
11 = bass (mono input)
12-16 = custom (lead vocal, your own voice/instrument...)

Nice trick:
Since the submixes will be stereo panned for the audience they would be reverse panned for the band. By swapping left and right when patching the AVB sends on the mixer that’s easily fixed.

PS. As a drummer it’s best to get your own stereo aux mix from the console, controlling it remotely through UC Surface. Full control yet only using 2 AVB channels :)
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by wahlerstudios on Fri Apr 19, 2019 1:21 pm
The basic "problem" of In Ear Monitoring is that it's totally unnatural. Would you, under rnormal circumstances, listen to the electric guitar right in front of a crazy loud speaker box or would you move your ear next to a snare or inside a kick drum? No, you wouldn't - but this is what you hear in all In Ear systems. What is missing, is distance and "room", which can melt the sound together.

There are a few simple tricks, which can improve the hearing situation of musicians: check, what brings "room" to the mix and add it to the sound!

1) Ambience microphones are always a good idea. Place them left and right next to the PA (reverse the signals), pointing to the audience. This will not only make the audience audible, but will also add "space" to what the musicians hear.

2) Use the drums' two (!) overhead microphones as ambience mics. If you have the chance to listen to a live recording and mute everything except the two overhead microphones, you will be surprised how much they capture from the stage AND the room! The result will always depend on the location's acoustics, but very often adding enough of the overhead microphones to the In Ear sound makes the musicians feel well and inspires their playing and singing.

3) Use panning on everything. The EarMix 16M allows you to pan mono signals and to make the panning of stereo signals closer or broader. Use this feature! If a musician or singer is standing "left" on stage, why should he not be heard "left" in In Ear? This creates room and makes listenting more pleasant. "Mono" is NO OPTION for In Ear monitoring, because the brain is slow to filter centered sound events. Panning makes it easier to identify important sound events.

4) Choir and vocal microphones also capture a lot of the live feeling. You don't need reverb on drums if there are 6 choir microphones on stage...

When you think about how to use your EarMix(ers), consider the elements of your setup, which will "naturally" add room to the sound. Do NOT use gates in In Ear Monitoring. What you should look for is balance, continuity and "space".
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by roblof on Fri Apr 19, 2019 4:36 pm
As a musician myself - People are very picky when it comes to iem mixes.

I for once would not like to hear all the drums in my mix. I usually settle for snare, hihat and ride. I barely want to hear the rythm guitar. With floor wedges I don’t get similary distracted...

Having access to only 16 sources can be a severe limitation in bigger constalations or complicated setups with lots of channel demanding instruments and singers. Subgroups may sound like it is an easy solution, but depending on the band this could become a big issue.

Since I am running wirelessly this causes some logistical problems as well.

I am only used to the behringer 16ch personal mixer with 16 fixed streams routed from the mixer, shared among the pm’s. With the presonus alternative, can each pm access 16 different streams if the users wanted to or are they similary locked into a fixed set of 16 streams?

Studio One Pro v5, Notion 6, Nuendo 11, BitWig v3, Reaper v4, Ableton Live 8 Suite, iMac late 2015, Behringer Wing/x32-BigBoy/x32-rack all with Dante/aes67 and s16/sd16 stageboxes, Flow8, Waves x-wsg with SoundGrid server, Behringer X-Touch, X-Touch ONE, M-Air mr18, X-Air xr18, DP48, Hub4 and p16 monitor systems, TurboSound iQ-speakers, Motör 61, BCR-2000, FirePod 10, Apogee Ensemble, Alesis HD24, NI Komplete 12 Ultimate Collectors, Halion 6, True Temperament Frets on basses and guitars, Katana-100, DT-50, JSX, JCM800, Korg Kronos, Roland vk-7, Behringer Deepmind 12, Behringer Neutron
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by wahlerstudios on Fri Apr 19, 2019 5:42 pm
Just yesterday PreSonus has released a series of five videos about a VERY complex setup of EarMixers. This is nothing for beginners, but if you understand (also acoustically) what is explained, you get an idea how flexible the system is.

The videos are entitled

01 - Setup APPROVAL
02 - Naming & Assigning AVB APPROVAL
03 - Setting up AUX Mixes APPROVAL
04 - Individual Earmix Routing APPROVAL
05 - Setting Up Each Earmix APPROVAL

and can be found here: https://www.presonus.com/videos/player.

Basically, the EarMix deals with two banks of 8 signals, which can consist of input channels, auxes, subgroups, matrixes and main mix - in any combination and order. You just need to route the signals to the 8 banks. Multiple routing is also possible. If you want the guitar of input 5 (example) to be separately available in several banks, just route it ADDITIONALLY to AVB sends 10, 20, 25, 35, 40 and 55...

The AVB sends can be

1-8
9-16
17-24
25-32
33-40
41-48
49-56
57-64

For any EarMixer you can individually select two banks of AVB sends. One can receive 1-8 and 9-16, the other 25-32 and 57-64 and a third one 17-24 and 49-56. And so on. "None" is also an option as selection, which means that one half of the EarMixer's inputs is not used,
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by roblof on Fri Apr 19, 2019 6:23 pm
That is nice. One need to carefully plan the routing, but still nice...

This is an option that I miss with the behringer ultranet alternative. Only way around it is to create ‘universes’ and you can only have up to 3 of them. The earmixer appears to be a bit more flexible.

wahlerstudios wroteFor any EarMixer you can individually select two banks of AVB sends. One can receive 1-8 and 9-16, the other 25-32 and 57-64 and a third one 17-24 and 49-56. And so on. "None" is also an option as selection, which means that one half of the EarMixer's inputs is not used,

Studio One Pro v5, Notion 6, Nuendo 11, BitWig v3, Reaper v4, Ableton Live 8 Suite, iMac late 2015, Behringer Wing/x32-BigBoy/x32-rack all with Dante/aes67 and s16/sd16 stageboxes, Flow8, Waves x-wsg with SoundGrid server, Behringer X-Touch, X-Touch ONE, M-Air mr18, X-Air xr18, DP48, Hub4 and p16 monitor systems, TurboSound iQ-speakers, Motör 61, BCR-2000, FirePod 10, Apogee Ensemble, Alesis HD24, NI Komplete 12 Ultimate Collectors, Halion 6, True Temperament Frets on basses and guitars, Katana-100, DT-50, JSX, JCM800, Korg Kronos, Roland vk-7, Behringer Deepmind 12, Behringer Neutron
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by wahlerstudios on Wed Apr 24, 2019 7:21 am
The EarMix 16M is equiped with a pwerful headphone amplifier and can be used stand-alone, it doesn't need any network connection. You can feed anything to the "Aux Input" (1/8-inch stereo line input): music, playback, aux mixes, sub mixes, main mix, soloed signals, in ear mixes, instruments... - and listen to it via headphones or IEM.

Volume is controlled by the the 16M's level controls "Aux Input" and "Phones". The two balanced 1/4-inch TRS line outputs allow you to send the stereo mix to active speakers/monitors in a studio or on stage. The third level control is for "Line Out". Headphones and Line Outs can be used simultaneously and controlled separately.

There is no processing (EQ, Limiter) available, all you get is some input and output options, which can be problem solvers in some situations. You don't need a separate headphone amplifier if you have got a 16M!

;-)

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by wahlerstudios on Wed Apr 24, 2019 9:12 am
The view from the backside. The point is to use the 16M WITHOUT any network connection as a stand-alone audio controller.

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by roblof on Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:41 pm
Can/should it be possible to connect earmix directly to a mac as a 16ch monitor station using avb, with no studiolive involved?

Studio One Pro v5, Notion 6, Nuendo 11, BitWig v3, Reaper v4, Ableton Live 8 Suite, iMac late 2015, Behringer Wing/x32-BigBoy/x32-rack all with Dante/aes67 and s16/sd16 stageboxes, Flow8, Waves x-wsg with SoundGrid server, Behringer X-Touch, X-Touch ONE, M-Air mr18, X-Air xr18, DP48, Hub4 and p16 monitor systems, TurboSound iQ-speakers, Motör 61, BCR-2000, FirePod 10, Apogee Ensemble, Alesis HD24, NI Komplete 12 Ultimate Collectors, Halion 6, True Temperament Frets on basses and guitars, Katana-100, DT-50, JSX, JCM800, Korg Kronos, Roland vk-7, Behringer Deepmind 12, Behringer Neutron
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by wahlerstudios on Wed Apr 24, 2019 1:11 pm
StudioLive_Series_III_AVB_Networking_Guide_17082018, section 4.1.3 Setting Up Your Mac
"When a StudioLive mixer is configured as an AVB audio interface for your Mac using Core Audio, MacOS will acquire the AVB device,..."
"Once your computer has successfully connected to your StudioLive Series III mixer, your mixer will appear in Audio MIDI Setup as an available audio device that you can use with any software that supports Core Audio (Studio One, Pro Tools, Logic, etc.)."


Section 2.7.4 Clocking a PreSonus AVB Network
"Because the EarMix 16M is a listener only, it defaults to clocking from the incoming audio streams.As soon as you route an AVB Send to your EarMix 16M, it will sync to the master mixer."

I don't think the EarMix can function as interface for a Mac. But nice idea...!
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by wahlerstudios on Wed Apr 24, 2019 2:45 pm
Did you know that the EarMix 16M in stand-alone mode is a wonderful headphone amplifier for keyobards? I was never satiesfied with the volume of the built-in headphone amp of my Nord keyboard and I never liked the idea to always need to set up a mixer. The 16M has surprised me as being a powerful and prisitine sounding headphone amplifer, which is easy to set up. Just connect the keyboard with the Aux Input of your 16M and start enjoying your rmusic!

There are many ways to use the EarMixers... ;-)

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by roblof on Wed Apr 24, 2019 2:53 pm
In that case I must recommend to you the TC-Helicon ‘Blender’. It is the size of a cd.

Ear-blasting levels and you can connect up to 6 stereo keyz. It acts as a 12ch (6 stereo) usb recording interface with a 2ch return as well when connected to a computer.

wahlerstudios wroteDid you know that the EarMix 16M in stand-alone mode is a wonderful headphone amplifier for keyobards? I was never satiesfied with the volume of the built-in headphone amp of my Nord keyboard and I never liked the idea to always need to set up a mixer. The 16M has surprised me as being a powerful and prisitine sounding headphone amplifer, which is easy to set up. Just connect the keyboard with the Aux Input of your 16M and start enjoying you rmusic!

There are many ways to use the EarMixers... ;-)

Studio One Pro v5, Notion 6, Nuendo 11, BitWig v3, Reaper v4, Ableton Live 8 Suite, iMac late 2015, Behringer Wing/x32-BigBoy/x32-rack all with Dante/aes67 and s16/sd16 stageboxes, Flow8, Waves x-wsg with SoundGrid server, Behringer X-Touch, X-Touch ONE, M-Air mr18, X-Air xr18, DP48, Hub4 and p16 monitor systems, TurboSound iQ-speakers, Motör 61, BCR-2000, FirePod 10, Apogee Ensemble, Alesis HD24, NI Komplete 12 Ultimate Collectors, Halion 6, True Temperament Frets on basses and guitars, Katana-100, DT-50, JSX, JCM800, Korg Kronos, Roland vk-7, Behringer Deepmind 12, Behringer Neutron
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by wahlerstudios on Fri Apr 26, 2019 8:16 am
After the successful routing of input channels to the EarMixers, more or less immediately the question arises of how do add effeccts. In this post in "Answers" (https://answers.presonus.com/39307/effe ... earmix-16m) was a brief description of how to send one FX return to the EarMix (based on the selection AVB sends 1-8 and 9-16):

* Setup Mix 16 to have just FX sent to it
* Go to Digital Patching, AVB Sends and set AVB 16 as Mix 16
* This now means that button 16 on the EarMix will just be FX that can be dialed in to taste

As an alternative you can also use one "fixed" subgroup (not avaliable on a StudioLive 64S). Do not forget to unroute FX return or subgroup from your Main Mix.

Does reverb or delay sound good mono in your ears? I don't think so. Effects need stereo, therefore you will lhave to sacrifice two input channels of your EarMix and two linked flex mixes or subgroups. This reduces the amount of input channels down to 14, which may not fit any longer to your setup.

What to do? Flex mixes and fixed subgroups can contain more than just 1 effect. You can send reverb AND delay there, additonal audio signals (CD, playback, click etc.) and your talkback microphone and whatever can be transported via a bus, what this basically is. You are adding a COMPLETE MIX, not just reverb or delay, and that makes it worth to sacrifice two inputs of your EarMix!

The perfect solution would be to use a matrix mix to feed EarMix input channels 15+16, because this makes all flex mixes, the main mix, all individual input channels and the four FX returns available. Mix 15+16 could become something like the basic mix (including effects), which everybody listens to. The remaining 14 input channels can be added not only "to taste", but following the specific needs of the musicians using the EarMixers.
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by bpierce on Fri Apr 26, 2019 9:02 am
I had the idea yesterday of using it as a cue station for a monitor mixer setup. If you are using a Rack Mixer for stage inputs and monitor mixer, control the mixer portion with UC on an iPad like normal. Send up to 16 Aux mixes to individual channels of the EarMix. Select channels on the EarMix and press Solo to send them to headphones or a powered speaker for monitor mixing.
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by SwitchBack on Fri Apr 26, 2019 11:11 am
Sharing FX returns between different mixes isn’t great at best. Most of the time FX processors receive a mix of inputs to work their magic on. Using such an FX return in an ear mix that hasn’t got all of those inputs in the right proportions too will still have the FX parts of those inputs. Can be really awful.

The only situation where it could work well is when the processor is used on a singe voice or instrument, and then use it only if you got that voice or instrument in your ear mix too.

The other option, having an FX processor all to yourself, begs a different approach: get your personal pair of aux outputs too and only use those channels on your EarMix to dial in your personal ear mix using QMix-UC or UC Surface.
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by wahlerstudios on Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:49 pm
I forgot to mention that in the scenario I described, it is needed to dedicate one FX (reverb) exclusively for in ear monitoring AND to select Pre1 or (better) Pre2 instead of Postfade. It is possible to "share" one reverb, but it needs a clear picture of what you want to acchieve musically / how you want to design the musicians' "workplace". I'll come back to this some time later. Reverb/room/space for in ear is a very, very interesting theme... ;-)
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by wahlerstudios on Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:50 pm
It's a pity that the EarNixers do not have scribble strips, but I can understand that it's difficult or impossible to add inscriptions to network signals. So, how can you prevent using tape and pen and hand-written labels? As you may have seen in the pcitures above, I am using a chart, which I created in Open Office and which is printed via a office laser printer. The paper strip is fixed via two pieces of transparent tape to the EarMixer.

I enclose a PDF file, you can find a Word 95 file in the next post. The first four charts are examples, the following four are blank labels, which you can change and fill as you need.

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by wahlerstudios on Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:51 pm
If you want to inscribe your own labels, this is the file you need (Word 95 file):

Added July 7, 2019:
It might be that the Word 95 file can not be opened correctly. Therefore I'd like to add the original Open Office file and a file in the Word 95/2000/XP format.

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Last edited by wahlerstudios on Sun Jul 07, 2019 11:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by wahlerstudios on Sat Apr 27, 2019 5:37 pm
Did you know that the 16M is a perfect companion for your Series III console or rack mixer? Many users have no idea that the 16M has a built-in AVB switch. The switch does not pass PoE (Power over Ethernet), but it receives it. All you need to do is to run a CAT5e/CAT6 cable from your SW5E AVB switch on stage to a 16M ("AVB In") at FOH and connect "AVB Thru" with your mixer ("Audio Network"). This makes the 16M a nice little helper:

1) Now you can SEE the levels your are sending from the mixer to the AVB network and correct gain levels, if needed. The 16Ms show overload (red LED) more often and faster than your console does, so adding a 16M to FOH gives you a visual control about levels in your network.

2) The 16M at FOH makes audio control possible over everything that users of EarMixers can hear. As you can select any AVB send (all banks) for the FOH 16M, you can LISTEN at FOH to what the EarMix users hear on stage. Not their mix, but the signals they receive.

3) The headphone output of the StudioLive mixers are not at all silent, but sometimes you could need some more power. Why not use the 16M for this? All you need is an audio connection between the headphone out (mixer) and Aux In (16M). Now the level knobs "Aux Input" and "Phones" of the 16M add what you have always been looking for...

4) Using the Line Outputs of the 16M makes the system even more flexible. The 16M can ACTIVELY MIX audio signals from the mixer and AVB streams. This is also a way to feed delay lines from FOH, if you don't have enough physical outputs available on your mixer.

In the photo the 16M functions as level controller for AVB streams (all feeds going to the EarMixers on stage) and I send audio signals "Solo" and "Main" via my SL16's headphone output and Aux In and Line Out of the 16M to feed the Alesis iO dock running Smaart. I can also feed Smaart with the AVB streams of the 16M only and separate from the mixer.

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