Headphone Limiter/Compressor (maybe with decibel gauge?)

[Mighty Motif Max]

Hi everyone,

 

Tornado warning here so this is going to be quick.

 

Does anyone here use something to limit not only spikes but to keep a fairly consistent level that doesn't go above, say 85db(a) in their headphones/in-ear monitors when performing on stage? Have had several incidents lately with ending up turning up too loud in phones and then having spikes from things like cymbals and an electrical issue.

 

Ideally it would be adjustable, and if possible, have some way for me to know what level is going into my ears.

 

I've thought about maybe buying a rack case and a compressor module and bringing that with me.

 

Ideas?

[Sven Golly]

Given that the output level is a factor of the in-ear pack, there's really no way to accurately monitor for a specific dBa level.

 

Many of the better IEM systems have built-in limiting.

 

You can also set up a limiter on the bus that's sending to the IEM, depending on what mixer you're using. One of the benefits of digital mixing technology.

 

Of course, you don't provide any information about what you're currently using, so this is just so much potentially wasted speculation.

[Mighty Motif Max]

Ok. More details now that we don't have to worry about the TORNADO (btw it touched down not far away).

 

 

Here's the situation: A church that I've been playing at has started trying to switch our band over to headphones and/or IEMs as we've had some issues with stage volume etc. As a result there's not much fancy stuff going on. What I have (I'm the only one switching right now) is: a pair of AKG K240 semi-open-back headphones (I wanted to be able to hear the ambience a bit still and we don't have a way to do ambience mics - a small church here with horrible acoustics, making do). A monitor line is run from a Soundcraft SI Expression mixer (our sound board) but instead of going to a monitor there's an adapter that converts the xlr to 1/8" for my headphones. I have an iPad running the VISI Listen app, which lets me control the mix in my monitor/headphones (everyone has their own mix). Our sound tech has the monitors as post-fader because he wants any changes he makes out front to reflect in the monitors (feedback etc), so he says. So when he changes a level out front it changes in our monitors, which means that my volume can creep up without me touching anything.

 

So, there is no IEM pack, no limiter, no physical monitor mixer. Just a monitor line with a headphone adapter and a post-fader iPad monitor mix.

 

[Tom Williams]

See if you can get your IEM through one of the Aux mixes. According to the Soundcraft website:

 

All Si Expression consoles have busses, output processing and connectivity to match the versatility of the inputs; the 14 aux/group mixes can be configured as 14 mono mixes, 8 mono plus 6 stereo mixes or almost anything in between, whilst the 4 matrix mixes can be mono or stereo as needed. Each bus mix features a compressor, 4 band EQ, BSS graphic EQ and delay always available all of the time.

(Emphasis mine)