Monitoring at -10 or +4?

[AlSmith]

I've been switching between my nearfields (which are balanced +4) and my ghetto blaster (which is -10). 0 db on my Mackie mixer is closer to +4 than -10, so every time I switch to my ghetto blaster, I have to turn the master fader down, or start turning individual channels down (especially the kick drum and the bass). I'd like to be able to switch quickly between them without changing the levels. I guess I could run an unbalanced cable out to my monitors, so this would make everything unbalanced. I think this will solve the problem (?).

[I'm Painting Again]

http://www.ebtechaudio.com/lls-2des.html

this might help..

though couldnt you just adjust the volume on the ghetto blaster to where its about as loud as the speakers with the fader where you want it to be? Also doesnt the mackie have a +4/-10 switch on the outs?

[AlSmith]

Adjusting the volume of the ghetto blaster doesn't do it, because the signal coming from the mixer overloads the inputs, and the bass causes some pretty serious distortion regardless of how loud the volume is. The Mackie doesn't have a -10/+4 switch. Maybe I'll try switching my audio interface outputs to -10, and then going connecting an unbalanced cable to my monitors (does it matter?), so I'll at least be monitoring everything at a consistent level (-10), even though all my inputs are still at +4.

[I'm Painting Again]

Set it up ideally for your best monitor chain and compromise with the boombox..does your mackie not have a tape output? i think they all do..an unbalanced rca output..

[andyg666]

just using an unbalanced cable doesn't automatically make your signal level -10dBu or +4dBm. usually, a +4 signal is sent over a balanced cable and a -10 using unbalanced. but you need a bump box to convert the signal level in this case. gaines makes them, rolls, etc. there are many. some in the $100 price range.

[AlSmith]

I've been using the tape outs, but I don't think Mackie calibrated it with the meters, so I'm still getting a really high output. I'm pretty much all set up for +4, so I hate to start switching just to listen to my crappy boombox, although, as much as I hate to say it, it's telling me things my nearfields aren't (event 20/20 bas). Maybe I need some new nearfields.

[I'm Painting Again]

another solution would be to put a volume control between the mackie and boombox..i guess

[AlSmith]

That'll just give me a different version of the problem I already have. It's kind of lame that mackie linked the "tape out" to the master fader, and didn't calibrate it to -10. If I put a volume pot between the mixer and the box, I'd have to decrease the gain in the pot, and then increase the gain in the boom box, so I can hear it okay, which will give me a bunch of noise. I looked at that "Big Knob" thing Mackie makes, and it has -10/+4 switches on the line outs, but I hate to spend another 350 dollars. I wonder if Radio Shack makes something for cheap.

another solution would be to put a volume control between the mackie and boombox..i guess

[I'm Painting Again]

if you have +4 coming out of the tape outs you could just get the ebtech bump box i linked to above to cut it down the ~12db you need..I'm not sure how much those ebtech transformers effect the sound though..supposedly they are made to be transparent..its ~ 100$..(two channel version)..or you could build one if you are handy like that..

[JamesHE]

which mackie mixer do you have? you should be able to set up two different outputs with different signal levels. i.e. tape outs controlled my mains volume fader feeding the ghetto blaster, and controlroom out with it's own fader controlling the monitors.

[AlSmith]

I have a 1604 (bought it in '97 brand new). Maybe I'll wind up using that ebtech thing, or shelling out a bunch of cash for that big knob -- because I'd like to be able to hook up multiple stereos in different rooms at different levels at the same time, and the Mackie just wasn't designed to do that. Anyway, thanks for the help.