Click these photos to enlarge -
Much as I love my Edirol R-44 recorder, its monitoring facilities do not provide for creating a properly balanced and panned stereo image during recording. Monitoring balance is provided during playback, but still without individual panning of the four channels. I understand that comprehensive monitoring is not provided on other multichannel recorders either - left-centre-right is often all that is available.
This can be a problem when recording, say, four singers on four mics standing side by side. You'd want the first singer panned hard left, the second half-way left, the third half-way right, and the last singer panned hard right. On the R-44 the best you could do would be to have singers 1 and 3 hard left and singers 2 and 4 hard right. A more likely scenario is recording a piano quintet, where I'd usually have a stereo pair plus piano focus spot mic - that mic needs to be heard at a lower level and panned somewhat to the right, but if connected to channel three of the R-44 it can only be monitored at full level on the extreme left.
While monitoring might not be important if just acquiring audio unofficially, I'm normally recording classical concerts for later FM broadcast and might be working with a producer (who would want to hear a reasonable impression of how the finished recording will sound), and often after a rehearsal the performers will want to hear how it's sounding on the recording. Presenting a lopsided unbalanced playback is not an option.
With these considerations in mind I approached Jon at Naiant with a functional specification for a four channel monitor mixer, specifically to partner the R-44 but useful with any other four channel recorder. After some good discussion about the implementation of the spec, I commissioned him to construct the mixer and I am happy to report that I am very pleased with the finished unit.
The unit has the following inputs and outputs:-
Four line inputs on RCA connectors, taking the individual channel outputs from the R-44.
Stereo input on miniature headphone connector, taking the output from the R-44 headphone socket
External power input
Two headphone output sockets
Left and right line-out on RCA
Controls are as follows:-
Individual level and pan controls for each of the four input channels
Individual output level controls for each of the two headphone sockets
Output level control for the line out socket
Switch to flip headphone monitoring between the four channel inputs and the R-44 headphone output
Press button on/off control (with LED indicator)
The R-44 headphone level control can be pressed to cycle monitoring through all channels in stereo, first pair, second pair, all in mono, and individual in mono, and the provision of a link from the R-44 headphone output to the monitor mixer enables these facilities to be used without having to physically swap the headphones from one device to another. In the photos above, the R-44 headphone level control is shown turned well down - at this position, it gives the same level as the line outputs when monitored in the monitor mixer. If you want to listen at very high level, for instance to check for noise before a performance, you can turn up the R-44 headphone output, so what you hear is double amplification from the R-44 headphone output and the monitor mixer headphone output - very loud!
The purpose of the line output from the monitor mixer is to allow the connection of amplified loudspeakers if desired, or (as shown in the photo) connection of a backup stereo recorder, recording the mix set on the monitor mixer's level and pan controls. The output level control assists when using something like the H2 which does not have input level control on the line-in socket. If desired, the output from the backup recorder can be monitored using the headphone-in connection on the monitor mixer, instead of connecting the R-44 headphone output.
I use a backup recorder from lifelong habit, but that facility can also be used to connect the performers' own recorder - it's not uncommon for them to request something to take home right away.
Power to the unit is provided by an internal 9 volt battery under an easily opened cover. External power is also possible. I connected my intelligent battery pack to test this, but the power consumption is so low that the battery pack could not detect the drain and shut itself down! This indicates that an internal battery should last many hours, but I'll make up a power splitter lead from the battery pack so that it can power the R-44 and the monitor mixer from the same pack, and that drain will be registered by the pack to keep it turned on.
Headphone output power appears to be exactly the same as the headphone output power of the R-44 itself, when the individual channel level controls on the monitor mixer are full up. I cannot hear any difference in sound quality between the monitor mixer headphone output and the R-44 headphone output.
In my initial discussions with Jon at Naiant he suggested using a conventional mixer layout with the controls on top of a sloping case, but my preference was front mounted controls to allow the R-44 to sit on top of the monitor mixer. The R-44 hangs over the back of the monitor mixer case by about n inch and I am going to add some aluminium strip extenders to provide support, together with some rubber feet for grip.
Build quality seems very good, with the controls having a firm feel, and the plastic case is lightweight but robust-feeling.
I am sure Jon would be happy to discuss pricing for the unit with prospective purchasers over in the Retail Space forum at
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,107750.0.html - I imagine that variations on the design would be possible if my concept doesn't exactly suit others. Note that I am simply a Naiant customer and have no financial interest in any further sales of this device.
Topic: Naiant Monitor Mixer for Four Channel Recorders - Review (Read 3336 times)