My wife has an echo mia soundcard with balanced (line level) outputs
which are connected to a pair of KRKs. As the KRKs are placed pretty
near some CRTs, unbalanced input is no option.

We'd like to be able to switch between the KRKs and headphones without
plugging around cables. We do have a little mixer (a Behringer UB1204)
but it doesn't have balanced I/O; we do have a bigger console with
balanced I/O but it is in use most of the time so we're looking for a
dedicated solution.

I've looked around for a solution in consumer-land, but most
salespeople I run into seem clueless about what a balanced signal is.

As always, we're on a pretty tight budget. What would be your solution
to switch between monitors and headphone in a situation like this? I
can handle a soldering iron/etch prints if needed.

Thanks in advance,
Marc

wrote in message
ups.com...
My wife has an echo mia soundcard with balanced (line level) outputs
which are connected to a pair of KRKs. As the KRKs are placed pretty
near some CRTs, unbalanced input is no option.

We'd like to be able to switch between the KRKs and headphones without
plugging around cables. We do have a little mixer (a Behringer UB1204)
but it doesn't have balanced I/O; we do have a bigger console with
balanced I/O but it is in use most of the time so we're looking for a
dedicated solution.

I've looked around for a solution in consumer-land, but most
salespeople I run into seem clueless about what a balanced signal is.

As always, we're on a pretty tight budget. What would be your solution
to switch between monitors and headphone in a situation like this? I
can handle a soldering iron/etch prints if needed.

Thanks in advance,
Marc

If I understand your desires correctly, I'd buy or build a switch box that
directs the output of the Mia to either the monitors or to a headphone
amplifier. A single four-pole/double-throw bat-handle switch could do it.
There are many headphone amps to choose from @ about $100 and up. The
headphone amps typically have unbalanced inputs, but that shouldn't be a
problem. Keep the amp away from the CRTs.

Steve King

wrote:
My wife has an echo mia soundcard with balanced (line level) outputs
which are connected to a pair of KRKs. As the KRKs are placed pretty
near some CRTs, unbalanced input is no option.

We'd like to be able to switch between the KRKs and headphones without
plugging around cables. We do have a little mixer (a Behringer UB1204)
but it doesn't have balanced I/O; we do have a bigger console with
balanced I/O but it is in use most of the time so we're looking for a
dedicated solution.

I've looked around for a solution in consumer-land, but most
salespeople I run into seem clueless about what a balanced signal is.

As always, we're on a pretty tight budget. What would be your solution
to switch between monitors and headphone in a situation like this? I
can handle a soldering iron/etch prints if needed.

Thanks in advance,
Marc

Well the Mackie "Big Knob" is dedicated for just such purposes,
it's sort of an upgrade of the monitoring section of the Mackie HUI
that was left out of the Mackie "Control"'s. It will also provide
talkback to headphones, will let you choose between different pairs of
monitors if you get more in the future and will even let you monitor
one thing on your speakers while you feed something else to the
headphone outs. As you only have a Mia they may be overkill or out of
your price zone, but they will continue to be useful if you upgrade
your studio setup/interfaces in the future.

http://www.americanmusical.com/item-...ACBIGKNOB.html

Or you could sell the Behringer mixer and get a used Mackie 1402.
That would provide your headphone outs and balanced monitor outputs
on 1/4" TRS jacks, and you'd get a few micpres and a quality upgrade as
well.

Will Miho
NY Music and TV/Audio Post Guy
"The large print giveth and the small print taketh away..." Tom Waits

wrote:
My wife has an echo mia soundcard with balanced (line level) outputs
which are connected to a pair of KRKs. As the KRKs are placed pretty
near some CRTs, unbalanced input is no option.

We'd like to be able to switch between the KRKs and headphones without
plugging around cables.

Two questions:

First, are the KRK speakers powered? I'd guess so since you're talking
about balanced and unbalanced inputs. Second, do you have a headphone
amplifier?

We do have a little mixer (a Behringer UB1204)
but it doesn't have balanced I/O

That's no problem (and, in fact, the main outputs and line inputs on
that model are indeed balanced). The mixer has a built-in headphone
amplifier, and there isn't a lot to sound bad between the line input
and main output. I'll bet that if you get creative with your mixer, you
can do what you want fairly easily.

If it were me, I'd buy a switch and some connectors and put them in a
nice metal box. With the money you save by not buying a dedicated
commercial monitor switch, you could buy a drill press to make nice,
neat holes in a box. That's "thinking outside the box" for sure.

You might consider the Sound Devices HX-3 headphone amp. It has
balanced inputs and outputs and three independent headphone outputs is
beautifully made and can run on batteries if you need it to. It's not
cheap though - but it will probably last forever. I have a quick
review of it with some pics on www.themagicofradio.com.

ta

Al

wrote in message
ups.com...

We do have a little mixer (a Behringer UB1204)
but it doesn't have balanced I/O

That seemed odd, so I checked the manual. It says the two main outputs are
balanced; the Aux sends aren't and control room outputs aren't balanced,
though. The 4 mike inputs and 8 line inputs ae balanced.

Could you connect the speakers to the Behringers main outputs?

Tim

Mike,

Yes, the KRKs are powered. As for the model of the mixer I goofed up,
it's actually a 1202, which indeed has balanced inputs but all outputs
are unbalanced.

Possibly I'll put together the little metal box and build a small
headphone amp in there, leaving the little mixer out of the equation
altogether. No fancy electronics are required to pass the signal to the
monitors.

Thanks,
Marc