A Personal Monitoring System gives each musician the ability to make changes to their own mix.
A Personal Monitoring System gives each musician the ability to make changes to what they hear on stage, whether that's through floor wedges, headphones, or a wireless in-ear system. This is popular in House of Worship applications, for example, where there might be a large band but no dedicated monitor engineer.
Several hardware solutions exist that provide a small mixer for each musician. These devices usually only allow the system to work with 8 or 16 channels, and require expensive hubs and a lot of cabling. It typically costs $1,000 or more per mix to implement, and that doesn't include in-ear transmitters or wedges.
You can use AirFader Server to build a Personal Monitoring System that gives each performer access to ANY channel. With Android tablets available for under $200, you can add Personal Monitor capabilities for much less than a hardware solution.
To create a Personal Monitoring System, you need:
- AirFader Server Edition
- Microsoft Windows-compatible computer (either a tablet, laptop, or desktop is fine)
- Compatible Digital Mixer (such as a Yamaha LS9 or M7CL)
- WiFi-capable network router
For EACH musician, you also need:
- Android phone/tablet or iPad
- Microphone stand tablet mount (optional)
- A monitor, such as:
- Powered floor wedge (QSC K12, JBL EON, etc.)
- Passive (non-powered) floor wedge and power amplifier
- Headphone amp (similar to Rolls PM50S, Behringer MA400-MICROMON, or ART HeadAmp6PRO) and headphones/earbuds
- Any in-ear monitor system (transmitter and belt-pack receiver) and earbuds
Because AirFader controls the console itself, it already works with your existing monitor system - whether you have floor wedges, headphone amps, wireless in-ears, or any combination. Just add a Windows computer with AirFader Server, and one Android device for each musician. If you're starting from scratch, you're not limited to a specific technology. Use what you can afford and whatever meets your needs, and build up your system as you go!
For each musician, simply create a "user" and password for them in AirFader Server setup, and give them access to the MIX that controls their monitor. Then install AirFader Mobile (Free) on their Android device, and set up their AirFader Mobile to point to your server and the user/password you created for them.
Mixing with AirFader can even be a "collaborative" effort. The FOH/Monitor engineer can still pull up any monitor mix at the console and either rough-in their mix in advance, or quickly fix a problem, without having to go on stage. This can be done from the console in Sends-on-Faders mode, or a tablet with AirFader Mobile that has "master" access to all mixes. You also get the ability to apply limiters or compressors at the console to help prevent musicians from causing damage to monitors (or ears!)