Using Talkback On Desks

[Oliver S]

Hello,

 

Just a quick question,

 

Do any of you use the talkback function provided on some larger mixing consoles and if so what applications do you use it for (Theatre, Concerts) ??

 

Cheers

 

Ryan

 

DEFINETLY!!!

 

I also agree with the "gods voice" ....we usually use it to get peoples attention during practice or even to keep everything organized

[ryandell]

[sNIP] Turns out he cut the power EXCATLY on the minute he was booked until now remember this guy is a student and not booked or paid just doing it for his course! No warning nothing! [/sNIP]

Hmmm I hate people like that,

 

The 'god' Mic and Monitors sound a very good idea.

 

Cheers for this guys

 

Ryan

[Ben.]

as we all know its a pain in the ars* to try and wear 2 pairs of heaphones

It would, of course, rely on having a headset good enough for monitoring purposes!

 

 

 

im sure beyer make their dt100's with optional mic stuck on a stick

[J Pearce]

Yep, Beyer make stereo headsets with a mic boom on them. It wouldn't take much electronics to split the mic two ways (comms and talkback) and combine two headphone feeds (comms and pfl).

 

It's something I'll get round to if I do more FOH work.

[Biskit]

It wouldn't take much electronics to split the mic two ways (comms and talkback

 

On the face of it this is true, however as mentioned in other threads recently, comms systems are sometimes very picky with their mic inputs... things like long mic cables or impedance mismatch seem to easily send them oscillating. I haven't tried this, but experience with similar projects suggests it is not necessarily so easy!

 

On the other hand, it might be very easy... anyone want to be first to try it?

 

Ben.

[J Pearce]

A simple passive split might cause trouble, an electronic or transformer split should work ok, as long as the impedances are matched properly.

[ryandell]

Just to add,

 

Ive tried splitting just the commms before,

 

We wanted to split the feed backstage instead of sending it to the lighting and sound box without having to loop it and send it back down again, so we stuck an XLR splitter on the end of the feed before it went into the multicore to be sent to the box, but I take it when you split the power it doesnt like it very much.

 

Splitting the 2 signals sounds a good idea but the big question, Will it work ? :)

 

Cheers

 

Ryan

[NeilW]

I tend to just use a spare normal input channel as my talkback mic, it gives a bit more flexibility on where signals are sent to, and can also allow for a couple of other tricks. I mostly do live concert work, often with a seperate monitor desk, and having a shout system between the two engineers is always useful, as well as the ability for either engineer to talk to the on stage monitors.

 

A relatively easy way to do this requires 2 channels on the monitor board, which hopefully has direct outs on each channel, ideally switchable prefade. A switchable mic is connected to each channel, one locally for the monitor engineer, and one down a spare channel of the multicore from F.o.H. Then, a signal is taken out of the direct out on each channel and fed to the opposite position, ie: Monitor Mic direct our feeds FOH. This feed can then be connected to a small powered speaker at line level. With the direct out set to prefade, and all monitor sends post fade on these channels, there are a number of uses.

 

1) Monitor and Foh engineer can have a private conversation on shout speakers, by simply switching their mic on

2) Monitor Engineer can talk to stage by simply turning up the fader on his channel, sending the signal to the post fade auxes. FOH still hears monitor engineer in shout system

3) FOH Engineer can talk to stage if the monitor engineer pushes the FOH fader up, and the monitor guy still hears the FOH guy in his shout speaker.

 

This works really well for line checks, as all engineers can talk to stage, and also still hear each other in the shout speaker.

 

I hope that is of use to someone, it works really well on Midas Heritage desks, might need a bit of tweaking to make it work on other boards.

 

Neil

[ryandell]

1) Monitor and Foh engineer can have a private conversation on shout speakers, by simply switching their mic on

2) Monitor Engineer can talk to stage by simply turning up the fader on his channel, sending the signal to the post fade auxes. FOH still hears monitor engineer in shout system

3) FOH Engineer can talk to stage if the monitor engineer pushes the FOH fader up, and the monitor guy still hears the FOH guy in his shout speaker.

 

This works really well for line checks, as all engineers can talk to stage, and also still hear each other in the shout speaker.

 

Oh, this is brilliant, given me yet more ideas. The line check one is a very good idea. I can see how the shout system works as well. Very effective methods

 

Thanks for sharing this with us,

 

Ryan

[nothingatall666]

Hey,

 

I was looking at this topic and I would now like to 'pimp' up my sound desk by putting the intercom through it .

 

So heres a diagram, the starting line is from the 4pin 'Head-set' input

 

http://widget.slide.com/rdr/1/1/4/S/20000000e409149/1/279/qjqRxbMD0T-IY3fcXnat9SzG0Heceqba.jpg

 

 

Please don't be picky about the neatness, I drew it quickly.

 

 

would it work?

 

thanks

 

p.s the 1st y-lead is the tecpro YL916