In lieu of a dedicated A/B button, the engineer can get creative with DAW routing, or use a hardware or virtual monitor controller. Many small interfaces have four outputs on the back, but the means to utilise them varies. All that is needed then is a way to switch between them. While smaller studios might not have the same amount of space to accommodate extra speakers, many solutions out there will fall within budget allowing something with the quality and footprint to match their needs. Using extra monitor pairs in the control room is the well established setup that affords engineers a wider window on the mix. For the home studio artist, buying an interface with one of these unassuming mix controls waves goodbye to headphone headaches for very little cash. The good news here is that whether you’re working out of a world-class room on a ten foot monster console, or using a simple DAW/Input mix knob on a desktop interface, you are using the same method. The third solution is to use a hardware mixer for true zero-latency headphone mixing. While the often quoted feature of DSP-sourced headphone mixes is their ‘faster than air’ latency, perhaps the biggest bonus is the DAW-only workflow. The second, for those with the budget, are the DSP based solutions that still promise perhaps the most elegant way for artists to hear what they’re doing at the same time as they’re doing it. While many pro interfaces now can offer the kind of numbers that will avoid ‘that’ conversation with the artist about delayed headphones, at present those on smaller budgets with slower machines will realistically need another way. The faster these two factors are, the lower the amount of distracting delay is introduced to headphone mixes. The first is to create headphone mixes in the DAW, and to rely on the speed of the computer and the interface’s driver. Whether you are working out of a domestic space, or from a large multi-room facility, all studios currently have three choices when it comes to getting cue mixes to the artist. This needn’t be the preserve of just the big studios, and with the right gear even the small studio owner can ditch the mouse and get hands-on with their monitoring.
Pro engineers are used to gear that makes it fast and simple to control speakers and headphones.
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