if you were to use a seperate Headphone Amp for the talent
you could inject a mic-to-line amp into the aux and with a simple mute switch you would have a talkback

on my DIY Factory site you can find a single rack stereo, duck style talkback
it could even have a Headphone Amp built in
it's a DIY project and not for purchase but a knowledgeable tech could handle this easily
http://www.diyfactory.com/projects/talkback/talkback.htm

or it could be just for inspiration

RE: talkback

Kev-

Thanks so much for the reply, and I was wondering if you would mind quickly clarifying - when you say "inject a mic-to-line amp," what does that mean? We do have a Behringer Powerplay amp in the iso booth, so do you mean to just go XLR-1/4 with an 1/8-in adaptor into the Aux In of channel 1 on the amp and run the line to a mic in the main room?

Thanks a lot, and sorry for the double posting - I was trying to figure this out ASAP, am new to the site and wasn't sure where someone might most quickly see it and when they'd respond.

Josh

What signal goes to the headphoneamp? Is that the monitor L/R? What headphone amp are you using? Does it have an auxiliary input? Are the omni outs still free?

If the headphone amp has an aux in and one omni is still free you can do like this:

Plug in a mic in one of the free channels.
Make sure it doesn't go to the stereo bus.
Take an aux and make it pre-fader.
Route that aux output to one of the omni's.
Connect that omni out to the headphone amp's auxiliary.

Not really sure if the ON will really put the signal off. I think it will. Watch out for feedback, your singer needs you to.

thanks cfaalm, I'll try this - the monitor L/R goes to the headphone amp which is a Behringer Powerplay and has an aux input - I also have omni outs on the 01V mixer free. Does the mic going into the channel need to first go through a preamp though? I guess I'll see once I figure out how to get this routing set up...thanks for the help and I'll let you know what happens.

Also, what's the feedback issue? Do you just mean signal coming from the monitors in the room going into the talkback mic? If so, can I not just toggle the channel on and off?

Thanks,
Josh

hi -

so the Omni Out works! One issue though - I did it slightly differently than you said and instead of using an Aux channel, I just set up a mic channel and routed it Direct Out to the Omni Out1 and ran that into the headphone amp...it works but I'm only getting signal on the left side, not stereo - any ideas?

Thanks again for your help!

Josh

If you are using the Powerplay's front "More Me" TRS input OR the 2nd Stereo Input on the front (also TRS), you will need to make a mono to dual-mono style TRS plug. Wire the Tip from the Talkback to the Tip and Ring of a TRS jack into the Powerplay - this will feed L and R channels.

:cool:

Re: RE: talkback

Josh607 wrote: ... if you would mind quickly clarifying - when you say "inject a mic-to-line amp," what does that mean?
... We do have a Behringer Powerplay amp in the iso booth, so do you mean to just go XLR-1/4 with an 1/8-in adaptor into the Aux In of channel 1 on the amp and run the line to a mic in the main room?

errr
1/8 ??
My Alto has a 1/4 aux input
but esentially that is what I mean

Mic to line amp and with any luck it may have a -10dB 1/4 output and straight input that aux

Another very cheap idea and just as an example ...
stereo out from you main source and into a
http://
and you have stereo headphone output with talk on top from a simple dynamic mic

Look at the Block Diagram on top of the unit.
My unit is a lot like that with a remote push to talk and a user set program duck.

Josh-
Check out my reply in "Vocal Booth"...read it ALL the way through!

as you said,
not everyone is handy with a soldering iron

I'm not suggesting he needs to

Those links were for the block diagrams and basic descriptions of some ideas and possible solutions.

There is a few Budget Controllers with the Talkback facility.
Your Mic suggestion is quick and easy and is a good start.

I use a couple of Mics and have a couple of switches I can place around the room ... for directors and producers to use.

Additionaly I have a latching switch near me so I can hold the talk ON while I tap away on the keyboard.
My talk switches are at the right hand end of the keyboard right near my main monitor volume control and mute switches.

OK Josh, you were a tiny bit smarter there :wink: Good luck!

Josh607 wrote: Also, what's the feedback issue? Do you just mean signal coming from the monitors in the room going into the talkback mic? If so, can I not just toggle the channel on and off?

yep
until one day you forget
or someone else pushes the talk button while the monitors are hot

on location recording I often wear Beyer DT109s and sometimes have the talk open as I work
a bit like a directors continuous talk

it all depends on the requirements