Page 1 of 1

Headphone volume too low when tracking, what is the solution?

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 12:14 am
by Jan Deal
Hey folks,

My band have recently changed rehearsal rooms and this has lead to change in how I record ourselves. Previously, I would just track the band live, aiming to get a good drum take. The room was big enough where I didn't have to worry about microphone bleed. Now I am in a smaller room and I know that this approach will not work.

The recording interface I'm using is a pretty historic Tascam device. It belongs to my bass player and I'm using simply because it has more inputs than my Presonus I have at home. The challenge I have is that the headphones out is way too quiet to track anything live, especially a drummer! What is the solution to this? Do I buy and external microphone pre-amp? Is there another solution I've not thought about?

Re: Headphone volume too low when tracking, what is the solution?

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 2:02 am
by soggy mittens
Headphone outs are generally designed for home use, you will need a headphone amp for sure. I use a mackie hm400 for live monitoring, it is cheap and I've noticed the cheaper units can get a bit ear fatiguing in the treble range but it gets the job done. for more monies you can get more pleasurable amps. :)

Image

Re: Headphone volume too low when tracking, what is the solution?

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2020 6:12 am
by marqueemoon
Maybe a dumb question, but if tracking live what are you listening to?

If it’s a click track can you change the tone of it?

Otherwise better isolation headphones.

Re: Headphone volume too low when tracking, what is the solution?

Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2020 2:48 am
by Jan Deal
marqueemoon wrote:
Thu Feb 06, 2020 6:12 am
Maybe a dumb question, but if tracking live what are you listening to?

If it’s a click track can you change the tone of it?

Otherwise better isolation headphones.
When we track live, we just listen to each other. No need for a click.
soggy mittens wrote:
Thu Feb 06, 2020 2:02 am
Headphone outs are generally designed for home use, you will need a headphone amp for sure. I use a mackie hm400 for live monitoring, it is cheap and I've noticed the cheaper units can get a bit ear fatiguing in the treble range but it gets the job done. for more monies you can get more pleasurable amps. :)

Image
Thanks, this is pretty much what I thought, but I wanted confirmation.