Purchasing headphones and headphone mixing systems is not among the funnest parts of building and running a studio, but it is one of the most essential. If the artists recording can’t hear themselves, it’s not likely you’re going to get a good take, no matter what vintage mic and esoteric mic preamp and compressor chain you have. I’ve tried (and still own) several headphone mixing systems over the past two or three decades, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I started out with (and still own) an Oz Audio Q-Mix HM-6 [Tape Op #37, later acquired by and remanufactured by Mackie]. The Q-Mix was a smart solution for one or two musicians but quickly gets clunky on more complex sessions with multiple players. When we built out the studio at Panoramic, we put in a Furman HDS/HRM 16 system [#55, no longer manufactured], and we still have it in place. It sounds fantastic and is very versatile, but it’s largely decommissioned now. The mixer boxes, with their 50-pin Centronics connectors and cabling (think giant SCSI printer cables from the ’90s) are super clunky, hard to set up, and always fall over. Because the power for each box is carried via the cabling, it’s easy to blow the fuse in the main unit if boxes get moved or disconnected when the system is powered up. That was one of our most frequent session disrupters when it was our main system.
A few years back, my pal and Tape Op contributor Joe Finocchio sold me a used Hear Technologies original, since-discontinued Hear Back system with a Hub distribution unit and four mixers for $500. Thanks, Joe! While the Hear Back has only 8 inputs compared to the Furman’s 16, that’s almost always enough for most sessions, and it’s significantly easier to set up and operate. Instead of the clunky 50-pin analog cabling, the Hear Back uses a digital signal over CAT5 Ethernet cables – much easier to route! The Hear Back boxes are lighter and easier to place as well. We’ve been using the Hear Back as our primary headphone mixing system for the past three years and have been pleased with how it sounds and how easy it is to deal with. The Furman is still in place, but the boxes and cables are stored away in our shed; it’s only been used once in the past three years.