myMix personal monitoring system (pic courtesy Movek LLC)

Just when you thought you had reached a dead end with personal monitoring, myMix appears in the nick of time to save us all from pulling out what’s left of our crowning glory.

The myMix uses a standard ethernet hub (externally powered or using the power-over-ethernet switch), is compatible with the AVB protocol and links up to 8 units on a network at 16 channels each. You can store up to 20 profiles or personal mix settings all viewable on a colour LCD screen. It comes with a mic stand adaptor to mount the unit. Convenient and easy to use so far.

So what exactly could the myMix give that other similar units don’t already? Well let me list just a few that stood out; these are not in order of ‘greatness’.

Each channel (instrument) can be muted or soloed. Many a time I would have liked to have been able to audition my synth, you know, solo my channel to make sure I have all the correct setups, perhaps run through a few tricky lines while waiting for the band to get ready. And to be able to mute instruments I don’t want in my mix without actually turning down their level then having to turn them up again at a later time. Efficient.

You plug your instrument(s) directly into the unit. The two inputs provided can be configured as a stereo pair (if you have a L+R feed from a keyboard for example, the pair is recognised as one instrument), two discrete mono inputs (a singer also playing guitar) or a single mono input. The unit has built-in phantom power for a condenser mic.
In effect you are in charge of setting up your own instrument, input gain and all. Freedom comes with a price, so no whining allowed. (The video provides additional setup info.)

Musicians who like to hear themselves in a particular effected mood during recording, will not have to badger the engineer for that ‘wet’ single that only they understand they must have to perform better. The on-board reverb/delay as well as EQ adjustment give the musician the power to tweak to their heart’s content, while the engineer spends valuable paid studio time getting a good sound/signal to ‘tape’.

The Godsend is the built-in SD or SDHC card slot which allows the individual to record their personal mix as 16 separate tracks of 48-kHz, 24-bit.wav files, plus a stereo mix to take away, all time-stamped so they line up when imported into one’s DAW of choice to overdub or remix!
Not needing to have the house or studio engineer provide a copy (or multiple versions) of a rehearsal(s) for everyone in the band to take home, and still have disgruntled musos wishing they had a mix where they could hear their parts (or specific parts) above the rest, is closer than you think.

The myMix has a MAP in the U.S. of $499 and an SRP of US$599. Now all it needs is a beam-me-up-Scotty button and I will be contented! I look forward to giving the myMix a real test when they are ready to be taken on the road!

Video Clip :

Photos & videos (c) 2010 Shueh-li Ong (unless specified, all articles written by Shueh-li Ong bear the photography, videography and digital work of its author.)