Question

We have just added (3) EM 16M units to our SL32 S3 via AVB network and volume levels are not loud enough to be heard over the ambient music.  All of the AVB feeds are from the analog channels.  I have also created a mix group for the drums and maxed the drum fader and the mix group master with no improvement in max volume on the EM 16M's.  I'm guessing the digital signal does not carry a volume signal.  If that's the case, does it mean we also need to buy headphone amps to get a level the musicians can hear?

PS - I'm new to the digital mixer space so please forgive me for asking what may be a dumb question.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Our drummer brought in his Bose headphones and the sound was incredibly clear with lots of volume.  So the low sound level was due to the earbuds being used.

If you want awesome sound from your EM 16M, get some quality in-ear or over the ear headphones and you will really appreciate how good this mixer is.

Answer 2

Have you tried resetting the EarMix back to its defaulted settings to ensure a change has not been made to the cause the issue?

Hold the following buttons, Store + Recall, then while holding, press Channel button #1. This will 'reset' the EarMix 'scene' on the unit.

Then test the sound again.

Ensure that you gain staging is correct on the main console. Also note that each channel on the EarMix has individual gain along with the master gain control. Are they set correctly?

Answer 3

Thanks for responding Jonny.

I have not tried resetting the units.  But all 3 have the same low volume output out of the box.  Will try doing that on one unit to see.

Are there independent gains for the AVB sends, or are you referring to the analog channel gains?  Channel gains are working well for FOH and all Mix bus sends for fold back speakers, live stream and digital recording.

I did create a SL32 Mix for the drums (electronic kit) which has the drum channel input at max and the Mixmaster level at max.  There was little, if any, change on the EM unit's volume level.

On the EM's, individual channels and headphone levels are maxed.

Should the EM's be able to bust eardrums using earbuds, or do you have to buy custom fit in-ear buds or hi-end esoteric headphones to get higher volume levels?  PreSonus literature talks about the quality of the headphone amp so I'm thinking there must be something missing on the SL32 side.

Answer 4

I thought I was having this problem, too, but then I discovered there are 3 levels of volume adjustment when you're using headphones:

1. The individual channel levels
2. The Master Earmix output level
3. The Headphone level

I was using both headphones and earbuds (at different times), and couldn't get satisfactory levels on either of them, even with the individual channels up pretty high and the headphone level maxed out.  Then I noticed the "Select" button for the Master and punched it.  I had that level down way low, and turning it up made it plenty loud, even for earbuds.  Problem solved.