Question

I just don't know that I am willing to layout $400 for something my iPad already can perform.  I have a FOH engineer for our band, who can do small tweaks for our monitors, while we are on stage. We setup our "rough mix" with our tablets or phones running QMix. I run UC Surface.  Granted I am not a pro mix engineer , but I am just not seeing the feature that will make me buy the hardware.

Answer 1

Here is an example how to use the EarMix. It's based on using four stereo submixes (auxes 9 to 16, linked) on EarMix channels 9 to 16. Channels 1 to 8 are free to use for "anything" else. The Earmix MUST receive two banks of AVB sends. Effects are added to the submixes.

01 Vocals 1 | AVB send 1
02 Vocals 2 | AVB send 2
03 Vocals 3 | AVB send 3
04 Vocals 4 | AVB send 4
05 Saxophone | AVB send 5
06 ... | AVB send 6
07 ...  | AVB send 7
08 Speech/Moderation | AVB send 8

09+10 Drums Mix | console auxes 09+10 | AVB sends 57+58
11+12 Bass Mix | console auxes 11+12 | AVB sends 59+60
13+14 Guitar Mix | console auxes 13+14 | AVB sends 61+62
15+16 Keyboard Mix | console auxes 15+16 | AVB sends 63+64

Answer 2

There are three articles in Knowledge Base, all starting with "Personal Monitoring for...", which give a rough idea how to use the Earmixers. They can not do "more" than UC Surface or QMix, but they can be quite useful for special environments and situations. There is a thread in the Forums ("How do you use your EarMix 16M? Concepts, ideas, experiences..."), which might be interesting to read. The Forums are public.

https://forums.presonus.com/viewtopic.php?f=338&t=34516

Answer 3

One thing that is easily forgotten is that the EarMixers do NOT use WLAN. Using EarMixers is based on a wired AVB network. It is also worth to mention that the personal mixers can be powered by an AVB switch (PoE - Power over Ethernet). This saves a lot of cables...

The EarMixers do not necessarily "eat" aux mixes. The 16 signals can be routed to the EarMixers via separate AVB returns, so you can use 16 flex mixes (8 stereo auxes) plus several personal mixers at the same time. If you don't have enough aux mixes and don't want to buy another rack mixer (24R or 32R), the EarMixers are a good alternative, also economically.

Answer 4

I have the discontinued  rml32ai mixer. We use 19 channels for our band. I see there are 16 sends. We run linked channels for six of the 19. Does that mean the earmix thinks it’s only 13 channels?

Answer 5

Oh man, I am sorry to say, but this will not work for you. The EarMix 16M is part of the "ecosystem" of the Series III mixers, which is using AVB II. There is no chance to get AVB I and AVB III to communicate. As a former owner of RM32AI | RM16AI | CS18AI, I honestly can only recommend to get a 32R. It's a complete different world with much more options than the AI family will ever have (even though representatives of PreSonus are still talking about "future updates" in the closed Facebook groups).

To answer your question: The EarMix does not "see" linked channels. It receives a signal routed to AVB channel 1, AVB channel 2, AVB channel 3... Then you have the option to link inputs (odd/even) on the EarMix itself. It doesn't matter if the routed signals are input channels, flex mixes, effect returns/subgroups or functional channels (talkback, Aux Ins etc.).

19 input channels are 3 too much for the EarMix, so you need to use submixes. There should always be two channels (linked) reserved for effects and functional things like talkback. Everything about this theme is explained in the above mentioned thread in the Live Sound Forum. Use the labels to understand the explanations. Or you let me know what your 19 channels are and who wants / needs to hear what, then I can present a concept of how to use one or several EarMixers.

Answer 6

Review this video. 

Advanced setup video playlist.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnQ-ztvjHMiqHBVulONIB0f2cYd8bfjLd

Answer 7

Advanced...? Why would you want to waste 62 of 64 AVB sends when you can get better results by by using only 26 AVB sends? It seems that the videos were made to underline that there are now 64 AVB channels available (instead of 56 before). Musicians need solutions that are noticeable less "advanced".