Recently, I received a package in the mail from BSW USA, totally expectedly. As usual, I am very grateful for what was in the this package. But before I reveal the contents of the parcel, let me give you a little background on why the item in the package is of particular use to me.
Obviously, there were many things that I learned after holding the Apple Universe LIVE at Macworld 2008 event that I organized. The main lesson is that I need a bigger mixer, but right now that’s beside the point (and mixers are rather expensive). The matter being emphasized here is that guests at events like mine need to monitor themselves, usually through headphones. Monitoring helps speakers feel more confident about how they are speaking into the microphones (or, for example, singing, at a concert), which results in much better recordings. The problem: My mixer (Alesis MultiMix 8 USB) only has one headphone jack, so only one person (usually me 😉 ) can monitor the mix at a time.
The solution: The Behringer HA400 Headphone Amp that I got from BSW. This small device is basically a pro-quality version of those headphone Y-splitters that everyone uses with their iPods. The headphone amp connects to one of the outputs of my mixer, and four sets of headphones connect to the deck-sized box. This way, if possible interviewees live close by, they could come to my “studio” and record here, and both provide and receive high quality audio, instead of burning bandwidth on Skype (of course, we can blame ComCast for that).
Another package will be coming later this week, with a lots more fun goodies and gadgets. All of this new gear is proudly donated, so thank you very much donars!
~Daniel
Daniel Brusilovsky 