Mixing comms and sound desk

[gyro_gearloose]

At work we've got Beyer DT109 headsets for our sound ops. At the moment they have two headsets, one for comms and one for the desk. What I'd like to do is combine the output from the sound desk with the output from the comms beltpack, to get away from needing to swap headsets. 

Ideally I'd like a simple box that the comms, sound desk headphone output, and headset wired for stereo all connect to. The headsets mic would simply connect to the XLR4 plug into the belt pack. I don't want to mess about connecting comms to a desk channel, and I want only the sound op to hear the output from the desk. I'm aware that some comms base stations have an aux input, but that's no use for this situation. 

An off the shelf solution would be great, as long as it's not too expensive or clunky. However I'm not above building one from scratch, if someone could suggest a suitable circuit or two. Thanks in advance.

[sunray]

59 minutes ago, gyro_gearloose said:

At work we've got Beyer DT109 headsets for our sound ops. At the moment they have two headsets, one for comms and one for the desk. What I'd like to do is combine the output from the sound desk with the output from the comms beltpack, to get away from needing to swap headsets. 

Ideally I'd like a simple box that the comms, sound desk headphone output, and headset wired for stereo all connect to. The headsets mic would simply connect to the XLR4 plug into the belt pack. I don't want to mess about connecting comms to a desk channel, and I want only the sound op to hear the output from the desk. I'm aware that some comms base stations have an aux input, but that's no use for this situation. 

An off the shelf solution would be great, as long as it's not too expensive or clunky. However I'm not above building one from scratch, if someone could suggest a suitable circuit or two. Thanks in advance.

As I understand it what you require is an option on one of the Canford range...

 

However if you take a look at the circuit of a belt pack it is not beyond the realms of fantasy to add a 'mix input' to the headphone section.

This is the H/P amp section of a Techpro. I havent made any attempt to try it, I'm sure you will require a bit of experimenting and quite possibly a buffer amp a buffer amp.

I would say for certain it will require an isolating transformer, intercoms will introduce horrible earth loop problems.

[sunray]

There is of course the BlueCom system too which is quite adaptable.

[J Pearce]

Back in the days of big analogue consoles many had a clearcom compatible hybrid built into their talkback and monitoring section. Digital desks, remote stageboxes, and latterly digital comms have seen that off as a viable sellable feature.

 

You can quite easily bring clearcom analogue comms in on a channel and then leave it PFL’d (or route it to a monitor bus). If you trust the dc blocking on your xlr inputs you could probably get away with just plugging the xlr in - but I’d advise breaking it out signal and ground to an unbalanced jack and going via a DI box.

Talking back onto comms needs a bit more work, but a 4 wire hybrid box would allow the operator to monitor comms and to use desk talkback to talk on comms.

 

I’d much rather the sound op be listening to the show though, taking cues off cuelights and only jumping on comms if the call light goes or an unexpected standby is given. Seems silly to try to operate or mix a show while listening to comms instead of the room!

[gyro_gearloose]

 

Quote

Seems silly to try to operate or mix a show while listening to comms instead of the room!

I should have been a bit clearer. One of the sound ops is mixing for broadcast, so would rather not hear the room at all! The shows run off timecode, so no traditional cues are given by the SM. 

[david.elsbury]

Here’s your commercial options: https://avlifesavers.com/

[James Remo]

ASL Ps19a belt pack has a local aux input that just goes to the headset rather than on to the whole comms ring. I’ve picked up 3 of them second hand, and they are so useful. https://ret.de/media/uploads/2018/02/ASL-PS-19-Manual.pdf

[sunray]

10 hours ago, david.elsbury said:

Here’s your commercial options: https://avlifesavers.com/

Looking at those prices I think I've missed out...