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In-ear monitor mix on your own phone
“More guitar in my monitor!” – if that gets shouted across the room all the time, you know the problem. Better: every band member adjusts their own monitor or in-ear mix on their own phone. Here’s how to set that up on a digital mixer.
The principle
Each musician gets their own mix bus on the console. Every channel sends its own amount (send) to each bus. The bus goes to an output – to the wedge, the headphone amp or the in-ear transmitter. Using an app, everyone adjusts the sends to their own bus without changing the others’ mixes or the front-of-house mix.
1. Set up buses on the console
- One bus per person (or per monitor feed), named clearly on the console, e.g. “IEM Vocals” or “Wedge Bass”. The names will show up in the app later.
- In-ears in stereo: For in-ears, a stereo mix sounds much more natural. Link two buses for this (on the X32 and X Air: bus link, e.g. bus 7/8). Then each channel also gets a pan control in the monitor mix.
- Assign the output: Route the bus to the output the transmitter or wedge is connected to (on the X32 in the routing menu under the outputs).
2. Tap pre-fader
Important: the monitor mix should not follow the main fader. If the engineer pulls the vocals down in the room, they must not disappear from the in-ears. That’s why the sends to the monitor buses are tapped pre-fader – before the channel fader. On the X32, the tap point applies to a bus pair.
3. An app for everyone
Each band member opens a monitor app on their own phone, selects their bus and adjusts the channels there. A good app shows only your own mix – then nobody can accidentally change someone else’s mix or the main mix.
How it works with BandAssist
- Start BandAssist on the computer at the console and connect.
- In the settings under Network, allow access – BandAssist shows a QR code and a PIN.
- Each band member scans the QR code, enters the PIN and opens the Monitor mix. The first time, they choose their mix; the phone remembers the choice.
- At the top, Tap sets all channels of the mix to pre-fader at once. Solo plays a channel solo only in your own mix, Arrange channels hides what you don’t need.
- Tip: add the monitor mix as an app via “Share › Add to Home Screen”.
In BandAssist, tap point and stereo mixes are available on the X32/M32 and X Air; the monitor mix itself works with all supported consoles.
Tips from practice
- Start with a basic mix: Give everyone a usable starting mix (their own instrument, vocals, click). Starting from zero costs time.
- Put click and backing tracks on their own channels or aux inputs – then they can be adjusted separately in the monitor mix and don’t end up in the PA.
- Protect your hearing: Keep in-ears no louder than necessary. A limiter on the bus protects against level peaks, for example when a mic is dropped.
- With ambience mics (room or audience microphones), the in-ear mix feels less isolated.
In detail: Monitor mix for the band and Control from a tablet or phone in the user guide.
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