What to use to swap my studio monitors between devices?

[laxu]

So I find that my Fractal AM4 sounds a little bit better when running straight to my studio monitors, rather than going through my Audient EVO 8 -> studio monitors.

What product should I get if I want to easily swap my studio monitors to the AM4 vs the audio interface? A line mixer? Stereo A/B box? Patchbay?

Needs:

• Analog so no extra latency. I'll also accept e.g "analog unless you use e.g some fx from the mixer".
• As transparent as possible.
• Fairly compact so it fits my desk.
• Capable of switching or mixing between multiple mono/stereo inputs. Ideal if the stereo support is with 2x TS cables rather than 1x TRS because I don't have to faff with TS -> TRS cables.
• Reasonably priced.

A mixer seems like the most sensible option, but what should I get?

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I used to use an SPL MTC2381 which gives a lot of options for different inputs and outputs. You can find them used for good prices, but they’re quite bulky, and you can end up with a lot of cables running to and from your desk. Drawmer CMC2/audient nero/ would also work

There’s loads of budget line switchers out there, but for the best deals you’d need to compare locally.

Things like this (or budget knockoffs): https://blacklionaudio.com/en/products/ls-4

or

Coleman LS3

The Coleman Audio LS3 is a 3-channel Line selector. Passive 3-way bi-directional switcher. Adds speaker selection to any system or 3 x stereo inputs to any system. Multiple speakers can be on simultaneously. 1 in 3 out, or 3 in 1 out. Balanced jack I/O. Non rack mounting.

kmraudio.com

For mixers, again it really depends on what you want to spend. Allen and Heath are OK budget mixers. You might find some Mackie or even Behringturd ones do a job.

IMO a monitor controller would be your best bet - it’s nice to have a hands on control for monitoring within reach and you can have quick buttons for adjusting things. They usually have headphone outs which means you can use the same pair for everything easily. Budget ones can colour the sound slightly - I was always happy with the SPL one, but I tried a Dangerous Audio one with high hopes and thought it was terrible.

A mixer is probably a bit more fiddly/more redundant features but would work just fine. Patchbay would also work but you’d miss out on easily changing volumes, and you’d have loads of redundant patches to use (unless you reconfigure your whole rig to take advantage of it).

 

[Orvillain]

rather than going through my Audient EVO 8 -> studio monitors.

This is .... a bit suspect. How are you plugging the AM4 into the Evo 8 - through the built in line-inputs, or preamps?? Anything clipping on the way in??? What sounds bad about it?

 

[laxu]

This is .... a bit suspect. How are you plugging the AM4 into the Evo 8 - through the built in line-inputs, or preamps?? Anything clipping on the way in??? What sounds bad about it?

The Audient EVO 8 only has mic/line combo inputs. I'm plugging in TRS 1/4" cables.

It doesn't sound bad or clip, but the AM4 -> Genelecs just sounds somehow a bit clearer, dimensional and better. I honestly can't say if it's volume, better converters on the AM4 or what. It's not a big difference, but enough to make me notice.

The other thing I'd like is that because the EVO only has 4 inputs, of which 1 is permanently taken by my voice mic for work, I don't have a lot of inputs to plug in stuff. I don't really need more inputs than that, but I loathe changing cables around so something to just swap what is connected to said inputs would be helpful.

Of course, I could upgrade to a bigger and better audio interface but that gets expensive with a lot of wrong format side-grade products. I don't want freakin' mic preamps up front for example to clutter my desk, and at the same time some huge rack format box seems inconvenient on my desk.

Then there are times when I could just run the connected device straight to my monitors by taking the audio interface out of the equation completely. Plug in and play type thing.

 

[bikescene]

I used to use a Heritage Audio Baby RAM to switch between my audio interface and modeler to two sets of monitors. It’s a 2x2 device. I thought the rotary switch for volume control, mono switch, and dim switch were convenient. I didn’t think the TRS jacks were good quality though. They were a little too tight for pretty much all my TRS cables.

The Black Lion LS-4, Heritage Synth Buddy, HOSA SLW-333, Coleman LS3, and Franklin Audio SS-6 offer switching to a single pair of TRS jacks.

I now use a Coleman Audio LS3 to switch monitors, which is enough for my needs at this time. I had read good things about the build quality in pro audio forums.