Purchasing headphones and headphone mixing systems is not among the funnest parts of building and running a studio, but it is one of the most essential. If the artists recording can’t hear themselves, it’s not likely you’re going to get a good take, no matter what vintage mic and esoteric mic preamp and compressor chain you have. I’ve tried (and still own) several headphone mixing systems over the past two or three decades, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I started out with (and still own) an Oz Audio Q-Mix HM-6 [Tape Op #37, later acquired by and remanufactured by Mackie]. The Q-Mix was a smart solution for one or two musicians but quickly gets clunky on more complex sessions with multiple players. When we built out the studio at Panoramic, we put in a Furman HDS/HRM 16 system [#55, no longer manufactured], and we still have it in place. It sounds fantastic and is very versatile, but it’s largely decommissioned now. The mixer boxes, with their 50-pin Centronics connectors and cabling (think giant SCSI printer cables from the ’90s) are super clunky, hard to set up, and always fall over. Because the power for each box is carried via the cabling, it’s easy to blow the fuse in the main unit if boxes get moved or disconnected when the system is powered up. That was one of our most frequent session disrupters when it was our main system.
A few years back, my pal and Tape Op contributor Joe Finocchio sold me a used Hear Technologies original, since-discontinued Hear Back system with a Hub distribution unit and four mixers for $500. Thanks, Joe! While the Hear Back has only 8 inputs compared to the Furman’s 16, that’s almost always enough for most sessions, and it’s significantly easier to set up and operate. Instead of the clunky 50-pin analog cabling, the Hear Back uses a digital signal over CAT5 Ethernet cables – much easier to route! The Hear Back boxes are lighter and easier to place as well. We’ve been using the Hear Back as our primary headphone mixing system for the past three years and have been pleased with how it sounds and how easy it is to deal with. The Furman is still in place, but the boxes and cables are stored away in our shed; it’s only been used once in the past three years.
After three more years of constant use, two of the mixers started getting intermittent. At the AES convention last fall, I was talking with the Hear Technologies crew, who explained that their newer OCTO mixers were compatible with my older Hear Back Hub and that I could mix and match these eight-channel units as needed. (The original legacy Hear Back system has been discontinued). I bought two of the new OCTO mixers, and that’s what’s on review here. The new OCTO boxes are smaller than the legacy ones, yet they feel preferable even with fewer features. Notably absent is the Limiter, which is not missed. Hear told me that there were a lot of complaints about that feature. I’d agree; it caused more problems than it solved. This gives the new OCTO a smaller footprint and a simpler, more direct panel layout. Less is more! One useful new feature on the OCTO is the inclusion of both 1/4-inch and 1/8-inch headphone outputs – much appreciated! This makes setting up with any type of headphones and our Sonic Nuance HEXT extension cables [Tape Op #111] much easier. There is also an 1/8-inch aux input on each box to monitor an iPad, metronome, laptop, or any audio device with an 1/8-inch output. There are also a pair of 1/4-inch balanced line outputs that mirror the headphone mix – this can be used to feed a set of studio speakers or a stage monitor.
This is a short review, as very few words are needed to describe an easy-to-use, well-designed product that simply works well and solves the complex problem of multiple musicians being able to hear themselves and each other while they perform.