This question is about engineering for a live broadcast. In days past, the studio monitor (and talent headphones) was a direct feed from the audio output of the modulation monitor. Not only did this provide for immediate notification if the station went off the air, it also gave the DJ a processed audio feed. As a DJ, I can tell you this was important. The announcers simply sound better when they hear the actual sound that the listener hears.
However, I don't know how to explain that to someone that doesn't get it. Now days, with the time delay in digital processing, there is no way you could use an actual air monitor. So, some stations create a real-time processed audio feed to send to the studio monitor and headphones. I have heard this called "fake air."
To satisfy the need of knowing when the station goes off the air, a silence sensor can flash lights when needed.
Are any of you doing this for your live air talent? One engineer told me his staff wouldn't go live without fake air.
How would you explain the need for this to a station owner that thinks an off-air monitor (with the delay) is the same thing? I get the "why are you the only one that complains about this?" question. How do you explain to somebody that hearing the proper mix and processing, even if it's only emulating the actual air sound, makes the DJ sound better? Sure, it's a mental trick, but it works. As a PD once told me, a DJ listening to the board monitor sounds like the life is sucked out of him.
However, I don't know how to explain that to someone that doesn't get it. Now days, with the time delay in digital processing, there is no way you could use an actual air monitor. So, some stations create a real-time processed audio feed to send to the studio monitor and headphones. I have heard this called "fake air."
To satisfy the need of knowing when the station goes off the air, a silence sensor can flash lights when needed.
Are any of you doing this for your live air talent? One engineer told me his staff wouldn't go live without fake air.
How would you explain the need for this to a station owner that thinks an off-air monitor (with the delay) is the same thing? I get the "why are you the only one that complains about this?" question. How do you explain to somebody that hearing the proper mix and processing, even if it's only emulating the actual air sound, makes the DJ sound better? Sure, it's a mental trick, but it works. As a PD once told me, a DJ listening to the board monitor sounds like the life is sucked out of him.