Aviom vs. HearBack Which one is right for you?
Both Aviom and HearBack offer outstanding solutions for personal monitor mixing. Deciding which system is right for you is all about assessing what your needs and requirements are: how many musicians need their own mixer, how many sources do we need to mix, how much control do the musicians need, etc.
Both systems are designed to take the individual audio sources from your worship singers and musicians and allow you to create your own personal mix of the levels of all of the sources. Both systems convert the audio you feed them into a unique digital format that can be sent to each mix station with a single off-the-shelf CAT-5 network cable.
The systems are different in the level of complexity in the actual mixing function, the number of sources that can be mixed by one person, and the available options for creating and expanding systems.
Answering the following questions about what your current (and future) needs and desires are will help you start to get an idea of the size and complexity of the system that would be best for you.
1. How many musicians actually need to have their own separate mix? Remember, some singers and even musicians can be very happy by sharing a common mix. Many may not want to have to worry about mixing their own monitors. This is something you can scale up to. Start with those who are comfortable mixing their own monitors and add others as needed. Leave your self room for those who will potentially want to create their own mix.
2. How many sources or various parts do you need to be able to mix? Be careful with this one. Musicians need to focus on making music, not engineering sound. There is a place when it gets too complicated for many people. You may need to combine some sources like drums into one or two sources in the mix so everyone can use one knob to turn them up or down. Anything over 16 sources starts to get too complex to be effective for most people. Remember that your pastors mic and ambience mics (very important with in-ear monitors) count as sources too.
3. How sophisticated are the ears of the musicians who will be using the system? As you probably already know, the better musicians use and own better instruments. They have a pickier ear and tend to make better music when they can have just that right sound to their ears. I could well be worth your while to invest a little more to get the features that give the tone and stereo field that makes musicians come alive. At other times, just being able to create a mix that allows you to add "more of me" as needed is all musicians need. You might also consider a separate monitor mixer to go in front of the personal mixing system so you can set the gain and EQ of each source before they mix it for themselves.
4. How many groups will be using the monitor systems? This is important to think about if you have different musicians using the system at different times. The Aviom system offers mix presets that can be stored and recalled so each new person using the system can store his stetting for when he plays/sings next time. The HearBack system does not have this feature.
5. What do you foresee as far as growth of your music team(s)? Is your church rapidly growing? Are you raising up lots of new musicians? Think about how you might need to be able to expand what you have today.
With the answers to these questions in mind, check out the chart below and follow the links to more specific detail as you need it. Also please remember that our seasoned experts are only a toll-free call away at 800-426-8664 and would love to discuss your ideas and help you compare these great personal mixing systems.
| | Aviom | HearBack |
| Number of sources available for mixing | 16 mono sources, inputs are stereo linkable (By ganging multiple A-16R Rack-Mount Mixers together with the Mix In jack, you can mix a virtually unlimited number of channels. You would need an A-16CS Control Surface) | 8 mono sources (plus a local stereo Aux input) |
| System/Hub inputs | The basic AN-16i input module offers sixteen balanced audio inputs (TRS connectors) with Sixteen balanced Thru connectors (TRS). Stereo Link switches are provided for each channel pair (mixer auto-detects which channels are stereo pairs). There are other input module options for various input types including digital inputs.
| 8 balanced analog inputs on DB-25 female (Tascam DA-88 pinout); 8-channel ADAT; HearBus (inputs are switch selectable from the front panel) |
| Number of mixers per input hub/distributor | 8 per distributor (you can add as many distrubutors as you need to the system) | 8 per hub (more mixers can be added by daisy-chaining hubs together) |
| Allowable distance between devices | maximum 500ft (150m) between devices | Very long digital lines possible without loss of audio quality |
| Mixer controls | Channel volume control with LED level readout; sixteen channel select buttons with dual LEDs; Pan/Spread control with LED readout (fully adjustable pan per channel); channel solo, mute, and group functions; preset save and recall; master bass & treble tone control and master volume. | Channel volume controls (6 knobs for mono sources and one knob for the stereo input) Master Volume and limiter control |
| Mixer inputs | A-NET input | Digital audio input and analog stereo AUX local input |
| Mixer outputs | Stereo Line/headphone audio output and A-NET CAT-5 output | R & L line ouputs, two stereo headphone outputs |
| Audio limiter | N/A | Built-in DSP Limiter (designed as a "brick wall" limiter for hearing protection and to protect monitor wedges from overload) |
| Mixer meters/indicators | Pan meter (5 LED); Volume Meter (12 LED); channel select and mute LEDs; solo LED; A-NET active indicator LED | Limiter active LED, Link indicator LED; Bus status indicator LED; headphone output fault indicator LED |
| Mixer mic stand mount | optional M-T1 mic stand adapter | Built-in Mic Stand Mount (MSA optional mic stand adapter extension bar) |
| Digital preset storage | Sixteen preset locations for storing custom mixes | N/A |
| D/A Converters | 24-bit | 24-bit |
| System digital delay | Less than 0.880 millisecond (measured from analog input to analog output) | Less than 1.5 millisecond total system delay |
| Maximum Levels (100 Ohm load) | 1 Watt | 1.14 Watts |
| Signal to Noise Ratio | (Referenced to 0dB) -103dB | Noise, A-Weighted: -91 dBu analog, -97 dBu optical |