Creating a Headphone Mix

The "mixer-less" studio trend is gaining popularity as more and more mixing can be done within the computer. One of the most overlooked techniques when using such a setup is configuring a dedicated headphone mix. While this falls under mixing techniques, it is best to introduce this method when creating a separate headphone mix is useful: at the tracking stage. By using a dedicated headphone output, you can customize what the talent is hearing without affecting the main mix, and more effectively perceive important factors like how the take sits in the track.

Generally, this process entails assigning relevant channels to separate pairs of outputs of the audio interface (for monitoring in the control room, and output to headphones). You can effectively do this by sending the signals you wish to monitor to a dedicated Bus Object routed to a set of outputs other than the main outputs.

1.	In the Audio Configuration window's I/O view, create both Long I/O and Short I/O labels for Bus 8 that read Headphones and Hdph, respectively. NOTE In Logic, busses can be configured in stereo or mono. This is different from most consoles where a bus usually contains a mono channel.
2.	Create a Long I/O label called Headphones Out for Output 78.
3.	In the Track Mixer, shift-select Tracks 14 to highlight them.
4.	In Track 1, click-hold on the second Send slot, and choose Bus > Bus 8 (Headphones). All Sends in the second slot of the highlighted tracks should now be labeled "Hdph". Tip When creating a headphone bus in your setup, choose a bus that won't be used by effects routing, as you will need effects routing busses when you mix.
5.	Click-hold on the second Send field on Track 1 again, this time choosing Pre. This is an important setting, because you need the signals for each track to be sent pre-fader (before the volume fader), enabling you to have independence between the control room and headphone mix. This way, you can adjust the control mix as normal (by adjusting the faders) and adjust the headphone mix via the Send levels. NOTE All highlighted tracks should now mirror the adjustments to Track 1.
6.	Shift-click Tracks 14 in the Track Mixer to deselect them.
7.	Click the Bus button (if needed) to view all busses.
8.	Click-hold on the output field of Bus 8, and choose Output > Output 7-8 (Headphones out).

You can now assign any amount of signal from each track to the headphones by increasing and decreasing each track's Send level. The overall headphone volume level is controlled by the fader on Bus 8, which also provides the capability to assign a plug-in across the headphone bus that applies only to the headphone mix (limiter, EQ, and so on).

With this setup within Logic's mixer, all that's left to do is to patch in the headphones to the assigned output on your audio interface. If your audio interface has a headphone out, you can usually configure it via its included software to mirror any output through the headphone out. If this is the case, open up your audio interface's control software and set the headphones to mirror Output 78 on the interface. (Refer to the manual for your audio interface to see if this is an option.) If your audio interface does not offer this feature, patching a simple headphone distribution box in to the designated outputs does the trick, in addition to providing even more flexibility.

Assigning the Metronome to the Headphones Only

An important use of this setup is to isolate Logic's metronome click to the headphone output only, keeping it out of the control room so that you can check to see if there is any evidence of click bleed-through from the talent's headphones.

1.	Press the number 2 key to recall Screenset 2.
2.	Choose File > Song Settings > Metronome.
3.	Under the Klopfgeist (software-generated click) settings on the right side of the window, click-hold the Output menu and choose Output 78. NOTE To prevent a MIDI click being sent out via MIDI, it is advisable to change the MIDI Port setting to "off" by means of the flip menu.
4.	Enable the Toggle Metronome button in the Transport located in the top left corner of the Arrange window.
5.	Play the song. You should now be hearing the click in the headphones only, and not through the main monitor mix (control room).
6.	Stop the song playback when you've verified that you are hearing the click in the headphones.

The metronome's output is sent directly to the headphone mix's outputs. Since the click is assigned to the same output pair as the headphone mix and not to the bus itself, you have control over the music mix independently of the click level. To adjust the click volume to the headphones, change the Volume setting from within this window.