Plan, wire, and ship a rack rig
Hands-on writing for engineers and band techs building IEM, playback, and broadcast rack rigs. Start with the fundamentals, then dive into the deep ends — power, wireless coordination, and audio networking. Every guide is free to read and links back into the planner so you can apply what you read immediately.
- Fundamentals·Novice-friendly·8 min read
IEM Rig Basics: A Beginner’s Guide to In-Ear Monitor Systems
What an IEM rig actually is, the components that go into one, and how to plan your first one without overspending or blowing a circuit.
Read guide - Fundamentals·Novice-friendly·12 min read
Going From Wedges to In-Ears: A Band’s Step-By-Step Transition Plan
A plain-English plan for bands switching from floor wedges to in-ear monitors — what to buy, what to expect at the first rehearsal, and how to not hate it.
Read guide - Fundamentals·Novice-friendly·6 min read
From Stage to Ear: How Audio Flows Through an IEM Rack
A walking tour of the signal path from microphone to in-ear monitor, with what every box in the rack actually does to the audio along the way.
Read guide - Fundamentals·Intermediate·8 min read
Ambient Mics for In-Ear Monitors: Killing the “Locked in a Box” Feeling
Why sealed IEMs make you feel disconnected from the room — and exactly how to put the audience back into your mix with one or two well-placed mics.
Read guide - Workflow·Novice-friendly·10 min read
Stage Plots and Input Lists That Sound Engineers Actually Want
A plain-English guide to writing the input list, stage plot, and patch sheet that house engineers want — without the jargon, with examples, and with a free way to generate one.
Read guide - Power·Intermediate·7 min read
Rack Power Planning: 15A Circuits, Power Conditioners, UPS, and How Not to Trip Breakers
How to budget power for an audio rack, why a power conditioner is not a UPS, and the practical math that keeps you from blowing a 15A circuit mid-show.
Read guide - Workflow·Intermediate·7 min read
Picking an Audio Interface for a Live IEM Rig
How to choose between a digital mixer, a Thunderbolt interface, and a Dante converter as the brain of your IEM rack — with concrete picks at each tier.
Read guide - Workflow·Intermediate·9 min read
IEM Limiters and Hearing Protection: Settings That Actually Save Ears
A feedback squeal in a sealed ear can hit 130 dB SPL instantly. Where the limiter goes, what thresholds make sense, and the daily soundcheck habit that verifies it actually catches.
Read guide - Workflow·Intermediate·10 min read
Setting Up Stereo IEM Mixes on an X32 / M32
Step-by-step: linking aux buses into stereo pairs, pre-fader vs post-fader, routing buses to Ultranet vs physical XLRs vs AES50, and adding a bus-level limiter.
Read guide - Networking·Intermediate·11 min read
Personal Monitor Mixers Compared: Aviom, Behringer P16, Allen & Heath ME, Klang
Aviom A-Net vs Behringer Ultranet vs Allen & Heath ME vs Klang Dante — the systems-thinking comparison, not the shopping list. Cabling, distances, console integration, and a decision tree.
Read guide - Workflow·Intermediate·14 min read
Building a Click + Tracks Playback Rig: From Laptop to Multi-Output Interface
How to build a live-performance playback rig that runs click + backing tracks reliably — interface sizing, routing rules, software comparison, and what to do when the laptop crashes.
Read guide - Workflow·Intermediate·12 min read
Redundant Playback: Two Laptops, an Auto-Switching Interface, and Why You Need One
How to build a fail-safe live playback rig with primary + backup laptops, an auto-switching audio interface, and a failover workflow you can actually trust on a Sunday morning.
Read guide - Workflow·Pro / advanced·11 min read
SMPTE Timecode for Worship and Touring: Locking Tracks, Lights, and Video
LTC vs MTC vs MIDI Clock, how to generate timecode from Ableton or Playback, how lighting and video receive it, and the frame-rate mistake that drifts every show.
Read guide - Workflow·Intermediate·8 min read
Click Track Bleed: How to Stop the Audience Hearing Your Metronome
Where click track bleed actually comes from, the routing rules that prevent it, and the side-chain trick that saves a vocal mic when isolation isn’t enough.
Read guide - Wireless·Pro / advanced·10 min read
Wireless Frequency Coordination for In-Ear Monitors
Why your wireless mics and IEMs need a frequency plan, what intermodulation means in practice, and how to coordinate channels for a clean show.
Read guide - Wireless·Intermediate·11 min read
Antenna Distribution and Combining for Wireless IEMs and Mics
When you need a combiner vs a distro, active vs passive, cable choice and length math, and how to scale a 4-pack rig into an 8 or 12-pack without intermod nightmares.
Read guide - Networking·Intermediate·9 min read
Dante vs MADI vs AES50: Which Audio Network Should You Use?
A practical comparison of the three audio-over-network protocols you’ll encounter in a rack rig, with guidance on when each one is the right pick.
Read guide - Workflow·Intermediate·9 min read
Tactile Transducers for Drummers and Bassists Using IEMs
Why sealed in-ears strip the low-end feel from drums and bass, what throne shakers and platform shakers actually do, and how to wire one without runaway sub-bass.
Read guide