PTH (Push-To-Hear) or other method to hear talking when wearing In-Ears

Andrew Broughton

Andrew Broughton

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Feb 2, 2011
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Just wondering if anyone has come up with a good solution for technicians who wear in-ears who need to also occasionally hear people talking to them. Shure used to make a product called the PTH, which was an inline mic that went between the IEM receiver and your in-ears and you could press it to turn on the mic to hear what people were saying without removing your in-ears.

On many tours, backline technicians use in-ears as well to hear what their respective band member is hearing, and have need to hear people talking to them as well. A complicated solution would be a wireless Lav into a channel on the monitor desk that feeds only to that technician's (or player's) mix that he can turn on or off as needed...

What have people seen being used? I'm sure somebody's found something better than pulling your moulds in and out all the time...
 
Re: PTH (Push-To-Hear) or other method to hear talking when wearing In-Ears

Andy, the ACS system that Nick mentioned will actually do exactly what you want. The mics for the 'ambience' are in the IEM drivers themselves, and you can switch them in and out on the inline beltpack that drives the system. So in this way you can switch them on just when you wan't to hear whats around you
 
Re: PTH (Push-To-Hear) or other method to hear talking when wearing In-Ears

We use backline/tech switch mics on each post onstage (backliners, mon, stage technician) fed to matrix inputs on the desk where they are mixed with each persons' mix send, so if anyone needs to talk to us onstage they only need to open the mic next to each of us. Is not perfect but quickens the workflow. Not exactly what you look for, tho...
 
PTH (Push-To-Hear) or other method to hear talking when wearing In-Ears

Thanks, Chris;

It's a pretty elaborate and expensive solution, with more parts and connectors than necessary, not to mention custom IEMs.
A $50 PTH replacement would be perfect, but I've been unable to find anything so far.
I'm really surprised that say people listening to their TV or watching a movie with headphones/earbuds aren't looking for a push to hear solution too.
The closest thing is an iPhone app that lets you turn on the phone's mic while listening to music.

Carlos, I'm looking for something portable so that no matter where the tech is, he can inject outside sound into his ears.


Sent from my iPhone
 
Re: PTH (Push-To-Hear) or other method to hear talking when wearing In-Ears

Andrew Broughton said:
Thanks, Chris;

It's a pretty elaborate and expensive solution, with more parts and connectors than necessary, not to mention custom IEMs.
A $50 PTH replacement would be perfect, but I've been unable to find anything so far.
I'm really surprised that say people listening to their TV or watching a movie with headphones/earbuds aren't looking for a push to hear solution too.
The closest thing is an iPhone app that lets you turn on the phone's mic while listening to music.

Carlos, I'm looking for something portable so that no matter where the tech is, he can inject outside sound into his ears.


Sent from my iPhone
Click to expand...

My brother answers your question - we just pop them out. In most listening environments where we are using headphones/earbuds, it's quiet enough for that to be applicable. In our case, however, we are working on something and usually also in a very, very loud environment where we would like hearing protection. A necessity for us does not exist in the consumer world.

If I were to do this, I probably would just make a little beltpack of my own with a preamp, switch, and a quick summing circuit. It wouldn't be ideal, but you could plug in a dynamic lav and get the result you want.
 
Re: PTH (Push-To-Hear) or other method to hear talking when wearing In-Ears

I am very much considering finding the right mixer IC to build a replacement for the PTH that can inject a mic signal mixed with the output of an IEM pack, or maybe even modding an IEM pack to add a mic input.
This is something I think would be really useful!


Sent from my iPhone
 
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