Because your head is between the two 😉
Yes, it's time to describe what I learned while visiting a talk station in the 1970s about how they had loudspeakers turned on while also talking on mic.
There were two identical audio boards (mixers) set side by side, with their line outputs combined with a resistor bridge matched to the 600-ohm balanced line and the sum output from both mixers went to the transmitter's audio chain.
But only one of the mixers had an output to the speaker monitors, and that mixer controlled everything EXCEPT the live studios microphones. It had the tape-cartridge machines for spot playback, turntables, CBS Network, microphones located in OTHER studio rooms.
The second mixer, the one not fed to loudspeakers contained all the live microphones within the room.
I hope I have made this setup clear, but otherwise I will try to answer questions.
Totally clear, but from your description, the loudspeaker monitors fed from the live mics are in a different room. This means the operator can hear everything else, but not his own voice., which is what I, for one, am interested in so I can hear how I sound before it goes to the Internet (and the TX').
My setup here is basically like that, but I don't need a separate mixer, I have plenty of separately controlled mains and monitor outputs, including individual channel outs (bal or unbal), as well as routed groups. IOW, someone on the sound stage or outside the building (I have monitors out there as well) can hear all the content because they're isolated from the control room.
In the control room, I can use several methods:
1) I can manually switch off the CT monitors when speaking.
2) I can use the talkback mic which sends signal to the mains and other monitor outputs, but automatically cuts off the CT monitors via its PTT switch.
3) I can use a headset and hear everything all the time.
4) I'm currently vying for best price on a wireless headset/mic combo, which will allow me to go anywhere I want within its range, i.e., the CT, the Sound Stage, outside the studio, etc. Ultimate in freedom.
It all depends on how I choose to route the signals. Different setups for different uses.
Dear Ken Norris:
If I understand your description you are saying that you want to hear your voice coming back from the monitor loudspeakers. This would make it about the same as a public address system, and I personally would not be able to have confidence with how my voice sounded on the air by doing it that way. I would need headphones so I could hear exactly what the microphone was hearing, including room noise.
In the setup I described at the talk station the hosts had headphones available, but the guy I knew never used them. He just talked and trusted the engineer to keep everything balanced. Of course a sole operator wouldn't have an engineer, but all these different ways of solving the problem have made an interesting discussion.
"If I understand your description you are saying that you want to hear your voice coming back from the monitor loudspeakers. This would make it about the same as a public address system, and I personally would not be able to have confidence with how my voice sounded on the air by doing it that way. I would need headphones so I could hear exactly what the microphone was hearing, including room noise."
Well first, even near-field studio monitors are not like a P.A. system. They should run true flat ... although a flat sound can be altered by the control room acoustics (like anything else), and you just have to make a judgement call on what you believe the best compromise is, and set the dynamics accordingly.
Second, sure ... In the CR if I am broadcasting from there, headsets serve a dual purpose, i.e., listening to the system and preventing feedback. Often I share with a DJ, musicians, or speakers on the sound stage. Everyone monitors with headsets.
Third, the sound coming from the internet and from radio receivers is the final test. I do drive tests with several vehicles (which is how most of my non-internet audience listens) to try and determine what effects tweaks to make in the studio. After awhile I've learned what does what when it finally gets to various receivers and players.
SNIP "all these different ways of solving the problem have made an interesting discussion."
Yep, indeed 😉 Even if I ramble a bit here (thanks for putting up with that, y'all), it helps me think things through, what fits with the reality of my particular situation, which may not work for someone else.