The Mackie HM54 is a 1U rackmount headphone amplifier that features balanced left and right TRS main inputs, as well as left and right TRS “direct inputs” on each of the four channels. From the front panel, each user can select either the main stereo mix with its own input level control, or the stereo direct input on each of the four available channels. In addition, each channel offers its own dedicated headphone volume control, and a button that allows musicians to switch between their custom-crafted direct mixes and the main mix at any time. The HM54 offers a total of eight headphone output jacks—four on the front of the unit, and four on the rear, so that cables can be hidden away where possible.
The Mackie HMX56 is a compact tabletop headphone matrix mixer/amplifier with advanced routing capabilities. The unit features stereo main inputs, which are automatically routed to each of the six discrete headphone outputs. Four additional mono source inputs can be combined as needed with the main input feed on a channel-by-channel basis using the on-board 4 x 6 source matrix. And to identify each source input, Mackie provides a selection of pre-labeled magnets with common instrument names that can be affixed adjacent to each input source row. In addition, the HMX56 also features and individual effects send for each mono source input and stereo main mix channel, as well as an effects return control on each of the six channels.
With all this functionality combined, the HMX56 allows up to six musicians to customize their own headphone mix, and allowing the engineer to focus on other responsibilities.
Both the Mackie HM54 and HM56 will be will be available in early 2005.