TC Electronic MONITOR PILOT monitor controller

Tried and True TC Flight

Literally thousands of world-leading recording and mastering studios, as well as film, post and broadcast facilities, have relied on our tried-and-true high-end monitor controllers like CLARITY X, SYSTEM 6000, BMC2 and LEVEL PILOT over several decades. Yes, we know monitor control, which is your guarantee that when you are flying with the MONITOR PILOT, you can have absolute peace of mind that you’re in for a smooth and safe flight!

We even got you a seat in First Class with a delicious and complementary three-course menu of unparalleled flexibility, transparent connectivity and direct access to volume level and stereo speaker selection right at your fingertips.

Meet and Greet with the Pilot

First of all, you can connect up to three stereo speaker sets on fully balanced, 22 dBu line level professional XLR connectors, as well as a pair of headphones on a ¼” TRS jack connector, which is conveniently available on the front panel.

On the input side, you will find another pair of balanced XLR connectors ready to take on the main output from your audio interface. On top of that, you also have the option of connecting any media device via the 1/8” mini jack connector on the front panel. Note that it will happily entertain balanced as well as unbalanced signals, depending on what device you connect.

Once you have installed your MONITOR PILOT, you are set for seamless and transparent switching between speakers, as well as clear visual indication of which speakers are currently active.

Smooth and Elegant Integration

Most pilots are used to going just about anywhere and adapting seamlessly to the destination. MONITOR PILOT is no exception. The most visible part of the system is the remote control, which combines a sleek design with tactile deliciousness and a tiny footprint. In short, it will not take up a lot of desktop real estate and with a solid rubber base, it will sit firmly wherever you decide it should reside. Finally, the single-cable connection keeps your desktop clutter free.

The I/O box can be easily mounted on top of your desk, or underneath the table for easy access to the headphones output and 1/8” mini jack input. Since it’s also an all-analog solution, the MONITOR PILOT is completely computer independent, making integration an absolute breeze.

Precision Control. Sonic Integrity. Pure Quality.

The solid aluminum knob gives you a tactile feel of ultimate precision control and pure quality. Yes, your work is all about audio, but having a tool at your fingertips that actually feels amazing only supports your overall studio experience.

Now, on the audio side, it gets even better! The VCA based circuit ensures L/R level tracking with very little risk of imbalance even at low playback levels. Most audio interfaces, digital mixers and other digital audio devices are restricted to digital attenuation of the output signal, reducing the digital-to-analog converter resolution, ultimately rendering a poorer output sound quality. Using MONITOR PILOT as your post-DAW analog level control ensures unrivaled sonic integrity of your Main Out audio signal.

Finally, MONITOR PILOT is ready to fly with all headphones, supporting a wide impedance range from 8 to 600 Ohm. And with 18dB trimming, it covers the sensitivity range across virtually all headphones on the market.

Calibrated Listening

With individual trim pots for speaker outputs, you can keep the playback levels even across the various speaker sets you have connected. In short, no level jumps when you switch between speakers. But why is that important?

Well, our ears and brain react differently to various listening levels. For instance, voices live in the mid-range, which is likely the reason why our brain emphasizes the mid-range at low levels, while we allow more bass and treble to come through at higher listening levels. Consequently, if you mix at low levels you would be likely to boost the lows and highs more than you would at a higher listening level.

Now, there can be many reasons for mixing at low or high levels, but whatever the case you should make sure that the level is consistent, as jumping levels will affect your all-important mixing decisions. Simply keep your playback at the same SPL with MONITOR PILOT and take your mixing approach to the next level – even when using headphones.

In conclusion, you get a more informed starting point that will ultimately allow you to make better calls when mixing and mastering your productions.