How to Build a Hypnosis Office Sound System on a Tight Budget

How to Have a Hypnosis Sound Setup for Roughly $175

(or under $65 if you play your cards right)

[To download this article as a PDF, click here.  For a Shopping List for this build, go to the bottom of the page.]

My friend, mentor, and co-author, Dr. Richard Nongard, has posted several videos to YouTube explaining the sound setup he uses in his office, and I’ve also written a review of the same system he uses.

Of course, music, a microphone, and headphones are by no means a necessity for doing hypnosis, but they do add an element of "specialness" to the session, as well as facilitating the use of binaural beat technology, not to mention recording. A study commissioned by the makers of Hypnoke found that visual imagery was intensified in subjects who used headphones. For those of us who don’t have separate “hypnotic furniture” to move the clients to for the formal hypnosis, putting on the headphones is one way to mark that the hypnotic ritual is beginning.

Now, Nongard can be trusted to find high-quality equipment at moderate prices, and I will be the first to admit that his setup is more versatile, durable, and impressive than the one I present here. But many hypnotists know that starting a practice can be expensive; any way to save is helpful in the salad days of a hypnosis business.

So I have set out to discover just how affordably a new hypnotist can accomplish something similar to what Nongard has. It's important to consider that this setup is meant to sit in your office; it's not designed to serve a dual purpose as a stage hypnosis PA system. It also isn't meant to excite audiophiles; it's just meant to get the job done. That said, I’m very pleased with the result; in my opinion, the system described here sounds just as good as, if not better than, the one that I reviewed earlier.

I’m going to present a basic build that comes in just under $125. For slightly more, we’re going to add a recording function, and for just a bit on top of that, we’re going to add speakers so that you have background music during the intake. Even the deluxe version comes in just under $175. Of course, this build is modular, so it’s possible to build a less expensive system and then upgrade as you are able.

The basic build assumes that you are starting from scratch, but I’m going to include a few tips on how to utilize things you already may own to save yourself a few extra dollars. Then I’m going to tell you how I got the cost down to under $65.

So, what exactly does this setup have to achieve?

            *take input from your vocal microphone

            *take input from a music source (including binaural beats)

            *balance your voice and the music

            *produce output to headphones for you and your client

Other nice options would include:

            *produce output to a recorder, so that your client can have a session recording

            *upload the recording to Dropbox or Google Drive

            *produce output to speakers, so that your office can have ambient music

Lets discuss those steps one at a time, shall we?

Microphone for Your Voice

That's the most important thing, right?

Microphones come in two types: condenser and dynamic. Condenser mics are more expensive and have better quality, but are not as rugged and require phantom power in order to operate. While you can choose to upgrade to a condenser mic with this system (or even just a better dynamic mic), I’m going to recommend a very basic and inexpensive but sturdy dynamic microphone made by Nady. It can be had for only $11.

Now, I did test a less-expensive microphone, which I found to be unsatisfactory. The Nady actually sounds as good as the mics that come with Vocopro system.

Remember, you’re not recording your hit single here. You just want something that gets the job done.

A Brief Note about Wireless Technology:

You may be tempted to use a wireless or Bluetooth microphone, headset, or headphones in your office, especially because being free from all those wires seems really elegant and clean in your office. I admit, I’d love to be a bit more mobile during sessions, and I’d love for my clients to not have to deal with a headphone wire.

But I don’t use wireless in my office, and nor should you unless your office is in the middle of nowhere. I’ve learned from doing music gigs that wireless mics and similar tech can broadcast over a wide area. I’ve been at festivals where another band’s guitar was suddenly playing through my gear, or where my off-color jokes were being blasted at the joust field. While those incidents were inconvenient, broadcasting a client’s session is a violation of confidentiality; it’s unethical, unprofessional, and in some places, possibly illegal.

If your clients ever seem a bit bothered by the wires, mention that you use wires because you care about keeping your clients’ information safe.

A Music Source

Not every hypnotist uses background music, so I suppose I could have listed this as optional—but I really can't imagine why you wouldn't want some soothing music in your office. I even carry a CD of soothing music with me when I teach classes at the jail. Besides, a big part of the reason to use this arrangement is to employ binaural beats and other brainwave entrainment, and the easiest way to accomplish that is to incorporate them into your music.

You probably already have a music source, whether it's a CD player with an external output, an mp3 player, a smart phone, tablet, or even your laptop/desktop computer. If you have something like that, use it.

Now, in case you don't have anything like that, the least expensive mp3 player that I would consider using runs $13-$15 including shipping, though you’ll need to be patient as it makes its way from China. The nice thing about this particular mp3 player is that it doubles as a USB memory stick, and you can load music onto it just by sliding it into a USB slot.

The only downside is that it runs on a AAA battery, so you’ll want to have some spares in your desk drawer. By the way, if you want to be sure you never run out, you can buy batteries in bulk, without packaging, from Battery Junction and save a lot of money in the long run.

As an aside, I buy these particular mp3 players in bulk—and in my company color—load ‘em up with mp3s for stress release, better sleep, and so on, and then give them as gifts to valued clients. I send my clients to this video and this video to help them learn how to use the device.

If you are interested in a more conventional approach, you can use an iPod or Zune. When I set up my new office, I found that you can acquire used iPods on Craigslist for under $60. In keeping with our directive to do this project for the least possible, I've listed the mini-player on my pricing chart. Of course, if you already have some other device you are comfortable using, use it. (If you use a smartphone, set it on Airplane Mode so that incoming calls and texts won’t get blasted through your speakers.)

Any of these options have far more storage capacity than you will ever need for your hypnosis practice; you really don't need a thousand hours of background music.

On the subject of music, Dan Kern produces music suitable for hypnosis sessions with the binaural beats already mixed in. If you’re not in the place to afford Dan’s excellent work, I’m including a link to a few mp3s I’ve created using no-cost royalty-free music with nature sounds and brainwave entrainment tones.

A Mixer

Musicians are familiar with these. Basically, a mixer does just what it sounds like it should; it takes multiple signals and combines them into one output signal. Typically each input channel has its own gain control so that you can balance them; in other words, you can make sure that the music doesn't overpower your voice, and vice-versa.

Now, there is really no limit to how fancy and expensive a mixer can be, but for our purposes, I recommend a simple one made by Samson.  It takes five inputs of various types and provides two types of output.

The Samson runs on an AC adapter, which is important. I hate nothing more than having to change out batteries in the middle of a session. Also, it allows for upgrades to a better microphone in the future. Best of all, it’s just under $50.

Headphone Expansion

Of course, once you have your voice, the music, and any other nifty effects mixed together, you'll want to be able to send that signal to your client's headphones—and probably your own headphones, if only so that you can make sure the balance is right.

There are headphone splitters that will give you two signals, and for our purposes, that’s the least expensive route, running you under $4 after shipping.

However, for a few dollars more, you can get one that will split the signal five ways, like this $11 splitter from Belkin. After all, it's nice to be able to run headphones to more than one client and to record the mix you've created while you're doing the session.

There are also headphone amplifiers, which will take your one signal and split it into four while giving you more control over individual volume. These range from a $20 model from Pyle to a $40 model from CAD to the one I drool after, the ART HeadAmp4 Headphone Amplifier. It will send one input to four different sets of headphones, quarter-inch or eighth-inch, and costs about $65.

Headphones

This all comes down to your client being able to hear you, doesn't it? In addition to providing the sound, headphones help to block out external distractions and create the feeling that your client has entered a special, private experience removed from ordinary reality.

Of course, it would be lovely to use Bose noise-canceling headphones, but considering that each set costs more than I pay to rent my office each month, I'm thinking we can start out with an affordable bargain set.

Now, if you wanted to go really cheap, the mp3 player I’m recommending comes with free ear buds, as does the recorder. For that matter, you (or your nearest teenager) probably have some spare ear buds sitting around, or you may network with someone who gives them out for free. But seriously, you don’t want your clients all using the same ear buds, and do you really want to be that obviously broke?

So I’m recommending these headphones as basic and inexpensive: JVC HA-V570 Supra-Aural Headphones. They have good reviews on Amazon and have proven satisfactory in my office. The cords are long enough and have a volume control built-in, and they come with an adapter that increases their versatility. Finally, they’re under $9.

Of course, there’s no limit to what you can spend as your start upgrading headphones. A free membership at http://www.rakuten.com/will give you lots of opportunities to buy headphones at a steep discount.

Now, another option would be to get ART Headphone Amp and pay a little extra for the four sets of “free” headphones that come with it.

Adapters and Cables

Once you have all this gear, you'll need to connect it all. This task is made slightly more complicated by the fact that not all audio jacks and cables are the same. There are basically three formats that we'll deal with:

Eighth-inch (3.5 mm): This is what your iPod has. Most consumer headphones use this size as well.

Quarter-inch: This is what professional musicians use for their instruments and studio headphones.

RCA: This is what most TVs, DVD players, and home stereos use.

To save money on this project, we're using consumer head phones (eighth-inch cord) and a consumer mp3 player (eighth-inch output).

The mic I recommend actually comes with a cord that has quarter-inch output, unlike most mics, which use an XLR cable. However, I recommend that you upgrade to an XLR cable immediately. (There are also USB condenser mics, but those are not part of this build.)

The sticking point is that the Samson mixer has quarter-inch and RCA input and output jacks, along with one XLR input. Fortunately, a variety of adapters are available for next to nothing. (Of course, quality and durability increase with the price, but again, we're not pleasing the audiophile connoisseurs here, nor are we taking the show on tour.)

This is what you'll need in the way of adapters for the basic build:

            *an eighth-inch-to-RCA adapter, for plugging your mp3 player into the mixer

            *an RCA-to-eighth-inch adapter, for output from the mixer

            *an eighth-inch-male-to-dual-female splitter, for plugging in both set of ear buds

            *an eighth-inch-male-to-male patch cable (free with the digital recorder)

The good news is that these cables and adapters don't have to be top-of-the-line. They aren't going to be hauled all over the place in a tour bus or even in a teenager's backpack. So you really won't be spending more than $5 to $10 on connectors.

Optional: Recording

Richard Nongard doesn't record sessions for clients, preferring to give them pre-recorded CDs. Myself, I like to be able to give a client a recording of the session I just customized to the person in my chair; also, a lot of hypnotists starting out haven't built up a stock of pre-recorded sessions to handle every situation.

Now, I used to record sessions to my laptop using Audacity and then spend twenty minutes mixing in music and nature sounds, getting the balance just right, and then burning the recording to a CD. As times have changed, most of my clients are happy to get an mp3, which I upload to DropBox or a similar service. I then send my client a “public link” from DropBox that allows them to download their sessions.

(A lot of people ask, “Why don’t you just send the session recording as an attachment to email, like you would with a song?” Good question—the reason is that the average song is three minutes long, while my sessions tend to run about forty minutes. A three-minute mp3 isn’t much of an attachment, but a forty-minute mp3 is too big to send that way.)

With the setup described in this article, you can either run an eighth-inch cable to your laptop and record with Audacity (a free program), or you can connect a stand-alone voice recorder. Note that if you’re using your computer to provide background music, you can’t also use it record on.

That brings up another question: Why not just record the session live into Audacity and then use a headphone splitter to play it for your client? Here’s the problem with that: Latency. Unless you’ve really spent the bucks on a fast computer—and let’s face it, if you can afford that, you have no reason to be reading this article—when you and your client listen to what you are recording, the playback of your words will be delayed enough to be very disorienting. I suppose you could set up a system in which you record and only your client listens, but then you have no way to balance your voice and the music.

Because my laptop has been plagued with audio problems since the day I bought it, I prefer to rely on an external recorder. Being a musician, I have a really good digital recorder that is well outside the scope and price-range of this project. But for our purposes, all we need is a basic machine that has an eighth-inch input.

Searching the ‘net, I found one that fits the bill. It has external mics, so if you need to use it as a simple voice recorder, you can; but unlike many such devices, it comes with an eighth-inch jack (and cable), making it perfect for our project. It also has a USB cord to connect directly to your computer, allowing quick and easy uploads, as well as charging. And the price is under $40.

Now another option is to use your smartphone or tablet to record. Since I’m an Android guy, I’m going to tell you that it is possible with an Android using a free or cheap recording app—my favorite is Rec Forge Pro—and an inexpensive adapter.  The advantage is that you can then upload the recording directly to DropBox without going through your laptop or desktop.

By the way, if you don’t have an Android device to use for this purpose, you can get a used one rather inexpensively, even less than $85. If you are thinking that you don’t want to pay for a data plan, don’t. You can use a phone with no data plan to connect to the Internet via wifi. (This assumes you have wifi at your office.)

Optional: External Speakers

I like to have soothing music playing in my office at all times. At a recent workshop I did, I took my mp3 player and dock into the workshop room and set it to play my mix of pleasant music with ocean waves. People were trancing out before I said a word! So I'd like our setup to have the option of external sound.

Fortunately, that's easily accomplished. Any set of computer speakers will plug right into the headphone expander. (An adapter may be required.) For our basic build, I’m going with an older set that I acquired for under $14, but you might also step up to this $20 model.

Of course, there’s a decent chance that you have some used computer speakers gathering dust in your closet, or that you can find some at your local thrift store. Something to note when looking at computer speakers is that many of the new models use USB for power and data transfer. If they are using USB only for power, you can power them from the wall with a phone charger. However, if the signal is supposed to go to the speakers via USB, they won’t work for our purposes. Fortunately, that’s a more recent innovation, so you can buy older models that work for this build relatively inexpensively.

If hearing your voice come through the speakers during the session bothers you, you can always turn off or unplug the speakers when you start the formal hypnosis.

Wrapping It Up

So there you have it. Without the recording and external speaker options, the entire setup costs under $110, including shipping and handling. With recording, you’re still getting a great setup for around $130; adding speakers, we’re around $140.

Of course, none of this is absolutely necessary, but then again neither is an office. I've done effective hypnosis sessions in the middle of busy campgrounds. But just like having a comfy chair and a quiet space helps your practice, so does having a sound setup that lets your client know something special is happening. And now you don't have to break the bank to have one when you are just starting out.

Bonus: How to Build this System for Next to Nothing

All right, let’s say that even $125 seems a bit extravagant when you’re putting every penny you have into promoting your practice. Let me tell you how to get this system for under $65.

First off, you’ll notice in the chart that the components have come from three locations: The mp3 player is from AliExpress, the mixer is from Rakuten, and all the rest is from Amazon.

So, you’ll have to shell out $15 or less to get the mp3 player from AliExpress, unless of course you happen to already have some way to provide music.

The Samson mixer costs $49.99 at Rakuten.com. However, if you apply for a Rakuten credit card, you get bonus points equal to—drum roll please—thirty dollars.

That’s right: If you get the credit card—and even with my lousy credit, I got approved—you can get the mixer for less than half price.

You can do essentially the same thing with an Amazon Visa card, only you get a $70 gift card automatically applied to your account upon approval. Guess how much the Amazon portion of this build is? Seventy-eight and some change—and that’s the deluxe version with recording and speakers.

Now, there are a few caveats:

First off, if you can’t be trusted with a credit card, don’t use this method. There are no annual fees on these cards, but the interest is steep, and if you are late on a payment, you might as well bend over because you are about to get sodomized. So my suggestion is get the cards for the freebies, and then never use them again.

Second, Amazon will make the card into your default payment method, so as soon as you get approved, go to your 1-Click settings to change your default back to your usual method.

And that’s how you get all of this for very little money.

You’re welcome.

[FULL DISCLOSURE AND NOTES: The links to Amazon products in this article and in the following chart are affiliate links. If you use them, I will get a small payment from Amazon, so if you appreciated this article, please support my efforts by using the affiliate links. If you hate me but loved the article, look up the products and buy without using my affiliate links.

Also, all prices and offers are accurate at the time of publication, but they may fluctuate. Likewise, products are the least expensive versions that are still functional. In my quest to find the most affordable setup, I tested and rejected some less expensive options.

Finally, I want to express my gratitude to all those who helped fund this project. As promised, a final assembled version of this build will go to one of the contributors who was selected at random. Congratulations to Donna Carter.]

Shopping Chart

Item	Cost	Source
cheap mp3 player	$11.89 (w/ s/h)	aliexpress
3.5 to RCA (mp3-player to mixer)	$5.79	Amazon (free s/h over $35)
Nady Microphone	$11.00	Amazon (free s/h over $35)
XLR Mic Cord (20 ft)	$10.95 + ($3.95 s/h) = $14.90	Amazon (s/h NOT free)
RCA to female 3.5	$1.65	Amazon (free s/h over $35)
3.5 M to Dual 3.5 F	$1.30	Amazon (free s/h over $35)
JVC HA-V570 Supra-Aural Headphones (2)	$13.68 (x2) = $27.36	Amazon (free s/h over $35)
Samson 5-Channel Mixer	$49.99	Rakuten.com (free s/h)
TOTAL:	$123.88 (before recorder)	Amazon total: $48.32
Recorder	$37.99	Amazon (free s/h over $35)
TOTAL w/Recorder:	$161.87	Amazon total: $86.31
Speakers	$13.65	Amazon (free s/h over $35)
TOTAL w/Speakers:	$175.52	Amazon total: $99.96
With Rakuten Card	-$30.00
Amazon Rewards Visa	-$70.00
Final outlay:	$12 for mp3 player plus $30 Amazon plus $20 Rakuten = $62.00