Does anybody use In-Ear Monitors?

[nutstae]

Hi guys,

From where I live, the places I have gigged at, they are terrible monitoring system where the vocal is not heard from the band's sides.

It forces me to sing harder with straining and makes everyone tired.

I was wondering if anyone is using in ear monitors? if so can you suggest me affordable & reliable ones?

Thank you

 

[aleclee]

I use IEMs. If you go searching on the topic you're likely to discover

1. "Inexpensive" and "Good" are two terms rarely found together with IEMs
2. You'll probably want a way to customize your IEM mix if only to add "more me"
3. Many people don't like the disconnected feeling. It's a lot like playing through high-isolation headphones.
4. Custom molds and 3-driver models are highly recommended

 

[jrjones]

I know that feeling. There are a few ways to accomplish what you're wanting. We could talk all day about practicing enough that you naturally sing it how you do and trusting yourself, but let be honest, there's a certain confidence that comes from being able to hear it, especially being able to hear clearly. So, how to accomplish this...you could try having them bypass the power amp for a wedge and run the aux out of the board straight into a snake, come out of the snake into a headphone amp (rolls pm50 is a solid choice for relatively cheap), get a cable to run from that to your earphones. The downside here is that you are tethered to the headphone amp and movement is limited by the cable. Another option that would probably be better received would be to buy a wireless system and ask the sound guy to plug straight into it from the feed to the monitor instead of sending to the wedge. If you're going for bang for the buck, carvin has one that I don't think you'll beat.

Now that we've looked at delivery, even more important - the sound source. My opinion is that customs are worth the extra money. Why? The biggest reason is that they're made for your ears so you get a better seal from outside sound, meaning you don't have to compete with the sound of everything else around you to hear, so your mix could be a little quieter than you're used to and you could hear better. The other selling point is that you can spec how many drivers you want. I like triple drivers, have owned a pair for 5 years now and use them 3-5 nights a week for this. They still work and fit perfectly. This is TGP where people spend $20,000 on their rig, don't skimp on the piece of gear reproducing your "holy grail" of tone. You wouldn't want the sound at your gig to be bottom of the barrel, so don't treat your ears to that quality of audio reproduction.

I want to be up front that if you're big on the "in the room" feel you should be prepared to hate IEMs, especially at first. My opinion is that te trade-offs are worth it.

 

[griggsterr]

Try the Galaxy audio AS1100 or AS 1800 it's frequency agile, I'm sure the guy above has had good experiences with Carvin, PA gear, however I have not. and at least dual driver ear buds, I don't mind the sound of a good single driver but the dual driver is usually a good bit louder because of the lower impedence. I can say you are probably looking at least $650 or more for a good set up.

 

[griggsterr]

However if you price that opposed with the cost of a really good powered floor wedge it's probably close to the same

 

[aleclee]

Now that we've looked at delivery, even more important - the sound source. My opinion is that customs are worth the extra money. Why? The biggest reason is that they're made for your ears so you get a better seal from outside sound, meaning you don't have to compete with the sound of everything else around you to hear, so your mix could be a little quieter than you're used to and you could hear better. The other selling point is that you can spec how many drivers you want.

Another point is that custom IEMs are much more comfortable than off the shelf models. Mine replaced noise canceling headphones for travel.

 

[treeofpain]

You really have 2 things to look at. One is the transmitter/receiver, which is similar to a wireless microphone. That is pretty straightforward.

The other issue is the buds you use. As others have said, it's a balance of cost vs quality like anything else. I use the Shure SE425 (this is the buds only), which sound great, are very comfortable, and offer excellent isolation if you want that. You actually get several different types of earpieces that you can try for different levels of isolation.

At $300, they have dual drivers and fit nicely in the ear. Much better than the cheaper options I have used. I am sure if you go with custom molds and triple or quad drivers, you will get even better performance, but it's just a matter of cost at some point.

 

[rdamato]

I've been using them for 5 years and I agree that a good set of "Universal" will work as well as customs. Spend the money and the Transmiter/Receiver.

 

[Cgkindler]

e425 user here as well.

Love them! VERY clear, excellent fit with the foam pieces they come with.

I ended up having about $220 in mine new, but that's back when GC would discount stuff....nowadays, who knows.


For your needs (which sounds like you just need to be able to hear the singer/yourself?) e215's would do the trick, just to get you in the ballpark and see if you like em!

Good luck!

 

[eclecto-acoustic]

My only advice is follow the advice above, and either do it right or don't do it at all. Crappy IEMs are the worst.

 

[Gasp100]

I use a Shure PSM200 system with the included SE215's and love them... I am looking to upgrade the buds to e425's or similar.

 

[MikeNiteRail]

I am looking for recommendations - $700 to $1,000 - Wireless to work with a Mackie 1608? Currently I use a K10 and controll my own mix via Mackie Mix Fader 3.0.

 

[griggsterr]

Hi guys,

From where I live, the places I have gigged at, they are terrible monitoring system where the vocal is not heard from the band's sides.

It forces me to sing harder with straining and makes everyone tired.

I was wondering if anyone is using in ear monitors? if so can you suggest me affordable & reliable ones?

Thank you

Try the Galaxy audio AS 1100, they sell for around $400 a set, and you will need to buy a better quality earbud than the standard one the comes with it. If you want really good, you can get their AS1800, but they run around $7-800

 

[crambone]

I use IEMs in church every week. Shure PSM700 with 1964ears V6-Stage's. Before that it was a set of Shure SE102's from a simple Rolls headphone amp (no limiter).

Night and day difference. Just to echo what has already been stated, going cheap is worthless in the end. Do it right the first time and don't worry about it again.

 

[MikeNiteRail]

I am looking hard at the Shure PSM300 that comes with the 215's. I also peeked at the Galaxy AS 1100, but it appears to cross into 600Mhz, which isn't ideal, right?

At any rate...the Shure is a package deal with so-so ear buds (I am assuming). Is there a similar transmitter/belt pack to the Galaxy AS 1000 that isn't in 600mhz? I like the idea of getting something like the 1100 and then nice in ears like the 1964ears rather than an all-in-one with not so nice ear buds. Maybe the 215's from Shure would work find?

I am a total newb to this and know next to nothing other than I worked with a band that used all IEM's this past weekend (I had to use a wedge), and I am really interested in transitioning. From what I've read, they would work in all the regular gig situations I am in, which include monitor feeds and almost always my own mix. I already do something similar with my QSC K10. I run direct and feed the PA from the back and then put the monitor mix in channel 2 of the K10.

I have a budget of around $1,000, but I was hoping to stay closer to $700, but it would appear tough to do if I want at least dual drivers and stereo. I also would like to go wireless with my rig which will run me $259 for what I need. I see huge benefits to running totally wireless as it lets me run around the stage. Seems moot to have wireless IEMs and then to be tethered to my pedal board.

Thanks!

 

[Greatdane]

I use a cheaper system: LD MEI1000 G2 and bought the Shure e215s. Dor me/us this is perfect. Way better than sharing a crappy monitor on the floor. Like having a cd in your ears. More expensive systems and earbuds should sound better but for us this is more than good enough: good sound, no dropout or hissing.

 

[nutstae]

Thank you guys for the response.
so PSM300 with se215 or se415 would be an ok start, i guess?

 

[rowdyyates]

We decided it was all or none on IEM's, so the band all got Behringer P16m's for mixing, three of us got AS 1100's (drums and keys don't need wireless), and various IEM's. I use three driver Westones and like them a lot. We'd never go back. If it's a small stage I don't bother with wireless, just add an extension. I've used IEM's with Aviom for years at church. The Behringers work fine, especially for the price.