In-Ear Monitoring Systems for my church - $1,000-$1,500 to spend...

[Delayed Delay]

So my church is on a really tight budget, but I need to get 4 in-ear monitoring systems (4 packs, 4 receivers) for my youth group music ministry. We set up and tear down every week, so Aviom or anything else like that is out of the question. Plus, I need to minimize cables on stage as much as possible. Therefore, wireless in-ears seem the most sensible route.

So far, I've only been able to find some stuff by Galaxy... are they any good? Or would the Galaxy brand just crap out on me? We won't even have the budget for the $1,000-$1,500 until September, so should I just try and push for more to try and get the Shure PSM 200 systems?

I'm really hoping the Galaxy brand would work well... but I know, I know... "You get what you pay for."... just hoping they're an underrated brand is all.

Any tips or places to look for great deals would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Reincaster]

The Galaxy stuff is okay. The cheaper stuff is locked to a specific channel.

Carvin's EM900 comes with MUCH better earbuds than the Galaxy stuff, and has selectable channels. $349 for a transmitter and receiver pair with buds.

 

[speakerjones]

I would try to spring for the Shures if possible. Remember to budget for a rack to keep them in, assuming you don't have one.

 

[3dognate]

The carvin is a good choice over the Galaxy and performs admirably. Half my band uses the Carvin units. Of course, you'd do well with Shure if you can swing it... Budget for extra sets of ear buds, and if sharing (ew, I'm a you use 'em ... You own 'em kinda guy.) to get a bunch if disinfecting wipes to really clean them before and after.

 

[Cooters23]

The carvin is a good choice over the Galaxy and performs admirably.

My experience has been the exact opposite. The Carvin units I've owned personally and known close friends to own have all been decent sound quality at best and all have had reliability issues. The Galaxy AS1100 with upgraded buds would definitely be my choice.

 

[fisticuffs]

I'd save up for the Shures.

 

[3dognate]

My experience has been the exact opposite. The Carvin units I've owned personally and known close friends to own have all been decent sound quality at best and all have had reliability issues. The Galaxy AS1100 with upgraded buds would definitely be my choice.

Only issue we've had has been the Battery pack wants to fall out on our singer's unit when he jumps and goes ape **** sometimes... gaffer's tape solved that. But he's crazy and jumps around and off stuff...

 

[Ryan]

So my church is on a really tight budget, but I need to get 4 in-ear monitoring systems (4 packs, 4 receivers) for my youth group music ministry. We set up and tear down every week, so Aviom or anything else like that is out of the question. Plus, I need to minimize cables on stage as much as possible. Therefore, wireless in-ears seem the most sensible route.

I've played at two churches who set up and tore down every week, both used Aviom.

 

[Delayed Delay]

I've played at two churches who set up and tore down every week, both used Aviom.

I understand other people and churches have done it, it's just not an option for us. We have a VERY limited window of setup/tear down time, and it's mostly high school students helping. The wireless packs would be perfect for our rack unit, and we wouldn't have to deal with all the wires from the aviom system.

 

[Benjam226]

My experience has been the exact opposite. The Carvin units I've owned personally and known close friends to own have all been decent sound quality at best and all have had reliability issues. The Galaxy AS1100 with upgraded buds would definitely be my choice.

I used to use the old Carvin IEM system (PM1000?) for regional touring and it was a piece of junk. However, they have since ditched the old series and now have the newer system. I'm interested to see/hear how they perform.

BTW, we use 3 Shure PSM400's (newer X-Band 500mHz). Two are run in stereo and one is set to dual mono (mix mode) which actually allows you to run 2 separate mixes off of one unit and frequency and use the pan knob on the belt packs hard left for Mix 2 and hard right for mix 3. Only the PSM 400 units do this, and I wish others did, so I'd only half to buy half the transmitters.

Hoping to go to the PSM900's one day.

 

[powermatt99]

There are definite diminishing returns with anything higher than the lowest level Shures. You can spend a lot more money, but the sound quality may not improve much. If I were a touring pro, I'd be using the PSM900s but for playing at church and the occasional weekend gig, I don't need any more features than what the PSM200s offer.

 

[Benjam226]

There are definite diminishing returns with anything higher than the lowest level Shures. You can spend a lot more money, but the sound quality may not improve much. If I were a touring pro, I'd be using the PSM900s but for playing at church and the occasional weekend gig, I don't need any more features than what the PSM200s offer.

While I agree with you on your above point for the most part, I will say that having stereo IEM's do make a HUGE difference in mix quality. The PSM 200 system does not do that, which is the only reason we got the PSM 400's. I used Mono IEM's for about 6 years, and after switching to stereo, I will never go back.

 

[powermatt99]

While I agree with you on your above point for the most part, I will say that having stereo IEM's do make a HUGE difference in mix quality. The PSM 200 system does not do that, which is the only reason we got the PSM 400's. I used Mono IEM's for about 6 years, and after switching to stereo, I will never go back.

Yeah. I agree with you. What I was getting at is that most churches don't have the capability to run several stereo sends for IEMs. Heck, we have a 2,500-seat auditorium and we're stick rocking an analog board with 8 aux sends into old JBL wedges loaded with super sweet E120-8 drivers.

 

[rickenbackerkid]

The Galaxy, Carvin and Shure PSM 200 are not good choices. A lot of bands and churches spend money on low end gear, only to realize that what they have brought is not doing a great job, and they are going to have to go shopping all over again.

My recommendation is 2x wired Shure PSM 400 and 1x Sennheiser EW300-2. The EW300-2 is a set which has one transmitter but two receivers, so you can get two (mono) wireless mixes. Total Price: $1757

If you contact a local reseller, you could probably do even better.

This is pro level gear - Hillsong United are touring with this setup - wired PSM400's for Keys and Drums, Sennheiser G3 wireless for everyone else.

The PSM400's come in decent plastic storage cases, so they will stay in good condition. You can also buy a second transmitter for the Senny at some point, so you can run 2 stereo mixes.

Unless you really need wireless (which you probably don't), get 4x of the Shure PSM400, wired is more reliable and sounds better.

 

[Icegator8]

Check out the Audio Technica stuff. Definitely better than the PSM200. Can be had used for reasonable prices.