in ear monitors

[theGeek]

so my band played a show last night that had some serious monitoring issues... it was rough.

so I'm decided that we need to look into to in ear monitors. I've never really spent the time looking at them until today and HOLY $#!% they are expensive!!

But I heard that we can get one transmitter and, if we don't mind having the exact same mix, we can run all the receivers from that single transmitter.

Now, I'm looking for advice/thoughts. I know i can spend anywhere from $200 for a nady to about $2000 for a Shure setup.

I won't make any type of illusions about my band... we're not big. We just want to hear what's going on.

[soundawg]

I don't know how many guys you got in the band - but we tried this a few years ago with 4 units (about $600 per unit).

With only one hooked up it was passable - but as we added more it got bad, and 4 at the same time were unuseable.

I hope the technology has been bettered, but I haven't tried since.

So - my advice is make sure you try as many units as you would like to run at once, or don't bother at all. Testing just one will not help you.

Soundawg

[theGeek]

thanks. do I have to use a shure receiever with a shure transmitter? Or can I just set any receiver to whatever frequency I'm using?

[Space Station]

Originally Posted by theGeek

so my band played a show last night that had some serious monitoring issues... it was rough.

so I'm decided that we need to look into to in ear monitors. I've never really spent the time looking at them until today and HOLY $#!% they are expensive!!

But I heard that we can get one transmitter and, if we don't mind having the exact same mix, we can run all the receivers from that single transmitter.

Now, I'm looking for advice/thoughts. I know i can spend anywhere from $200 for a nady to about $2000 for a Shure setup.

I won't make any type of illusions about my band... we're not big. We just want to hear what's going on.

Hi I use the shure psm400 system..ive found it be excellent quality wise..the only thing is that with the PSM400 you get shure E3 earbuds which are pretty crappy..dont get me wrong they do the job..and if you like no bottom end and a fairly harsh middly tone you'll be ok with them....I replaced them with westone UM2's which are frankly amazing...it's like night a day..much, much better ear seal and fit to the ear and a superb full vocal/band sound.

You can run as many receivers as you want off of one transmitter..its just like a radio so as many people can listen in as are wanting to.....but like you said you all have to share the same mix..

which in the band I play in right now wouldn't be very good..I sing too.. harmonies etc so I dont want the other vocalist blasting in my ear..I wanna ego mix memememe

The shure has mix mode that switches it from one stereo mix to two mono mixes which is what I use..that way you get two monitor mixes out of one transmitter. You have a L-R balance control on your receiver which acts like a balance control between the two mixes in mono mode...i dont think any of the other makes do this
and personally I find it invaluable..

But im still in two minds about IEM generally..I think for small bands that dont have a sound guy they can be a nightmare..

Did a show recently without our sound guy...4 bands were playing....got an amazing IEM mix in soundcheck..came out onstange opened first song...none of my vocals at all in my mix..just the other singer full blast and out of tune in my ears..she was out of tune cos she had nothing in her ear either ..the monitors on stage were switched off too...absolute nightmare!

Basically if they go wrong it's worse than a bad monitor mix in my book!

[tedpenn]

Originally Posted by theGeek

so my band played a show last night that had some serious monitoring issues... it was rough.

so I'm decided that we need to look into to in ear monitors. I've never really spent the time looking at them until today and HOLY $#!% they are expensive!!

But I heard that we can get one transmitter and, if we don't mind having the exact same mix, we can run all the receivers from that single transmitter.

Now, I'm looking for advice/thoughts. I know i can spend anywhere from $200 for a nady to about $2000 for a Shure setup.

I won't make any type of illusions about my band... we're not big. We just want to hear what's going on.

I'm not sure if you're still looking or considering in-ears but here's my 2 cents..

The type of monitoring problems you are no-doubt frustrated with in traditional wedges (inconsistency from venue to venue, feedback, poor sound quality, room interaction, high SPLs, etc.) are solvable with in-ear systems. Unfortunately, some of the same qualities that make IEMs great also make them a bit more work.

With IEMs you really have to have your mixes dialed in because you're relatively isolated. With wedges if you have a bad mix, you can kindof rely on stage sound and what's coming through the mains (FOH) to get you by. But, with IEMs a bad mix turns an inconvenience/pain into a disaster. Since you become so reliant on the monitor mixes (and thereby whoever sets them) you really must either travel with your own sound guy, or mix them yourselves.

The most successful setups I have seen (on this level, as in not touring with your own engineer[s] etc.) involve the the band traveling with all their own mics, stands (ASIDE: you can use clips/clamps instead of big bulky stands for many things including drums and amps), cables, split snake, digital mixer (something like a Yamaha O1V96), and in-ear transmitters/receivers.

This provides the following benefits:

1. Consistency- Your setup is exactly the same every night. With minor tweaks here and there to adjust for different room acoustics your sound remains the same.

2. Recallability- Here's where the digital mixer comes in. You take your time at a rehearsal where there's no pressure, getting your in-ear mixes absolutely perfect, all the way down to effects and panning if you like. Then you simply recall your settings at soundcheck and rock on. You can even store scene's for different venues if there are places you play on a regular basis. You might have to make some tweaks in new venues, but at the very least you have a very good starting point.

3. Speed- Mostly due to the above, your soundchecks become very "plug-and-play". Even though there's slightly more gear to haul/setup, there are ways to organize the cables and other equipment so that setup becomes very systematic and fast. This is probably the most critical aspect of the setup I've described, as IEM's can take MUCH longer to setup and soundcheck if you're not careful/well-intentioned and no one (including the house sound guy!) appreciates the band that takes 3 hours to soundcheck, especially if you're the opener.

4. Independence from the House System- The FOH engineer can still do his thing, whatever that is. For the most part, he can even use completely different mics on everything if he likes (with the exception of vocals where it becomes a bit impractical to sing into two mics at once). That way, his world doesn't really change. This can be important, especially if he's very set in his ways about the way he does things, or very inexperienced (both of which you frequently find in small to mid-sized venues).

One additional suggestion would be to consider one or two "room" mics pointed at the crowd that can be blended into your IEM mixes. Otherwise sometimes IEMs can feel a little too isolated.

What does this all mean for your particular setup? Well the bad news is that IEMs take a bit of work and I've just described quite a bit of gear to buy. The good news is that almost all of the gear can be purchased used, and you might even already own a good portion of it. Also, the actual IEM equipment is getting cheaper and you don't necessarily need to buy the top-of-the-line Shures.

I'm not sure of the specifics of your particular situation or budget, but if you consider the typical investment a band that plays on a regular basis already has in instruments, gear, a van/trailer or bus, etc., the additional costs of going to IEMs are usually within the realm of reasonable.

If I can be of any help regarding specifics or need to clarify anything, feel free to ask. Good luck!

Ted

[HeavyG]

I totally know what you are going through...our last show was a complete disaster. I purchased a 6 channel headphone amp for my project studio (RANE HC6..$90 used on eBay) that I think would work perfect for this situation. I own a set of Shure e3Cs (the single driver in ear model about$200)..and they are pretty good. The new 530 Shures can be had for around $300 on eBay sometimes and they are awesome. Kenny Aronoff and a number of big artists swear by them...


I am going to start bringing my Headphone amp (running the "monitor out" mix from our main board) with my IEMs for the next show. I have tried it in rehearsal (since we practice in my studio) and it is bad ass...its a little more work than just sticking a wedge in front of you...but it will be an exact copy of your main mix and they isolate pretty well (with noise cancelling...I highly recommed you get the black memory foam inserts from the Shure store...they are VERY GOOD. You can pay $200 just to have custom fitted inserts for your IEMs which would be $400 total or more and you may not even like them....these foams are $15).

Good luck...

[John Willett]

The two most popular IEMs are the Shure (as has been mentioned) and the Sennheiser ew 300 IEM G2.

[musicjon]

This gadget makes using IEM's a joy. Everybody gets a stereo mix, and it includes a splitter.

ALLEN & HEATH :: WORLD CLASS MIXERS

[HeavyG]

Originally Posted by musicjon

This gadget makes using IEM's a joy. Everybody gets a stereo mix, and it includes a splitter.

ALLEN & HEATH :: WORLD CLASS MIXERS

What a great board...I want one.

[petessound@hotm]

i would just like to ecco what space station said.

the reason your monitor mix was bad was not because you were on wedges but because the engineer wasnt on his game.

if you run IEM you are much more reliant on your monitor mix as you have no FOH or stage sound, this makes you even more reliant on the monitor engineer.

if you have a bad engineer doing your IEM it will be much worse than being on a bad wedge mix. ive seen it, its not nice and heads roll

but if you have a good engineer doing your IEM its great.

i would find a good monitor guy and pay him to do your monitors (it may well be cheaper), if you still have problems then go in ears

Pete