IEM Suggestions for Live Use

[nafspark]

At my church, we use wireless in-ear monitoring for all our musicians, and we have four sets of Shure earbuds for musicians to use (E5/E5c/SCL5 [not sure which generation they all are]). Lately, we have been having more musicians who don't own their own earbuds (and can't afford to buy some) playing and we have been running into shortages. As such, we are looking to buy two more pair, but money is too tight to afford the high-end Shures (the ones we have were purchased long before I got there, and presumably before money got tight). I don't think we need something on that high-end of a level, but I don't know where to look. I personally use Etymotic ER-4P's (and love them), but I wouldn't recommend them as community earbuds. Optimally, whatever we purchase would be able to use the Shure yellow foam tips.

Thoughts?

[Kiwi]

They don't really need to be IEM, do they. You could use some cheap headphones - more hygienic. IEM can be too isolating, so some leakage is not a bad thing. I guess it's just a style thing, and IMO there are some good looking cheap headphones, and it shouldn't matter much for church use ... And beggars can't be choosers ...

It amazes me that instrument players dedicate so much of their personal time and money to give their gift to the world - while singers feel that the world owes them all their time and money and won't even buy their own microphones and headsets ....

[nafspark]

Originally Posted by Kiwi

They don't really need to be IEM, do they. You could use some cheap headphones - more hygienic. IEM can be too isolating, so some leakage is not a bad thing. I guess it's just a style thing, and IMO there are some good looking cheap headphones, and it shouldn't matter much for church use ... And beggars can't be choosers ...

It amazes me that instrument players dedicate so much of their personal time and money to give their gift to the world - while singers feel that the world owes them all their time and money and won't even buy their own microphones and headsets ....

IEMs are preferable. I have found that you achieve much better sound quality with IEMs than other options (headphones also tend to fall off and look silly), and musicians who desire some stage noise (of which there is very little) will often just remove one earbud. IEMs are a must for our drummers for the sake of their hearing. As far as the hygeine issue, we do not share the foam tips--only the drivers. We would like to keep things roughly consistent with what we have now so that it isn't a drastic difference if a player gets one set of earbuds a given week instead of another. We aren't begging--we just can't afford $500/pr right now.

I have no idea what your last statement is referencing, but it doesn't make sense to me.

Anywho, specific recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks.