Anyone happily using a wired IEM setup?

iaresee

iaresee

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Trying to convince my band to switch from an old Mackie mixer to a Behringer X32 + IEMs setup. Not everyone wants to pony up for a decent, mid-range wireless IEM solution so we're considering these Powerplay P1 units as a way to drive our IEMs.

I'm thinking it won't be so bad. We're all wired for our instruments anyways so if you just run the extra cable along your instrument cable it'd stay as out of the way as a guitar cable stays. And, of course, the drummer and the keyboard player shouldn't care because they're behind stationary gear already, right?

Anyone using these, live, now? Care to share experience with them? How's the battery life on these boxes? Decent?
 
The bassist, the other guitar, and I used the P1. I mounted mine in my Axe rack and powered it with a pedal power supply, so I can't comment on the battery life. From there, I ran a long 1/8" headphone extension cable to me. The only drawback was that I'd have to walk up to my rig to adjust the volume knob, but in actual use, I never actually had to do that. Side note, my guitar was wireless, but my IEM was wired lol (but at least my "tether" was just a single thin wire).

The sound is quite good, considering the ridiculously low price. For simplicity, I was running mono at the time, so I did get a bit brain fatigued. That may be more the result of being mono than the P1 itself, though. There is no limiter, so you have to be careful.

IMHO the biggest factor in sound quality will be the quality of your earbuds. I had generic Audio Technicas. The isolation was satisfactory, but they were universal fit, and were single drivers, so that may also be a factor in the fatigue.

To maximize the exprience, I would suggest going stereo if you can, and get the best ear buds you can afford.

(Speaking in past tense because I've since switched to wireless, but haven't gigged with them yet.)

Edit:
:oops: Sorry, I misspoke. It does have a limiter.
 
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i did exactly that. all 5 of my band members were on wired IEMs. 4 ran mono, i ran stereo.

i'd get headphone extension cables and keep the P1 on the floor, then you aren't dragging around 1 or 2 xlr cables. put the p1 near wherever you plug in your instrument - pedal board in front, or bass amp behind, etc. then you can also run power to the P1 and not worry about batteries at all. standard 9v, so if you have extra ports from a power supply for pedals, you're done.

the 9v does last a while, but i don't remember exactly how long. definitely more than 1 3-hour gig. but you want to unload the battery every time, since the power button is so easy to push while in a bag/transport.

and yup just run the extension down your instrument cable. twist-tie or some how connecting the two works even better - make the female headphone end a bit longer than the instrument side of the 1/4" cable.

really no problems - just getting used to the extra cable. no drop outs ever, clear sound. you can only go as far as your instrument cable anyway.

and i do believe there is a transient limiter in it... could be wrong.
 
Our drummer is...his IEM's directly into the p16m. He's very happy with the setup. Bass player/singer and I run wireless IEM's.
 
Yep, definitely a limiter in the P1, we had a feedback issue one day and I was glad to have it!! I have one of the P1 units, no longer use it. We got a quieter drummer so went back to a monitor The wired solution works well though.
 
Awesome feedback. I probably don't say it enough: but I love this forum and it's you fine folks that make it a great place to hang out, talk.
 
Ian,
If you gig frequently, I can't stress enough how much simpler it is to house the X32 (rack?) In a rack and go wireless. Put xmitters in same track and leave them connected. Power up and go at every gig.
Yes, there's an expense, but you'll get tired of all the wire you have to run over the stage every time you setup. Seriously.. Been there, done that!!
Been wireless IEM for close to 4 yrs now. Just a busy weekend warrior. :)
 
s0c9 said:
Ian,
If you gig frequently, I can't stress enough how much simpler it is to house the X32 (rack?) In a rack and go wireless. Put xmitters in same track and leave them connected. Power up and go at every gig.
Yes, there's an expense, but you'll get tired of all the wire you have to run over the stage every time you setup. Seriously.. Been there, done that!!
Been wireless IEM for close to 4 yrs now. Just a busy weekend warrior. :)
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true the amount of cables is silly. if you have the budget - $1000+ per band member? - then go for it. but going wired for about $100 per band member has its benefits too :D
 
chris said:
true the amount of cables is silly. if you have the budget - $1000+ per band member? - then go for it. but going wired for about $100 per band member has its benefits too :D
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oh.. I hear ya. Budget is always a factor. But I'll take wireless, and pay for it given a choice.
I have done both extensively, and being wireless in and out takes the cake..!! :)
 
Ian,
Here's another option you might want to take a look at. http://www.jumpaudio.net/ixm.html
Basically it's a single cable with a 5-pin XLR that attaches to the belt pack. You end up with just one cable, much like a regular guitar cable, but with a 'Y' splitter at the end that takes care of both the guitar input and the stereo in-ear monitor feed. These units are passive, so no batteries required. But you do have to run a headphone amp. We use the Presonus HP60 and mount it in our PA rack. We all run our in-ears in stereo which we much prefer over mono. We also run a couple audience mics mounted to our light stands so we can hear what's going on in the room. The end result is a very clean monitor mix.

Our front man is on a Sennheiser G3 wireless in-ears setup, but he moves around a lot. The rest of us are pretty stationary so the 18' Jump Audio setup gives us plenty of space to move around.
 
If you want to combine into a single cable, about £5 of shrink-wrap will do you good. I've tried a few different methods of making cable looms for this purpose: that plastic braiding stuff that people use on computer parts; spiral wrap; shrink wrap.
Shrink wrap allows the cable to twist and unflex itself if it's kinked, protects the cables very well, and is smooth all the way along. The other two tend to kink up very easily or don't bend at all, and are horrible to coil as well.

I plug my guitar into the front panel "instrument" jack on the Axe, and the trs jack of my stereo headphones cable into the headphone out jack (of the Axe as well!), as they're right next to each other. I use FX-send to give FOH a dry tone, and then add reverb in the axe. FX-return can supply a stereo rest-of-band mix to add to my guitar sound in my ears.

This way I can apply a limiter inside the axe just with heavy compression, and also control in-ear volume just with an expression pedal from the front of stage - very useful if you're trying to set levels while playing!
 
Drummer in our band def. won't use IEMs (they ruined his hearing sometime in the past). I'm not fond of them either, wired of wireless.

Wired IEMs in particular are a hassle, IMHO, the cord always seems to get in the way (we move around a lot).

Our singer does use wireless IEMs at times.

Tomorrow a B205D will arrive. Quite curious how it hold up, with and without a P12M inbetween.
 
Ian, we've been using the X32 live with IEMs for a few years, we use a fixed amp for the IEMs (not sure what it is, but it's rack mounted) and long cables for our IEMs with the X32 iPhone app to control the levels. This has worked well for us for the last 3 years or so, however the only downside is that Behringer seem to be VERY slow at providing updates for the iOS app; which is annoying.
 
yek said:
Drummer in our band def. won't use IEMs (they ruined his hearing sometime in the past). I'm not fond of them either, wired of wireless.

Wired IEMs in particular are a hassle, IMHO, the cord always seems to get in the way (we move around a lot).

Our singer does use wireless IEMs at times.
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Some folks will NEVER adjust to IEM's.. we had one in my old band. However, they, like any other "system" will vary in quality and efficiency. It's like buying TOTL gear like the Axe.
Why do we do it? Because want awesome tone, flexibilty, and so, that we don't get in outher units.
It's the same with IEM systems.
Too many folks try cheap single-driver buds thru cheap transmitters, get drop outs, interference, then complain it's the IEM's.
Like anything "music". .You get what you pay for.
I've spent at least 4X the price of my IEM system I have now (Senn G3, 1964 A8's) getting there.. running the gamut from cheap wired buds to customs to wireless and dealing with setup pain, long CAT5 cables, cables, etc.
An IEM rack with a splitter snake works in most situations from Festivals on down. If you're doing a inter/national tour, then all of that is handled for you anyway.
Then, there are those folks who can't stand putting stuff in their ears :)
 
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Yes. We use an Aviom system with remote ports. I am tethered to the port, but the upside is that I can get my own mix.
 
@yek the B205D looks interesting. Our keyboard player already monitors his corner with a Behringer powered speaker. And I've got an EV that's "just" me, but if I could control the mix I could probably make it my personal monitor for me and the whole band and just dial myself hotter in my mix. Running with small, powered speakers each might actually make more sense than wired IEMs for us. Keep me posted on how it works for you?

We're not playing big places. We play tiny little bars and clubs and do our brand of jammy covers. Doesn't need to be super-pro, but we would like it all to be a little easier. Unfortunately the singer and our melodica player can't afford to buy much of anything so the core 4 of us are going to cover the mixer and we were hoping to get a monitor situation that didn't stress people's finances too much.
 
Will do, Ian. I'll be testing it Tuesday at rehearsal. I expect that (possible) missing bottom end will be compensated by the FOH sound. It'd be great if it works out. Then 4 of those little buggers attached to mic stands would suffice, easy to connect and set, direct control over voc monitoring, ultra-portable.
 
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