Can I be 'selfish' with my IEM tone?

J

jarabuandi

Experienced
Hi all,
we all know that if you dial in a tone through headphones it won't translate well with a real cab/FRFR and vice versa.
So, how about dialling the tone through IEM that sounds the way you like it and let the FOH work their magic for the audience? It would be something like Out1 to IEM and Out two (flat eq?) to FOH
Is this the way to do it or will it still need some tweaking?

Thanks
 
jarabuandi said:
Hi all,
we all know that if you dial in a tone through headphones it won't translate well with a real cab/FRFR and vice versa.
So, how about dialling the tone through IEM that sounds the way you like it and let the FOH work their magic for the audience? It would be something like Out1 to IEM and Out two (flat eq?) to FOH
Is this the way to do it or will it still need some tweaking?

Thanks
Click to expand...
I've been contemplating that myself... But since I'd prefer both as XLR, I'm going to wait until I get my Axe Fx III :)
 
Why wouldn’t that be possible? You can do it with the II now if you want. Or maybe I don’t understand what you’re talking about.
 
It all depends on how well you know the frequency response of your IEM's...not specs, but how they actually translate. Yes, it's possible.
 
Yes.. when i run my iems, i have a split before it goes to foh, and I do what i want with it.. stereo l/r panned, eq'd etc.. I run the quarter out's to my floor monitor.
 
vangrieg said:
Why wouldn’t that be possible? You can do it with the II now if you want. Or maybe I don’t understand what you’re talking about.
Click to expand...
Assuming you're replying to me, note that I said I want XLR sends to both IEM and FOH. There's only one set of XLR outputs on the II and I send stereo to my IEM mixer.
 
vangrieg said:
Why wouldn’t that be possible? You can do it with the II now if you want. Or maybe I don’t understand what you’re talking about.
Click to expand...

It has nothing to do with Axe-2 vs Axe-3. I just want to know if this is a "good" option. I've got a Shure PSM-300 and asking if I just can dial in the tone that I like/want to hear and let FOH do all the lo/hi cuts (if needed) adjustments.
 
dpeterson said:
Yes.. when i run my iems, i have a split before it goes to foh, and I do what i want with it.. stereo l/r panned, eq'd etc.. I run the quarter out's to my floor monitor.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input. I have presets that work when using my 2x12 FRFR cab and amp. I want to create new ones only for IEM use and not carry any other gear with me.
 
The real answer is - maybe.
Should you dial your Axe to sound perfect through IEMs, without also putting through a studio monitor to know if it translates well....I wouldn't.
If your IEMs are bass deficient, and you dial in a ton of bass in your Amp block....the FOH signal is going to sound very bass heavy, and you're at the mercy of the sound engineer to fix it.

My recommendation would be to dial it in on studio monitors (so you know you're sending the best representation to FOH.
Then send Output 2 to your IEMs, and either insert an Eq only on Output 2....or use the Global Eq on Ouput 2, to then tweak just your IEMs to sound like the studio monitors.
 
BBN said:
The real answer is - maybe.
Should you dial your Axe to sound perfect through IEMs, without also putting through a studio monitor to know if it translates well....I wouldn't.
If your IEMs are bass deficient, and you dial in a ton of bass in your Amp block....the FOH signal is going to sound very bass heavy, and you're at the mercy of the sound engineer to fix it.

My recommendation would be to dial it in on studio monitors (so you know you're sending the best representation to FOH.
Then send Output 2 to your IEMs, and either insert an Eq only on Output 2....or use the Global Eq on Ouput 2, to then tweak just your IEMs to sound like the studio monitors.
Click to expand...
+1. FOH comes first. Dial in your tone to work with that. Then add EQ or reverb to your IEMs, if you feel you need it.

For what availeth a man if he gaineth heavenly tone in his IEMs but soundeth shitty in the house?
 
For me, it comes down to trust. I have Audio Technica IEM's, and they are the top of the AT line, but never have the high-quality sound of the FOH. I use a wireless so I can go out front and dial in my presets. Once I have done that, I know that the FOH sounds great. We use an Aviom system at church, so I can dial in my own mix, but the guitar never sounds like the FOH no matter what I do with the mix. So for me, even though the IEM sound is rather thin, I know that my guitar does not sound thin in the FOH. I have come to just use the IEM's to hear what the other musicians are doing so I can find my guitar space in the song. The congregation is listening to the FOH, not the IEMs. As long as the FOH is big and fills the auditorium, my IEM mix is inconsequential to me. Everyone on worship team is using different IEMs. We are the only people listening to a headphone mix. Would I like to have my IEMs sound like the FOH? Yes. But I have never been able to get my IEMs to sound like the FOH.
 
BBN said:
The real answer is - maybe.
Should you dial your Axe to sound perfect through IEMs, without also putting through a studio monitor to know if it translates well....I wouldn't.
If your IEMs are bass deficient, and you dial in a ton of bass in your Amp block....the FOH signal is going to sound very bass heavy, and you're at the mercy of the sound engineer to fix it.

My recommendation would be to dial it in on studio monitors (so you know you're sending the best representation to FOH.
Then send Output 2 to your IEMs, and either insert an Eq only on Output 2....or use the Global Eq on Ouput 2, to then tweak just your IEMs to sound like the studio monitors.
Click to expand...


Thanks, sounds like a good compromise is needed...I don't have studio monitors though but use the Global Eq.
 
Geezerjohn said:
For me, it comes down to trust. I have Audio Technica IEM's, and they are the top of the AT line, but never have the high-quality sound of the FOH. I use a wireless so I can go out front and dial in my presets. Once I have done that, I know that the FOH sounds great. We use an Aviom system at church, so I can dial in my own mix, but the guitar never sounds like the FOH no matter what I do with the mix. So for me, even though the IEM sound is rather thin, I know that my guitar does not sound thin in the FOH. I have come to just use the IEM's to hear what the other musicians are doing so I can find my guitar space in the song. The congregation is listening to the FOH, not the IEMs. As long as the FOH is big and fills the auditorium, my IEM mix is inconsequential to me. Everyone on worship team is using different IEMs. We are the only people listening to a headphone mix. Would I like to have my IEMs sound like the FOH? Yes. But I have never been able to get my IEMs to sound like the FOH.
Click to expand...


....and I don't really need / want to sound like FOH. It's more to have the tone that I like in my IEM w/o worries to much about FOH. Thanks.
 
My outs are echoed so I'll have the same to FOH and IEM

I have a 1u rack mixer from the axe fx to my IEM transmitter so I can eq on there simply enough. It helps if you invest in good buds though and custom moulds
 
The FOH guy is likely to butcher you tone with EQ anyway so just dial in what you think sounds good. The problem frequencies are likely to be low and low mids which can be very different on a PA rig with subwoofers to headphones/IEMs.
 
bread said:
My outs are echoed so I'll have the same to FOH and IEM

I have a 1u rack mixer from the axe fx to my IEM transmitter so I can eq on there simply enough. It helps if you invest in good buds though and custom moulds
Click to expand...
But you could use the global EQs as well...
 
if your sound is well dialed in on your fractal and the PA is properly tuned, the FOH tech shouldn't have to do much to your sound, maybe a bit of high pass and low pass filtering that's it. You can have your cake and eat it too, but it means getting your sounds and levels right, that takes time and effort.

I may have an advantage in that I've made my living as a live sound engineer for a long time. My XLR outs feed the console, usually my Mackie DL32R and that feeds the FOH and my Sennheiser EW 300 g3 in ears, no custom earbuds and it sounds like my nearfields at home. Having good accurate monitors that you know and trust makes a huge difference.

The other thing that I've found in getting a good live sound is playing at stage volume if you using either amp and cabinet, wedges or an FRFR monitor. If you don't, you'll skew the frequency response because of the variations due to the levels your playing at ie. Fletcher Munson curves. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher–Munson_curves.

But all that being said, you have to try till you find what works for you, your comrades on stage and the sound tech, not an easy feat
 
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