IEM Sound Shaping

A

AlexGuitar

Inspired
I've been using IEMs lately because they allow a click track to be in my ears, allow a customized mix without pissing off our singer :hushed:, etc. Overall, the experience has been positive, but the guitar tones have been very poor. Everything sounds great at FOH, great in live monitors, great in studio monitors, but in ears seem to really struggle. It sounds like a very low quality "boxy" modeling plugin...

More than fractal tips (though if you have those I'll certainly listen), I'm looking for audio engineer tips for improving the sound of in ears. Is there a master eq that can be put on the bus that would help significantly. Is it truly necessary to have a second board and eq everything separately for IEM mixes? Are there any tips / tricks / best practices that I'm simply unaware of?
 
Are you running mono or stereo rig, and if stereo: are you sure your personal mixer for IEM is (and set to) stereo, and that you get a stereo mix from the desk?
 
Where to do it and how to route it brings up questions, but I do like cutting a bit of mids only from the guitar in the IEM feed. A lot of people like extra ambience either on the guitar for the IEMs or the entire IEM feed.
 
AlexGuitar said:
I've been using IEMs lately because they allow a click track to be in my ears, allow a customized mix without pissing off our singer :hushed:, etc. Overall, the experience has been positive, but the guitar tones have been very poor. Everything sounds great at FOH, great in live monitors, great in studio monitors, but in ears seem to really struggle. It sounds like a very low quality "boxy" modeling plugin...

More than fractal tips (though if you have those I'll certainly listen), I'm looking for audio engineer tips for improving the sound of in ears. Is there a master eq that can be put on the bus that would help significantly. Is it truly necessary to have a second board and eq everything separately for IEM mixes? Are there any tips / tricks / best practices that I'm simply unaware of?
Click to expand...

Are you able to record your IEM mix so you can compare the way that mix sounds on your studio monitors vs the Axe direct into the studio monitors? Also have you compared your IEM earbuds with a good pair of headphones, both running from the IEM transmitter?

Regardless of whether your IEMs and/or Axe presets are stereo or mono, the basic mono tone you should be hearing in your IEMs should be great if it also sounds great at FOH, monitors and studio monitors. If it doesn't sound great in the IEMs, then maybe some master eq is being applied to the monitor mix that you're hearing.

Do all the other instruments and sources in your IEMs sound good compared to the wedges or do those also sound boxy in the IEMs but crisp in the monitors? If they're also boxy, then the boxy element is probably the earbuds themselves.

Hard to tell without hearing a recording of the IEM mix. Could we also see a pic of your typical preset to see how the sounds is being routed to each destination?
 
AlexGuitar said:
I've been using IEMs lately because they allow a click track to be in my ears, allow a customized mix without pissing off our singer :hushed:, etc. Overall, the experience has been positive, but the guitar tones have been very poor. Everything sounds great at FOH, great in live monitors, great in studio monitors, but in ears seem to really struggle. It sounds like a very low quality "boxy" modeling plugin...

More than fractal tips (though if you have those I'll certainly listen), I'm looking for audio engineer tips for improving the sound of in ears. Is there a master eq that can be put on the bus that would help significantly. Is it truly necessary to have a second board and eq everything separately for IEM mixes? Are there any tips / tricks / best practices that I'm simply unaware of?
Click to expand...
Are your IEMs plugged up with earwax?
 
AlexGuitar said:
I've been using IEMs lately because they allow a click track to be in my ears, allow a customized mix without pissing off our singer :hushed:, etc. Overall, the experience has been positive, but the guitar tones have been very poor. Everything sounds great at FOH, great in live monitors, great in studio monitors, but in ears seem to really struggle. It sounds like a very low quality "boxy" modeling plugin...

More than fractal tips (though if you have those I'll certainly listen), I'm looking for audio engineer tips for improving the sound of in ears. Is there a master eq that can be put on the bus that would help significantly. Is it truly necessary to have a second board and eq everything separately for IEM mixes? Are there any tips / tricks / best practices that I'm simply unaware of?
Click to expand...

Not all IEM systems are created equal. My band has a pretty entry-level solution right now and it's a similar experience.

Through FOH: Sounds great.
Through IEMs: Thin garbage.

Is what it is until we can afford something better.
 
All I've ever used with my Axe III is IEMs, but I'm at a church with a great IEM system (Dante > LiveMix). It's so good, I can hear things that I can't hear at home. I can generally nail the tones I'm going for, but when I don't, I know instantly via my IEM feed.

Some questions...

1) How are you getting your IEM feed to your IEM's?
2) Is your IEM feed pre-fader?
3) What IEMs are you using?
 
Using IEMs for a couple of years now. When using good equipment and setup right, they sound glorious with a lot of detail.
What IEMs do you have ?
 
I've never been a fan of IEMs for the less than stellar guitar tones. Some situations require them. I EQ my guitar sound in the IEM mixer for my mix and like mentioned above, will put some light reverb on to add some space. This is done in the mixer on the Aux feed to the IEMs. I've used custom molds and universal fit and have found 3 driver versions to sound the best, but that's a personal choice. . I've also tried the ASI IEMs with built in ambient mics and found those to help.
 
IEMs are the gold standard for monitoring and when done right they are a joy to perform with, but when done poorly they are awful. Some tips: Run stereo with slightly different amps and cabs hard panned L/R. Use a little stereo reverb. Use the enhancer block for stereo width (I prefer classic mode because it's the widest and there is no content left in the middle). Use good IEMs i.e. custom molds with at least a few drivers. Leave the typical mono stuff like kick, snare, click, talkbacks, bass, and debatably the lead vocal in the center. Everything else should be panned at least a little bit to the left or right. You have a full stereo field to make space in your mix so there's no reason to run everything straight down the middle. The more instruments that can be run stereo the better, and always leave them hard panned (perc, overheads, keys, piano, tracks, ambient mics, etc). Some people, especially singers, like ambient mics for more room feel but I prefer a more dry mix.
 
AlexGuitar said:
I've been using IEMs lately because they allow a click track to be in my ears, allow a customized mix without pissing off our singer :hushed:, etc. Overall, the experience has been positive, but the guitar tones have been very poor. Everything sounds great at FOH, great in live monitors, great in studio monitors, but in ears seem to really struggle. It sounds like a very low quality "boxy" modeling plugin...

More than fractal tips (though if you have those I'll certainly listen), I'm looking for audio engineer tips for improving the sound of in ears. Is there a master eq that can be put on the bus that would help significantly. Is it truly necessary to have a second board and eq everything separately for IEM mixes? Are there any tips / tricks / best practices that I'm simply unaware of?
Click to expand...
To answer your questions:
1.) Buy the best possible IEMs, the difference is drastic!
2.) Master EQ on your IEM is a good idea! Have the Engineer play some Songs you know and tailor the Sound to your liking
3.) EQ the IEM channels seperate from the FOH Mix, those are two different worlds that need different EQ
4.) Stereo is a must!
 
Seal is very important. Get the right tips. I have some older triple driver customs that sound crappy compared to my 7 driver universals. I like the fit of the customs but the universals are fine once you find the proper tips for your ear size. Work on the mix, pan some stuff around if you have stereo. IEM systems also sound different as well, more expensive sound better, go figure, and they also have more frequency options.
 
AlexGuitar said:
I've been using IEMs lately because they allow a click track to be in my ears, allow a customized mix without pissing off our singer :hushed:, etc. Overall, the experience has been positive, but the guitar tones have been very poor. Everything sounds great at FOH, great in live monitors, great in studio monitors, but in ears seem to really struggle. It sounds like a very low quality "boxy" modeling plugin...

More than fractal tips (though if you have those I'll certainly listen), I'm looking for audio engineer tips for improving the sound of in ears. Is there a master eq that can be put on the bus that would help significantly. Is it truly necessary to have a second board and eq everything separately for IEM mixes? Are there any tips / tricks / best practices that I'm simply unaware of?
Click to expand...
In ear monitors can be fantastic or terrible. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground.
Take us through your in ear chain so we have more info.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom