IEM's anyone?

IEM's (In Ear Monitoring)

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stratos

stratos

Inspired
How many of you use IEM's exclusively LIVE with your band?

Our band is going to full IEM's for the musicians....looking for input and suggestions.
 
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*guitartripp* 2 years is pretty good! I have tried Shure E2's..they didn't last long.
The Westones look pretty pricey. I like the wiring.
Do you hear any ambient sound, or are they sealed?
 
They are sealed quite well. They drop (I believe) 29db. Once in a while I will pop one out to hear the crowd better, but most of the time, I keep them both in. They are extremely comfortable. I had a buddy that owns a hearing aid company do the molds for me and place the order. He had me bite down on a piece of foam, which he said helps with comfort while playing. Although pricey, I would definitely recommend them! I use them for just listening to my mp3's on my iPhone, and also when recording...they even make a noisy airplane quite.
 
I voted quad because it was the largest number listed but mine are actually have 6 drivers 1964 ears V6's (and they've recently added a V8!!). Unbelievable super clarity. Great low end response. Highly recommended.

I've always used ambient mics and don't have a pair with ambient ports. While I've never used a set of IE that provide ambient ports, my guess is that I would still prefer the control of ambient mics. YMMV
 
4-piece band (Drums, Bass, 2 x Guitars / Keys and all Vocals)

Drummer was always on ears, but whole band went IEM about a year ago. First trial was with FOH mix distributed to each guy with just a cheap pair of buds. We were all sold in an instant
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I was a little dubious about how it might affect singing, but it was no trouble - however, it's probably important to note that we have always played (and are therefore well conditioned) with an FOH mix through monitors with no personal backline whatsoever, so it was no culture shock as we've not been playing for the last two decade with 'more me' or trouser flapping cabs. First gig was a weird experience in as much as we couldn't believe how good it was and why we hadn't done it years ago!

Ambient mics are an important part though - particularly for me needing that audience interaction / banter and being able to respond to people shouting requests etc.

We've since upgraded the desk to an all digital A&H Qu-16 which provided the capacity for us each to have our own individually tailored mix. I still use a mix which mirrors the FOH, but with the vocal raised just a little so I can hear that coming back into my ears more than just my 'head voice' if you get me. The other guys do have a little more of themselves, but it's not a million miles from the full band mix as that's what we're all accustomed to.

Everyone else still uses relatively cheap buds (£110, £40 and £20), but I did get a pair of Aurisonic ASG-2's (about £380). I see they're still not listed on their website, but they are a generic, rather than custom-fit and are astonishingly good. In all honesty, I was also happy with a £40 pair of Sennheiser CX275 buds and couldn't see the point in £1000 customs, but do appreciate that the seal is absolutely essential. The fact that the cabling etc is more designed for stage use etc is a factor, but it's not like the other guys have issues. Whilst it's hard to say that the difference between the Sennheisers and Aurisoncis is night and day, there is more 'strength' and perhaps 'capacity' in the ASG-2's and whilst I still maintain that those cheap Sennheisers sounded great, there is certainly more clarity, definition and 'power' in the Aurisonics.

I don't know if I've just got lucky all along, but I've never had any issue finding a set of tips that make a comfortable, airtight seal in no matter what set I've tried - I've certainly never felt that not having custom fitted ones has been any kind of compromise. Of course, there's plenty of tips that don't fit right and it is essential to try them out to find the right ones for you, but I've never once had the 'seal' pop during a gig and of course being the singer, jaw movement is the one thing people tend to say is the ultimate test.

If you want to try a really cheap trial set just to see if you could work with the IEM approach, check out these - hilariously good for the money!
 
I selected Quad drivers as it was the largest qty to choose.
I have JH Audio Pro 16s (8 drivers in each). As JH Audio is local to me, I visited them and demoed each of their models. Yes there is a difference. I also tested ported. I would strongly recommend not getting ported. It really makes the mix muddy IMHO.
After the magical black box, this was one of my best musical purchases.
 
Whatever you do, if you get an IEM setup...make sure you set it up and practice through it as much as possible. My drummer used it as an excuse for a night of screwing up, because he only used it once or twice before playing out...and he had no clue about how to set up his particular mix.
 
I've used a Shure PSM 200 for a while but the ear buds included are garbage. I ordered Alienears CFR3 Full Range Triple Driver based on the recommendation of a national band we did shows with. Haven't heard them yet but im pretty excited.

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I've used IEMs for about 8 years. Started with a pair of Ultimate Ears UE7s. I still have those and use them regularly.
I also have a pair of Sensaphonics 3D ambient. Those are cool that they have tiny mics on the earpieces where I can dial in or out the amount of ambient sound to be mixed with my mixer feed.

The real key to using IEM effectively is to carry your own monitor mixer and split snake. We use a digital Yamaha O1V96 racked up with the IEM transmitters. It recalls the mix for everyone the same every night. Once you get it dialed you quit messing with it for the most part. Everybody gets their own mix and they can adjust it on the fly by recalling their labelled mix button. The faders snap to their mix and each guy can adjust his own. It's much quicker than trying to get a monitor engineer's attention midsong

I'm not sure how many drivers are needed to sound good. But I have both single and dual drivers. They sound different for sure. But not enough to worry about. Kinda like the difference between various wedge monitors that different venues use. They usually all sound ok enough.

We also use wedges when they are available. The human body expects to feel air movement when things are loud. Our drummer just puts kick drum in his. I put a good amount of guitar for two reasons. One is for me to feel some volume so I can turn down my IEM and save my ears. Second is for the audience to hear some stage wash of guitar about equal to what the drum volume is. The front row would hear more drums than usual since they are often in front of where the PA is.
 
We've been using them for 5 years now. I will never go back to the traditional monitor setup. As a singer also, it just can't be beat.

I use the Sensaphonics 2MAX which I love. The 3D ambient with the mics in them is cool too. When I first started I used a lavaliere mic (my AT system allows for a mic input) so I could mix in the ambience that way, but I soon got used to and prefer the isolation and don't use the mic now. I have no trouble hearing the call outs and crowd interaction - as long as nobody is banging on their instrument.

A couple years ago our drummer switched to an electronic set. All other instruments go direct. No amps or monitors on stage. Really is a different way of doing things but setup and tear down is a breeze and we have much better control of things.

Our bass player is thinking about getting one of those butt kicker things. Essentially a mat that you stand on that vibrates with the low end when you play. I laughed a bit until I tried it. Pretty cool way to "feel" the music.

Things have certainly changed since the time I started playing, when you look at it...

Cheers!
 
I've been using Fidelity Triple Driver's for about 2 years now. I run a stereo mix off the front of house board (Behringer X32) most nights. When we don't have our normal soundguy, I have an analog Crest Audio monitor board, but I need to get a compressor/limiter in that rack for it to be as effective.

Tips:
1) If you have more than 1 guitar player in your band, stereo is necessary. It's incredibly confusing with 2 guitars going and attempting to mix them in mono... it's like listening to a recording of your band playing in realtime. Now imagine listening to that in mono...

2) An external limiter will keep some frequencies from overdriving the back of your wireless unit. I use a Galaxy 1100 which has a built in brick wall limiter and if I put too much bass, hi-hat, etc.. in my mix, It distorts because the internal limiter is crap.

3) Carve out as clear of a mix as possible. Don't worry about "Getting godly tone" so much as hearing what you need to hear clearly. If other people in your band use wedges, you'll get some bleed from them and will likely get a lot of "boom" from there. On small stages, you get a LOT of bleed from drums, wedges, and amps, so I generally cut all the bass out of my mix. The in ears are for clarity.

4) My in ears are solid acrylic, custom fit, but I do sometimes lose the seal if I'm really moving around and/or singing. I believe this is because of jaw flex. I'm thinking about replacing these with a set from 1964 with silicone tips to help maintain that seal.

5) Get a shirt clip for the cable; it takes all the weight off your ears. It doesn't seem like the cable would weigh much, but trust me, you'll be sore without it.
 
I use custom moulded Aurisonics AS-2's, and I'm very happy with them. They use a single dynamic driver to cover the complete audio spectrum, as opposed to the multi-driver, balanced armature, IEM's. There are no crossovers, and no crossover distortion. They are considered a "hybrid", in that the AS-2's also have a pair of BA tweeters to shore up the high end a bit. Very natural, and enjoyable to monitor with.

We are a mix of wedges and IEM's (church worship team). The Behringer X32 board gives everyone their own mix via iPhone/iPad control. I love that! I also prefer full isolation (wear ear muffs over my customs) but others are still on wedges because of crowd interaction. I'm also the odd duck in that I have a Shure mixer in my rack so I can blend my mono monitor mix with a stereo Axe-FX signal. I also have an old DBX IEM processor that provides some nice ambient reverb.

Terry.
 
Stereo, Triples, sealed, I get enough ambient from the stage mic's. I use a wedge for stage volume for people not in the beam of the FOH, and for guitar interaction.
 
I use Ultimate Ears UE7's, as does our drummer. The rest of the guys use Westone or Sensaphonic - all at least dual driver. I have used tons of other systems, I like the UE's the most... I play Axe straight to FOH and never use any type of wedge. My rig is actually really simple that way, MFC with dedicated volume and wah expressions pedals, Line 6 wireless contained in the rack with my Axe, a power conditioner and a drawer to hold my normal stuff (pics, strings, cables). 1 cable for power, 1 cable for the MFC and an XLR out to our board, my pedal board stays completely wired so I literally drop my rack, pedal board and do my 3 cables and I'm done with guitar rig. Our PA is usually within a few feet of stage, and even standing center stage I can get the guitar to feedback if I really want it to. The band typically does sound from stage for smaller venues with our own PA, and my other responsibility besides personal gear is pinning our mixer and PA cabinets. We have 3 guys that sing so I take my ears out and hit the crowd for a few minutes to validate the mix is holding up. The whole band is in the box on guitar and bass, so only the drums and vocal mics ever really need adjustment. Our setup time is really minimal and the sound is very consistent.
 
I always have a mini mixer on top of my rig to mix my IEM signal. That way I can pan the signals and add some ambience. BTW that way I see the knobs and I can even turn them while playing when one hand gets free for a moment, that's far better then trying to get access to the beltpack. Cheap, small and usefull.
 
1964ears V6 Stages for a few months now. I love em and would be hard to switch back to floor monitors. The whole band uses them. Depending on which stage I play, I either have a wireless pack or Avioms to dial in the levels. I also have Sure 535's (triple drivers) for backups and for casual listening but haven't had to use them live yet. They sound really good too for not being custom IEM's.
 
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