Is there a "best IEM" for Fractal?

Mitch_bryce

New Member
Hi

I use my AXE FX III both on stage with IEM and at home for practicing.
With the AKG K712 Headphones all the factory presets sound amazing, lively, natural. As soon as I try my IEM (which we use in the band) a lot of the natural sound is gone. Even EQ does not help a lot. It's just another experience.
I wonder if it's for the IEM model I bought.
If anybody knows IEM's that would sound great, thank you for advice.
Best, M.
 
I have some Westone 4R's that sound great with the Axe III. I struggle with wearing any IEM's so sometimes I get lazy and put in my 1More quad driver buds I use for phone and music listening and again the III sounds awesome. It may just be the particular in ears you have. I remember I wasn't fond of some Shure IEM's I had for a while.
 
You didn't mention which IEMs you're using. However, the trick is getting a good seal in the ear for good low end response. For this reason, custom molded in-ears are hard to beat. I have 64 Audio 3 driver A3s and was amazed at the clarity, width of the soundstage and overall sound improvement over any universal IEMs I used previously. I have a friend who has some Alclairs and loves them, another couple of friends have Alien Ears and they really like them as well.

As far as universal IEMs go, I've been very impressed with KZ-Linsoul Audio, either the ZSN Pro or ZS10 Pro (don't let the price fool you). Fender/Aurisonics are really good as well. Both the KZ and Fender IEMs go deeper in the ear canal than most earbuds and are extremely comfortable. Ultimate Ears sound good but they weren't as comfortable. For an inexpensive earbud, Westones are hard to beat, would recommend them over Shure. Cheap earbuds can be found in the Skull Candy line, the Ink'd 2 (without the mic) actually sound really good, they're just a bit fragile.
 
Here is my experience.
I have been playing for 40+ years.
My son has been using some custom molded Alclair's.
I decided to get fit for custom molded Alclair's.

Tone & Feel mean EVERYTHING to me.

I spent about $600 trying to get something good.
I had no other reference to any in ears.
I thought the Alclair's would be great.
After using them for about 6 weeks I was not impressed, giving full time to get use to them.

Someone mentioned the KZ-ZS10's for $47.
I thought they had to suck for such a low price.
BOY was I WRONG!!!

I absolutely LOVE the KZ ZS 10 Pro's!
I will never put the Alclair's back in my ears. They sound like absolute crap compared to the KZ ZS 10's.

I also added Comply memory foam ear tips for maximum comfort and isolation. Great product!
I will put the links below if you want to check them out. Now everyone in our band is using these and are very happy.

Amazon product ASIN B07QKYTGH9
Amazon product ASIN B07RQ77BLM
Amazon product ASIN B002DY92UA
I hope this information and my real world experience can help you.
 
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I use ultimate ears UE7 Pro and they are fantastic.

A good second place is the Shure SE535
 
I’ve yet to hear an IEM that made me say this sounds great.
Bet you’ve never tried FutureSonics 6Series. I am Mr. SuperPicky SoundMan and these are the best I’ve ever found. Inexpensive they are not — but neither is a Fractal Anything, nor are my eardrums…
 
Bet you’ve never tried FutureSonics 6Series. I am Mr. SuperPicky SoundMan and these are the best I’ve ever found. Inexpensive they are not — but neither is a Fractal Anything, nor are my eardrums…
It’s not just that, it’s the whole mix too. If it’s not great I’m stuck with it. At least on a stage I can get away from more abrasive sounds and stand where I like the mix. With the IEMs I can’t get away from stuff. They just never worked for me.
 
Hi

I use my AXE FX III both on stage with IEM and at home for practicing.
With the AKG K712 Headphones all the factory presets sound amazing, lively, natural. As soon as I try my IEM (which we use in the band) a lot of the natural sound is gone. Even EQ does not help a lot. It's just another experience.
I wonder if it's for the IEM model I bought.
If anybody knows IEM's that would sound great, thank you for advice.
Best, M.
No there isn´t a special IEM for Fractal. The same as you would ask - the best amp for playing guitar.

My Experience after playing IEM 17 years - stereo monitoring helps to get a clearly mix (also cool with delays/Modulation), custom adjusted In-Ears (don´t try to save money, but you don´t need 3 or 4way speakers) without an ambience drill hole, audience mics for natural sound.

You must decide if you want a balanced mix or - if you got enough Auxchannels - every musician gets his own mix, but that´s could you to selfish sound.

Don´t use facotory presets. You have you develope presets which cut and work well in your band.
Factory presets often have got to much FX/to much lowend - sound great alone.
Start with Cab and Amp first - don´t use to many IR´s - like you would do it analog with one or two amps.
 
Here is my experience.
I have been playing for 40+ years.
My son has been using some custom molded Alclair's.
I decided to get fit for custom molded Alclair's.

Tone & Feel mean EVERYTHING to me.

I spent about $600 trying to get something good.
I had no other reference to any in ears.
I thought the Alclair's would be great.
After using them for about 6 weeks I was not impressed, giving full time to get use to them.

Someone mentioned the KZ-ZS10's for $47.
I thought they had to suck for such a low price.
BOY was I WRONG!!!

I absolutely LOVE the KZ ZS 10 Pro's!
I will never put the Alclair's back in my ears. They sound like absolute crap compared to the KZ ZS 10's.

I also added Comply memory foam ear tips for maximum comfort and isolation. Great product!
I will put the links below if you want to check them out. Now everyone in our band is using the these and are very happy.

Amazon product ASIN B07QKYTGH9
Amazon product ASIN B07RQ77BLM
Amazon product ASIN B002DY92UA
I hope this information and my real world experience can help you.
Was gonna try these to see if it solves a crackle in my SE215s. What is the upgraded cable for?

also did you get the one with a mic?
 
Hi @SinglecutGuy ,
I’ve found the opposite. The 535s in my opinion have very little bass - to me they sound anemic. I replaced them with se842s and it was much much better.
Thanks
Pauly

It's worth noting that the 535's are designed for Low Frequency focus, and are recommended for bass players and drummers.
 
It’s not just that, it’s the whole mix too. If it’s not great I’m stuck with it. At least on a stage I can get away from more abrasive sounds and stand where I like the mix. With the IEMs I can’t get away from stuff. They just never worked for me.
Sorry to hear that's been your experience but don't resign yourself to the notion that a good IEM mix is not possible. After years of living with bad monitor mixes, I was fortunate enough to play a gig with a great sound engineer on the monitor board and discovered that a great IEM mix is indeed possible. From that point on at gigs, I was more proactive in developing a good rapport with the sound guy. Any decent engineer will listen to you and your needs if they're presented as requests and not demands or out of frustration.

When I became the Music Director at our new campus, I used this knowledge and dedicated about a month just dialing in the monitor board and training the team on how to create a good monitor mix. Ironically, one of our vocalists had rehearsal last night at our main campus and she text me saying how much she preferred our monitor system the to main campus.

Back to the OP, the 64 Audio A3's sound very similar to my Focal Alpha 65s. Of course the feel is different but the tone is there in spades. I believe that, like studio headphones, in-ear monitors really expose EQ or level 'mistakes' in a preset. If I'm struggling with a tone I need, I'll use the in-ears to figure out what needs to be tweaked.
 
Hi @SinglecutGuy ,
I’ve found the opposite. The 535s in my opinion have very little bass - to me they sound anemic. I replaced them with se842s and it was much much better.
Thanks
Pauly
Very interesting to hear that.

I had a demo a few years back where my Shure rep brought all of the models in, and we went through and tested all of them through various sources, and had Shure's descriptions along side to read. At the time, Shure had reported to us that the 535's featured (1) HF driver and (2) LF drivers, and from a sales position they encouraged us to recommend those to drummers and bass players, as they were LF focused. I listened to them and confirmed this was the case, and personally I didn't like them for their focus. I just looked and after quickly reading through specs, Shure isn't as direct with the specs on those, so I can't confirm that this is still the case. It's quite possible that they have changed.

It's worth pointing out that the demo was from manufacturer to dealer perspective, to train us on how to sell them. Typically no "marketing" involved.
 
Here is my experience.
I have been playing for 40+ years.
My son has been using some custom molded Alclair's.
I decided to get fit for custom molded Alclair's.

Tone & Feel mean EVERYTHING to me.

I spent about $600 trying to get something good.
I had no other reference to any in ears.
I thought the Alclair's would be great.
After using them for about 6 weeks I was not impressed, giving full time to get use to them.

Someone mentioned the KZ-ZS10's for $47.
I thought they had to suck for such a low price.
BOY was I WRONG!!!

I absolutely LOVE the KZ ZS 10 Pro's!
I will never put the Alclair's back in my ears. They sound like absolute crap compared to the KZ ZS 10's.

I also added Comply memory foam ear tips for maximum comfort and isolation. Great product!
I will put the links below if you want to check them out. Now everyone in our band is using the these and are very happy.

Amazon product ASIN B07QKYTGH9
Amazon product ASIN B07RQ77BLM
Amazon product ASIN B002DY92UA
I hope this information and my real world experience can help you.
All of this w Sennheiser G4 Wireless.
I also have the CCA's which are great too. Im sure they are the same actually.
 
It’s not just that, it’s the whole mix too. If it’s not great I’m stuck with it. At least on a stage I can get away from more abrasive sounds and stand where I like the mix. With the IEMs I can’t get away from stuff. They just never worked for me.
Conversely, get the mix right (with quality IEMs) and the stage sound is great no matter where you roam.
 
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