So I pulled the trigger on a set of brand new Shure se535 IEM's

shadoe

shadoe

Experienced
I get them in tomorrow. $500 later, I hope they make me a happy man. Anyone have any experience with these? Anything I should know?
 
They sound good, have a very wide range, and are comfortable. How much you like them will come down to what you're trying to accomplish with them, and what you're using to drive them. I also used the SE425s for a while, and they sounded pretty nice too, our other guitarist still uses them.

IEMs are awesome for hearing yourself, great for polishing and tightening your vocals, working through tough harmony parts, etc. They can be difficult if you need to hear the audience (like being at the front of the stage with people walking up to you). You really have to work on imaging and effects to make you feel like you're still in the open air space of a stage, and it can be pretty close, but you never really feel quite as connected. Then again, you also don't feel as deafened either!

Like most things, they have pluses and minuses, and it'll come down to what you want to hear.
 
I am pretty excited to be able to hear live for once. Have you ever tried them with just one side in?
 
I know some people do that. For me, the seal is what determines the best sound with IEMs. Having one out exposes you to the full stage volume in that open ear. Accordingly, it can be difficult to remove one IEM and hear the other without blowing out your eardrum! Make sure you remember that, while you can keep the volume much lower with IEMs in, they can generate enough volume to obliterate your hearing if cranked. So trying to keep up with full stage volume in one ear and monitor through an IEM in the other can be a dangerous proposition if your band plays loud. On the other hand, if your stage volumes are low, you can certainly monitor both ways at once. Our drummer uses V-Drums, so our noise floor is much lower on stage. Still, at outdoor gigs where the mains are often run much hotter, the ambient volume offsets that advantage.

I hate to be wishy-washy, but it really does depend on your musical situation. What works best will really depend on the environment you're applying it to.
 
Great tips man. Thank you! My drummer runs v-drums as well. But he uses his module to trigger his acoustic kit. So unfortunately, I will have to play with both in. That's ok though. We'll all be running in ears very very soon.
 
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