Tips for IEM and what you hear vs FOH send???

Tremonti

Fractal Fanatic
Any tips? Used IEM recently, after a long time not using. Liked the overall experience but did not alter anything on my Aux send. Tips? I run stereo rig and IEM's and panned hard left and right. I am going to add a room mic for ambience and a mic that the vocalist can just talk to drummer and I(other guy that has in ears), for any set changes on the fly. This is the way to go as singer refuses to use in ears and always complains my stage to too loud. Plus when I walk to other side, I can hear myself. Also my ears feel better the day after; much less ear fatigue.
 
I try to dial my IEM to sound very similar to a CLR FRFR output. And add some reverb and enhancer just on the IEM.

Like below, this is usually how my presets are setup, with out1 to FRFR / FOH and out3 to IEM.
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I don't do anything really. Output 1 to FOH, 2 to a set of CLRs and 3 to my ears. I use to add a cab on output 4 for the crowd in front of the stage but its too much to drag around so I stopped using the cab. My in ears sound fine just using my preset that's dialed for the CLRs. I try not to be too picky though because it's just so I can hear myself and as long as it's sounds decent it's not going to matter.
 
Any tips? Used IEM recently, after a long time not using. Liked the overall experience but did not alter anything on my Aux send. Tips? I run stereo rig and IEM's and panned hard left and right. I am going to add a room mic for ambience and a mic that the vocalist can just talk to drummer and I(other guy that has in ears), for any set changes on the fly. This is the way to go as singer refuses to use in ears and always complains my stage to too loud. Plus when I walk to other side, I can hear myself. Also my ears feel better the day after; much less ear fatigue.
Where is your IEM feed coming from? Is it from a self-contained mixer you or the band control? Or are you taking an AUX feed from the FOH? Is it the same FOH mixer, or different every gig?
Generally, panning different instruments within your stereo mix is a great help for being able to hear everything.
 
Where is your IEM feed coming from? Is it from a self-contained mixer you or the band control? Or are you taking an AUX feed from the FOH? Is it the same FOH mixer, or different every gig?
Generally, panning different instruments within your stereo mix is a great help for being able to hear everything.
I run stereo ears from my own aux from the QSC Touchmix 16. I control my ears with my iPad. We play same place every time we play.
 
I run output 1 stereo straight to FOH, with the enhancer block last, right before OUT1. IEM mix comes from the monitor engineer + desk side stage. Talkback mics are very helpful for a live band, but it's also important that whoever is doing your ear mixes can hear them. Ours are on momentary radial switchers so there's no mic bleed when they're not in use. If FOH is running your ears, many engineers set up a small powered speaker at FOH with just the talkback mics so they can hear the changes/issues. Again if your ear mixes are coming from FOH instead of a separate monitor console, double patching can be really helpful so there can be different processing on each line for FOH and ears.

Depends on the song but usually I run 2 different amps hard panned left/right. They're different amps but usually I'll dial them in so the gain staging and headroom characteristics are roughly similar so they respond similarly to drives/boosts. For more straightforward rock tones it's just one Marshall model, but still with stereo effects after the cab. The enhancer really helps in that situation where you're only using a single amp model with IEMs.
 
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I run output 1 stereo straight to FOH, with the enhancer block last, right before OUT1. IEM mix comes from the monitor engineer + desk side stage. Talkback mics are very helpful for a live band, but it's also important that whoever is doing your ear mixes can hear them. Ours are on momentary radial switchers so there's no mic bleed when they're not in use. If FOH is running your ears, many engineers set up a small powered speaker at FOH with just the talkback mics so they can hear the changes/issues. Again if your ear mixes are coming from FOH instead of a separate monitor console, double patching can be really helpful so there can be different processing on each line for FOH and ears.

Depends on the song but usually I run 2 different amps hard panned left/right. They're different amps but usually I'll dial them in so the gain staging and headroom characteristics are roughly similar so they respond similarly to drives/boosts. For more straightforward rock tones it's just one Marshall model, but still with stereo effects after the cab. The enhancer really helps in that situation where you're only using a single amp model with IEMs.
How does the enhancer help? In what regard?
 
I run stereo ears from my own aux from the QSC Touchmix 16. I control my ears with my iPad. We play same place every time we play.
Gotcha. So you run all of your band through Touchmix? Maybe you want some splitters to just have to send one signal to both? We run all our mics through ART S8 splitters, then the FOH house takes one split and the other runs to our mixer. In that way, you only need to use one output out of the AXE3. If that is too much, ask for an AUX mix from the FOH with the levels similar to the FOH mix, plug it into one of the channels on the TOUCHMIX, then mix your guitar in to give you more of yourself, as needed. Even then, you wouldn't have to use a third output, you could run your AXE3 into the Touchmix and use one other Touchmix's outputs to run guitar only to FOH.
But the best IEM advice I got was definitely to pan almost everything, to make it sound like a real band in stage space. this includes the drums (hi-hat 35 degrees to the left, snare 10left, toms from left to right, etc.). If you're stage right, run the bass at 90 degrees left.
 
Gotcha. So you run all of your band through Touchmix? Maybe you want some splitters to just have to send one signal to both? We run all our mics through ART S8 splitters, then the FOH house takes one split and the other runs to our mixer. In that way, you only need to use one output out of the AXE3. If that is too much, ask for an AUX mix from the FOH with the levels similar to the FOH mix, plug it into one of the channels on the TOUCHMIX, then mix your guitar in to give you more of yourself, as needed. Even then, you wouldn't have to use a third output, you could run your AXE3 into the Touchmix and use one other Touchmix's outputs to run guitar only to FOH.
But the best IEM advice I got was definitely to pan almost everything, to make it sound like a real band in stage space. this includes the drums (hi-hat 35 degrees to the left, snare 10left, toms from left to right, etc.). If you're stage right, run the bass at 90 degrees left.
I think you don't understand. The Touchmix is our FOH and our Aux mixer. I know how to run that. Mainly asking tips on eq, panning, effects and mix of your units. How FOH and IEM can be different.
 
when i was touring with inears and the big big rig (axe fx+2 ua apollo interfaces) i was using room reverb (universal audio, ocean way) for my inear (not for FOH) which you can replicate with room/studio reverb in Axe FX. I think a little bit of room reverb is the key for a good inear sound. So the sound is not in the middle of your head and you get some sort of a natural, in the room feeling and a bit of stereo image.
 
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For some time, I used a fully sealed in-ear system and had a dedicated mix. I discovered that despite the incredible sonic experience, it was a little too isolated, and I wanted to have more of a "live" experience. I switched to a pair of Westone universal style in-ears with an ambient port. At this point, I only put my guitar in my in-ears. The in-ears provide some nice attenuation, so they give me some hearing protection, and I can have just enough guitar in them that I can go anywhere onstage and still hear myself clearly. Some of the other band members use in-ear systems, and we do still have stage monitors. I haver found that little bit of guitar in my ears is enough, and the ambient port lets me still hear the overall sound of the band and the audience.
 
We use personal monitoring on ipads from the stage so we can do our mixed individually. Then save the settings and when we come back just recall them.
 
I've been using IEMs for the last 8 years monitoring amps, Helix, amp + Kemper and now Axe III.

Personally, I dial in a preset to sound good to ME, and don't bother trying to dial in a FOH tone. Mainly, the reasons are:
  • I'm the one playing, and if my FOH tone isn't inspiring in my ears, then I'm probably not going to play my best or get immersed in the songs
  • I play in 5 or 6 different rooms, which means I'd need 5 or 6 different presets, or EQ settings, to fit each room... I'm too lazy to do that
  • FOH guy has as much, or more, control over how it sounds out front than I do, so I feel like he should do his job with what I send him (which is never going too be bad with the Axe III). Plus, he'll need to make "room cuts" anyway.
 
I think you don't understand. The Touchmix is our FOH and our Aux mixer. I know how to run that. Mainly asking tips on eq, panning, effects and mix of your units. How FOH and IEM can be different.
Ok. Then your approach seems to make sense, with an ambient mic added in. The above suggestion to add a tiny bit of judicious reverb helps, along with panning. Since you control the AUX, I don't think there's anything you need to do with the AXE3. I don't see the value in sending a different signal for your IEMs. If you have good in-ears, a good tone for FOH will sound good in your IEMs. Use the same signal you send to the FOH. I'm not super familiar with the QSC, but if it has a separate EQ for the AUX outputs, some low and high cuts will tighten and focus the IEM signal. And this is a simple rule that works for every kind of mixing, but I think is especially important with IEMs: very often, subtraction is addition. In other words, if something isn't loud enough, sometimes the solution is to turn everything else down, rather than turn it up.
 
I run my Axe-Fx III into a stereo channel of a small mixer and run the monitor/IEM feed into another input of the mixer. This lets me always hear my guitar in stereo no matter if the house board allows it or not. I run a little room reverb on my guitar IEM line to give it some space. So I just balance my levels between my IEM guitar and the IEM feed from the board (which has none of my guitar in it). The output of the mixer goes to my IEM transmitter.
 
Tip #1....GOOD BUDS. At the very least, dual drivers.
Tip #2...Make sure your buds are a good fit. Too much outside noise screws everything up.

I use Shure SE535's. I've tried custom buds, and as mentioned earlier, I find them to be a little too isolating. I run direct out of the Axe to FOH, and then have a monitor return for my ears. 99% of my gigs anymore have digital FOH and monitor rigs, so it's quick and easy to do a little EQ goosing on my monitor mix if need be. A good overall mix to start with is the key though. If I can get a good mix up front, I rarely have to add anything specifically to my mix.
 
Tip #1....GOOD BUDS. At the very least, dual drivers.
Tip #2...Make sure your buds are a good fit. Too much outside noise screws everything up.

I use Shure SE535's. I've tried custom buds, and as mentioned earlier, I find them to be a little too isolating. I run direct out of the Axe to FOH, and then have a monitor return for my ears. 99% of my gigs anymore have digital FOH and monitor rigs, so it's quick and easy to do a little EQ goosing on my monitor mix if need be. A good overall mix to start with is the key though. If I can get a good mix up front, I rarely have to add anything specifically to my mix.
I should have mentioned. Custom Dream Earz triple drivers
 
How does the enhancer help? In what regard?
It's a stereo widener or "double tracker." It's particularly useful in the situation I mentioned where I'm running one amp with stereo IEMs. Without it, the dry amp sound is centered in the IEMs. With the enhancer block, it's like everything you play is double tracked and hard panned in your ears, which creates a ton of space in the center of your mix for kick, snare, vocals, bass, etc. Obviously this requires running stereo to FOH and a stereo IEM feed.

The effect is very similar to putting Microshift on a mono source:

.
 
It's a stereo widener or "double tracker." It's particularly useful in the situation I mentioned where I'm running one amp with stereo IEMs. Without it, the dry amp sound is centered in the IEMs. With the enhancer block, it's like everything you play is double tracked and hard panned in your ears, which creates a ton of space in the center of your mix for kick, snare, vocals, bass, etc. Obviously this requires running stereo to FOH and a stereo IEM feed.

The effect is very similar to putting Microshift on a mono source:

.

Do you use this on FOH? If not, how do you run the IEM separate/. I know you would need to use another output, but how to run from there?
 
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