I use Westone ES-3 with a custom mold done by an audiologist. They're approximately $800 but mine have been going strong for three years, sound great, feel comfy and, most importantly, have helped preserve my hearing. Rod Stewart credits them with saving his career for the same reason. IEM's are an important investment as that's what you're going to hear everything thru. The quality of the drivers and the fit should be the best available. Buy cheap, buy twice - as my Dad used to say.
Could not AGREE more !!!
Used Westone UM-1's (universals) with custom molded tips on the stems for about 2 yrs upa t church and occasionally with an old band, always jonesing for a full set of CIEM's, (custom-mold IEM's) but couldn't justify it until the band went all IEM. There's simply too much extra "stuff" needed to have 1 or 2 on IEM's and the rest using stage mons.
Ordered my 1964 Ears Quad's at the end of 2013 (was 5 week lead time back then) having sent them audiologist molds. They arrived late Jan '14 and the combined total came in around $620 ($549 + $50 for molds + S/H) so I used them at church until band went IEM. That happened back in May, so we are now all IEM and have a much cleaner stage footprint. The Quads are awesome and I can hear everything I need at much lower volumes. Bass replication is STELLAR! We mix from stage, so adjusting my mix is simply a matter of walking over and tweaking in-flight. Whether we play thru the house systems (30% of our gigs) or our own PA, the splits/feeds all go into the X32 Producer, so we only need minor mix adjustments for any venue as the trim levels remain fairly constant as we ALWAYS use our own mics and direct feeds.
Both guitar players (tubes, not AF2 - and I play bass in this band) are using single driver Shure E215's that came with their wireless units so they are are going thru some challenges with sounds "dropping out" of the mix when the whole band plays. But... after much discussion, research and talking with other bands using IEM's they have concluded that this is caused by the Shure single drivers, and plan to upgrade to multi-drivers when $$ become available.
Other than drummer, the other 4 are all wireless inbound (G50, G30, G90) and wireless ears.. Carvin EM900 and Shure PSM200's. To be fair, it IS an investment (ears + wireless units) but since we play most weekends and are NOT touring and making a living from doing this, we are perfectly happy with the expense and resulting benefits... The big thing is that it's all modular. Power up, put your ears in and play.. minimal setup!!
Spend the $$ !! Protect your hearing!! DO NOT CHEAP OUT !
BUY ONCE, CRY ONCE !
