Who's using IEM's? I need advice

[Lord Toneking]

Band is wanting to go in-ears. They're looking at cheapo Behringer crap and I know I'll hate them (I think )

What's the best bang for the buck IEM's that I won't hate?...if any

Thanks

 

[messenger]

Winery Dogs use the Behringer Powerplay monitoring system FYI.

 

[japetus]

Band is wanting to go in-ears. They're looking at cheapo Behringer crap and I know I'll hate them (I think )

What's the best bang for the buck IEM's that I won't hate?...if any

Thanks

Don't do it man!!!!!!

 

[tripstan]

Don't skimp on ear buds, I just took the plunge glad I spent money. If your serious spend the money. You want Dual and Multi driver buds. Lots of options but don't get cheap buds. Depending on your area your cant get molded Alclair for $300-500+

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UMPro30 I have these. Guitar, bass, vocals, drums, keys all sound good thru them.

https://alclair.com/monitorshop/

As for transmitter / receiver you get what you pay for. Sennheiser, Audio-Technica, Shure are great. Galaxy is another unknow that has some quality stuff on the budget. Be prepared to spend $500-1k per person with your going with wireless (buds and wireless unit) .

 

[SkyhighRocks]

I have the sennheiser and just got new custom ears from 64 audio. Everything sounds great BUT the guitar...it's always been like that for me. My rig sounds GLORIOUS out front but terrible in the ears. I just don't like guitar tone pushed against my ear drum. It's a constant struggle. I sing much better but my guitar playing takes a major step backwards because of the shitty sound in my ears.

 

[sgill72]

I use Audio Technica M2 for the receiver/transmitter, and Westone UMPRO50 for the buds. It's changed me, I never want to go back to playing without them. Things you'll have to get used to are the sound of just the speaker, not the whole cab and surrounding sound. I prefer it now...having everyone's levels at my fingertips just made the live experience SOOO much better. I have had an additional ambient mic in the cab vicinity that I brought in a little in my mix which made the guitar REALLY sound good, but finding the "perfect spot" become cumbersome so I just went back to the speaker mic.

 

[messenger]

I still don't understand why guitars don't sound good through IEM. We all listen to songs through headphones and guitars sound good. Modellers are supposed to be a Miked guitar tone. So why don't modellers sound good through IEM? Shouldn't they sound like a CD?

 

[mentoneman]

I still don't understand why guitars don't sound good through IEM. We all listen to songs through headphones and guitars sound good. Modellers are supposed to be a Miked guitar tone. So why don't modellers sound good through IEM? Shouldn't they sound like a CD?

that's always been my argument since line 6 pod era.
i can wear 20 dollar earbuds and listen to recorded vh or ej on itunes at the tone is there, but it takes thousands of dollars and hours to get high quality tones from pricey earbuds and amp/attenuated/IR/rack/pedal megarigs?

makes me think something is wrong with the fundamental methodology of the digital approach. i kinda think selecting digital tubes and caps and transformer in fractal or bias digi stuff is pointless and opposed to them just capturing a pre-existing tone you like and starting from there, personalizing it and using the latest tech to massage feel and live experience perception...

back to topic, we used livemix monitor systems and hardwired $50 dollar shure earbuds to the systems with long extension mini cables. i used to clip the wire to my belt loop with those paper clampy things.
earbud fit and quality affects low end and if they start sliding out during use you loose low end and that kinda blows so smaller fitting with a snug fit are ideal, not the stupid standard jumbo size apple hard plastic buds that are prone to falling out especially if you get sweaty and move around.

 

[BackCrack]

I've been using IEMs in rock bands since the late 90's. I've had my current buds for 3 years, Westone 3-driver. I forget the model number. I had the molds done by an audiologist tech and then sent in. If you sing harmonies, there's nothing better to hear yourself then with IEMs, especially with today's mixers that allow wireless on-the-fly monitor mixing from your iPad/iPhone. But for hearing your amp's tone, you have to spend the time with mic choice & placement just like you would in a studio. The buds will only reproduce what the mic signal is.

As for transmitters/receivers, you pretty much get what you pay for. The early Shure 400 system I had would always drop the signal out at the worst time, right in the middle of a vocal or guitar solo. I have a Sennheiser unit now and haven't had a single drop out. In one small club a few years ago, we ran with the buds directly wired to a multi-channel headphone amp because the stage was so small.

 

[SkyhighRocks]

I've been using IEMs in rock bands since the late 90's. I've had my current buds for 3 years, Westone 3-driver. I forget the model number. I had the molds done by an audiologist tech and then sent in. If you sing harmonies, there's nothing better to hear yourself then with IEMs, especially with today's mixers that allow wireless on-the-fly monitor mixing from your iPad/iPhone. But for hearing your amp's tone, you have to spend the time with mic choice & placement just like you would in a studio. The buds will only reproduce what the mic signal is.

As for transmitters/receivers, you pretty much get what you pay for. The early Shure 400 system I had would always drop the signal out at the worst time, right in the middle of a vocal or guitar solo. I have a Sennheiser unit now and haven't had a single drop out. In one small club a few years ago, we ran with the buds directly wired to a multi-channel headphone amp because the stage was so small.

It's true what you say...but when running direct, there's not much more I can try without it affecting the good FOH sound. It's a battle.

 

[Manxmusicman]

I use the audio technica m3 system with some Shure buds and I love the sound of my guitar through them although even distorted it sounds quite clean so I have to play that bit harder with them, mic placement might sort that out but I couldn't be happier with mine. Having said that there is a considerable difference in sound between running it stereo and mono, stereo always being the preferred option for me.

 

[Kevin11]

Forgetting the mic-ed speaker vs. modeled tone for a sec, most every guitarist I've talked to who run in ears hate it. A mic right on a speaker being fed directly to your ear is typically going to sound horrible even through expensive systems with multi-driver molded inserts. There's no air moving anywhere, it's just a direct laser shot to the ear.

Similar to what sgill72 said above, one good friend of mine is having great luck running two mics; one on the speaker and a condenser placed somewhere around his vocal mic position at the front of the stage. The condenser is meant to pick up more of what you're used to hearing out in front of your speaker cab. He gets a mix of both, guessing a bit more of the distant/room mic and he says it's much better.

I wish I could make the leap, but I'm too old-school.

 

[BackCrack]

...two mics; one on the speaker and a condenser placed somewhere around his vocal mic position... a mix of both...

100%. Most of the time we run with 2-3 stage-mix mics (L-R or L-C-R) in the IEM mixes. They don't feed the FOH; just the IEMs. And then everybody just blends those mics to taste within their own mix. Yeah, it's 3 more mics and 3 more cables to deal with, but it's worth it. Plus, they help to hear stage chatter and crowd talk inbetween songs.