In Ear Monitors

rich · Post by **rich** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 4:28 am

Anyone here use in ear monitors? What brands are good/bad, what to look for and what to avoid? Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Rich

rikk · Post by **rikk** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:17 am

I use Westone custom molded in-ear monitors. They are wonderful. The first gig I used them I could hear so well. Singing was easier. I compiled a "wired" system, so I can control PA level, my vocal level, and my bass level all individually from my rack rig just above my amp. If a sound guy doesn't want to give me a PA feed, I can take a speaker monitor feed as well. I anybody wants more details on my setup let me know.
I can't say enough good things about Westone. I had an ear-mold done my a local audiologist, and had my in-ear monitors in about a week.

dswp · Post by **dswp** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 6:34 am

http://www.shure.com/ProAudio/Products/PersonalMonitorSystems/us_pro_PSM600_content

We use these.... I like em... I keep one out as so that I can hear my bass amp.

rikk · Post by **rikk** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 7:06 am

David,

I'll post details soon. Westone is not cheap, but I use a wired system. The wireless systems add the bulk of the cost to the system. Since I an wired to my amp I made up a special cable. I can't remember off hand what my system costs, but I think it was under $500. I'll post details....

rikk · Post by **rikk** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 7:06 am

David,

The email should have worked. It is a working address.

stanislav · Post by **stanislav** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 7:42 am

In the recent issue of Keyboard (yeah, I know...) there was a review of M-Audio in-ear monitors. They have three levels and the prices are something like $150, $250, and $350. I was thinking about the $250 pair. The review was good, and I have an M-Audio interface so I trust the company.

You might be able to access the review at www.keyboardmag.com

rikk · Post by **rikk** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 7:53 am

Here are the details of my Westone wired system:

Westone ES1 in-ear monitors $350. They are the least expensive custom molded monitors Westone has. They have non-custom molded ones, but if you are going to do it, do it right. These are single driver monitors. They claim that a bass player should get the dual driver monitor, but I don’t gig that much to justify the added cost. The ES1 make my bass sound fine.

Rolls PM350 Personal Monitor Mixer $79. This is a really neat item. It has an input (line) from the PA, a mic input, which I loop through MY vocal mic, then send it to the PA, and a second (line) input to look my bass through. Each of these has a separate volume control. I set the PA volume to a decent level, them add in the extra bass and vocal, so I can hear myself better.

Rolls PM52 Headphone Tap $35. This unit will take a speaker feed and convert it to headphone level. This is for when a venue soundman does not want to give you a PA feed. In my case I bypass the wedge monitors and bring it directly to my headphones.

I have not tried it, but in theory you could connect the PM52 feed to the PM350 to mix in more bass.

I took my 25’ 1/4” to 1/4” guitar cable and made up an identical length cable with a mini stereo female on one end and a 1/4” TRS on the other. I then combined the two cables with 1/2” Flexo Pet tubing. Yes it is a fatter cable than I was using normally, but since I was already wired, it’s no additional hassle. And I was able to put the money into the in-ear monitors instead of a wireless system. The cable probably cost me $50 in materials.

This so far cost a little over $500. I racked it all in a 4 space rack which includes a tuner and a power supply. Both Rolls units are the size of stomp boxes, so you could just put them on your amp.

I love this system, and would hate to play without it. It was worth every penny. I hope that helps. If you have any more questions let me know.

rickfan63 · Post by **rickfan63** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 10:42 am

In ear monitors are great for vocals, but not for bass IMHO. I used some in church once because the house amp wasn't working, and the tone was very squashed and lifeless sounding. It was like playing through cheap headphones. I was glad to ditch them.

gshadoan · Post by **gshadoan** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 11:10 am

IEM's are pretty much like anything else. You get what you pay for. The high end Shures, and the Sennheisers are the two types that I see in my venue allot out on tour. The folks who hate them generally are the ones who tried the cheap ones. Further, as Rik suggested, those who do not have there own monitor rig (of some sort) are left to the mercy of whatever the venue can offer to support them. Commonly the Crest XR20 is a great little board for use for a budget IEM operation. That and a complete splitter to the house. Kind of high maintanence. Plus someone has to mess with it, be that a band member, or a sound guy. I would not rely on small venue sound guys to support IEM. It would be a something YOU would have to own. Most of the bigger venues (1000- or better) usually have the ability to support an IEM system. For example, the room I work, has a 16 AUX monitor desk. 8 of which we use for powered wedge/box mixes, and 8 available for IEM, or some variation of types. YMMV.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 4:20 pm

I worked with in ear monitors when I played with Minutes to Midnight. They are really good for the drummer, also it can really keep the stage volume down. The hardest sell is a lead guitar player.

The system I was using had 5 volume controls so each player got a custom mix.

pma · Post by **pma** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 4:56 pm

I use the Shure E500 triple driver IEM. I started using IEM's a few years ago with their original product, E1's. I thought the bass was lacking in these but it just was a better way to get a clear overall mix of the entire band. Later, the whole band upgraded to E5's which are dual driver. MUCH better bass response and I was very happy for several years. About 8 months ago, I upgraded again to the E500's and the clarity and tighter bass make them well worth the cost (list for $599). E5's can be had on ebay for around $275 and are very good. Haven't checked on E500's used. Shure has a newer model of these but it is essentially the same technology in a slightly different package.

We have a full stereo image of the band in our monitors and can pan instruments so they can be more clearly heard. I would never go back to wedges and overly loud monitoring.

Hope this helps.

Paul

philipharris · Post by **philipharris** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 2:55 am

Band I was in refused to put bass through the monitor or have it up on stage I got a sennheiser wireless rig - great value but the earplugs were utter pants - so I got a Sony clip-over set, cut off one side and just used the left ear set. That left my right ear free to hear the drums.

rickfan63 · Post by **rickfan63** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 5:40 am

I was using a Shure system, and as I described before it was not real good. It was just too much of a compressed, squashed sound. It killed the tone of the Rick for me. I would not want to use them over an amp, unless something something really better comes out. But for vocals, they are really nice. I've never liked to have instruments in the monitors, with the possible exception of the kick drum in certain situations. Guitar and bass have amps to use as monitors. To have them in the floor monitors just clutters up the sound. Floor monitors are better used for just vocals. Being a lead and back up singer myself, I have found this to be true, unless you have IEM's for the vocals.

j_gary · Post by **j_gary** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:26 am

I thought IEM's were primarily for vocals?

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:04 am

The best way to use them is to run all instruments and vocals into them ... then all members of the band can hear everything ...

Look at any recent Rush DVD they use the in ear monitors ... Geddy has to because he has no bass amp on stage ...

when properly used it can make your band tighter because every player hears everything ...