# anyone using in ear monitors



## bluesmostly

I have been considering getting some in ear monitors to use with my main gigging band. In that band I invariable stand in front of the drum kit and I find it loud and tiring. 

I have a really good monitor in front of me but it needs to be quite loud and the drums kick my a#@* so that by the end of the night I have a headache and ringing ears (in my other band we use electronic drums so I don't have the same issues). 

I am wondering if the earplugs that come with the in ear monitors are good enough to block out most of the stage volume from the drum kit. Mind you, if i need the in ears to be so loud that I blast my ears that way, it would be no better... 

Who has some experience using them and what are the pros and cons. thanks


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## urko99

My son sings lead vocals in our band and has the same issues. He has a pair of JBL monitors in front of him and sometimes it's not enough. I have 4 auxillaries on my mixing console and I have a spare if needed, should we decide on an in ear system. I'm anxious to see where this thread goes.


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## Guest

The drummer and singer in my DD tribute both use IEM systems. Both Shure systems, both pretty darn nice. Singer has custom fit ear pieces, drummer has regular canal buds; no comparison. The custom pieces are way more comfortable and attenuate ambient sound in a more even manner. 

Kind of considering ditching my E10P for an IEM setup myself.


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## Milkman

I've done sound for a few acts who use IEMs and from my perspective they're the best thing since sliced bread.


People don't realize how much wedge monitors impact the FOH sound. I've turned off the mains to show performers just how loud the wedges are from the audience and they're usually shocked.

IEMs result in a much better FOH mix and far fewer problems with feedback.

They're simple to use.


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## prodigal_son

Interesting thread. We were talking about getting into these last practice. Too many feedback problems with the PA and not enough physical space to make the changes necessary to remedy it. So all you need is the transmitter, receiver, and headset(s)? Run the mixed out signal into it and way you go?


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## Guest

You can even share a transmitter between many recievers. The only time you need more than one transmitter is when you want to dial in different mixes for different people. Of course you need a board with enough aux sends to handle the different mixes as well. Or a separate monitor mix board.


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## bluesmostly

good stuff so far,... one question still remains, will the in ear monitors need to be so loud to overcome the drums on stage that they will make me deaf instead? 

sounds like the personal custom fit IEM's would be a better solution in that regard for sure. 

Anyone have experience managing volume with IEMs?

For sure it will help FOH sound with less monitors blasting on stage but my main concern is preserving my hearing.


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## Guest

Even the stock buds are truly in you ear which attenuates a huge amount of ambient sound. We put an overhead over the drum kit just for the drummers IEM mix. That's how much attenuation he's got with the stock buds. YMMV


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## shoretyus

What's an in ear system worth?


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## zontar

I couldn't use those--I hat stuff sticking in my ears. But if you're comfortable with that--I'd say go for it.
I've heard lots of good things about IEM's.

But I would get earaches from them.
Good thing I'm not gigging.


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## dan_

IEMs are great - RE being "loud enough". The key is the fit of the earbuds, and using both ear buds. Many people will only use one bud, which undermines the effectiveness of the system, and results in the user having to crank the volume to combat the stage volume. 

We use the entry-level Shure IEM system, and it's been great. The earbuds come with a bunch of different tips - try them out and see what works best for you (I found the orange foam tips to be the most comfortable and provide the best seal). You don't necessarily need to budget for custom buds at the get-go. We run two transmitters (one for vocals and one for instruments), and have between 3 receivers on the first transmitter, and 3 on the second.


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## bluesmostly

dan_ said:


> IEMs are great - RE being "loud enough". The key is the fit of the earbuds, and using both ear buds. Many people will only use one bud, which undermines the effectiveness of the system, and results in the user having to crank the volume to combat the stage volume.
> 
> We use the entry-level Shure IEM system, and it's been great. The earbuds come with a bunch of different tips - try them out and see what works best for you (I found the orange foam tips to be the most comfortable and provide the best seal). You don't necessarily need to budget for custom buds at the get-go. We run two transmitters (one for vocals and one for instruments), and have between 3 receivers on the first transmitter, and 3 on the second.


good stuff Dan, so do you need to wear 2 separate receivers with that set-up- one for instruments and one for vocals?


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## niangelo

We dropped about a grand each for our Sennheiser units, but you could go cheaper and find a good hearing clinic and get some musician's earplugs done. Mine have switchable filters and they sound great. They were about 250 dollars. You can lower the ambient volume up to 25db, depending on the filter.


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## Guest

bluesmostly said:


> good stuff Dan, so do you need to wear 2 separate receivers with that set-up- one for instruments and one for vocals?


I think what he meant is they have one transmitter that has a vocalist-friendly mix on it. And another for the non-vocalists. You only have one receiver on you and you pair it with the transmitter carrying the mix you prefer.


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## kw_guitarguy

I have demo'd this system and it worked quite well. Added some in ears for myself, and I loved it.

http://www.heartechnologies.com/hb/hearbackintro.htm

~Andrew


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## bluesmostly

iaresee said:


> I think what he meant is they have one transmitter that has a vocalist-friendly mix on it. And another for the non-vocalists. You only have one receiver on you and you pair it with the transmitter carrying the mix you prefer.


Ok, that makes sense, thanks Ian.


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## Guest

kw_guitarguy said:


> I have demo'd this system and it worked quite well. Added some in ears for myself, and I loved it.
> 
> http://www.heartechnologies.com/hb/hearbackintro.htm
> 
> ~Andrew


Any idea what TCO was on the system? Say for 5 musicians? We were looking at a second hand Aviom system but man it was just a little too much to take. Plus we had to add in a wireless transmitter for each Aviom mix. Adds up real fast.


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## dan_

Sorry for the delay in my response - Ian had it right, with respect to having 3-4 receivers matched to each transmitter. 

We also considered the hearback system, but to purchase that and go wireless was too expensive for our church. However, knowing that the Hearback system would have allowed me to tweak my own monitor mix from the stage continues to tempt me!

RE TCO - There's a four-pack available here http://www.economik.com/hear-technologies/hear-back-four-pack/ for $1500USD, but like you pointed out Ian, adding the wireless setup for each mix drives the price up.


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## kw_guitarguy

Dan has it...

When our church demo'd it, our local L&M offered the 4 pack for $1500.

We already were wireless for vocalists and had no intention of going wireless for the band.

We didn't pull the trigger as we had to replace our mixer.

I loved it though...that personally monitor mix is an amazing feature.

For the price, I would look into it over an Axiom system.

~Andrew


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## doftya

Our church band was recently invited to another church for a special service. They had a full digital monitor system. Each person in the band had their own monitor mixer that was fed digitally from the sound board. We had total control over what we wanted to hear and how much. Then we had the option of putting that into headphones (in ears if you had them, or regular if you didn't) or into a small powered monitor. The noise on stage was dramatically less, the ability to mix the house was much easier (less stage noise to cover), and you got to hear what you wanted. Loved it. I don't remember what brand it was, have no idea what the system cost, but it was great.


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## 335Bob

Our band is about to purchase 4 of these. 
http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/single.php?product=EM900&cid=73
I already own a Carvin PA system and for the money I spent, I'm extremely happy with it. All I need to complete the system are monitors. And I've been reading great reviews on these IEMs. As soon as I get them, I'll post what I think of them.


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## corailz

I think that Shure is a reference even in personnal monitoring system...Everywhere i'm looking for this,i read good things about them...but ,is a pair of *wired* ear plugs really worth $200???


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## Guest

335Bob said:


> Our band is about to purchase 4 of these.
> http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/single.php?product=EM900&cid=73
> I already own a Carvin PA system and for the money I spent, I'm extremely happy with it. All I need to complete the system are monitors. And I've been reading great reviews on these IEMs. As soon as I get them, I'll post what I think of them.


 I always forget about Carvin! That's a nice setup at a great price.


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## Guest

corailz said:


> I think that Shure is a reference even in personnal monitoring system...Everywhere i'm looking for this,i read good things about them...but ,is a pair of *wired* ear plugs really worth $200???


 $200? Wow. That's cheap. 

Our singer just did custom fit molds for his top-of-the-line Shure IEMs. The molds alone were $400. But they are unbelievably comfortable. Block sound crazy well. These things don't work so well if there's outside bleed. You'll end up jacking up the volume to compensate and damaging your hearing.


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## bleedingfingers

Spend the money on quality earbuds these are the key piece in the system .
I have a shure wireless rig but also have a wired behringer headphone mixer that works just fine and cost about 28 dollars 
If it breaks you throw it away and buy another one .
If you are a drummer or a keyboard player or don't jump around allot wired inears will work just fine .

Also you can get moulded inears that have filters like a custom earplug that allow you to hear whats going on on stage 
but at a reduced levels.

One other thing buy earbuds that you can replace the cables on no matter how careful you are this is what fails on them and 
I used to wear the cable inside my shirt sweat destroys the cableing as well.


cheers B


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## itf?

Stay away from the Carvin in ears IMO. Carvin makes some great gear for sure but their in-ear system is lacking. The range is not great, in reality it only gets about 20ft of usefull range. The reception is also not the best and always sounds slightly staticy, like radio station background noise.


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## bbigsby

*Hidden dissapointments of the in ear*

Yes they are great if you are a lead singer or drummer but for me a guitarist/singer here is my beef.

1. People walk up to request a song or want to interact and you don't hear them. You have to take the dam things off and play with them to get them back in.

2. If other members of the band don't use them and midway during a set you make an adjustment on some else mic be wary of the insane feedback that goes throught the in ears. If you think feedback is annoying front of the house you ain't seen nothing. If you have a prosound guy then you have no worries.

3. Guitar players who earn $90 a gig and rockoutt on a $2500 botique tube amp. Ah you might as well be playing a line6 direct to the board. You loose the beautiful interaction and nuance of your tube amp. I don't play for the money but play to enjoy my gear.

I ended up selling mine after a month of frustration and picked up 2 mackie Srm150 that sit on top of a mic stand. It allows me to hear my vocals enought to stay in tune and enjoy the interaction of my tube amp.

http://www.mackie.com/products/srm150/


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## bleedingfingers

Part of the reason in ears are so great is you can block out guitar players interacting[ to loud ]with there fancy guitar amps .

oops did I say that out loud .

I should add you can also protect yourself from lead vocalists monitors that are set on kill and have the entire band bleeding back through them.

I know a lot of guitar players don't like the Inear thing but after explaining to a guitar player I work with that I could hear every 
pedal change he made perfectly everywhere we play he now uses them on the arena and loud club gigs .
I also here all his mistakes .
He still b-tches about his mix but he did that with the wedges if you don't ask the sound guy for stuff you don't get it .

cheers B.


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## bleedingfingers

Forgot 1 more thing some people put a room mic at the leadsingers spot that can be swithched on and off for taking requests
and interacting with the Crowd between tunes .

cheers again B


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## Guest

itf? said:


> Stay away from the Carvin in ears IMO. Carvin makes some great gear for sure but their in-ear system is lacking. The range is not great, in reality it only gets about 20ft of usefull range. The reception is also not the best and always sounds slightly staticy, like radio station background noise.


Which IEM system? They make more than one, especially if look back over the years. What model were you unhappy with?


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## 335Bob

Well, we've had these four EM900s from Carvin for a couple of weeks. I am quite satisfied with the sound. And of course the ability to hear everything very clearly. The earbuds are quite comfortable and fit well. I don't understand why one poster thought these had static in the sound (I'm assuming he tried the same model). Ours are clear as a bell. However, good quality rechargeable batteries are needed. AA 2700mah NiMh are what we are using. Use low capacity batteries and , yes they have a little static due to the fact the receiver hasn't ample power. If I should run into problems, I'll give an update. So far they sound great and I have to say our vocal harmonies were immediately tighter the first time we used these. As far as hearing my guitar amp, we each have our own two channel mix, so we hear both music and vocals.


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## itf?

Hey, glad your Carvin's are working for you. I'm the guy that said there was slight static in them. I haves used both these and a Shure system live and have noticed a definite increase in clarity with the Shures. However, I own the older Carvin PM1000 system so, truth be told, the newer systems could very well be much better. Cheers.


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## guitarman2

335Bob said:


> Well, we've had these four EM900s from Carvin for a couple of weeks. I am quite satisfied with the sound. And of course the ability to hear everything very clearly. The earbuds are quite comfortable and fit well. I don't understand why one poster thought these had static in the sound (I'm assuming he tried the same model). Ours are clear as a bell. However, good quality rechargeable batteries are needed. AA 2700mah NiMh are what we are using. Use low capacity batteries and , yes they have a little static due to the fact the receiver hasn't ample power. If I should run into problems, I'll give an update. So far they sound great and I have to say our vocal harmonies were immediately tighter the first time we used these. As far as hearing my guitar amp, we each have our own two channel mix, so we hear both music and vocals.


What did the Carvins cost?


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## Guest

guitarman2 said:


> What did the Carvins cost?


Beat me to it! I'm super keen to get an iem setup for the DD Tribute.


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## Brennan

Carvin.com :: EM900
On sale for $369 (another $30 for the rack mount kit) ... I'm tempted to pick one up myself.


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## 335Bob

guitarman2 said:


> What did the Carvins cost?


All said and done with the rackmount clips. ( They take care of customs, shipping etc) Each one cost me $440 CDN delivered to my door.

And I should add that because I ordered 4 and spent over $1500, I was able to get a rackmount compressor thrown in. They usually offer a free wireless mic or bodypack. I talked them into substituting the compressor. On my previous PA purchase, I did get a free wireless mic kit that works quite well.


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## SkyFire_ca

I'll resurrect an old topic ...
Also been looking at in-ear setups. I've become frustrated with the ringing in my ears for days after a gig. stage volume is still a problem, however I think I could reduce it easily if I could hear. I've gotten used to playing by "feel" and not hearing my amp, oh well. I had a conversation with the "pro-audio" guy at a local music store, he actually suggested the Shure setup, the entry model (the # escapes me) as it was wired/wireless. the idea being that bass/guitar who are tied to a cable anyway could use a wired setup, singer is much the same but could spring the extra for a wireless transmitter if needed. Drums, similar to guitar or could use a mixer and earbuds as they're even more stationary.
Sounded like an inexpensive way to get into this kind of setup.


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