Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Which IEM headphones on a tight budget?


Painy
 Share

Recommended Posts

My band's lead vocalist and myself have recently started using IEMs at gigs. The headphones that came with the wireless systems we're using (Thomann's budget t-bone package) are complete and utter garbage so we've been using our own earbuds for the time being.
They are far better quality but as they were designed for general use rather than as IEMs they color the sound far too much so I'm looking for something specifically designed for monitoring but unfortunately it will have to be as cheap as possible.
I've been looking at the t-bone EP4s on Thomann which have good reviews and at around £50 they're certainly inexpensive but is there anything else I should be looking at? I could add another £10-20 if it would get me something noticeably better but that's pretty much all Mrs Painy will let me get away with spending right now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='dudewheresmybass' timestamp='1485097345' post='3221067']
Citronic dual driver headphones. Around £15 delivered from eBay. Awesome bang for the buck! I prefer them to some of the more expensive sets I have 😉
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291914048062
[/quote]

Hmm. That really is cheap. Do they color the sound at all and how well do they handle bass?
I had seen them on eBay but if I'm honest I'd discounted them on price as likely to be cheap and nasty but would be great if that's not the case.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1485113555' post='3221230']
The drummer i play with (also a lecturer in music, music tech and stuff) recommends these https://www.amazon.co.uk/MEE-Earphone-Replaceable-Universal-Microphone/dp/B00SLVB71Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1485113493&sr=8-2&keywords=m6+headphones
[/quote]

Oooo, pretty!!! That looks just the ticket, thanks!
Just read a few reviews which seem to share the view that these are very pronounced on the treble side (overly so in fact according to a couple of reviews) but the cheap wireless system we're using could really do with more presence in the highs anyway so could actually be a good match.
For £38 delivered I reckon these are worth a punt.

Edited by Painy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right, sorted. Thanks guys.

[URL=http://s38.photobucket.com/user/Richard_Pain/media/stuff/Screenshot_20170122-165809_1_zpsmtczl9nc.jpg.html][IMG]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/Richard_Pain/stuff/Screenshot_20170122-165809_1_zpsmtczl9nc.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Painy' timestamp='1485114877' post='3221266']
Oooo, pretty!!! That looks just the ticket, thanks!
Just read a few reviews which seem to share the view that these are very pronounced on the treble side (overly so in fact according to a couple of reviews) but the cheap wireless system we're using could really do with more presence in the highs anyway so could actually be a good match.
For £38 delivered I reckon these are worth a punt.
[/quote]

I was looking at those too, I like the design and reviews, although I am a little concerned about too many people complaining about the build quality and them breaking... I had bookmarked the Shure SE215 based on reviews and price (around £80-90) but if the M6 do a good job I might go for those. I like that the cable is detachable too.

The reviews about the excessive treble might be due to poor seal of the earbuds they were using. Let us know what you think about them! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Will do. Is seems that the complaints about excessive treble were mainly from people using them as headphones to listen to recorded music rather than for stage monitoring but we shall see. Apparently burning them in for 24 hours softens the treble too so I'll probably give that a go.

I'll leave a review on here once I've tried them out. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='dudewheresmybass' timestamp='1485097345' post='3221067']
Citronic dual driver headphones. Around £15 delivered from eBay. Awesome bang for the buck! I prefer them to some of the more expensive sets I have
[url="https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291914048062"]https://www.ebay.co....tm/291914048062[/url]
[/quote]


Hmmm... I was curious and ordered a pair to try.
I am enormously underwhelmed... they're actually pretty bad for music. Very boxy, boomy lows, poor treble... I find it difficult to believe we're talking about the same ones. Model EP740?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IEMs on a tight budget - I fear you aren't going to get the lows out of any of the IEMs that you have mentioned. Save you money and save up... seriously. You'll have a miserable IEM experience otherwise. You aren't going to get the performance you are looking for.

I've spent more on headphones than I care to admit... and for bass in an IEM environment, I would say do not got anything less than a quad driver with UE900s being a good bet. Dual lows, mid and high. Probably looking around the 175ish mark but this isn't me being snobby - it's me saying, you are asking a lot from anything less because you are dealing with raw, uncompressed input with huge transients.

Looks at the last few pages of the big IEM post for other people's views on them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1485449691' post='3224063']
IEMs on a tight budget - I fear you aren't going to get the lows out of any of the IEMs that you have mentioned. Save you money and save up... seriously. You'll have a miserable IEM experience otherwise. You aren't going to get the performance you are looking for.

I've spent more on headphones than I care to admit... and for bass in an IEM environment, I would say do not got anything less than a quad driver with UE900s being a good bet. Dual lows, mid and high. Probably looking around the 175ish mark but this isn't me being snobby - it's me saying, you are asking a lot from anything less because you are dealing with raw, uncompressed input with huge transients.

Looks at the last few pages of the big IEM post for other people's views on them.
[/quote]

I have my eye on those UE900, they do get great reviews... The cheapest I've seen is around £280, 'though. Still, if the IEM route works for me, I'd definitely want good earphones. I've spent more in speaker cabinets that rarely get used as anything more than stage monitors, so £300 doesn't seem too bad (especially when you look at what really expensive earphones cost!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here you go -

[url="https://www.eglobalcentral.co.uk/logitech-ultimate-ears-ue900s-headphone-en.html"]https://www.eglobalc...adphone-en.html[/url]

I have had a number of friends order from here, they've come and they are the real deal. Just order with a credit card and you'll be fine. Can't complain at that price.

And if they really work for you, you can have them converted to customs for circa £200 quid. As a benchmark, a quad custom is currently riding around £750 now.

Edited by EBS_freak
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1485462524' post='3224194']
Here you go -

[url="https://www.eglobalcentral.co.uk/logitech-ultimate-ears-ue900s-headphone-en.html"]https://www.eglobalc...adphone-en.html[/url]

I have had a number of friends order from here, they've come and they are the real deal. Just order with a credit card and you'll be fine. Can't complain at that price.

And if they really work for you, you can have them converted to customs for circa £200 quid. As a benchmark, a quad custom is currently riding around £750 now.
[/quote]

wow! how's that possible? That's quite a price difference... you're a bad man [1], I think I may just bite the bullet...

[1] the best kind of bad man 'though ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well my earphones have arrived and for the money I'm very impressed so far (I will be looking to get something better in due course if these don't cut it though).
They are pretty much what I'd hoped for - which is to say a flat, more focused bass response than my Sennheiser earphones (which are meant for general music listening rather than designed for use as stage IEMs) and very clear, crisp and precise in the mids and highs.
So far I've only tried them listening to music on my phone and with my bass through my practice amp so yet to see how they fare at a gig (no gig this weekend either which is always the way when I get a bit of new kit I want to try out) but I'll report back after next week's gig.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...