Gunsfreddy2003

Neil just bought my Sadowsky outboard pre-amp - easy to deal with, prompt payment and polite enough to let me know it turned up ok. Highly recommended.

100% agree - what goes into your ears makes IEM either a very enjoyable experience or a complete pain in the arse! I tried cutting the corners and it cost me more in the long run. Just wish I was using mine now, uh oh I can feel a desk purchase coming on. [quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1366653355' post='2055544'] Completely understand where you are coming from, it's a huge investment and one that I was very wary of taking myself. I had put it off for a while but my comfort on stage and tinitus was getting worse and I had to do something about it before things got really bad. To put it into context, I have a 1u rack with my guitar and iem wireless systems in. With the headphones, that's 3k worth of gear. That's a substantial investment but the key bit I wanted to get across is the bits in the ear are the singularly most important thing to getting a good sound to your ears on stage. I thought a set of headphones were near enough damn it the same to the next one... I quickly learnt that live audio is actually really demanding for a set of headphones to reproduce reliably... and the key bit is being able to get it into your lugs. No point in getting the signal to just before your ears if it fails at the last hurdle. The thing is, that last hurdle is the hardest thing to beat. A wired solution direct from the desk is going to get you the source to you ears as good as all the top end wireless systems but at a fraction of the cost. Alot of people seem to focus on the radio aspect of an IEM system - and in reality, unless you really need the wireless function, it's the least important bit. A wired connection as stated earlier is going to beat all other solutions. Without trying to undermine the cheaper units, you do notice a big difference in the RF performance and limiters - even though the PSM900 limiter is really, really good, the extra tweakable control from the A&H desk still knocks it into touch. I've noticed that RF at big events can be a real issue... but even at the most remote venues, I've had RF issues with the gear not on channel 38. It's really weird. Most of the time things are OK... but, well you know. Luck of the drawer. The only reason I have all this stuff is because it is paying for itself on the gigs that we have got coming in and to safeguard my bad ear... and of course the comfort factor when you are doing the number of gigs is really a bonus. The days of difficult on stage sounds have gone, I can play at much lower volumes despite the backline pushing it out like billy-o in some stages... you get it... It's just really, really comfortable and enables you to get on with your playing rather than struggling to hear cues from others etc. That new A&H really kicks ass and offers and incredible amount of functionality in a really portable package. Hopefully things work out for you man because once you have this kind of setup, it'll transform everything. Seriously. I can't recommend it enough. I would defo say save up for it in stages because as they say, buy cheap, buy twice - as proven by Gunsfreddy who went through a whole chain of events getting the final bit - the IEM bit, right. I'm sure he'll back me up in saying it's the most important component of the setup. [/quote]

I am only giving you the benefit of my experience with this and for me I wanted to hear a good mix of the band and most importantly my bass in the mix whilst at the same time protecting my hearing by cutting out the loud stage sound etc. The thing is that in order to protect your hearing 100% you need moulded monitors that fit your ear and create a complete seal to block out the rest of the noise, once you do this then I found that I wanted the best quality sound that I could get and the reality is that single or dual driver monitors just can't recreate bass cleanly and you end up with some pretty bad sounds. I do have to add hear though that the supplied buds with the AT system were actually a lot better than the entry level monitiors from ACS where you basically plug a single driver speaker into your existing ER15 moulds. I am not convinced that you will be able long term to live with a mix of vocals in both ears and with just a small amount of band mix coming from what they let in down the sides if you see what I mean! Like McGraham says T.bone will work and I also share the opinion that too much money can be wasted on the wireless system itself they all pretty much do the same thing so go for the system and then if you think it is the way forward then do yourself a favour and invest in the best monitors that can. Just as a reference, we used to rehearse in our old drummers studio which has a full desk etc and you could create your own mix of the rest of the band and I can honestly tell you that once we set that up I never went back to listening to rehearsals accoustically as they sounded so bad in comparison! With decent monitors we had a CD quality in our ears and my bass never sounded better too which was a bonus. Carrying on this theme - the new drummer has no such equipment and as a result at moment the IEM's are not getting any use which is a nightmare!! Hope some of that may help! [quote name='MoJoKe' timestamp='1366501771' post='2053371'] So that'll be nearly £2k spent just on the ACS triple driver earpieces for the three of us then. Holy cow, that's not quite what I had in mind for a sensible entry level...! I really do appreciate your thoughts but we simply don't have that kind of budget yet. I've spent over 35 years being a pro and semi pro bass player and fully understand the ears [i]must [/i]be protected (having failed at that so badly in the 80's!), but forgive me if I'm completely missing your point, it sounds like you're suggesting [i]Hifi [/i]is the most important consideration. I wouldn't argue the need to do the best you can, and "detail" is of course the holy grail, but surely the way to get into this is to choose the "system" first (unless you're suggesting its largely irrelevant) and afford the best earpieces you can, as and when? Last night I could hear, at an incredibly sensible and safe low level (compared to on stage monitors), albeit in a different but easily audible frequency, all the vocal harmonies so that it was easy to perform and pitch correctly. Surely that's the point? On that basis I really don't [i]want [/i]every element of the band in the in-ears. With some reasonable earpieces which don't completely block out the outside world it should allow me to focus on the vocals and still hear what the drums/bass/guitar are doing? I have no doubt that spending more on earpieces is definitely worthwhile (I haven't compromised on my home surround sound or studio nearfield monitors where I crave detail), but as a long time live performer I've never expected to hear exactly the same "experience" as my audience (while that'd be a great thing to achieve) surely there's a cost effective starting point? Also, at the moment we mix ourselves, from the stage, without the luxury of an engineer ensuring a perfect on-stage mix. I'll certainly check out the Audio Technica M2, it looks to be in the same price range as the PSM 200? Whereabouts are you in the south west? I'm near Taunton, perhaps I could get to one of your gigs if I get time off for good behaviour!? [/quote]

Not used any of the systems you mention but looked at the Shure and T Bone when I was setting up my system. In the end I opted for an Audio Technica system (M2) which has been great. What I can tell you from my experiences with this is that the most important factor is actually the monitors themselves, I tried cutting corners on that front and was horrified by the sound. I would honestly advise you to look at including a budget for a custom fit monitor with at least 3 drivers in them, I opted for ACS and they have been great. I would recommend chatting to EBS Freak as he has just switched all off his band over to IEM's.

What's the sub octave synthesiser all about? [quote name='Me And My Bass' timestamp='1366139449' post='2048911'] Here is the current board in all its glory - [attachment=132703:photo (2).JPG] G30 ~ Polytune ~ Sub Oct Synth ~ Volume Pedal ~ Density Hulk ~ 3Leaf ~ Sansamp [/quote]

Yeah but that's all part of the charm of buying a GB!! [quote name='ZenBasses' timestamp='1365780228' post='2044473'] Edited to Customer Service What a numpty I can be ) [/quote]

No point putting all of those as I suspect that at least 14 would get no votes as no-one has heard of them let alone bought one! [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1365716168' post='2043538'] So you added ACG and Shuker... Where's 13 Guitar, John Birch, Clifton, Crimson, Brian Eastwood, Eccleshall, Enfield, Everson, Fretking, Gordon Smith, Gus, JC Hamilton, Simon Lee, Legra, Rim, Andrew Scrimshaw, Sei, Doug Wilkes? All UK luthiers making bass guitars. And I'm sure that even that list isn't complete... [/quote]

Cheers guys - some good tips there. Shizznit - what cable do you use from your amp to A/D converter? Jack to XLR?

I am doing a bit more recording at home and wonder how most of you are getting a signal from your amp into Garageband? I use the Jam by Apogee as my interface but would be keen to get a better sound by taking a feed from the amp or even micing up if that works better? Any advice on this gratefully received!

Just sold my EBS multi-comp to Shem, very quick payment and nice and easy comms. I would have no hesitation in recommending him.

I found the exact same thing using one Bergantino cab (8ohms), I have not tried it in the same situation with both of them and thus getting the full 4 ohm output. To me that defeats the point of a small lightweight head if you have to then take 2 cabs to make it work for you! [quote name='Bloc Riff Nut' timestamp='1365316889' post='2037870'] I've just had a couple of rehearsals and I had the volume at 3pm and our rehearsals aren't particularly noisy. IMHO at 8Ohm it's not enough for a stage monitor. I was playing through a Midget(8Ohms).Thinking of getting a Compact, that would definitely get the most out of the BH250. [/quote]

Opted for the Diamond Bass Compressor - the option of a compressor, signal booster and eq in one pedal was too much to resist and so far the early indicators are pretty good. Utilising this with some adjustments to playing style and eq on the bass and amp should hopefully cure this bloody problem.