EBS_freak

These are custom pickups... yamaha is your best bet... or if you can get them rewound, or you are looking at a complete ground up custom. Epoxy cast would probably be best, using your original pickup to create the impression.

[quote name='largo' timestamp='1483695434' post='3209278'] My biggest problem when playing was the isolation the IEM's gave me, so be careful. The custom moulds will be even more isolating than the cheap IEM you have just now. Our desk had no more channels for ambient mic(s) and even when I did manage to try an ambient mic, it picked up so much stage noise it was hardly worth it. Because of this, our keyboard player eventually went for the ACS Live! system but at over £1000 it ain't cheap. I went for the new Westone AM Pro 30 IEM as a compromise. Fantastic, giving me a 12db noise reduction so I can still hear the other guys/girls onstage when not playing or when someone from the crowd speaks to me but when the music starts it's the band mix I hear. Triple drivers which aren't perfect, I know, but still giving a decent bass response through them. [/quote] Some people like the isolation. I'd take isolation over a boomy, highly reflective stage. I'm trying to understand you ambient mic problems - what was the major problems with it? The only reason I say this, is that if you can't get on with ambient mics, the Live! systems is unlikely to help you out either. Theres no reason, for a static position on stage, ambient mics through the desk can't actually be better than the Live! system. With proper condensers, panning and shelving EQ, a decent set of ambient mics should blow the mini mics on the ACS ears out of the water. I'm not talking theoretical, I have the ACS live system... and although I do think it's a great concept, I do also think it is flawed for high SPL or for people that crave bass (distortion city). (The fact that ACS don't do dual low inears is a bit of a downer too - although that's not likely to change any time soon as the MD doesn't subscribe to the idea of having that much acoustic energy being pumped into the ear drum - means that for drummers and bassists, ACS don't deliver as well as the competitors in the lows). I know we've talked about the Westones and their ambient abilities. I still want to try them out as experience has shown me that any ambient port to the outside world means a loss of bass response... I know the Westone blurb contradicts this.

[quote name='mrtcat' timestamp='1483683812' post='3209211'] My UE900s arrived yesterday. Got them from Toby deals for £174.99 inc delivery but the trade off is it took 12 days for them to arrive. As mentioned before I've been using mee m6s until now. Initial impressions are that the UE900s are a big step up. Just a much stronger, more balanced and more detailed sound with bass that is solid and not boomy. Not as comfortable as I had hoped but I'm having them re-shelled into custom moulds at the end of the month anyway so a moot point for me. I'll update once that's done. [/quote] £174.99 is a good price. So which re-shells are you going for? Inearz? Please do post the before and after pics of the reshell!

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1483700598' post='3209332'] The real truth could be anything. The fact is, we don't know what it is. [/quote] I don't know if it could be anything - there's certainly a lot of evidence in the performance that points to technical failings. I suppose the fact of the matter is that it's unlikely that we will ever get to the bottom of what those failings were.

[quote name='Huge Hands' timestamp='1483694973' post='3209275'] I don't get it. Even the most prepared technical crews can get it wrong, or have failures that happen out of their control. You must know this if, like me you have worked in pro audio. How do you know the wedges were working, to a point where they were useable? I too would always defend my fellow professionals when I can, but to say they are blameless, I think is wrong. I'll sum it up like this (like EBS_Freak has been doing). From the clips I've seen, she walks on stage and moans that her in-ears aren't working. She pulls them out to see if she can hear the track from out front or wedges but either she can't or it is too confusing with echo/acoustics etc. She walks to the front of the stage and tries to listen to the monitors, but doesn't seem to like that either. This doesn't smack to me as someone who has always had it perfect and has never dealt with tech issues before. She was trying. Whatever your opinions on the professionality of how she dealt with it, something obviously wasn't right. I have done shows for local cabaret acts who have had bigger diva strops than that, but it was usually because something wasn't working, or heaven forbid after an exhausting 11 hour day I'd missed a mute button somewhere in the chain. Not something I'd be proud of, but I'd resolve it and then hold my hands up and apologise afterwards. On the clip I saw, she did suffer it for a while (more than one song) before she walked off. If that was my crew, I'd have had someone on stage with a spare beltpack or with their ear to the wedges in minutes - I saw no evidence of that. I'd also say that if her version of events is true, then if she repeatedly said "they're not working" backstage, and her crew or whoever told her "they'll be fine when you get on stage" - then that person/persons needs a good kicking, IMHO. [/quote] That's exactly how I see it too... Mariah's actions seem to be entirely genuine and point to a technical balls up. I reread the list that Wiggybass posted and a number of things started to ring bells. I'm not having a go at anybody anywhere, just trying to provide a reasoned response to some of the statements that have been made. RF is not a static thing - just because the airwaves were clean at soundcheck, doesn't mean that they are going to remain clean. The additional lights, TV crews etc... will all have had an impact on the RF throughout the day. Just because the frequencies were booked out to them, doesn't mean that they weren't going be suffering with intermodulation issues when other RF sources came online. With regard to the monitors working and the IEMs working, the sound company can say what they want as they know full well that there is no way of anybody being able to validate this statement. Anybody tach side/onstage who would go against this story, is unlikely to ever be hired again and probably not even allowed to comment due to the the NDA that they apparently signed. How you react in a problem situation - as huge_hands states, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of reacting going on from the tech team. Standard response is to have a backup IEM pack going onstage to her. The different mixes... whatever mixes were being sent, that would appear to be a secondary problem - there was clearly something more fundamentally wrong with the transmission, rather than the content. "They'll be fine when you get on stage" - yeah, because 30mw/100mw (depending upon what system they were using) radio transmissions (e.g. pretty strong) is fussy about front and backstage. If they are using the Shure systems, it may even be as stupid as somebody not re-engaging the RF transmission switch... so the routing is all there... but no radio! I guess the real truth behind it all will be covered up in favour of making Mariah looking like a diva... or giving her a good kicking because she actually has more talent than most modern pop acts.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1483657636' post='3209165'] Well, she's made gazillions of quid out of doing it her way, but now it's bitten her on her the arse. [/quote] And that's a big bite. Still comes down to the fact she is more in a theatre role than the stuff the majority in here can relate to.

I agree with all of the above - but unless MC is very good at acting, there's defo something going on with the feed to those IEMs.

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1483650948' post='3209069'] EBS_freak - is that because you're freakishly an expert on Every Bloody Subject? [/quote] I know nowt about football if that helps.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1483638715' post='3208958'] Putting aside the fact that there's probably nothing in those cabs, when your on-stage monitoring is at worst a combination of wedge monitors and side-fills and more likely in-ears and FoH is handled entirely by the PA, I don't think the dispersion characteristics of the bass rig are even remotely relevant. [/quote] I don't think he cares about that either.

Can't help you on the speaker front... but man, what an unsung hero of an amp. Had a LC15R for about 3 years. Still regret selling it.

Its all about the clay dots!

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1483631587' post='3208861'] OK, there are load of variables at play but given equivalent speakers/efficiency etc would 2 8 ohm 2x10 be louder than 1 8ohm 4x10? [/quote] Yes - but not likely to be perceivably so.

MD - You always have a real problem with me don't you? Here you go, have the thread if it makes you happy.

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1483625927' post='3208777'] now who's fun at parties? [/quote] Your mum, apparently

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1483622736' post='3208730'] have you tried the M6s? Our drummer loves them [/quote] Yes - a drummer I work with uses them. They seem to be the go to inear whenever anybody asks a drummer about IEMs on Facebook. I think they are a tad bass light and not particularly comfortable... but great value for money. Trouble is, none of these guys have ever used anything with some serious clout... so yeah, they are good because they sound better than their reference - which is usually a set of ear buds that came free with their phone. Certainly not in the same ballpark (or planet) as the UE900s though. To be fair, most people know no better... but like for bass players, as a drummer, I would want a minimum of a quad balanced armature with a dual low.

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1483622572' post='3208728'] Nah, comparing sound engineers to NASA can only lead to the afforementioned quip [/quote] Not really because if you were up on your NASA facts, you would be aware of the audio development lab, that you have to admit, does have more than a passing relevance to sound engineering.

I dont suppose that you bought your amp on a credit card did you? Let them deal with it.

I have a friend who glues sandpaper onto either side of his picks... just remember to alllow for the change in thickness when choosing picks.

[quote name='Hutton' timestamp='1483617074' post='3208670'] I don't have the technical knowledge to comment on this but I was thinking that if Mariah Carey could have performed she would have as she has been doing just that for a long time now. The fact that she had to abort the performance would suggest to me that things were well out of her control. She would surely know that there would be no point in continuing and producing a performance that she would later regret. An unfortunate set of circumstances here which led to her doing the only sensible thing. [/quote] ^ not a numbskull.

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1483616788' post='3208662'] not always [url="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=NASA+staff+scandal&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b&gfe_rd=cr&ei=jTFuWIziD87O8gfDl7e4Aw#q=nasa+staff+mistakes"]https://www.google.c...+staff+mistakes[/url] [/quote] I think my point went over your head. NASA, like everybody else make mistakes... like sound engineers... [quote] and excuse me for being obvious, but putting on a gig is not rocket science! [/quote] Again, of course it isn't. It was a comparison between doing a job and getting it right. I bet you're fun at parties.

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1483611606' post='3208615'] I've yet to view his personal custom bass but, even in his absence, I'm very excited about seeing it. I just wish he could have been there so I could hear him play it through his beloved Monique [/quote] I would like to see his personal bass - I know he was excited about it all, only got the tease shot of the packaging.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1483612229' post='3208621'] The suggestion is that she complained her ears weren't working just before going live, but she was assured all would be OK. That's only her side of the story, mind. [/quote] Until somebody in the audience with a radio pack that was recording the IEM feed releases the recorded audio.

[quote name='MacDaddy' timestamp='1483611816' post='3208619'] numbskull here! No idea about the technicalities, but an educated guess concerning the money and companies involved would suggest the people involved are professionals at the top of their game, performer included, who would have planned; rehearsed; dress rehearsed; and sorted out any problems prior to going live? [/quote] NASA are professionals at the top of their game... but they still lost shuttles. Some times, sh1t just happens... but I am guessing there are a few engineers that are going to find it difficult finding work for a while. Mind you, having said that, I read last night that everybody involved had to sign NDAs (probably spurred on by the monitor recording leak she had) prior to work on the performance... so perhaps that may work in their favour.

[quote name='Huge Hands' timestamp='1483607898' post='3208570'] Oh, and EBS-Freak - I thought I read Mr Packer had sent her packing (badum-tish) so she might not be so comforted after all..... [/quote] It would appear you are right - I don't tend to keep up on Mariah activity! Although interestingly enough, I see that she gets to keep the $10million diamond ring and is looking for a $50million settlement agreement as she had to uproot to LA for him or something... So maybe there is still a bit of money in it for the old gal yet.

Ha! Yeah, it'll settle down soon for sure. I don't think her bank balance (and soon to be billionaire James Packer's wife) will be worrying too much, regardless.