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In-Ear Monitor Systems


Vinny
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Orrite, all.

I'm in a 6-piece band and we're thinking of going down the in-ear monitoring route - mostly to save on boot (and floor) space.

I always wear ER-20s when playing and was wondering if a PHENOMENALLY LOUD guitardist (it's the law) will mean that the monitors would have to be so loud as to cause ringin' of ears?

Also, does anyone know of a good system that has 6 ...erm... 'outlets'?

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If you go down the in-ear route,there is no need to use much volume at all on stage. One band I work with doesn't even use
amps.The only sound on stage is from the drums,the rest of us use Line 6 Pods. It sounds just as good out front through the PA
and we all get a good sound through the in-ears,which don't have to be loud.

Edit...In fact,in the last 2 or 3 months I've only used an amp twice.

Edited by Doddy
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[quote name='Doddy' post='1076873' date='Jan 3 2011, 10:17 PM']If you go down the in-ear route,there is no need to use much volume at all on stage. One band I work with doesn't even use
amps.The only sound on stage is from the drums,the rest of us use Line 6 Pods. It sounds just as good out front through the PA
and we all get a good sound through the in-ears,which don't have to be loud.

Edit...In fact,in the last 2 or 3 months I've only used an amp twice.[/quote]



Bloody good point, that. I know there's no need for that much volume behind the pa as such, but the only worry I have is that Steve the Biblically loud one uses an ancient amp full of valves, springs and cogs and stuff which sounds absolutely fantastic, and it really is a sound worth keeping (even if he doesn't know where the volume pot is!) So his amp could easily be moved forward up towards the pa speakers, but how would we know without FOH if his effects ramped up the volume on the amp? We are quite proud of having a good balance. Well, 5 of us anyway!

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Balance is something I have been searching out for months!

Tonight I managed to persuade everyone to go through the PA (including the drummer) and I was amazed at how bad we sounded. I am convinced playing f'king loud has been covering up some major issues with timing.

What was also interesting was how 'dead' the music sounded without a acoustic drum kit. Hard to describe really but the music just seemed to fall flat on the floor as soon as it came out of the speakers. I guess that is what playing with a electric drum kit gives you, trouble is our drummer doesn’t understand dynamics and just plays f'king loud all the time.

Back on topic... I use a moulded ear plugs (but used normal headphones previously) with a Samson S-monitor (http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1696) wired system which costs about £35. My guitar is plugged in to the PA, as is the mic, so another wire for IEM is neither here or there. The main driver behind the moulded plugs was not to get rid of a stage amp but get the noise levels to my ear down to something less than 110dB+. With the 26dB claimed isolation (making 84dB) I am just outside of the damage your ears territory.

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[quote name='Thurbs' post='1076960' date='Jan 4 2011, 12:25 AM']Balance is something I have been searching out for months!

Tonight I managed to persuade everyone to go through the PA (including the drummer) and I was amazed at how bad we sounded. I am convinced playing f'king loud has been covering up some major issues with timing.

What was also interesting was how 'dead' the music sounded without a acoustic drum kit. Hard to describe really but the music just seemed to fall flat on the floor as soon as it came out of the speakers. I guess that is what playing with a electric drum kit gives you, trouble is our drummer doesn’t understand dynamics and just plays f'king loud all the time.

Back on topic... I use a moulded ear plugs (but used normal headphones previously) with a Samson S-monitor (http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1696) wired system which costs about £35. My guitar is plugged in to the PA, as is the mic, so another wire for IEM is neither here or there. The main driver behind the moulded plugs was not to get rid of a stage amp but get the noise levels to my ear down to something less than 110dB+. With the 26dB claimed isolation (making 84dB) I am just outside of the damage your ears territory.[/quote]

I'm surprised that drums sounded flat when using the electronic drumkit.
I played in a 3 piece late 80's early 90's with the drummer using a Simmons kit via the Simmons amp. This was then taken straight to PA.
We found that you could get a great balance over the PA - far better volume wise where we could play smaller gigs without noise or volume problems. In fact we were asked to do several smaller gigs because we could "turn down" the drummer.
With regards the sound quality the drummer also used sampling systems which maybe gave the kit a far more realistic and fuller sound than the basic Simmons kit.
Maybe you need to try experimenting with the kit and what you can add to fatten the sound a bit. Our drummer had been using the Simmons kit long before band formed so was more or less an expert with it.
We covered everything from Floyd to Rock & Blues incl the old drummers fav Phil Collins "In the Air" sound.
It was good for a laugh but gets a bit boring after a while.

He did use an acoustic snare and cymbals etc

Good luck
Dave

Edited by dmccombe7
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Are you using ACS custom fit ER20s? They cancel noise very well as you'll know if you have them. I use custom HF17s and find they almost cancel too much and I sometimes feel a little detatched from the music.

I believe you can have the filter removed and a monitor driver installed which will exclude the majority of external noise, including your guitarist so the monitor level can be kept down. It's not a cheap option as you're probably looking at a couple of hundred quid to have the drivers done but it would definitely allow you to have an in ear monitor at a reasonable level.

*EDIT - T15 drivers will work with custom ER20s for £129 see link below*

[url="http://www.acscustom.com/uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=38&Itemid=48"]http://www.acscustom.com/uk/index.php?opti...8&Itemid=48[/url]

If you don't have custom fit ones then they'll do you a mold of your ear and make you some for about £250. It may sound a lot but if you're guitarist really is that loud then you'll be doing yourself a huge favour by having proper plugs made.

[url="http://www.acscustom.com/uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37&Itemid=47"]http://www.acscustom.com/uk/index.php?opti...7&Itemid=47[/url]

Edited by mrtcat
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Thanks for all the advice, everyone, we've decided to go with these

[url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/the_tbone_iem_100_863_mhz.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/the_tbone_iem_100_863_mhz.htm[/url]

(and shove His Loudness's amp up the front!)

They'll be with us next month - It would have been a lot sooner if you lot hadn't kept telling me how good Classic Vibe Jazzes were!

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I'd recommend not buying these.... they're made by a company called Pasgao in china and the quality is rubbish. They are also badged up in the UK under the LD Systems brand.... I would say avoid and look at something better such as the Cheap Audio Technica, Trantec or JTS which all work much better. Unless you can afford to go down the Sennheiser route of course.

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Had some questions about my IEM setup yesterday at the East Anglia bash... so I thought I would wip up this quick visio of my setup.

All of it (except the Zoom & Guitar) fits in to a tool box, which means I can usually do the trip from/to the car in one.

Not gigged yet, but rehearsals are fine.

[attachment=68361:Gear_Set...ght_Kit2.png]

Feel free to comment!

Edited by Thurbs
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