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The IEM (in ear monitors) Bible thread

EBS_freak

By EBS_freak,
in Accessories and Misc

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Chienmortbb Grand Master

Chienmortbb

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, mcnach said:

I just checked and mine says 'out for delivery' as well, but I hadn't checked until today since the expected date was 29th of December.

It'll be nice to get them sooner. We'll see.

My experience with AliExpress is that things arrive when they do. Often much sooner, but the tracking is pretty useless.

Just arrived 🤓

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stewblack Grand Master

stewblack

Posted
Posted
On 05/12/2022 at 23:27, Woodinblack said:

Heres an interesting thing, for people who ask for budget IEMs.

 

ok, I was expecting very little. £40 (I ordered these before I got replacements of my XVives), they are a stereo IEM set, weigh nothing, fairly small. Turns out the sound is fine, fairly surprisingly so. Latency I assume is high although in listening trials straight from a headphone socket of a bass amp I can't hear anything.

Range appears to be ok in my house but my house isn't that big!

 

Can't say that this is the be all or end all, but for £40 they do actually work in a reasonable way. No idea what the battery life is like yet.

 

IMG_4453.jpeg

I've been using these. I bought them because all the Lekato stuff I have has been excellent. They're absolutely perfect. Can't ever imagine needing anything different.

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Jakester Mentor

Jakester

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

 

Indeed, mine were waiting at home.

:)

 

Wahey, our trusty postie delivered mine nthis morning. 

 

First impressions - much smaller than I was expecting - thankfully, as I was bit worried they might be a bit unwieldy. 

 

I tried the stock earbuds and surprisingly they were fine for me. I'd also ordered the recommended Sonicfoam set and tried those too, and they're good but possibly with more isolation (important for me as I use them playing drums and bass) so I'm going to go with those for now. 

 

Connecting the wire up was a little fiddly but I figured it out in the end. The destructions say look for the 'L' and 'R' markings on the shells but I couldn't for the life of me find them - figured it out after a while though. The over-ear wiring works very well for me. 

 

The initial try out with the sound is great - I started off with Redman/Blade/McBride/Mehldau (as that was what had been played last on my phone) and I was horrified to hear a high frequency hiss. I then realised it was the sizzle of the cymbals which hadn't been coming through when I listened using my headphones or speakers! Very detailed - I can see how some people might find it a bit stark though - everything is there front and centre, so eqing on your playback device might be needed. 

 

I'll give them a try at the gig on Saturday night. I'd usually use my Etymotic ER6s (which are about 16 years old!) so I'll be very interested to see if the greater detail comes through at a gig. 

 

So far, I'm optimistic! 

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Jakester Mentor

Jakester

Posted
Posted

Did a very quick A/B against the Etymotics tonight. I’ve never thought they were lacking until I put them in straight after the ZS10s. Everything is brighter and more ‘present’. Not sure the isolation with the Sonicfoams was as good as the ‘Christmas trees’ on the ER6s though, so that could be an issue. Far comfier to wear though. 

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dave_bass5 Grand Master

dave_bass5

Posted
Posted

Had my first gig with IEM’s last night. 
I was worried about not hearing everything but the ambient mic worked really well. 
First set I was in heaven. Everything sounded good and that inspired me To play better. Really enjoyed playing. 
Second set was not so good. My right one kept coming loose, so I was getting way more drummer in my ear, and loss of

low end in my ears. At one point I took them out and was shocked at how loud the band were (it was ok for this room though). 
I’m now 100% converted to IEM’s though. Just need to sort out the ear tips. I do have loads, I just didn't bother taking them. 

One issue I had all night, was one of my keyboards sounded distorted in my ears. Not terrible, but ‘hot’. All the levels were fine, I did a PFL on both, so I think it was the fact that I’m using a passive headphone box and had the phones out on the desk maxed out. I’ll go back to my P2 for the next gig. 

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BCH Mentor

BCH

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, dave_bass5 said:

Had my first gig with IEM’s last night. 
I was worried about not hearing everything but the ambient mic worked really well. 
First set I was in heaven. Everything sounded good and that inspired me To play better. Really enjoyed playing. 
Second set was not so good. My right one kept coming loose, so I was getting way more drummer in my ear, and loss of

low end in my ears. At one point I took them out and was shocked at how loud the band were (it was ok for this room though). 
I’m now 100% converted to IEM’s though. Just need to sort out the ear tips. I do have loads, I just didn't bother taking them. 

One issue I had all night, was one of my keyboards sounded distorted in my ears. Not terrible, but ‘hot’. All the levels were fine, I did a PFL on both, so I think it was the fact that I’m using a passive headphone box and had the phones out on the desk maxed out. I’ll go back to my P2 for the next gig. 

If anyone is looking for an ambient mic I have one I have tested on BC...thx

 

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dave_bass5 Grand Master

dave_bass5

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, EBS_freak said:

@dave_bass5- yay! Sounds promising! Get refining!

Cheers. Yep, got some larger Comply tips ordered. Looking at the right one this morning and it’s ripped. 
Im not going to go the whole custom fit at the moment, but probably will next year. happy with the IEMs themselves though. 
 

A bit gutted we didn’t get to play 3 Lions last night 😎

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EBS_freak Grand Master

EBS_freak

Posted
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Posted
9 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Cheers. Yep, got some larger Comply tips ordered. Looking at the right one this morning and it’s ripped. 
Im not going to go the whole custom fit at the moment, but probably will next year. happy with the IEMs themselves though. 
 

A bit gutted we didn’t get to play 3 Lions last night 😎

Custom will be one of the best bits of gear you will ever buy!

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dave_bass5 Grand Master

dave_bass5

Posted
Posted
23 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Custom will be one of the best bits of gear you will ever buy!

As im still new to IEM’s id need to make sure i dont plan on changing them before i spend that sort of money. We arent going to be gigging too often, so it seems a bit of a luxury at this stage. 

I know MEE do them for around $150 but id still need to get my ears measured etc. 

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Jakester Mentor

Jakester

Posted
Posted
On 08/12/2022 at 22:25, Jakester said:

Did a very quick A/B against the Etymotics tonight. I’ve never thought they were lacking until I put them in straight after the ZS10s. Everything is brighter and more ‘present’. Not sure the isolation with the Sonicfoams was as good as the ‘Christmas trees’ on the ER6s though, so that could be an issue. Far comfier to wear though. 


Well, gave them a try - sound was amazing, real clarity and separation. However, as I suggested above the isolation with the Sonicfoam tips wasn’t good enough, so I’m going to investigate something else.

 

Can anyone recommend any flanged IEM tips that work with the ZS10s?

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mcnach Grand Master

mcnach

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Jakester said:


Well, gave them a try - sound was amazing, real clarity and separation. However, as I suggested above the isolation with the Sonicfoam tips wasn’t good enough, so I’m going to investigate something else.

 

Can anyone recommend any flanged IEM tips that work with the ZS10s?

 

That's disappointing, as I want good isolation (I've had issues wih my right ear and I need to keep the volume down on that one or I get really bad tinnitus).

Do you think it's the material or the fit? Could you need a different size?

 

I haven't managed to try mine yet, I have the Sonicfoam tips to test as well.

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police squad Veteran

police squad

Posted
Posted

I've gone with comply tips, medium size.

Squash em up and insert

 

Yesterday's gig, duo, small venue with the QSC K12s behind us. With the comply tips I couldn't hear the K12s at all. Very good isolation.

I'm still getting over a really bad cold, so my head is still a bit blocked.

I've had my ears 'hoovered' but my cold is still causing me grief. Tinnitus still very prominent atm.

 

I'm still really impressed with this simple KZ10 pros and P2. My keys player tried them yesterday too and by the 2nd set was really enjoying it.

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Jakester Mentor

Jakester

Posted
Posted
18 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

That's disappointing, as I want good isolation (I've had issues wih my right ear and I need to keep the volume down on that one or I get really bad tinnitus).

Do you think it's the material or the fit? Could you need a different size?

 

I haven't managed to try mine yet, I have the Sonicfoam tips to test as well.

 

Not sure. I do have arther large lug holes (I had to stop using one brand of earplug as they kept disappearing down there, and that was their largest size!) so went for the large Sonicfoam tips. They do say to contact them about fit so I may do that. It might be the smaller size might isolate better as it seals better. 

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Jakester Mentor

Jakester

Posted
Posted
On 12/12/2022 at 14:13, Jakester said:

 

Not sure. I do have arther large lug holes (I had to stop using one brand of earplug as they kept disappearing down there, and that was their largest size!) so went for the large Sonicfoam tips. They do say to contact them about fit so I may do that. It might be the smaller size might isolate better as it seals better. 


Just to update this, I did and they sent out some mediums. They seem better but I won’t be able to test properly until my next gig, which isn’t until late Jan! 

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dave_bass5 Grand Master

dave_bass5

Posted
Posted
57 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

What is the difference between burning in and 'using them to listen to music'

From what ive read, burning them in is just a speeded up process. Gets the drivers loosened up quicker as you burn them in for a long period. 

Not convinced it's a real thing these days though. 

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Chienmortbb Grand Master

Chienmortbb

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, dave_bass5 said:

From what ive read, burning them in is just a speeded up process. Gets the drivers loosened up quicker as you burn them in for a long period. 

Not convinced it's a real thing these days though. 

I agree although it will be the lows that “burn in” if at all. 

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EBS_freak Grand Master

EBS_freak

Posted
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Posted

BA wont benefit from any “burning in”.

Dynamic drivers - the jury’s out… but I’ve always been in the camp of just use them. Unless you are using earphones for mixing and mastering in a professional capacity (and you don’t use IEMs for this anyway) - just get on using them. Especially in a live situation, the nuances between a burned in vs non burned in will be so negligible in real world terms.

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