The IEM (in ear monitors) Bible thread

[DaytonaRik]

On 08/02/2024 at 21:49, mcnach said:

 

Hi Greg!

 

You are right, it seems like the built-in router is not reliable and I've heard similar stories about some other mixers (not all!). However an external router doesn't cost much and it'll all be in a rack case.

 

That A&H mixer looks really cool! It's a bit more expensive but it has a touch screen already and it looks like it can record each channel in a separate track for processing later, directly on the mixer rather than having to plug in a laptop to it...

Hmmm... Something to think about, it definitely seems more user friendly. Thank you for the heads up, I would not have thought of this one if you hadn't mentioned it!

 

 

For not that much more you can get a Behringer X32 Rack which offers expansion up to 32 track inputs via the SD stage boxes, better routing/bussing options, optional plug and play i/o cards etc.

 

 

Edited February 15 by DaytonaRik

[Greg Edwards69]

On 08/02/2024 at 21:49, mcnach said:

That A&H mixer looks really cool! It's a bit more expensive but it has a touch screen already and it looks like it can record each channel in a separate track for processing later, directly on the mixer rather than having to plug in a laptop to it...

Hmmm... Something to think about, it definitely seems more user friendly. Thank you for the heads up, I would not have thought of this one if you hadn't mentioned it!

 

It's not something we've tied doing yet as we've only had the chance to use it once in a "technical rehearsal" to set the thing up. But what you can do is record a soundcheck.  All things being equal (such as guitar levels, drum mics positioned correctly etc) you could rock up to a venue, set up the PA and soundcheck to set eq for the room without actually playing an instrument!

[BCH]

6 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

The A&H CQ series look really good if not a little more expensive than others. I am going for the Stagebox version, the CQ20. However, it does seem that the CQ18, the touch screen version is very popular for those transitioning from a mixer with traditional controls, it's currently sold out until April.

We use the CQ18, its amazing for the money. We also use the SQ5 it the full fat version of the CQ but identical quality & sound

[mcnach]

On 15/02/2024 at 14:53, Greg Edwards69 said:

It's not something we've tied doing yet as we've only had the chance to use it once in a "technical rehearsal" to set the thing up. But what you can do is record a soundcheck.  All things being equal (such as guitar levels, drum mics positioned correctly etc) you could rock up to a venue, set up the PA and soundcheck to set eq for the room without actually playing an instrument!

 

That's not a bad idea!

 

[police squad]

forgive me for this request

 

Somewhere in this thread there is someting about using an ambient mic so that band members could converse between songs

 

It was some sort of Behringer, could someone let me know which one please

 

thanks

[dave_bass5]

17 minutes ago, police squad said:

forgive me for this request

 

Somewhere in this thread there is someting about using an ambient mic so that band members could converse between songs

 

It was some sort of Behringer, could someone let me know which one please

 

thanks

I was using the Behringer B-5 for a while.  This worked really well. 
You can’t also get the C-2 which are smaller, as a pair for about the same price if you want stereo or to use either side of the stage. 
 

[warwickhunt]

44 minutes ago, police squad said:

forgive me for this request

 

Somewhere in this thread there is someting about using an ambient mic so that band members could converse between songs

 

It was some sort of Behringer, could someone let me know which one please

 

thanks

 

When you say 'talk between songs', I realise you mean in a quiet ambient kind of way, to overcome having plugs in your ears but you can also get a talkback foot switch which allows the use (band leader/main singer) to talk into their FOH mic and it will only be heard through the aux channels not FOH.  We find it useful as we often change song selection on the fly to suit the mood... only downside is if someone in the band isn't using IEM, they then don't hear the instruction (though it could be equally fed to a monitor but you might get bleed through to the audience)! 

[police squad]

1 hour ago, dave_bass5 said:

I was using the Behringer B-5 for a while.  This worked really well. 
You can’t also get the C-2 which are smaller, as a pair for about the same price if you want stereo or to use either side of the stage. 
 

perfect, that's what I was looking for

 

did you have it on a footswitch, to turn it on when speaking and off when playing

[police squad]

1 hour ago, warwickhunt said:

 

When you say 'talk between songs', I realise you mean in a quiet ambient kind of way, to overcome having plugs in your ears but you can also get a talkback foot switch which allows the use (band leader/main singer) to talk into their FOH mic and it will only be heard through the aux channels not FOH.  We find it useful as we often change song selection on the fly to suit the mood... only downside is if someone in the band isn't using IEM, they then don't hear the instruction (though it could be equally fed to a monitor but you might get bleed through to the audience)! 

I'm doing it so the players can talk between songs and  still hear each other. You are quite closed off with IEMs

[dave_bass5]

1 minute ago, police squad said:

perfect, that's what I was looking for

 

did you have it on a footswitch, to turn it on when speaking and off when playing

No, just on all the time. I didn’t get it for talking, but to make me feel more like I’m in the room without the isolation feeling. Most of the time i get enough talking through the vocal Mics so i can hear what people are saying. This was purely for ambient noise. 
i don’t use it anymore as everyone now goes through the mixer, other than drums, and that’s picked up with my digital recorder placed in front of them. I guess that’s now the ambient part of the set up. 
Now I’m used to IEM’s i don’t get that isolated feeling anymore. 

[police squad]

2 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

No, just on all the time. I didn’t get it for talking, but to make me feel more like I’m in the room without the isolation feeling. Most of the time i get enough talking through the vocal Mics so i can hear what people are saying. This was purely for ambient noise. 
i don’t use it anymore as everyone now goes through the mixer, other than drums, and that’s picked up with my digital recorder placed in front of them. I guess that’s now the ambient part of the set up. 
Now I’m used to IEM’s i don’t get that isolated feeling anymore. 

ah ok cool. My Police tribute is about to go IEM (I already am) but the guys also play in a great covers band that doesn't have a setlist. They obviously need to communicate between numbers, the drummer doesnt sing, so doesnt have a mic

[dave_bass5]

30 minutes ago, police squad said:

ah ok cool. My Police tribute is about to go IEM (I already am) but the guys also play in a great covers band that doesn't have a setlist. They obviously need to communicate between numbers, the drummer doesnt sing, so doesnt have a mic

Tell the drummer to listen and not talk 😂

A couple of mics or a small recorder places on stage, only going to the monitors will work, but im sure the vocal mics will pick most of the chatter up on smaller stages. 

[police squad]

28 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Tell the drummer to listen and not talk 😂

A couple of mics or a small recorder places on stage, only going to the monitors will work, but im sure the vocal mics will pick most of the chatter up on smaller stages. 

lol, that should work nicely, thanks

[police squad]

@dave_bass5 were you running a silent stage whilst using the B5. Im wondering if all the band coming through it as well as seperate monitor mixes will sound weird

[dave_bass5]

39 minutes ago, police squad said:

@dave_bass5 were you running a silent stage whilst using the B5. Im wondering if all the band coming through it as well as seperate monitor mixes will sound weird

No, not a silent stage. I originally set this up as i was feeding the mic in to my personal mixer, so it was just for me. I couldn’t get a mic off our main desk to my IEMs at the time, so only had strange sound and my keys in it. Back then we had 3 floor monitors so the ambient mic picked up enough of the stage sound. 
When we got the XR18 i stopped using my mixer and use the mic through the xr18 going to Aux only. Two other band members now use IEM so they also share the ambient mic, but we also have two floor monitors for the luddites that don’t get the ambient mic. 
Now the ambient is just for drums (minus the kick) and that comes from a small Roland recorder that’s fed to the XR18 as a stereo signal. 

[dave_bass5]

Since getting the XR18 and being able to record each person separately in to a DAW it’s been a real eye opener as to what the vocal mics pick up. So much bleed that i would never had noticed before. Not a problem as such, just not something i ever really thought about. 

The drummer is the biggest issue as he has a loud monitor and a mic, so it all gets a bit hectic keeping his vocal channel in check. His voice quite often gets buried in his drums. I’ve tried so often to get him to use IEM’s (even offered him my P2 to use) but he refuses. 

[police squad]

it's amazing isn't it. Once you go IEM there is no going back. It was a pleasure to fo my Police gig the other night, with a perfect mix going to my ears. It makes singing so much easier.

I shall send all this info to the chaps so they can get themselves sorted

Thanks mate

[dave_bass5]

2 minutes ago, police squad said:

it's amazing isn't it. Once you go IEM there is no going back. It was a pleasure to fo my Police gig the other night, with a perfect mix going to my ears. It makes singing so much easier.

I shall send all this info to the chaps so they can get themselves sorted

Thanks mate

It is a revelation if done correctly. I was never bothered by all this when i played bass, although i was aware of it. 
It was switching to keys and then realising i couldn’t hear myself that prompted me to look in to all this. I’ve fumbled my way through different setups and while all worked to an extent, it always seemed like i missing the bigger picture. 
The 3 main turning points  for me were:

1. The ambient mic. I had to find a small mixer that allowed me to only send it to my IEM and not feed it to our main desk. When i finally found it things were so much better. It was like i was in the room, but could hear my keys in stereo over the top. Perfect!!!
i need to play in Stereo and must have a IEM mix so it took a while to find the right gear without spending a lot. 
Of course, once i was happy i had to change things. This leads on to the next stage. 
 

2. Getting the XR18 and finally being able to do the full IEM Mix thing with the band in my ears (took a bit of persuasion to get them to always plug in to the desk, even at rehearsals). 
I had to buy the XR18 myself (although convinced the singer to go half, but she is my wife so it’s her duty lol). I could never have convinced the band to go this route, even though they now see the light. I can use it at home with Logic etc so it gets used for personal stuff as well. 
 

3. and this is the big one, finding a pair of IEM’s that sound good and stay put in my ears. This has plagued me the whole time and was getting very frustrating. I had considered customs a few times, but it wasn’t until we got the XR18 that i knew this was going to all work. 

[police squad]

yes I read about your struggle to get a fit. I'm lucky enough that the comply foam tips work well for me.

In my duo I just have the headphone mix, which gives me the outfront sound, this is great for my vocals and I can be more dynamic, knowing where my voice sits in the mix.

My Police gig the other night, also used the headphone mix, again it sounded really nice but I was the only IEM in theband. Now they're going to try it, their QSC desk has 4 aux outs and they can do personal mix via smartphone.

It'll be nice to use their desk next time, knowing that it can be done on the phone, with the compression safety thing dialled in

There's no protection on my analogue A&H desks but I'm considering going A&H SQ20b in the near future

[dave_bass5]

I ended up giving my old IEM’s to one of my guitarists and he had the same

issue as me. Must be part of the flat ear brigade lol. Comply tips were fine for a while but the slightest grin or head shake and one would come loose. 
I still use Comply’s with my IE 400’s but as they are slimmer i seem to get a very good fit now (until i smile, which can still cause a bit of wiggle) 

 

4 of use do use Mixing station for our personal mixes, but i find i still get asked to put more in/out of their mixes. I have my iPad sitting on my keyboard and it seems easier for me to do it over them having to get other phones out and reconnect etc. 

[jimmyb625]

31 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

4 of use do use Mixing station for our personal mixes, but i find i still get asked to put more in/out of their mixes. I have my iPad sitting on my keyboard and it seems easier for me to do it over them having to get other phones out and reconnect etc. 

 

I tried to get my lot to sort their own mixes out, turned out to be more trouble than it was worth.

[dave_bass5]

14 minutes ago, jimmyb625 said:

 

I tried to get my lot to sort their own mixes out, turned out to be more trouble than it was worth.

Yeah, especially when they can’t even work out how to log on to our router first 🙄

[MichaelDean]

57 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Comply tips were fine for a while but the slightest grin or head shake and one would come loose. 

I had it backwards - I had a set of ACS earplugs made while I was at uni and had the same thing with those. Couldn't stand using them because as soon as I opened my mouth, the seal broke. Comply tips are fine for me though! It's so strange how something can be so different between people!

[dave_bass5]

4 minutes ago, MichaelDean said:

I had it backwards - I had a set of ACS earplugs made while I was at uni and had the same thing with those. Couldn't stand using them because as soon as I opened my mouth, the seal broke. Comply tips are fine for me though! It's so strange how something can be so different between people!

This is my worry about going all in with Customs. At least with universal fits i can try various tips. I appreciate customs are really the best way, but as you say, we are all different and there is no one ‘best’ 

I am still considering customs, ACS seem cheap enough, especially considering they cover the cost of the ear impressions, but as my IE400’s cost me £300 I’m not sure I’d hear much improvement without going to a higher price point. 

[Greg Edwards69]

Comply foam tips do "go off" after a while and need replacing. A build-up of sweat, body oils and ear wax will see to that. The trouble is, I usually don't realise that that's the problem when they don't stay in place anymore.