Mixing IEM's - share your knowledge/experience here please

[Phil Starr]

Well done, that's a perfectly valid way of getting some control though long term if you are handy with a soldering iron using a stereo /TRS jack in the insert will give you a more reliable connection. You'd need a short lead with two 'stereo' jacks with the ring of one connected to the tip of the other. A half inserted plug is going to be susceptible to knocking too far in or coming out and breaking the contact. Another way of splitting the signal would be to use something like the Behringer di120 before the mixer. The other problem is that you only have the mixer's tone controls so eq options are limited. I've got a SansAmp where the feed is post eq so I could take the XLR to FOH and the jack out to the in-ears channel so that would be another option which gives you more tonal control of the in-ears sound. I've got a BD121 here too I can check if that works the same way if you want.

 

Edited March 9 by Phil Starr

[Pirellithecat]

On 09/03/2024 at 08:12, Phil Starr said:

Well done, that's a perfectly valid way of getting some control though long term if you are handy with a soldering iron using a stereo /TRS jack in the insert will give you a more reliable connection. You'd need a short lead with two 'stereo' jacks with the ring of one connected to the tip of the other. A half inserted plug is going to be susceptible to knocking too far in or coming out and breaking the contact. Another way of splitting the signal would be to use something like the Behringer di120 before the mixer. The other problem is that you only have the mixer's tone controls so eq options are limited. I've got a SansAmp where the feed is post eq so I could take the XLR to FOH and the jack out to the in-ears channel so that would be another option which gives you more tonal control of the in-ears sound. I've got a BD121 here too I can check if that works the same way if you want.

 

Thanks for that - yep I too was concerned about the link and was going to get a proper link sorted (or in my case, more likely "shorted") once I'd tried it out.   I also have A BDI21 and can try that out later today.   The little box shown is an elegant solution though.     

Tried the set up on Friday's Gig and the whole FOH/Monitor arrangement works well - it's getting better with each bit of implemented advice.   
However, in an effort to reduce overall stage noise I put my bass cab close up to the wall adjacent to the Drummer in an effort to reduce stage volume ('cos with the bass in his lug hole the drummer might want things turned down a bit!!).    But it's a really dreadful/bassy venue and I could not EQ the very boomy/mushy bass out of the set up without ending up with a rather "Clanky" sound (on stage).   Great in ears though but very distracting trying to get the room sound OK.
Also, spent time EQing the guitar feed to IEMs and that turned out well. 

So, doubling up he channels works well, spending time EQing (quite aggressively) the guitar also worked well (I have a spare channel I may also double this up to get FOH mix and IEM mix separate). 
Weekend off "Covers" next weekend (but working on a new Folk/Fretless project so the mixing trick might be needed!!) and then another tricky/small pub to practice on!   Onwards and upwards!!

Many thanks for all the inputs (😅)!   
        

[Pirellithecat]

On 09/03/2024 at 08:12, Phil Starr said:

Well done, that's a perfectly valid way of getting some control though long term if you are handy with a soldering iron using a stereo /TRS jack in the insert will give you a more reliable connection. You'd need a short lead with two 'stereo' jacks with the ring of one connected to the tip of the other. A half inserted plug is going to be susceptible to knocking too far in or coming out and breaking the contact. Another way of splitting the signal would be to use something like the Behringer di120 before the mixer. The other problem is that you only have the mixer's tone controls so eq options are limited. I've got a SansAmp where the feed is post eq so I could take the XLR to FOH and the jack out to the in-ears channel so that would be another option which gives you more tonal control of the in-ears sound. I've got a BD121 here too I can check if that works the same way if you want.

 

TRS leads ordered as suggested.   I've tried the BDI21 as a splitter, but it seems to generate quite a bit of noise (as does a passive DI in the same role)  This is with feed to mixer from XLR out and "Instrument out" .   Have I missed something/done something wrong?   
In general though, if there's a spare channel, the idea of using a separate channel for FOH and IEMs seems to work pretty well - even if that's just a "feeling" of control!!.      

[Phil Starr]

26 minutes ago, Pirellithecat said:

 I've tried the BDI21 as a splitter, but it seems to generate quite a bit of noise (as does a passive DI in the same role)

I've had a couple noise problems off my BD121, it has picked up some electrical noise from some cheap lights somebody was using at a private party and also made some odd high pitched noises just once at a pub gig. Again it might have been some radio pickup from something faulty in the room. I swapped from 8.4v to 9.6v rechargeables and the problem never recurred but the BD121 is clearly more susceptible to radio pickup than the Sansamp. Both can be quite noisy at the extreme setings but shouldn't be when set straight through. If the noise is mainly high frequency you don't need anything above 8kHz from the bass so you might be able to reduce the noise by filtering or just easing off the treble. I tend to use the SAnsamp nowadays as it is more resistant to old batteries and has been totally reliable but dare I say the Behringer sounds just a tiny bit better to my ears.

 

Most sound engineers much prefer to take a feed before the fx units or modellers as they are often a source of noise particularly when chained.

[JPJ]

1 hour ago, Linus27 said:

 

I will try that. I love reverb and use it a lot on my fretless to great effect. I did try it quickly on the EUB and it got a bit mushy so I think it needs to be subtle so I'll give that a go tonight.

 

5 minutes ago, Phil Starr said:

I've had a couple noise problems off my BD121, it has picked up some electrical noise from some cheap lights somebody was using at a private party and also made some odd high pitched noises just once at a pub gig. Again it might have been some radio pickup from something faulty in the room. I swapped from 8.4v to 9.6v rechargeables and the problem never recurred but the BD121 is clearly more susceptible to radio pickup than the Sansamp. Both can be quite noisy at the extreme setings but shouldn't be when set straight through. If the noise is mainly high frequency you don't need anything above 8kHz from the bass so you might be able to reduce the noise by filtering or just easing off the treble. I tend to use the SAnsamp nowadays as it is more resistant to old batteries and has been totally reliable but dare I say the Behringer sounds just a tiny bit better to my ears.

 

Most sound engineers much prefer to take a feed before the fx units or modellers as they are often a source of noise particularly when chained.

i had the BD121 and found it was noisy when run on batteries but almost silent on a power supply. I didn’t use it for long before ‘upgrading’ to the real thing which sits proudly on my pedal board and will probably be there the longest of any pedal.