Best/favourite Wireless INEXPENSIVE IEM systems+setups and headphones

[Bassitudes]

Let em rip. Anecdotes encouraged. Reviews are a-OK. Complaining about awful/overrated sets appreciated.

I'm looking into triple fi 10s, but howdy are they expensive...

Obviously the SURE 200 set and higher in that line are some good products, but boy that price tag... Tell me about good ones for the money, including the kind that require adjustments to make good with.

Also sets with no limiter are welcome due to products like the preservear existing, recommendations of other limiters of that nature are on the level.

Tis the season.

 

[walterw]

if you're trying to go cheaper than a shure 200, maybe just do wired. they make cables with instrument and headphone sends bundled together.

 

[Bassitudes]

if you're trying to go cheaper than a shure 200, maybe just do wired. they make cables with instrument and headphone sends bundled together.

I went with a takstar wpm 200. I'll do a review when it arrives.

 

[musicman7722]

Hi I have one right here in front of me. Of course throw away the buds. It has a bit of background noise and if you are a singer forget it. The transients are so bad you can't sing. If you don't sing it handles the music ok. I think this was made for people who want to listen to their TV remotely. The volume control on the receiver is inside the pack not outside. So if you want to adjust it you need to take it off of you, open the flip lid hit the up down buttons. Close it and put back on.

 

[morgansterne]

I have the carvin em900. The included earbuds are very mid and treble forward, but they're shaped properly so at least they don't fall out of my ears, unlike the $100 sennheiser buds I have which have a lot more bass content.

The carvin system seems noisy, but it works for me. A lot better than going deaf.

I'll never be able to afford custom molded earbuds for my 20-30 gigs a year, but we had one month with five gigs, which paid for the IEM set.

 

[s0c9]

The carvin system seems noisy, but it works for me. A lot better than going deaf.

I do not have that problem with my EM900.. what kind of noise and what is the source of your IEM mix.. ??

 

[morgansterne]

it's a bit staticky, a kind of pillow around the sound when going from silence to sound. It's not noisy while sound is coming through during a song. It also starts to sound really weird if you crank the transmitter too much and the limiter starts kicking in hard. It's not subtle!
I get an aux send from our board (behringer pmp6000, or allen and heath when we hire our frequent sound guy). I have also used it with a submixer on stage plus a main mix send and ambient mic. I notice the same artifacts with all these setups.

I forgot to mention the Wii audiolink, which has crystal clear sound . . . at about 20-30 milliseconds after it happens in the real world. I still used it on many gigs but the latency gets seriously distracting. The lower sound quality of the carvin is much easier to use because there's no (noticeable) delay.

 

[s0c9]

it's a bit staticky, a kind of pillow around the sound when going from silence to sound. It's not noisy while sound is coming through during a song. It also starts to sound really weird if you crank the transmitter too much and the limiter starts kicking in hard. It's not subtle!
I get an aux send from our board (behringer pmp6000, or allen and heath when we hire our frequent sound guy). I have also used it with a submixer on stage plus a main mix send and ambient mic. I notice the same artifacts with all these setups.

I forgot to mention the Wii audiolink, which has crystal clear sound . . . at about 20-30 milliseconds after it happens in the real world. I still used it on many gigs but the latency gets seriously distracting. The lower sound quality of the carvin is much easier to use because there's no (noticeable) delay.

interesting.. I'm guessing that's caused by the included buds.. ice-picky is how I label them... tried them once.. put them back in the shipping carton.
I've used the EM900 with Westone UM-1's, no noise. Upgraded to 1964 Quads back in Jan and still no noise. I'm doing 100+ gigs a year and have no noise or definitely NO sound quality issues with the transmitter/belt pack, which leads me to the earlier conclusion that it might be the buds that come with the unit that are causing your observations. Try a different set of buds?

I run my pack at very low volume levels, keeping the input levels to the transmitter and the transmitter levels fairly hot. I have never hit the limiter( that I know of) and have plenty volume available.. but that might be the impedance of the buds being used.

The ONLY problem I have had is some dropouts in some venues, but I cured that by upping the channel setting to a higher frequency.

The only other issue I am aware of (reported by others on the interweb) is that the locks on the battery box are plastic and can break so the box no longer lock into the body pack. Carvin does NOT sell a separate battery box, only the bodypack as a replacement. I have always stuck mine in my back jeans pocket, and am pretty anal about looking after my gear, so that has not happened in over 200+ gigs! YMMV.

 

[morgansterne]

very nice, sc09, thanks for the info. I will try my sennheiser buds for the next show jan 2nd!
apologies to bassitudes for the slight derail

 

[s0c9]

very nice, sc09, thanks for the info. I will try my sennheiser buds for the next show jan 2nd!

if you are using IEM's it's important that they work for you... and being on bass, you need what you need to hear to feel comfortable. Some folks never adjust to using them.. and often it's the lack of appropriate equipment that's the root cause.. not the individual.
I've got 3 gigs next week (31, 1, 2) at which I'll be using the EM900. One is our PA, two are house system.

Let us know how it goes!