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Best IEMs for bass?

#21
These are what our drummer uses, he seems to love them

ImageUploadedByTalkBass1373462810.460221.jpg
 
#22
Ok on the same topic guys... what is the cheapest transmitter a band can get away with? I have friends using the Shure Pm200 which goes for $600 new is there anything below that price point that is good enough for guys who are staying on stage no more than 50 feet from the source?
 
#24
In my experience of have used IEM's a lot the last thing you want for bass guitar in a stage mix is an extremely wide, full-range IEM with too many drivers. It's hard to convince people of this though that have never used IEM's or haven't tried an IEM with a narrower frequency response. Having spoken with many other bass players who have lots of experience with various IEM's they tend to support this opinion also. Those triple, quad, or even higher driver IEM's make it much more difficult to hear what you need to hear in a live mix. A good single or dual driver design is ideal. The bass needs to be present but not deep. The highs need to be a bit relaxed also because too much of that creates extra noise which fatigues the ear faster and then compounds the problems with hearing everything else. The IEM needs to be mid present.

Also, IME, a good stage IEM might sound a bit nasal if you are using it for audio playback with an MP3 player for example. Actually, it sounds nasal in comparison to something like a consumer IEM or headphone. This is good thing though when you get on stage! The subwoofers from the PA will give you plenty of bottom end feel and some low end bleed to make up for what a more mid-oriented IEM is missing by comparison. The IEM itself will provide the note fundamentals with clarity in the mid-range, with just enough top end to make it sound crisp but NOT airy.

There are many products out there that do this. My personal favorite that I've enjoyed for a while now are Westone ES2's.
 
#26
Is this for a church gig (or a gig where you'll be seeing the same PA and engineer night after night)? If you'll be dealing with different sound engineers (or relatively novice engineers), it's worth having some control over your IEM mix from your stage area.

The cheap solution (instead of the Shure PSM200) is to have something like a Rolls PM351 by your mic. Feed that with your vocal mic, your bass, and a "music-minus-me" mix from the board, and you can dial in your own IEM mix. Depending on how far—and how acrobatically—you roam from your mic position, you could go with bass and IEMS wired from the Rolls.

A more upscale option is to use a splitter snake and a monitor board for the band.
 
#27
Eublet said:
The subwoofers from the PA will give you plenty of bottom end feel and some low end bleed to make up for what a more mid-oriented IEM is missing by comparison. The IEM itself will provide the note fundamentals with clarity in the mid-range, with just enough top end to make it sound crisp but NOT airy
Click to expand...

I have found this to be most definitely true. On a lot of our gigs we either have our 2x18 subs center-clustered in front/under the stage, or they are actually on the stage (sometimes both), and there is plenty of thump onstage just from that alone. I go ampless in those situations and find that I am looking to my IEMs to essentially round-out my bass sound (mids and some highs) more than delivering the full spectrum... while helping me hear the rest of the band too, of course. The volume of my IEMs then, essentially, becomes my mid-high EQ... if I need more definition I turn up my level but even in those situations my overall IEM volume is usually fairly low.

If I have any sort of ear fatigue after using IEMs for the night then I know I've done something wrong. Or that the guitarist stage left of me needs to turn down. :hmm:
 
#29
Those cans in that picture look a lot like some my dad used to have... way back when.

They sounded great and shut out everything but they weighed a TON. I think if I wore those for a 4 hour gig my head would snap off my neck somewhere in the 3rd set.
 
#30
Eric Moesle said:
Westone UM3x is the best universal fit in ear monitor for bass, IMO. I've been using them for several months. You do NOT want the extended low end rumble most "normal" earbuds give you - you won't hear any definition. The UM3x is designed specifically for stage use.

I also recommend ditching the bag of tips that come with them and get the Comply brand memory foam tips that are long and go deep into the ear. The better the seal, the better the bass response.
Click to expand...

Absolutely, agree 100%. I've had the UM3X RCs for a while now, and they continue to impress. I tried the Shure 215s and 535s, and they just don't compare.
 
#32
tekdiver500ft said:
Absolutely, agree 100%. I've had the UM3X RCs for a while now, and they continue to impress. I tried the Shure 215s and 535s, and they just don't compare.
Click to expand...

I've found that the UM3x is MUCH better than the Shures on stage and it SUCKS thru an iPod..... Unlike many of the others mentioned, it is designed for on-stage monitoring and not for general listening. Two entirely different things. You don't want all the extra lows and extended highs thru a monitor, it will kill your ear and ruin the mix in your head.

You definitely don't want to EQ a wedge monitor for general recorded music..... But rather for what you need to hear while performing live.

Buy the Shures to listen with your iPod..... Buy Westones UM and ES series if you want an excellent stage monitor.
 
#34
jaywa said:
In fact I like my M5s so much I am seriously considering buying a 2nd set (and maybe a 3rd) before they are all off the market forever. Near as I can tell all of the new FutureSonics offerings are substantially more expensive and for a weekend warrior like me, $600-800 for a set of earbuds doesn't compute.
Click to expand...

Do you guys know where to buy these?
 
#37
derrico1 said:
Is this for a church gig (or a gig where you'll be seeing the same PA and engineer night after night)? If you'll be dealing with different sound engineers (or relatively novice engineers), it's worth having some control over your IEM mix from your stage area.

The cheap solution (instead of the Shure PSM200) is to have something like a Rolls PM351 by your mic. Feed that with your vocal mic, your bass, and a "music-minus-me" mix from the board, and you can dial in your own IEM mix. Depending on how far—and how acrobatically—you roam from your mic position, you could go with bass and IEMS wired from the Rolls.

A more upscale option is to use a splitter snake and a monitor board for the band.
Click to expand...
Will use them with my wedding band and at church.
 
#38
Wow I didn't know they had discontinued the Atrios I've been using them for a couple of years and just got a new pair a while ago.

I was planning on getting the custom molds for them soon but I'll save the money for something else those 1964 quads look like a great deal!
 
#39
squeally dan said:
Will use them with my wedding band and at church.
Click to expand...

If the soundboards for your church and wedding band gigs are staffed by people you can reliably trust, I might consider going the PSM200 (or other wireless fed by a board aux). Over a gig or two, you should be able to work with a good sound tech to get your aux mix dialed in fairly well.

OTOH, if your church gig sees a lot of green FOH engineers, then you'll likely get better and more consistent results if you can dial in your own IEM mix. If so, something like the Rolls PM351 (or a remotely controllable monitor mixer) will guarantee that you can hear yourself w/ the balance you want against a "music-minus-me" mix.
 

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