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Cheap IEMs

A

-Asdfgh-

Apr 13, 2010
15,359
27,569
UK
#1
I've noticed that there are now some cheap IEM sets being offered, e.g. 3 body packs and transmitters for around £130. I expect the earbuds supplied will be mostly useless except for use with an iPod - i.e. not sufficient quality, bass, or isolation, but does anyone have experience with these cheaper units in terms of the general sound reproduction and reliability after the earbuds have been replaced with better quality items, but still in the £50 to £100 range for each set of earbuds?

P.S. This is in the context of high on stage volume levels due to loud acoustic instruments. I haven't measured it, as I don't have an SPL meter, but loud enough that everyone already wears earplugs.
 
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#7
morgansterne said:
even my carvin em900 setup which is supposed to be pretty respectable, and costs $400 (i think), is pretty low on the sound quality scale. I've compared it to my bandmates shure system and the shure sounded much cleaner.
Click to expand...

I've found the Carvin EM900 a pretty good personal IEM receiver/transmitter for the times when I'd rather have IEMs but where a more high-end system isn't provided. That said, the variables that make a big difference: running the system in stereo (rather than mono or dual mono), using it in areas where the frequency band isn't cluttered (for example, generally better in central Virginia or Richmond than in Washington D.C.), and—above all—not hitting it with so much input that the limiter is squashing the bejeebus out of the signal.
 
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#8
My fault, I've never tried running it in stereo. Will do at next rehearsal this weekend.

If you can deal with 29 ms of latency, the wii audiolink sounds amazing. They have a "pro" version out now in which all the reviews state there is no latency. I have my doubts about that.
 
#9
morgansterne said:
My fault, I've never tried running it in stereo. Will do at next rehearsal this weekend.

If you can deal with 29 ms of latency, the wii audiolink sounds amazing. They have a "pro" version out now in which all the reviews state there is no latency. I have my doubts about that.
Click to expand...

That reminds me of when I was doing sound from a booth about a million feet up in the air (I don't like heights) and a long way from the stage. For stage comms to the stage hand I couldn't find my walkie talkie set so we used mobiles and the latency drove the stage hand nuts as they were hearing the on stage sound back through my end...
 
#10
-Asdfgh- said:
I've noticed that there are now some cheap IEM sets being offered, e.g. 3 body packs and transmitters for around £130. I expect the earbuds supplied will be mostly useless except for use with an iPod - i.e. not sufficient quality, bass, or isolation, but does anyone have experience with these cheaper units in terms of the general sound reproduction and reliability after the earbuds have been replaced with better quality items, but still in the £50 to £100 range for each set of earbuds?

P.S. This is in the context of high on stage volume levels due to loud acoustic instruments. I haven't measured it, as I don't have an SPL meter, but loud enough that everyone already wears earplugs.
Click to expand...
Our guitarist turned up at rehearsal today with a set of these,
Invalid Link Removed Transmitter and 3 body packs for £120.

The earplugs are not brilliant, I have trouble with earbuds so used my own and now they at least stay in. The other 2 didn't seem to have a problem so I put it down to my strange shaped ear canals. Mine now seal quite well and the bass is significantly better over the stock earbuds.

Isolation with the stock earpieces is not very good. We are not loud so this isn't a problem, in fact it is a bonus as we only have vocals, a small amount of kick and the guitarists C9 organ pedal in the PA. So need to hear the guitar, bass and most of the drums.

Quality seems ok although I don't have anything to compare them to. These are the first I have used.

Range isn't too bad, I went to the bathroom and I was still getting a good signal through several brick walls. I could get it to loose signal (in the bathroom) by turning my body and putting my hand round the aerial. Not something I would do on stage but I just wanted to see if I could get it to loose signal.

One thing that threw us was that they are stereo and we only had a mono monitor output so used the headphone out for today's rehearsal. I have now soldered up a couple of mono to stereo jack to jack leads.

Overall impression was good and certainly worth the price. For our band they seem as they will be perfectly adequate. I suspect this will not be the case for everyone.

Our drummer (the old grumpy guy in the band) was dead set against them but as he has used my monitor (which I schlep) for the past 2 years I told him that if he didn't use the IEMs then I was going to give him my monitor and he could schlep it. He reluctantly tried them and after a few songs declared them a success.

Listening back to the rehearsal recording the vocals are much better (we all sing lead and backing vocals). We usually have trouble with the drummers monitor feeding back because the poor old bugger is going deaf (50 years behind a kit) so needs it pretty loud to hear it. As a result his vocals were often flat even at lowish volume rehearsals. Today the improvement was remarkable.

Summary (TL;DR) They will not be for everyone but for our band they look as though they will work fine. I will update if necessary after Saturday's gig.
 
#12
-Asdfgh- said:
Thanks for that. It was the Gear4Music set I was looking at, and they are a good bunch there too, so good to give them business.
Click to expand...
I am looking forward to Saturday's gig and will know better what they are like after that. We are on a tiny stage where there is hardly room for us let alone monitors so we will rely on the IEMs. I am not worried because I never used a monitor anyway, I can always hear enough from the PA cabs but the guitarist and drummer are lost without adequate monitoring so I will see what their verdict is.

Yes they are good guys in Gear4Music. We have had quite a bit of gear from them over the years and they have always been very helpful. They are local to me and I know a couple of guys that work there, even more reason to support them.
 
#13
Post first gig update.

Guitarist is delighted with them, says it is the first time he has heard the vocals properly, ever!

Drummer liked being able to hear the vocals, particularly himself but complained about the earbuds being uncomfortable. He commented "they don't take any prisoners do they!" after he heard just how bad his vocals sounded on one particular song. (At our the next rehearsal we will be reviewing what he sings on certain songs. He is a good singer but going deaf and most of his vocals were a lot better than without IEMs.)

I was very pleased with them, they performed better than I expected. The sound quality was fine but I would have liked a bit more isolation.

For the price they seem good value for money. They are definitely "entry level" but if that is what you require then they will work fine. As usual you get what you pay for and if you want pro quality you will need to pay for it. They share one transmitter so all 3 receivers get the same mix.

The stock earpieces are the weak link (IMO) but for the price they do alright and are useable at the stage volume we have. They come with the usual 3 sizes of tips, the guitarist and drummer were able to find ones that fitted but I always have trouble with earbud tips so used my own.

The sound quality, audibility and clarity was far greater than our powered monitors and it has also reduced the weight of gear we have to schlep. Something that has got increasingly important to me these last few years.

TL;DR
We are a 60s trio of old gits and hopefully our "stupid loud" days are long gone. We have a very basic setup and mix from the stage. These entry level IEMs seem to suit us but I suspect at higher stage volumes you would need to invest in earpieces with better isolation.
 
#15
morgansterne said:
here's another option.
wii audiolink review thread

even my carvin em900 setup which is supposed to be pretty respectable, and costs $400 (i think), is pretty low on the sound quality scale. I've compared it to my bandmates shure system and the shure sounded much cleaner.
Click to expand...

morgansterne said:
My fault, I've never tried running it in stereo. Will do at next rehearsal this weekend.

If you can deal with 29 ms of latency, the wii audiolink sounds amazing. They have a "pro" version out now in which all the reviews state there is no latency. I have my doubts about that.
Click to expand...

I just got the wi audiolink pro a few weeks ago and have done a few gigs on it now. I don't notice any latency and they have been great. The only thing to be aware of is needing line of sight, but I use a long 1/8" to 1/4" cable and am able to clip it to various stands, etc to give line of sight enough that ive only experienced 1 very brief dropout. I clip the receiver to my pants pocket on whatever side is facing the board.

I haven't used it for anything else yet (interface, instrument worked, etc) but for in ears it's great. Battery had lasted through 4 hour gigs without issue as well.

I use gorilla ears molded in ears with it, getting custom molds is the best investment you can make if you're using in ears (and custom plus if you're not)- your hearing is EVERYTHING if you're a musician, don't skimp here, you can't buy new or better hearing if yours goes. The biggest benefit to custom molds is the ability to keep the volume of your in ear mix low, which is both pleasant onstage and a way to make sure you're able to keep gigging without losing your hearing...
 
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#18
I have set of the ones you are talking about above. yours are re branded but the same. They are ok. I found the hardest part was getting them to work with the board, as they are stereo in and not very friendly to an adapter. Go them on eBay for maybe $65 dollars. I think they are made for home stereo use. Buds are terrible but worked ok with Shure 215'2.
 
#19
mrufino1 said:
That's why I got custom molds, my ear canals are apparently tiny and I can't use the generic tips, they're all too big.
Click to expand...

That's my problem as well.

As much as I'd like to advocate spending a bunch of money on IEM systems, the truth is what you put in your ears seems to be more important than the system you connect them to. I also use the Carvin EM900, and while I find the Carvin to be adequate(having some major issues with the receiver battery pack), the real improvement came from switching from universal buds(Shure 215s and the buds that came with the Carvin system, which are nicer than the 215s), to custom molded monitors. I invested in a pair of 1964 Ears(64 Audio)A4's and they really changed my whole outlook on IEM's! Before, I was like "they're cool, but I'm not sure what the big deal is...", NOW, after getting the customs molds, I'm like "Holy Crap! This is absolutely amazing!". All the things that make IEM's cool come into effect with proper fitting monitors-the isolation, the better bass response, a more enhanced sound stage, and they're WAAY more comfortable...

Spend the money on good buds. You can use a cheap system if you have good buds, it won't be perfect, but it'll get you by until you can get a better system.
 
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#20
Quick update.

Battery life is excellent, I've had the same pair of cheap store brand batteries in mine from new and decided that they had sat at one bar of battery level for long enough so changed them before our gig on Sat night. Counting back I make it that they have lasted 7 gigs and 8 rehearsals or recording sessions.

Guitarist didn't change his batteries and his died in the penultimate number.
Drummer was very cautious and changed his when they got to 2 bars.

The earpieces are definitely the weak link, all three sets have fallen apart.

Drummer continued to have problems with multiple sets of ear buds and earpieces either not staying in or if they did they were too uncomfortable, so has switched to a pair of small headphones with a headband. Our guitarist has bought another (cheap) pair that he seems happy with.

I suffer with severe tinnitus in one ear so wear a plug in that ear and a single earpiece, with a triple flange, in my good ear. I have chopped the unused (and broken) earplug off and shortened the chord so my pack fits on my guitar strap behind my back.

Conclusion - I am never going back to floor monitors! Even these cheap IEMs are way better than normal floor monitors. Stage volume is considerably lower because the monitors no longer have to overcome the backline and drums. Feedback issues (from the drummer's monitor) have disappeared.

The best 40GBP I have spent on music gear.
 
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