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Desperately need IEM help please!

A

autogateman

Jun 19, 2013
8
0
#1
I just stumbled across this site today, looks like a wealth of info on here!

Heres my issue- Ive been playing in my church worship team for about a year now, and we use IEM's. At first I didnt want to spend a ton of money on a good set so I bought earbuds that were made for more bass (V Moda bass freq's). These actually sound awesome for 60$. I decided to make the jump to real IEMs last week and bought a set of Rockit Sounds R50's dual driver. They sound amazing (vs what I had), but Im having a real problem adjusting my IEM mixer to accomodate them. The problem is that theyre at least twice as loud as my previous ones, and lack low end. So once I adjusted my mixer to lower the volumes of other instruments, I had to turn my bass way up to be able to hear myself. Once i get my volume up enough to hear myself, the B string and the E string will both bottom out the drivers like a cheap speaker box. Im not sure if I should change settings on the bass itself, the mixer, or just scrap the things. I really hate to waste 120$ hard earned dollars. Can someone with more experience give me any pointers? I played horribly tonight at church because I couldnt hear myself, and spent half the time fiddling with the mixer.

Thanks in advance,
Rod
 
#4
I am using a rolls pm351 personal monitor mixer which allows me to mix my vocal and bass prominent to the mix I get from the desk. I have the rolls box, IEM, and a compressor in a little rack. The compressor protects me from any surprises, but also keeps the bass freqs under control so they don't clip my buds.


Have a look on the rolls website and read how it works so you can work out if it will work with what you have happening at your church.
 
#6
How do you set your EQ? Do you boost/cut anything on the guitar, use an EQ pedal, and/or use EQ on an amp (which is sent to the board)? I play at church too, and I have found that boosting some mids and maybe some highs helps cut through better than boosting lows (I leave lows flat, boost mids a decent amount and boost highs a pinch if needed, and roll my pickup blend to the bridge a little).

Some other things I have found to help me play at church: I have an amp on the stage next to me so I can feel a little rumble as I play. We use Avioms, which allows me to pan instruments to the left or right to help with separation. Also, I only use one earbud -- I like to hear the drums directly and keep them out of the earbuds altogether (wouldn't work for you if you use e-drums).
 
#7
We use the Avioms. There's plenty of room left to boost my bass on the mixer, so I really don't think it's from the the sound booth. We don't have a bass cabinet on the altar, so I'm relying solely on the IEMs. One thing I did think of though-what about better tips? If my tips aren't sealing well I know I'll lose bass, so it could be me over driving the bass so I can hear it, but to the point it's overloading the iem. ??
 
#9
autogateman said:
We use the Avioms. There's plenty of room left to boost my bass on the mixer, so I really don't think it's from the the sound booth. We don't have a bass cabinet on the altar, so I'm relying solely on the IEMs. One thing I did think of though-what about better tips? If my tips aren't sealing well I know I'll lose bass, so it could be me over driving the bass so I can hear it, but to the point it's overloading the iem. ??
Click to expand...

If you aren't getting a good seal, air escaping can sound like distortion. Getting a good seal is crucial.
 
#11
Agree as to the seal issue. Personally I find the "Comply" brand memory long foam tips are far superior to the rubber tri-flange tips when it comes to seal and isolation, not to mention comfort.

It is entirely possible that your new buds just aren't up to the task. Not all ear buds are suitable for on-stage "monitoring" as opposed to just iPod playback.
 
#12
Eric Moesle said:
Agree as to the seal issue. Personally I find the "Comply" brand memory long foam tips are far superior to the rubber tri-flange tips when it comes to seal and isolation, not to mention comfort.

It is entirely possible that your new buds just aren't up to the task. Not all ear buds are suitable for on-stage "monitoring" as opposed to just iPod playback.
Click to expand...


These are real IEMs, not headphones.
 

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