IEM - Stereo vs Mono. Thoughts and Experiences.

[SpectorBass]

I've been playing around with ambient mics direct to my ears with varied levels of success.

My (somewhat) simple solution of a Shure P4M split mixer worked fairly well. I ran my vocal mic through the first channel, and bass through the second, and then gave the parallel XLR outs to the sound company, and then used the last 2 channels with a Rode NT4 stereo mic panned into my ears and it was okay. I still felt a bit isolated from the rest of the band. I moved the mic around to different locations trying to find a good balance of guitars and drums, but was never fully happy.

I don't think any easy solution will compare to a full stereo mix, however. I much prefer getting a full mix from a console if possible. I've been running a mono ambient mic placed beside my bass rig and aimed at the drumkit. Combined with the rest of the mix, that was the most pleased I've been with my ear mix.

I'd say try using an ambient mic, but really play with placement. I was much happier aiming the mic at the drums than I was aiming it 'ambiently' to pick up the overall stage sound.

Hopefully my rambling makes sense.

 

[Rocksolid]

So where I am at currently is that I am running mono in my ears, but I am running 2 different sends into my iem transmitter. Send 1 is from my rolls box, which has my vocals, bass , and a line from the foh. Send 2 is a line off the electric drum kit as he just isn't there in the foh because of how loud he is in his massive drum fill!

I have my transmitter set to stereo, but my body pack, receiver set to mono, which makes the pan switch on the body pack a blend. So I can just dial extra drums into my other mix to my taste.

 

[Sarina]

I honestly just use vocals in my in ears as the band I play with are loud and I cope well after 2 big sets. With that in mind I've been using only MONO. Should I try Stereo if I only need Vocals in my mix? I've just upgraded from LD to Shure p3m300 so it's a big jump up and I'm looking forward to using them tomorrow night !!

 

[s0c9]

I run a full stereo mix from our X32 into my Senn G3 IEm wireless (+ 1964 Ears A8's) ... and do remote control of my mix using Android tablet and FREE Behringer apps!
I can do mono or stereo mixes, but stereo gives better "spread" and sound stage, and helps with the definition.

UPDATE: We tried ambient mics for a while.. as mentioned below, they were more confusing than helpful, so we junked them. The reality was that with 3 vocal mics, mics on guitar amps and drum mics, there's PLENTY of ambience that bleeds into the system - even with gates in place. Plus, the ADEL tech in my A8's sort of acts like ambient ports..

 

[morgansterne]

I really always thought mono was fine until I played in a band with two guitar players. That gets tricky to hear who is doing what. I haven't bothered with going stereo there, but I probably will for our next gig (if we ever have any more).

I did a couple gigs with an ambient mic. I found it more confusing than helpful. In my case I had a little A+H zed mixer.

channel 1-bass
channel 2 my vocals
channel 3 aux send from FOH
channel 4 ambient mic

that way I could pan my bass right, vocals left, and send those individually to the FOH mixer. I think I used the ZED aux feed to control my IEM.
anyways I think my earbuds have a decent amount of leakage, plus we have a lot of vocalists in every band I've ever used them in, so it's maybe pretty ambient already.

 

[walterw]

My Symetrix 501 Compressor I purchased to run with my IEM should arrive next week, along with an EQ.

what are you gonna use those for?

good IEMs shouldn't need EQ, and compression in monitor mixes is a big no-no!

if you could gently compress everybody except yourself that might be OK, but any vocal compression in monitors is a short road to a blown-out voice from pushing too hard and not hearing it. (comp in wedges is also a recipe for feedback, at least you wouldn't be dealing with that.)

if you just use the peak limiter, set to where it does nothing at all under normal use but slams down hard on anything that goes over volume (like a mic dropped into a monitor wedge) that might be OK.

again, do not use it to compress your whole mix.

not compressing monitors is one of those "no argument" rules, along with never using IEMs with one earbud out.

 

[walterw]

If I am running dual mono, and I have my mix from my Rolls PM351 going into one side of my wireless IEM transmitter, if I just run a mic into the other side I am assuming I will have to have it panned pretty hard to the ambient mic to get a reasonably balanced mix aren't I?

not sure a mic would even work straight into the IEM transmitter, it probably needs a line level signal.

The other option is to run a mic preamp on the ambient mic and control the mix of it in my ears via the volume control on that, rather than panning the body pack.

i suppose so, my guess is you'd have to do it this way.; that "mic preamp" could be anything, even a $75 notebook mixer from mackie or yamaha or whatever, anything with at least one XLR mic in.

 

[s0c9]

what are you gonna use those for?

good IEMs shouldn't need EQ, and compression in monitor mixes is a big no-no!

Maybe as a brick-wall limiter?? Most wireless systems have those built-in these days!!
The upper-end models (like my Senn G3) have adjustable limiters... heck, even my old Carvin EM900 and Shure PSM200 had those built-in.. Fixed limiting (too early on the PSM200 IME).. but there none the less!