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In Ear Monitors...

#6
IEMs should never distort when producing bass frequencies. Even the ones I'd consider to be mid-level consumer (such as the Shure E-1s) are designed to produce frequencies lower than your bass can put out. The only distortion you should get is from effects or from a mismatch of levels somewhere in the chain.

Here's a couple of important considerations with IEMs and lower frequencies:
1) A good ear seal is essential. Call a couple local audiologists and ask how much they would charge for molded earpieces for your hardware. You might be surprised at how cheap it is, and it's well worth it.
2) Enough power to drive the phones is important for lower frequencies, just like with big stage amps. I eventually bought a portable headphone amplifier (from http://www.headphone.com) and it was a great investment. I use it both on and off the stage.

I use Etymotic ER-4S buds and have used Etymotic ER-6 and Shure E-1s in the past. All of them are decent.
 
#7
I use Shure E-5s, but E-3s work Ok if you get the triple flange sleeves for them (about $10). Seals the ear REALLY WELL and improves bass alot. I use an Alembic F-1X pre into a Peavey Bam 210, but only send the lows to the amp, to help feel the bottom. This also reduces on-stage volume. I leave the FOH to the capable hands of the crew.
IEMs became much better when we set up a stereo mix instead of dual mono. We kept the kick and bass in the center, and panned vocals and other instruments around that so everyone had their own space. The difference in clarity was astounding. Hope this helps!

Larry
 
#9
I own Shure E3's and E5's (with custom ear molds)

The E3's just plain suck for bass in my opinion. They're great for clicktrack and sequences though. The E5's are really really bass heavy and also sound quite bad (again imo) as a bass monitor.

Both of my Sure IEM's act as expensive paperweights on my desk.

My in ear system now is a pair of "UE5-PRO" cans from www.ultimateears.com

Dual drivers, custom molds, 23-28db sound reduction, studio reference monitor quality, amazing customer service, I could go on forever. They're expensive but worth every penny in my opinion.

If you want to have good bass tone I don't know of another option than ultimate ears.
 
#10
Oh yah...

I don't have any on stage volume when I'm playing shows with in ears. I plug into an Avalon U5 which then runs into an Aguilar 659. XLR lines run from both DI's to the board.

Channel levels are controlled by each member of the group using AXIOM personal mixers (The network cable ones)

The best thing about having IEM's with a lot of sound reduction is that it allows you to run your own mix at a lower level since you don't have to overpower crowd/stage volume.

Ultimate ears = perfection. (and I have the cheapest ones in the pro line :))
 
#11
We use a Shure PSM 400, which lets you choose stereo or dual mono mixes. We use 2 of the 6 aux sends on our Mackie mixer to drive it. One monitor send is right channel, the other is left. In example, if the bass is sent at the same level on both channels, it will be right in the center of the stereo spectrum. Each vocalist and instrument is given its own space in that spectrum. Imagine a clock face. Kick and bass are at 12 o'clock. A female vocalist is at 11:30 (slightly more level on the left channel than the right). The other female vocalist is at 12:30 (more right than left channel). Keep similar instruments or vocals separated for best clarity. You probably don't want to pan someone all the way left or right (9 o'clock or 3 o'clock) because it sounds unnatural. Drums are panned across the spectrum in relation to their physical layout (snare, rack, floor tom). You can still adjust the individual level of a vocalist, for instance. Just keep the relationship between the 2 monitor channels the same.

Of course, if you're rich and famous, you have a separate monitor mixer, with separate transmitters for each player, set up just how they want to hear the band! But in our poor church band, this system works very well.

Larry
 
#12
quallabone said:
Channel levels are controlled by each member of the group using AXIOM personal mixers (The network cable ones)
Click to expand...
We use this same deal at our church.(AXIOM personal mixers) (The network cable ones). But I don't worry about having deep bass in my ears, I leave that to my bass amp. Everyone just needs to hear the bass in their ear but it doesn't need to reproduce that low bass IMO. That is what I use the bass amp on stage for. Now if your using them with an iPod, well that's a different story!
 
#13
5bassman said:
We use this same deal at our church.(AXIOM personal mixers) (The network cable ones). But I don't worry about having deep bass in my ears, I leave that to my bass amp. Everyone just needs to hear the bass in their ear but it doesn't need to reproduce that low bass IMO. That is what I use the bass amp on stage for. Now if your using them with an iPod, well that's a different story!
Click to expand...
I don't have speakers on stage so my monitors have to sound like an amp in my ears.
 
#14
I have a Shure PSM-400 system with Shure E-5 earbuds with custom ear molds.I also just started using a TecAmp Pleasure Board.It is a platform that you stand on that has eight shakers built-in,so you feel what you are playing! It is 8 ohms and I power it with my Acoustic Image Focas I. It is made in Germany by a friend of mine who's company used to be called Tech Sound Systems.His new company is called TecAmp.I used to use a Buttkicker,but they just didn't hold up.

John
 
#15
i second the ultimate ears recommendation!
i've got a pair of the UE-7's, and they are incredible. from using them as a stage monitor, to listening to them with my ipod, they are an amazing piece of gear.

it was a little trouble to get the molds to fit "just right"...even tho i had impressions made of my ears for the custom fit/molds. i guess ultimately, it takes some getting used to (no pun intended). i know when i got my first pair of IEMs, there was a bit of an adjustment period...but after an hour or two, you'll never go back to anything else. they are especially great for using them on an airplane. they block out ALL of the noise, and you can listen in peace.

for a cheap set of IEMs. i just love the shure e2C's. i take them with me about everywhere.
 
#16
etnops said:
i second the ultimate ears recommendation!
i've got a pair of the UE-7's, and they are incredible. from using them as a stage monitor, to listening to them with my ipod, they are an amazing piece of gear.

it was a little trouble to get the molds to fit "just right"...even tho i had impressions made of my ears for the custom fit/molds. i guess ultimately, it takes some getting used to (no pun intended). i know when i got my first pair of IEMs, there was a bit of an adjustment period...but after an hour or two, you'll never go back to anything else. they are especially great for using them on an airplane. they block out ALL of the noise, and you can listen in peace.

for a cheap set of IEMs. i just love the shure e2C's. i take them with me about everywhere.
Click to expand...
I've heard nothing but fantastic things about the UE-7's. My pair of UE-10's should be here in the next week or so. I'm planning on just using them for studio applications. Apparently they're setup for as flat a response as possible.
 
#17
Prock-
I've seen pix of your rig (and understand it has caused more than few offshore tremors!). Do you wire the Pleasure Board out of phase so the vibrations are opposite of the vibrations your amp makes, so you don't get thrown off stage? ( by the way, my Alembic Rogue with pot problems is fixed- thanks for your intervention!).

Larry
 
#19
Jay Terrien said:
Just make sure that you have an awesome engineer around to dial in a GREAT headphone/ear mix for you or else the distorted results could be disasterous!!! ;)
Click to expand...
That's why I mix it myself. If I have to run off of someone else's mix I'll bring a compressor with me to prevent ear damage (god willing)
 
#20
You are right about having good people watch over you! The nice thing about IEMs is once you get a mix, its not going to change from location to location. Our FOH folks keep an eye on the input levels on the monitors, but again, once they're set you should have few problems. Did I mention that there is level protection in the Shures, as well as a (gasp) volume control on the body pack? We have to be our own guardians!

Larry
 

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