Okay, I'll start. I've been using in-ears for about 4 years now. Our band (4 piece, keys/trumpet, drums, gtr, bass, 3 vocals) went to no-amps, all in ear monitoring. We really love it, although it is a bit more complicated than the old wedge monitors and guitar/bass/keyboard amp setup. But once we got it dialed in, it is actually much, much easier.
For bass, it is quite different than using an amp, took a little getting used to, but I'm loiking it enough that I haven't used my bass amp for years. (I'm not even sure where it is to tell you the truth). We use hardwired in-ears with a Shure Auxpander and a nice Rane Studio headphone amp. I can hear (not so much as feel though...) my bass soooo much better than I ever could with an amp, because I have my own mix going directly into my head.
If you rely on the feeling of the earth shaking and your teeth rattling to get what you feel is a good bass sound, I'm afraid you may be very disappointed. But, there are "bass shaker type platforms that will help with the "feel the thunder" aspect of bass. The important thing is to get some GOOD in-ears, and even more important than that, is getting a good fit. A large part of the appeal of the in-ears is not only how much sound they give you, but also how much sound they keep out. When you don't have raging stage volumes blasting your head off, you don't need as much volume to hear what you want to hear.
We have a stereo mix, in my mix I have:
1) The Main mix (stereo, what the audience hears)
2) My Bass (boosted just a little, mixed right down the middle)
3) A couple of live stage mics (does not go to the main mix) so we can talk to eachother easily
4) An overhead drum mic (mixed pretty low, just a little extra for the bass player!)
We play mostly smaller clubs and resorts, so we opted to not go wireless, (the guitar player and I both use cables for our instruments, so we made some custom cables that serve as both our headphone cable and instrument cable). Although we don't run around the stage like a bunch of crazed lunatics, we are definitely pretty mobile and active, being "hardwired" hasn't been an issue.
You should be able to get a great overall sound, even with minimal equipment. I think our entire monitor system set us back about $500, and it sounds just beautiful.
For in-ears, I have used:
Westone UM1's (very comfy but not enough low end)
Shure E2's (cheap, not bad sound, not all that comfortable)
FutureSonics M5's (my current fave - great tight low end, pretty comfy, not too expensive $179-ish)
I've toyed with the idea of custom fit in-ears, but have not felt the need enough to warrant the high-dollar pricetag, although some people have had good luck with LiveWires and a few other "lower priced" customs. Still the "lower priced" customs are 200 - 300 dollars, so that may be a good option for you. Check out [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] for more in-ear information than you'll ever be able to digest...
