Researching IEMs. But I'm Clueless, Help, Pleeeese

[FunkySpoo]

My 9 piece Classic Motown/Soul band is starting to toy with the idea of IEMs. Mostly because the places we play are really really small and we have a hard time fitting on most of the "stages" . We think IEM would help us fit and also clean up our FOH as, again, these "stages are so small we think the monitors are getting into the FOH mix causing all kinds of problems or something. We haven't heard any complaints from audience members but I still want to be as good as we can be. Anyway, where can I start looking for info on what is needed start to finish. Obviously there are the ear buds and a transmitter of some sort. I've searched here but can't find anything that explains the IEM system to a complete NOOB in this area.

Thanks for the help.

 

[bass12]

The bands I've been in have had their own mixers on stage through which everyone in the band receives his or her mix (each person can have an individualized mix). It works really well but can get expensive quickly. If you are playing really small stages then I would imagine that people in front of the stage get a really weird balance in terms of the sound coming off the stage vs the PA if you went with in-ears.

 

[s0c9]

See my reply to your post in another thread:
http://www.talkbass.com/threads5/ote-vs-iem.1165776/page-2#post-1761752

 

[FunkySpoo]

The bands I've been in have had their own mixers on stage through which everyone in the band receives his or her mix (each person can have an individualized mix). It works really well but can get expensive quickly. If you are playing really small stages then I would imagine that people in front of the stage get a really weird balance in terms of the sound coming off the stage vs the PA if you went with in-ears.

This is one of the bigger places we play. Usually we're nearly shoulder to shoulder. No stage, just up against the wall on one side of the restaurant/bar. Halloween gig. I'm dressed as bacon, cuz as you know, everything is better with bacon.
Their own mixer? Are they big? Do they come off the main mixer our sound guy is at?

 

[FunkySpoo]

See my reply to your post in another thread:
http://www.talkbass.com/threads5/ote-vs-iem.1165776/page-2#post-1761752

Thanks I'll check it out.

 

[bass12]

This is one of the bigger places we play. No stage, just up against the wall on one side of the restaurant/bar. Halloween gig. I'm dressed as bacon, cuz as you know, everything is better with bacon.
Their own mixer? Are they big? Do they come off the main mixer our sound guy is at?

To be honest, I'm not sure exactly how things are routed with my band's set up (it's a 12 piece corporate band) but the mixer is at least twelve channels so it's not tiny. If your band plays small venues then you probably don't need much PA support and that means that a lot of your sound is what's coming off the stage. It seems to me that in-ears would cause more problems than anything. I'm sure there are some guys on here who have legitimate experience with FOH sound so perhaps they will contribute some wisdom.