|
|
Post by zpilot on Sept 11, 2020 13:14:58 GMT -7
I have a friend who uses wired IEM's and has turned me on to them. He owns 5 Sennheiser and a couple of Shure wireless systems that are now in FCC prohibited bands and he absolutely does not want that to happen again. The setup he is now using cost him 1/10 of one of his good wireless systems and he claims it works every bit as well, maybe better. He has a balanced cable that is attached to his guitar cable. It runs up to his strap where he has a Behringer P2 headphone amp mounted. He plugs his earbuds into that. They are KZ ZS10 Pro earbuds. These are inexpensive items but seem to be robust and durable. He is wired already to his pedalboard so this is no more cumbersome. I am convinced so I have ordered the same stuff. If you have no need to move beyond the reach of your guitar cable this just makes way more sense to me. I'll probably play with only one bud in though. I still want to hear my amp naturally. Any thoughts?
|
|
|
|
Post by LT on Sept 11, 2020 13:45:19 GMT -7
I always gig with a guitar wireless, so wireless IEM's are a must for me. For the most part they work very well. I did upgrade my older Shure system to the newer/nicer one that scans available channels and picks the best one.
Our drummer has a wired IEM setup and it works well.
A comment about wearing one bud. I did that for years. I usually stood stage right so I almost always wore the left IEM to reduce the volume from the band. HOWEVER, I now have low frequency loss in my right ear, the one that was open. I'm not 100% sure the cause, but it's kinda suspicious to me.
It does take some time to get used to hearing your amp in IEM's, and I'll readily admit I'd much rather hear the amp naturally. There are some advantages of having it in your ears though. You can play with a lower stage level but still hear yourself clearly. Again, it takes some getting used to though.
|
|
|
|
Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on Sept 11, 2020 14:33:47 GMT -7
So are you guys just using IEMs to monitor your guitar? I’m trying to see how wired IEMs could possibly work for monitor feeds from the board - that would be a lot of wire. If you’re running ampless, I get IEM for your guitar assuming you can’t run a cab on stage. Vocal monitors are an absolute requirement - as anyone who has tried to sing in a band without them will testify to.
My band has always used wedges, but it would be nice to not lug around the extra gear and go IEM, but I never considered wired an option, and having everyone go wireless is damned pricey.
|
|
|
|
Post by zpilot on Sept 11, 2020 17:16:02 GMT -7
The only thing in my IEM will be vocals and a little bit of the acoustic guitar player. Running only one bud will allow me to hear the rest of the band naturally. I already have a line level feed to a small powered wedge at the base of my mic stand. The stage box for the snake that it comes from is no more than 6 feet from that so I am not adding any clutter to the stage. I'll continue to use the wedge but turn it down about 3db or so. I'll compensate for that with the IEM.
A little confession here. The guy running sound for this band is no good at ringing out the monitors, actually terrible, so I need to do something independent of that so I can hear vocals. Get it? There are some band politics involved here. This will fix my problem of hearing vocals without stepping on toes. Then I can just play guitar and not be involved with how they run the sound system, which is all I want. The upside to this is it will travel with me and is something I probably needed to do anyway for the future.
|
|
|
|
Post by GuitarZ on Sept 11, 2020 17:57:04 GMT -7
What I've found works well is I use a stereo set of mics in an x-y configuration into a little mixer and then add in my vocal or whatever else I want to the mixer. So, I'm not dependent on a sound person or anyone else. This assumes there's enough stage volume for me to pick up everyone else. I like the sound. I do keep both ears in. I have remained wired since my guitar is wired.
|
|
|
|
Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on Sept 11, 2020 17:59:38 GMT -7
The only thing in my IEM will be vocals and a little bit of the acoustic guitar player. Running only one bud will allow me to hear the rest of the band naturally. I already have a line level feed to a small powered wedge at the base of my mic stand. The stage box for the snake that it comes from is no more than 6 feet from that so I am not adding any clutter to the stage. I'll continue to use the wedge but turn it down about 3db or so. I'll compensate for that with the IEM. A little confession here. The guy running sound for this band is no good at ringing out the monitors, actually terrible, so I need to do something independent of that so I can hear vocals. Get it? There are some band politics involved here. This will fix my problem of hearing vocals without stepping on toes. Then I can just play guitar and not be involved with how they run the sound system, which is all I want. The upside to this is it will travel with me and is something I probably needed to do anyway for the future. Got it. Makes perfect sense - can’t change the course of the river😉 |
|
|
|
Post by LT on Sept 12, 2020 8:04:18 GMT -7
So are you guys just using IEMs to monitor your guitar? I’m trying to see how wired IEMs could possibly work for monitor feeds from the board - that would be a lot of wire. If you’re running ampless, I get IEM for your guitar assuming you can’t run a cab on stage. Vocal monitors are an absolute requirement - as anyone who has tried to sing in a band without them will testify to. My band has always used wedges, but it would be nice to not lug around the extra gear and go IEM, but I never considered wired an option, and having everyone go wireless is damned pricey. For me, I have a mix of just about everything. My system is stereo, so I have my voice and guitar in my "good" left ear and the rest of the mix in my right. I've not tried ampless although I have to admit I've thought about it. |
|
|
|
Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Sept 12, 2020 8:57:28 GMT -7
I've been using IEMs for a few years now and after struggling to get used to using them in both ears I've changed to just having the right ear IEM. My amp is on my left, and the rest of the group is to the right so it's the best of both worlds for me. I wrecked my ears at the dragstrip when I was a kid, hanging on the chain link fence about 15 feet away from AA fuelers launching...so it's no big thing for me. Plus I don't crank my amp over about 100 dB anyway, and we only play for about 25 minutes.
I've always preferred wedges though. Everything is just more 'live' and sounds more natural to me.
|
|
|
|
Post by zpilot on Sept 12, 2020 9:06:04 GMT -7
I prefer wedges also, when they are utilized correctly.
|
|
|
|
Post by arafel on Sept 12, 2020 9:25:18 GMT -7
I have a friend who uses wired IEM's and has turned me on to them. He owns 5 Sennheiser and a couple of Shure wireless systems that are now in FCC prohibited bands and he absolutely does not want that to happen again. The setup he is now using cost him 1/10 of one of his good wireless systems and he claims it works every bit as well, maybe better. He has a balanced cable that is attached to his guitar cable. It runs up to his strap where he has a Behringer P2 headphone amp mounted. He plugs his earbuds into that. They are KZ ZS10 Pro earbuds. These are inexpensive items but seem to be robust and durable. He is wired already to his pedalboard so this is no more cumbersome. I am convinced so I have ordered the same stuff. If you have no need to move beyond the reach of your guitar cable this just makes way more sense to me. I'll probably play with only one bud in though. I still want to hear my amp naturally. Any thoughts? Out of curiosiity, what does "FCC prohibited band" mean? How were they prohobited by the FCC from using wireless systems, and why? |
|
|
|
Post by zpilot on Sept 12, 2020 10:05:18 GMT -7
|
|
|
|
Post by arafel on Sept 14, 2020 9:17:08 GMT -7
Huh, Interesting. I have the PSM300 from Shure. Seems I'm safe |
|
|
|
Post by zpilot on Apr 5, 2022 3:27:14 GMT -7
A little update on my IEMs. I have changed bands and play mostly the type of gig where there is no dedicated sound tech and we run it from the stage. The wired IEM still was working well until I started having to do several guitar swaps during the set to play baritone. At that point connecting the IEM/guitar cord umbilical became a little cumbersome. I became aware of a new IEM system made by Xvive and decided to try it. It runs in the Bluetooth 2.4G band. It is simple to use and costs less than $200. You have to supply your own buds. So far it is working great for me. The cost is even less per user if you use run multiple receivers and only one transmitter. I'm pretty happy with this.
|
|
|
|
Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Apr 5, 2022 8:02:12 GMT -7
This sounds really interesting. In our church praise band we've got wired IEMs and I use Shure ear buds with it.
Last Sunday was the first time using my new hearing aids, and I tried out using one IEM in my right ear with a hearing aid in the left side. It worked pretty well, but I've still got reservations about how to best do this balancing act. It would be very cool to be rid of trying to move around with 2 cables to worry about.
For $200 it's kind of a no-brainer to try, and they include rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries.
|
|
|
|
Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on Apr 5, 2022 10:08:45 GMT -7
A little update on my IEMs. I have changed bands and play mostly the type of gig where there is no dedicated sound tech and we run it from the stage. The wired IEM still was working well until I started having to do several guitar swaps during the set to play baritone. At that point connecting the IEM/guitar cord umbilical became a little cumbersome. I became aware of a new IEM system made by Xvive and decided to try it. It runs in the Bluetooth 2.4G band. It is simple to use and costs less than $200. You have to supply your own buds. So far it is working great for me. The cost is even less per user if you use run multiple receivers and only one transmitter. I'm pretty happy with this. How are you using the Xvive’s for multiple band members? I’ve been looking at those as a very affordable way to go “semi-wireless” with IEMs. |
|
|
|
Post by zpilot on Apr 5, 2022 13:13:10 GMT -7
A little update on my IEMs. I have changed bands and play mostly the type of gig where there is no dedicated sound tech and we run it from the stage. The wired IEM still was working well until I started having to do several guitar swaps during the set to play baritone. At that point connecting the IEM/guitar cord umbilical became a little cumbersome. I became aware of a new IEM system made by Xvive and decided to try it. It runs in the Bluetooth 2.4G band. It is simple to use and costs less than $200. You have to supply your own buds. So far it is working great for me. The cost is even less per user if you use run multiple receivers and only one transmitter. I'm pretty happy with this. How are you using the Xvive’s for multiple band members? I’ve been looking at those as a very affordable way to go “semi-wireless” with IEMs. The rest of the band is not. Presently I am the only one using it. The only thing the other members need to do is buy a receiver and buds. They can get the same signal/mix I do from my transmitter. Only if they want their own mix will they need to buy a transmitter that will enable them to connect to a separate Aux Send and use a different channel. There are 6 channels but the reality is that you could probably only count on having 3 or 4 available due to possible interference from wi-fi and such. |
|
