In-ears...love 'em, hate 'em...?

[Michael Sparks]

Just kind of wondering about other player's opinions. Personally, I tried IEM's for the better part of a year and finally ditched them after deciding it was more than a matter of just getting used to them or, as I often heard, getting a better set of ear buds.

[Jake Gathright]

Personally, I love to hate em.

[Roger Rettig]

I don't care for them (there's compromise in the tone you can get with them) but I love the fact that our stage is so much quieter now we all wear them at the Medora Musical.

I can mix everything just the way I want it and, if there's a singer whose voice irritates me, I can dial them out!

[Leo Melanson]

Good In ears (with more than one driver) are much better than cheap ipod ones and can help you with intonation and singing in tune. The new offerings from Sure are fantastic and priced to suit any budget. The more drivers you can afford the better.

Wedges always seem to just drive up stage volume. Here's how I currently use ears:

1. Small room with tiny stage .. use both ears to
isolate from drums/bass and save my hearing.

1. Medium room .. one ear in, one ear out to monitor the overall volume.

2. Large venues with big open stage - use wedges provided mostly from house sound.

[Bryan Daste]

I have experimented with the cheaper Shure in-ears and have found a trick that greaty improves the sound (and would probably do so for any in-ear) - get custom molded tips made. When I was having my musician's earplugs remade a couple years ago, I asked the audiologist to do it, and it makes the fit so much better. I really use mine as glorified earbuds, but they sound SOOO much better than regular earbuds. I have occasionally used them onstage when I'm either running my own sound or working with a sound tech who is amenable to giving me my own mix. Overall, I've found you can get a quieter, more controlled sound than using monitor wedges.

[Clyde Mattocks]

I like them on a theater show. I keep one side out so I can hear the stage sound. They really help your intonation. That being said, I don't like them in a loud bar band where you are used to feeling the sound pressure on you. I like monitor wedges in that situation.

[Adam Goodale]

I hate them. I have to use them often though. A good set of molded ears with triple drivers arent bad, but it still doesn't sound as good as a live stage volume that is managed correctly.

[Drew Taubenfeld]

In ears can be tough... especially the first couple times you use em.
You're never really gonna get the same vibe as a loud amp right behind you. But there are a couple of advantages.

Your tone is always going to sound better in the room, coming off the amp. WHen your listening in in ears, all the nice sounds of the room are suddenly gone. I've found you can dial in a decent sound on the amp, and it will sound pretty crappy in ears. So if you can get your tone to sound good in in ears, it's probably gonna sound GREAT coming off the amp. I think playing with ears has helped me dial in sounds that speak to a microphone. rather than just something that sounds nice in a room.

Also, a great in ear monitor engineer is the only way to make the experience really great.

[Kyle Everson]

I love them.

When I got my first artist gig where IEMs were "required" (no wedges), I fought it and hated them every minute of the day. After time had passed, I realized my volume pedal technique as well as my intonation had improved greatly. Also, I figured out the best mic placement to capture the tone I wanted coming off the amp. After all, that's what FOH is mixing anyway. Those are a few reasons I love them.

The most important reason is that they save your hearing, with one caveat. Keep both ears in! Taking one out is more harmful than doing without them altogether. Without realizing it, most performers turn up the ear pack level to match the "ear out" level, which is worse than loud stage volume (the human ear can't deflect the IEM level since it bypasses the ear lobe.)

I did an experiment last summer. The venue was large with no amps or wedges onstage (all backstage). I only took my right ear IEM out, and for only the last 3 songs. After the show, my left ear was silent, but the right was ringing slightly. That's with little stage volume and sitting behind the PA. That did it for me.

On gigs where IEMs aren't an option, custom-molded attenuated earplugs are awesome. They're affordable and don't color your tone like foam plugs.

Sorry for the long-winded response, but our hearing is so important (especially as steel players). After you get used to them, they are wonderful.

[Craig A Davidson]

I like using mine as I can have my own mix and the keyboard and the other guitar are just in there enough to hear. I don't have to hear about how my steel is too loud in the fronts because it is bleeding thru my vocal mike. I don't even have an amp on stage. I bring two lines back from the monitor board, one for my stuff and one for the rest of the band. the lines go into two 32 band eq's and then into my wireless transmitter. From there to my ears, left side me, right side the band. I put just a little of me into the right side so things sound a littlemore balanced. But I can be as loud as I want and even make believe I am Buddy E in my ears. I don't even reaally care if the sound makes it out front or not. In my ears it sounds good and that is enough.

[Roger Rettig]

Well, it is nice to persuade yourself that everyone in the audience is savouring each note you play but, in the real world, I take the view that they're paying me to play the parts - if they for whatever reason fail to relay me to the FOH effectively, that's okay too.

As long as I get paid...

I do seriously feel that wearing IEMs is ultimately better for one's hearing - I feel I'm in control and can dial down that overall level to a safe range.

[Clete Ritta]

Im not playing at a pro artist level, just noisy clubs and bars.
I prefer ear plugs, especially when anywhere near a cymbal on stage.
But seriously, wearing ear protection from sound check till load out has kept me from developing tinnitus that is aggravated by not wearing plugs. Plus all it takes is that one bad blast of accidental feedback from a sound man experienced or not, and I may be done permanently. Many places play music between sets from a jukebox or dj that is often really just too loud for me as well. At my age Id rather just preserve what precious hearing I still have left. Many years ago I got used to wearing earplugs on stage with wedges, and my brain really appreciates the silence on the ride home and lack of ringing ears when going to sleep.

I have used some pretty good Shure ear buds before in the past though, and I really do like the fact that it eliminates opportunity for feedback in the first place. We also had a second mic that was in ears only, as a talkback, and the singer could call out tunes or changes on it in advance which was nice. Sometimes he'd tell dirty jokes on it while we were playing, that only the band could hear, and the audience would wonder why we were all laughing out loud for no apparent reason.

Clete

[Ken Karn]

I've done this and loved the result.
If any of you have, you're experience would be great to hear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmk-y_9exJ8

[Bryan Daste]

Kyle, good advice.

Most in-ear systems come with a belt-pack that has a volume control and usually a built-in limiter for protection against extreme bursts of sound. I've found that when I can find a sound guy willing to run me a custom line level monitor mix (which is rare at the level gigs I'm playing), they're great - I can reduce my stage volume a lot while maintaining clarity. Helps with singing in tune, too. All other times, I wear the custom-made earplugs.

Ken, which in-ears did you use with the custom mold DIY kit? Where do you get the kit?
The finished molds looks very spongey, are they?

[Bo Borland]

As long as they are molded to fit your ear, they totally rock..

[Michael Hartz]

Our band has been using them for about 9 yrs. now and I love them. You can't go cheap with these and expect a great sound. I'm using Fidelity duals ( I wouldn't recommend this company right now, their turnaround is deplorable ) custom molds and have a backup set of westone UM-3 universals. You want good quality dual or triple armature earphones made for musicians not for audiophiles. Next you want the best in-ear system you can afford. I use the old tour standby, the Shure Psm 600 wireless. It has cyrstal circuitry which I believe gives it a warmer sound. I play thru a Sarno Revelation preamp directly to the board with a passive monitor split going into a Crest XRM monitor board running a stereo mix out to my ears. It sounds like a cd, unbelieveable quality.

[Clete Ritta]

...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmk-y_9exJ8

Thanks for the link Ken, DIY custom fit ear buds, that's brilliant!

Those look like the exact same Shure buds I have and Im going to try this. Im sure it will make them more comfortable and airtight. Its just gotta work better than stock interchangeable rubber seals. When unplugged and not being used as monitors off stage, they would substitute for earplugs as well I imagine. Im using disposable foam -31db earplugs these days.

Ive used a wireless guitar transmitter and wireless headset mic before, but Ive never used wireless monitors too. I have used an extension line (1/8" mini stereo female to male about 20' from board) to earbuds. If you play steel, keyboard, drums, etc, where you dont move from a fixed seat, or even guitar with a cable and a fixed mic stand, I would assume just use a line. Those of you that use in-ear monitors, do you use a line or wireless transmitter?

Clete