The Steel Guitar Forum

As the band I play with use in ear monitors, does anyone have any help regarding which are the best to use to cover the full range of the pedal steel.I can't find a good quality one that is not too expensive.

Hi Colin,
I would like to find a headphone amp that fits inline
with my guitar.
it will be interesting to see the comments you get for your question.

Hi Colin, my band also uses inears and we all use SHURE PM200's. They are around $799.00 but you can get them for around $500.00 in the large market music stores. I tried cheaper ones, and they just will not work well with steel or bass. There may be some less expensive ones out there, but I couldn't find one that did what I wanted with my steel. Good luck with your purchase, and once you go to inears, and find the right ones for you, you won't go back to a heavy wedge. L.M.

If you are serious about in-ear monitors, it will cost you. Yes, the Shure IEM's are very good, but consider the hard wired ones ( 600 series). As you don't move around, they work fine and I found several sets on ebay for a little under $ 200.oo and they worked fine. I would highly suggest getting a good set of molded ears. The good ones are made by Ultimate Ears or Future Sonics (the best ones) I tried a cheap set from some company in FL and they were pitiful. Spend the money on something like Future Sonics and be satisfied. Just my opinion tho.

One of the groups I work in just started using in-ear monitoring. Cost and flexibility of use was an issue. I went with a Behringer "Powerplay Pro-XL HA4700" headphone amp. $99.00 from Sweetwater Music. The Behringer has 4 channels, high & low EQ on each channel, a separate "line in" input on each channel and a stereo/mono switch to route a mono signal to both ears. I bought Shure "E3" earphones from Musicians Friend also for $99.00 a pair. The setup works very well for us. One of the guitar players that works with us has custom fit molded earphones, he really likes them.

Kevin

I use a Shure PSM600 wireless system, and custom molded, dual driver earphones. It wasn't cheap, but it sounds great. I use wireless because I switch around on steel, guitar, and mandolin. A wired system is cheaper and works fine for most steel players.

Westone. I used all the Shure E series and the universal Westone UM2 was WAY better than any Shure I tried. This Christmas I spent $25 and got ear molds made, sent them to Westone and got the 3-way system. Sounds great.

I agree with Dyke, The Westone UM 2's sound awesome with pedal steel. That is what I use. They designed the Shure E 5's but the UM 2's are their own version. They sound much better than the Shures and are alot cheaper. You can pick up a brand new set on Ebay in the $250 to $270 range. As for the in-ear receiver, go with the Shure hard wired unit. I like the Shure PSM 600 because it is the touring standard and unlike ALL the other Shure psm's, it uses analog crystal circuitry (warmer sounding) as opposed to digital IC's.

I use the Shure hardwired 600 series for bass, guitar and keyboard. The E3 is OK for keyboard and guitar, but you need the E5 for the lows of a bass guitar. For keyboard and lap steel particularly, I don't need to move all over the stage, so the hardwired monitors work fine.

I also have used the Behringer "Powerplay Pro-XL HA4700" headphone amp for a couple years and I really like it. Our band uses two of them since we are a 5-piece.

I know that this may sound like the "cheap" way to go, but a Rolls PM50s is around $50. I bought one and put MagLight AA flashlight clips (around $10) on it so that it would attach to the leg of my steel so that I could use it as a backup or when somebody else needed to use my wireless set. Sounded good enough for steel, mandolin, electric and acoustic.

Sensaphonics makes a great product.

http://www.sensaphonics.com

I have used Shure E5's with good results. I did buy a pair of E3's for a back up and for my iPod and found them to be excellent! I've even used them with Big & Rich.
I now have Ultimate ears with ear molds and they rock too. Just keep in mind, no matter what ear monitors you use, get them seated in your ear as best you can. And try and make sure your ears aren't full of excessive wax before you put the buds in. I like the yellow foam pieces, I think Sony makes them.