Dialing in IEMs

[Paul Stauskas]

Hello all, I am struggling a bit to dial in a clean IEM sound with my group. I'm mostly happy with the clarity and EQ but notice distortion on my steel signal when the group is all playing at once. When I am testing my signal at sound check, it seems to be perfectly clean when isolated or without the full band. Also this distortion is absent on a board mix that was made.

I use the Rolls PM50se personal monitor box's 1/4" monitor input, the M32q Android app to adjust levels, and the Milkman the Amp 50 using the XLR output with the Volume at around 8 o'clock and Master wide open.

Any tips are appreciated, thanks!

[Bob Hoffnar]

Have you tried turning everything down alot and starting over ? Have you checked if it happens on other types of earbuds ?

I run my XLR out of my Milkman 100 at a much lower volume than you but I don't think that is the issue if sounds good alone.

[Paul Stauskas]

Hi Bob yes I suspect that it's time to start over with the levels and try again. I will try a different pair of earbuds for comparison, thanks for that tip.

[Dave Grafe]

Hi Paul, you don't mention what mixer is involved, but you are exactly describing the effect of digital jitter typical of less expensive digital mixers.

The common experience being every instrument sounds wonderful by itself but when multiple channels are added even when everything is audible and balanced in the mix there is no longer any detail to any individual instrument or voice. This is due to the processor getting bogged down by the demands placed upon it and skipping ahead to stay on time. This becomes more evident as the number of channels and associated dynamics, eq, effects, and mixing calculations increases.

All budget digital mixers manifest this flaw, often to a severe extent but with the poor fidelity of common budget amps and speakers it generally goes unrecognized as a mixer problem. This becomes exacerbated when the person mixing begins to incorporate all the great effects and signal processing available in these packages, each of which adds boatloads of data to the processor's inputs and contributes to the development of jitter. More expensive units have the more robust processing necessary to keep up with this throughput, but even those provide a CPU meter to assist with optimal use.

Even top quality digital mixers can flail in this regard if the processor is handled poorly, but the painful truth is that cheap knockoff gear is always going to deliver a cheap knockoff of what you are doing.

Best of luck, with 50 years in the business I'm still learning new ways to get 'er done, and the advent of digital audio has introduced entirely new ways to get it wrong.

[Brad Issendorf]

Another issue I have found running the Rolls personal monitor that I was previously using in a situation like yours is that the XLR input is to be mic level. What I was getting from their monitor system was line level. No matter how low I set the input level or turned down the signal being sent, it would overdrive the Rolls unit. For this season, I have bought a Rolls PM 59 because all of the inputs can be line levels.

[Paul Stauskas]

Thanks all for the replies. There is a lot to think about. I am going to try a different configuration next time that involves running the XLR out from The Amp 50w to the Rolls XLR Mic input with the Line level switch engaged. Then I can use the Mic Thru XLR output of the Rolls device to send back to the console. That should enable me to control my steel signal independently from my overall mix using only the Rolls device. I will report back if I find anything useful out of that exercise.

[Michael Hartz]

If he’s using the M32q app then most likely the mixer is either a Midas M32 or a Behringer X32, both of which are excellent boards.

[Paul Sutherland]

I have one of those Rolls personal monitor amps. It sits on the shelf in my music room gathering dust. It's noisy and could be the culprit for the distortion you are hearing. Try a better device to push you IEMs.

[Dave Grafe]

If he’s using the M32q app then most likely the mixer is either a Midas M32 or a Behringer X32, both of which are excellent boards.

Alas this is the very misperception I had in mind when I wrote my original response here.

While the Midas and Behringer packages appear nearly identical, there is no comparison to be made in terms of performance. Besides the difference between working with the best mic preamps available at any price and being hobbled by the shabbiest, the processing power of the Midas product is orders of magnitude greater than the cheaper unit, thus the detail in the mix that the cheaper unit cannot deliver.

Of course it also takes quality mics and speakers to deliver the true detail that cheap ones cannot, and since this involves some expense most folks have never heard something sound really good. In this way the bar of acceptable audio is self-maintaining at a relatively low level, thus the perceived adequacy of such gear.

You go ahead on with the best you've got.

[Paul Stauskas]

I believe we are using a Midas board but will need to double check. Also I am pretty satisfied with the sound quality and am not noticing unwanted noise just mild distortion in the scenario I described in the original post.

Thanks for the continued replies.