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Thread: In Ear Monitors

  1. #1

    Default In Ear Monitors

    I'm sure this has been discussed a ton o' times, but, I'm thinking of investing in a IEM system, at least for myself. I play bass in a four/five member bluegrass band. We mostly use a Touchmix 8 digital board. I sometimes play acoustic bass, and sometimes an NS electric upright. Most everybody gets their own mic, but we try vocals using a single mic. I've been looking at the Xvive U4 system. It's pretty inexpensive for the transmitter and receiver. Not sure about which earbuds would be good and affordable. Any suggestions, thoughts, etc.? I should note that I'm kind of a techno-boob, so any info in layman's terms would be helpful.

  2. #2
    Registered User Chunky But Funky's Avatar
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    Default Re: In Ear Monitors

    Hey banjoboy! Have you heard that song by Ryan Shupe? (Is that the possible inspiration for the name?) I have used KZ's at church for a couple of years. I think I got the AS10's. They have several models under $100, and I like them better than the standard issue Shure's. Just my preference for sound and fit. The Shure's hurt my ears for some reason. If I purchased again today, I would probably get these. I still might!

    KZ AS16's
    Red Penguin Rentals & Red Penguin Remote- High end outboard recording rentals (Pgh, PA)
    Mics from Neuman, Korby Audio, Royer, Sennheiser & EV and Remote Recording featuring Mac Computers, Metric Halo Interfaces, Pro Tools & Logic

    "Cedar makes for excellent soundhole sniffing"
    Steve Miklas - Acoustic Music Works

  3. #3

    Default Re: In Ear Monitors

    The Xvive system you're looking at is only one piece of the puzzle. The IEMs I use are the Sure SE215s which are decent entry level. Form there, prices jump to the $300 range, then to $1000+. The complication you face is whether or not the current mix that's going to the monitors everyone listens to will work for you on your in-ears? As a bass player it may not. The only way to find out is to try it and see. You're probably relegated to the back when your not singing harmony. If this is the case, then getting your own personal Hot Spot monitor that you can set on a mic stand back by you might be the simplest solution.

    I use IEMs in a church praise band. Money was no issue when setting up our current digital sound system. Each person not only has IEMs but also has their own personal mix console so we can each custom tailor our own monitor mixes. A beautiful system but each mix console runs $600.

  4. #4
    Registered User danielpatrick's Avatar
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    Default Re: In Ear Monitors

    Hey there. I recently got an Xvive setup for my duo and trio. While I haven’t been able to use them much (had a concussion and had to cancel weeks worth of gigs) I was able to use them twice now. And they sound great for what they are. Not saying that in a bad way. I just mean as opposed to having a dedicated IEM rig for every person in the band that costs thousands of dollars.

    I second Berto above as to which earphones you use will make a difference. I use the 215s by Shure and they sound better to me than the two models priced above them (I’ve tried a few different models over the years…I love the Westones but I don’t think the price is worth it for me at this point) The 215s are only 89 dollars right now too. They come with different “buds” for noise isolation as well. Way cheaper than custom molds and they work well enough I had to take them out to talk to my band mates.

    Another huge bonus for the Xvive is you can plug it in to the output of your Front of house speaker, or the main output on your mixer, and get a decent idea of all the levels that are being heard out front while sound checking!

    A great lower cost alternative for reducing feedback from monitors as well as playing with the amount of tension needed to pull pretty tone out of your instrument without playing hard just to hear yourself.

    Just my two cents … NFI in anything mentioned.

  5. #5

    Default Re: In Ear Monitors

    To be honest, I'm typically the guy who runs the PA system. I think this job frequently falls on bass players for some reason. Many times we are playing smaller venues and don't use monitors. But I'm not sure that the audience may not be hearing everything as well as we'd like. So to be honest, I was hoping that I could use the IEM to actually get a feel for what the house is hearing so that I can instruct band members to on whether or not to get closer to mics, or for me to turn members up or down in the mix. As Daniel noted above, this can be done. But how do you do that if the main speakers are plugged into the system. Sorry if I'm being ignorant. Still really learning sound reinforcement.

  6. #6
    Registered User danielpatrick's Avatar
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    Default Re: In Ear Monitors

    In my situation I have two options. On the mixer you can unplug one of the Xlr cables and plug the Xvive into that. It will send one signal to the speakers plugged in and the other signal to your ears. The other option is plug, the transmitter into the send output of the speaker. Then it is sending the signal directly from the main speaker. Both options worked the same for me.

    I should note. The Xvive is not stereo, which makes no difference to me as neither was my monitor! Lol. Plus the less messing around with things, the better off I am!

    Hope that helps. If not, feel free to ask more questions.

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