Looking at Wireless In-Ear Monitors

[efrisch]

Originally Posted by bluenotemkvi

My biggest complaint is the lack of bass response out of the included earphones. Perhaps a higher-end set of earbuds would help

Definitely. I've got the PSM-200 as well, and while the included buds are nothing to laugh at, there's definitely room to improve. I've been working with these for the last year or so and couldn't be happier with the fit and the improved response over the Shures.

[bluenotemkvi]

Yeah, when I have a spare $300 I might think about it. Not in the budget this year I'm afraid.

[Rocky Presley]

Thanks Travis for saying what I was going to! We are creating an environment of worship, which may or may not mean rockin' guitar. Some places do see that as different though, and if your gig calls for an environment pushing 100+ db in a mid sized room, then you can overcome the noise floor that a cranked guitar amp would provide, and all of us FOH guys will be jealous that you get that gig and we have to keep it at 87 dB every Sunday!

On topic, we also use the Sennheiser IEM300's and have been fairly impressed with their performance, although I would say that to get 4 stereo channels with the included ear buds and stay under your budget. One thing that I haven't been able to overcome is the wireless transmission. We use an aviom system to distrubute the sound to our wireless ears, and our wired Avioms and the wireless units are like night and day. We are hoping that with an impending wireless update, that this problem will be resolved. The noise in the wireless is fairly annoying, so we only use wireless where absolutly necessary (singers, worship leader). For the musicians, we keep them wired.

[Aletheia]

Another thumbs up here for the Shure PSM series (use both the 200 and 400 series for our bands). In ears in general were a "transition" for our guys, but as mentioned before it was totally worth it for us and for the congregation.

I liken it to recording with a click track in the studio: at first it is challenging and feels "forced". You'd rather just "feel" the song and rock out like you're used to. But the more you play with it the easier it becomes AND the better a musician you become.

Back to the original post... the AT are probably a great buy. I can speak from experience that the Shure PSM 200 (wired and wireless) are excellent choices.

Cheers

[finneyjabraham]

Sorry to revive this thread. I'm also searching for a IEM for my church and was wondering if there was such a setup that allowed the users to control what they wanted to hear rather then the sound guy controlling it.

[dtpuga]

Yes. The main players are Aviom and Hearback. MyMix is a new one that is just now coming out but looks promising... if you like the idea of musicians mixing monitors (I don't).

There are also some proprietary methods of doing this that go with certain sound board manufacturers where the system is all one.

What sound board do you have and how many inputs do you need to mix?

[Drew B]

Aviom and Hearback systems do that. They are significantly more expensive though...

I don't think having the sound guy do them is that bad of a thing though. Yes it is an extra link in the chain, but it really isn't that much of an inconvenience.

[finneyjabraham]

Originally Posted by dtpuga

Yes. The main players are Aviom and Hearback. MyMix is a new one that is just now coming out but looks promising... if you like the idea of musicians mixing monitors (I don't).

There are also some proprietary methods of doing this that go with certain sound board manufacturers where the system is all one.

What sound board do you have and how many inputs do you need to mix?

We have a Behringer Eurodesk MX3282a board. Currently we have the first two aux set for stage monitors, the third for FXs, fourth for a single IEM, fifth for Foyer, and six for the drummer IEM.

[efrisch]

Basically, with that mixer you would probably need to run a line from the insert of each channel (up to 8 with Hearback or 16 with Aviom) into an input module, and then use Cat-5 cables to connect the individual units for each musician. If you want a wireless system those individual mixers will then need to be connected to your transmitters. I have to say though, that I agree with Travis - I'm not a big fan of mixing monitors from the stage.

This threat might be helpful for you, as well:

Personal Monitoring Solutions

[louca]

Originally Posted by efrisch

I have to say though, that I agree with Travis - I'm not a big fan of mixing monitors from the stage.

Travis and Eric, I guess I need to be educated. Please tell me why it is better for the FOH sound guy(s) to set on-stage, in-ear monitor mixing levels than it is for the musician/vocalist on-stage to do it. I promise I will not take this any farther than just asking. I feel like I am missing something important here. Thank you in advance.

Lou