FOH Phones...

[Paul Henry]

I've been looking at a solution for running FOH phones with an ADA8000 rig. I know I can just get a little headphone amp and rack it, but I remembered somebody saying they use a wireless in ear monitor setup at FOH with their cans. It lets them do totally wireless FOH remote and still have the ability to solo a channel. I'm really liking that idea. :D

I think the unit they recommended was the Sennheiser ew 300 IEM G2 which was nice because it also had the option of skipping the wireless and just plugging the phones straight into the rack unit, with a volume knob right on the front panel. It seems to be discontinued however.

In my search for a similar setup I keep running into great reviews of a unit from a brand that I know nothing about. This thing is getting stellar reviews from everyone to my great surprise, has anyone tried it?

Galaxy Audio AS-900

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/galaxy-audio-as-900-wireless-personal-monitor-system

[Brent Evans]

I have a Galaxy IEM system... very poor RF quality, and low volume on the receiver.

The Sennheiser G2 is continued, but they come up on ebay fairly regularly, just make sure you get one that isn't 700mhz... some people are still trying to get rid of the now-illegal gear.

The current model is the EW300 G3 version (http://www.sennheiser.com/sennheiser/home_en.nsf/root/professional_evolution-wireless-g3_ew-300-iem-g3_021210).

[Donnie Frank]

That was me, Paul. And Brent is correct on everything he said. eBay is the place to find them. And yes, it works great. I have used the G1 IEM (not officially called the "G1," so don't use "G1" in your eBay search criterion), and that works just as well. If I recall, the G2 is rack-mountable, whereas the G1 is not. I used neodymium magnets to keep my G1 unit in my rack (worked well). You can find those much cheaper than the G2 IEM's. Here's a picture:

http://www.drummerdonnie.com/sound/SAC/Pictures/SAC_RACK/8U_SKB/Front_Sm.jpg

FWIW, I have also used the Shure PSM200 system. However the Shure lacks the hardwire output the Sennheiser dons. If I mix using the PSM200, I have to be wireless all the time, which is not a big deal. But the belt pack doesn't quite pack the "oomph" of the wired Sennheiser IEM transmitter. I pretty-much keep the belt packs at full volume the entire time, which is definitely good enough for mixing most bands. But I wouldn't want to mix someone like Ted Nugent that way....<:^)

In this picture of an early version of my SAC rig, you can see my Shure belt pack on the table:

http://www.drummerdonnie.com/sound/SAC/Pictures/Gigs/SAC_Rig-4U_Thumb.jpg

Oh...and beware that the wired interface is 1/4" stereo jack and the belt pack is 1/8" stereo. So you have to have an adapter. My Sennheiser headphones have a screw on 1/8" -> 1/4" adapter.

Since you can solo consoles and channels remotely, your wireless headset will chase remotely. It's an awesome set up. Add a wireless headset mic and you can add communication to your wireless arsenal. I use a wireless headset mic and IEM belt pack and X41 tablet every show. I was able to mix and communicate remotely through my clients IEM's for the James Douglas Show. They use Lectrosonic Quadra IEM's. I could mix and hold entire private conversations remotely with any musician at any time to give them exactly what they wanted in their IEM. Service-wise, it puts me leaps and bounds above the competition.

[905shmick]

The G2 and G3 units have balanced XLR inputs and use AA batteries for the packs. The G1 IEM packs as well as the Mic packs and handhelds all use 9V batteries.

The G2 gear is all over ebay and craigslist.

[Donnie Frank]

The G2 and G3 units have balanced XLR inputs and use AA batteries for the packs. The G1 IEM packs as well as the Mic packs and handhelds all use 9V batteries.

The G2 gear is all over ebay and craigslist.

Correct. To clarify, the G1 uses 1/4" TRS (balanced) inputs. I simply made a pair of short TRS -> Female XLR cables.

[rdubost]

I watched these (http://www.amphony.com/) a while ago and posted here without success.

They claim to provide low latency /lossless signal. Can be used to feed speakers as well. It seems oriented at the hifi market but I don't see what would prevent them from live situations.

I find the price quite attractive, provided there is no competition to speak of. I would definitely love to see an implementation where cable routing is tough on (amplified) speakers ... I found the presence of an amp in the receiver quite disturbing, even worse their lacking of a line output but the headphone applicaiton seems solid.

Never heard of anyone using them but specs are impressive with fair price.

[Doug_Danforth]

In my search for a similar setup I keep running into great reviews of a unit from a brand that I know nothing about. This thing is getting stellar reviews from everyone to my great surprise, has anyone tried it?

Galaxy Audio AS-900

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/galaxy-audio-as-900-wireless-personal-monitor-system

We use these exact units as IEMs for the keyboard player and me (bass player). We bought a third unit for one of the guitar players but he hasn't used it yet so I repurpose his at gigs for FOH. Keyboard player likes his. Sometimes he runs a wire, sometimes he goes wireless. They work OK for FOH but you do need some pretty isolating cans in order to hear well if you are mixing loud R&R.

For bass, they aren'tsogreat. I get a distorted phasey sound that I cannot fix. I don't notice it once everyone starts playing but by itself it is not good. Doesn't matter whether I'm wired or wireless. Other instruments sound great in my IEMs. I thought it might be something to do with the other gear in my setup but I purchased a $29 pair of wireless headphones from The Anderson's to play with and my bass sounds great in those so there is something funky about the Galaxy system. I have tried all three units (wired and wireless) and it sounds the same.

I think it would be worth buying one and trying it out. I think we paid $300 when we bought ours last year so they have come down in price quite a bit. If you don't like them you can always return them.

Doug

[dbarrow]

I have a Sennheiser G3 rig. It works great. Sometimes I use the supplied earbud phones. Sometimes I use some smaller closed-cup Sonys and if I am seated for a while, I use the Direct Sound Extreme Isolation headphones. All these plugin to the Sennheiser body pack with a 1/8" plug. More often than not, I am roaming the venue with my netbook and the Sennheiser earbuds. I use them mostly for quick soloing and identifying problems. I do most of my listening via the main speaker system.

[Yogi]

We use the Sennheiser RS-120 wireless headphones both for remote monitoring AND for assisted listening in our church. The ladies that depended on the much outdated system for assisted listening were thrilled with the quality of these. They are 900 mhz band so no interference that we've ever found. The quality is pretty good for cans. They aren't isolating but that's ok actually because you can hear someone trying to get your attention if necessary, the bass is really good for wireless headphones. The price is CHEAP on Ebay. Oh yeah they use 2 AAAs and they last at least 10 hours of heavy use.

[Donnie Frank]

I have a Sennheiser G3 rig. It works great. Sometimes I use the supplied earbud phones. Sometimes I use some smaller closed-cup Sonys and if I am seated for a while, I use the Direct Sound Extreme Isolation headphones. All these plugin to the Sennheiser body pack with a 1/8" plug. More often than not, I am roaming the venue with my netbook and the Sennheiser earbuds. I use them mostly for quick soloing and identifying problems. I do most of my listening via the main speaker system.

Totally liberating, isn't it? I can't think of a better way to mix. I just toss the cans around my neck when I want to hear the room. It's freakin' awesome.

[NoFear13X]

If you want an AS-900, I'll trade my kit for a bottle of Coke.

The thing worked well for a couple of days before rapidly degrading in quality and range over the next few weeks. It's just not a professional, long-term solution, even for Solo monitoring. I have my entire kit back in the box. I should probably pull it out and try it again. Or send it back, maybe it's broken? It would be under warranty. Also, random caveat, but there is no power indicator on the transmitter, so you don't know if it's even turned on. To top that off, it powers off after power outages, so when you turn on the power to the system, you need to (blindly) power on the transmitter also. POS.

I'm likely moving to Shure PSM200's. The Sennheiser G3 replaced the G2, so search for that if you're leaning towards Sennheiser. I've just gone 100% Shure, that's my main reason for going in that direction.

[Doug_Danforth]

Take him up on this Paul.

They are not great but they are definitely worth a bottle of Coke.:)

Doug

[Paul Henry]

Take him up on this Paul.

They are not great but they are definitely worth a bottle of Coke.:)

Doug

:D