Current recommendations for Mid range IEM's

[Jeff Scott]

My trio is considering moving into IEM's. Not looking to spend a fortune. Don't play enough to justify it. Considering Wired application as well, to reduce costs.

Any ideas would be helpful as I don't have any experience in using them.

[JeremyJo]

I would consider Westone UM1 as the lowest quality/price earphones to consider. At approximately $100/pr I think you'd find the quality acceptable, but want to upgrade relatively soon.

So, with that I'd recommend the Westone UM2 as the minimum, very good quality, dual driver, generic fit earphone. The Comply foam tips are comfortable and I find washing them in a pants pocket or lingerie bag extends the life and reduces the cost of using the earphones over time. The Comply tips are expensive; like $10/three pr.

I recently bought a pair of 1964-T triple driver, custom molded earphones that I'm very happy with. They replaced my personal set of UM2 which I donated to our worship leader for his own use - he just has to deal with the foam tips himself. The step up from dual-driver to triple driver wasn't a humongous noticeable listening difference. I think the better ear seal and fit is more valuable than any additional drivers, but the added low frequency capability sure doesn't hurt my feelings as a bass player.

We use several Shure P4-HW wired iem beltpacks and they've worked very well for us. They have a limiter and a high frequency presence EQ. Both are disabled with our SAC system; I used SAC for limiting and any needed EQ on in-ears. We also have three, older, G2 Sennheiser wireless IEM sets. They also work very well for us.

The drummer, keys player, bass player and piano players all get wired IEM. The leader and electric quitar player have wireless sets and we have a roving wireless set for a second guitar or as needed.

Definitely don't spend the money on wireless if your budget is tight and the musician isn't moving much (i.e. drummer and keys player). They're not going anywhere without their instrument usually, so the earphone quality is more important than wireless.

Anyway, that's my experience as TD at a large church. The musicians are generally quite pleased with the setup and our stage volume is reasonable so we can mix at a sane volume and still get a decent mix.

Jeremy Johnston
Technical Director
Christian Center, Kalispell

[Andy Hamm]

I have a few options for low end IEMs.

Galaxy Audio AS-900 - These are fixed frequency units, so you can't change the channels, you have to buy them on different channels. I've paid less than $150 a unit on e-bay. Since you are Canadian as well, you would also have to go that route as places like Musician's Friend in the states won't ship them to Canada (even though the web site says they will). The reception is good, and the signal quality is acceptable. They aren't going to be comparable to a unit costing 5 times what they are worth, but they definately do the job. For the most part, the main factor in the quality is the ear buds. I have the acts that I work with buy their own, and I provide cheap ones for those that can't be bothered to make that purchase. Galaxy does make a unit that is frequency selectable, but I've yet to have an issue with these units.

Wired IEMs - I use a head phone amp and 50' headphone extentions for stationary musicians. These work great, but obviously they can't move around very much. Same rule goes for the ear buds - I'll supply cheap ones, if they want something better they can use their own.

Ghetto IEMS - First off I'm an EET, so this won't be an option for everyone. I used to go out and buy 900 MHz headphones (XS Cargo in Canada), the ones with a hard switch to select one of the three channels. I tear them apart, build an impedance matching blanced input for each channel, make a proper antenna for the transmitter and put it into a large DI type stage box (actually they look more like small car audio amps). I place these on the stage in front of the people that are using them so the range never becomes an issue. I then tear the headphones apart and put them into an aluminium belt pack case, again with a proper antenna and I use 3.3v Cell phone batteries in them.
I used to make these inside a Behringer cheapo 4 banger compressor before I started using the mix rack, as they fit and you need compression ahead of them anyway. range was their biggest issue, using the transmitters in the stage box solved that issue.
I still use these in a pinch, but to be honest the cost of all of the parts, the time and the ghetto aspect it just isn't worth it considering that the Galaxy's are so cheap.

Nady Low end IEMs - stay away from them. They do have a few workaround fixes that make them somewhat usable, but I've had 2 sets just die on me - one of them went into perminant oscillation sending a piercing tone into the headphones - not good.

IEM's aren't a big priority for me, I have quite a few musicians that have their own. I usually only have to break mine out when the monitors that are provided aren't up to the job. I could never justify spending $800 per mix for IEMs because they would never pay for themselves.

[Donnie Frank]

I'm a drummer/vocalist and have been using IEM's for 10+ years.

The best "bang-for-your-buck" IEM is going to be the PSM-200. Not only is a decent unit to start with, but it's all upgradeable down the line. The feature set includes:

-Wired, Wireless or hybrid mode
-2, mic-level channels which accept XLR/TSR plugs
-Each channel has its own gain knob
-Throughputs on both channels (XLR out). This is incredibly useful.
-Excellent range, clarity and durability (I'm a drummer, remember. I've been using the same unit for 10+ years with nary an issue).
-List price is $600.00. Can be had on eBay for $300.00 - $400.00.
-Rackmountable (1/2U - again, very useful) .
-8 user-selectable frequencies to choose from (this is huge for having multiple IEM's on stage).
-Dirt-simple operation (this is absolutely necessary for female musicians <ducking>. I'm joking!!!).
-3-level LED (Signal/Strong/Clip).
-Built-in limiting (some guys don't like this but I find it to be an excellent visual queue that I'm running my IEM hotter than I should).

I purchased my PSM-200 after seeing it at the NAMM show in like 2000. As a singing drummer who battled between ear protection (ear plugs) and vocal monitors (dual JBL wedges with perpetual feedback issues), this was a god-send.

I mostly use the belt-pack in wired mode. Ironically, it wasn't until I became an audio engineer that I used the transmitter so I could have wireless solo queue to compliment wireless mixing. The caveat was the mono mix, which is why I now use a Sennheiser IEM for my sound company. But I digress.

If your band doesn't want to spend money for the entire PSM-200 set-up, you can purchase just the P2R belt pack and E2's. I've seen these on eBay for under $200.00. If you purchase them a la carte, you'll pay more.

The 2-channel operation in combination with throughputs is amazingly versatile. A bass player friend wanted to try out an IEM in lieu of hauling an amplifier. I had him plug his bass guitar in one channel and then fed him a monitor send in the other (sans bass, of course). This way he could do his own mix. He instantly became addicted to that set-up and now does this every time. You can do the same for vox or keys or anything. In a pinch the throughput works like a low-budget D.I.

Once you're ready, the best upgrade (for my money) were better, custom-made ear shells and eventually better, triple-driver ear phones. I started off with E2's, and then eventually went to a molded ear shell that worked with the E2 drivers. But the real "leap and bound" improvement was getting custom, triple-driver ear phones. Unfortunately the company I used - Fidelity - has had some real issues. Their product and prices are fantastic...assuming you can get them to send what you order. I managed to slip under the wire and got their 2x3's for $320.00 + whatever it cost to have my ears molded...30 or 40 bucks, I think. 2 weeks after I got mine people were complaining of non-delivery issues. Buyer beware.

There are 2 common problems with new IEM users:

1) They tend to want them much louder than they need to be. They're used to a loud environment, so they try to match that SPL in their ear, which is counter-productive to having IEM's. In 10+ years I've never had mine louder than conversation level. I have tinnitus, so I'm very careful regarding levels. You honestly don't need that much.

2) Because of the above, newbies tend to think the E2's are "junky." E2's are going to sound thin. The only way around that is to really shove them deep down in your ear canal or get a custom ear shell, which may run $100.00+ from an audiologist.

I used custom shells for 5 years before I upgraded to custom, triple-driver ear phones. The latter netted "richer" sound without many of the problems associated with the custom shells. If you're interested, I'll go into more detail regarding do's, don'ts and caveats of the various setups and options. I've run the full gamut from both sides of "artist/production" fence.

[soundchicken]

The best "bang-for-your-buck" IEM is going to be the PSM-200.

+1 for the transmitter/receiver bundle

Depending on the type of response you're looking for you "might" get away with a single driver headset but most people never go back after hearing a multiple driver ear bud. The 200 is lacking a bit in warmth IMO compared to the upper tier units, but well within the operable range.

[Jeff Scott]

Thanks all for the replies...Looking into the PSM-200 and the Galaxy units. great feedback....

[Alex]

I have had great in feild experience with the Galaxy prouducts from the low endd to high.

http://galaxyaudio.com/AS1800.php

Also you may want to look into these in-ears.

http://www.alienears.com/category/190-custm-i-ear-mitrs.aspx

[gdougherty]

For $800, I'd stick with the Sennheiser wireless systems.

To low budget hardwired, Rolls makes some great little boxes that have inline more-me control in addition to stereo/mono input. Had mine all over the country and they've held up well.

Have a friend who knows the owner of Alien Ears and he's very satisfied with his triple driver set. Know a few other users and they're reputed to be quite good, compared to the UE's and Westones.