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  #1  
Old 05-18-2017, 12:22 PM
buzzardwhiskey buzzardwhiskey is offline
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Default IEM's and ambience mics and so on...

As I alluded to in another post, the weight of our band’s rig is beginning to adversely affect my enjoyment (and my back).

We currently make use of two 10” FOH speakers and two 10” floor monitors. If I kept the FOH but ditched the monitors, that could be cool! I’d probably store the FOH speakers in my car 24/7.

So I’m searching for monitoring solutions. One idea is individual spot monitors, probably four of them, such as the Behringer B205D or Mackie SRM150. I could ask that band members “own” them (and take them home) like they already own their instrument(s).

The advantage here is that I probably don’t need to upgrade my mixer (a Soundcraft EFX8), I’ll use the same cabling that I now use for floor monitors (we don’t bother with a different mix than FOH). And members can control their own volume and a limited EQ. This is the road that I’d really come to until digital mixers and ambient mixes reared their heads.

So here’s my idea and desire for your input…

I sell my floor monitors and my analogue board and buy:
1) A digital board with at least 5 aux outs such as the Behringer X Air XR18.
2) Five pairs of IEM’s such as the Etymotic Research mc5.
3) Five beltpack IEM amps such as the Behringer PM1.
4) An omni mic that would be placed mid stage and mixed into the monitor only such as the AKG P420 for stage conversation.

I figure upgrade costs for either route will be about $900. My question is of course whether the second idea is really a good one. Will the omni mic work for ambience/stage-conversation? Will the sound of this second system be enjoyable?

Anyway, I look forward to your comments as usual. Thanks!
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Last edited by buzzardwhiskey; 05-18-2017 at 01:13 PM.
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  #2  
Old 05-19-2017, 08:07 AM
MikeBmusic MikeBmusic is offline
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One problem with wireless systems is the FCC's constant changing available frequencies, making past systems obsolete in some cases. If you go the IEM route, make each player buy his own ear buds (if you want to buy all the belt packs, its up to you). there are many different options for the earbuds, from $99 up.
You definitely don't need a stage mic for stage conversations - never heard of anyone every doing that! Earbuds don't mask out 100% of the ambient sound - although there are some custom ones ($300 and up) that block more sound than standard earbuds.
Before you go this route, discuss it with the othe rband members. Some people are not comfortable with earbuds.
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Old 05-19-2017, 11:42 AM
midwinter midwinter is offline
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A few thoughts (and BuzzardWhiskey and I have chatted about this in PM):

- There are many advantages to a digital mixer. It has drastically decreased our (already modest) setup time, since the mixer remembers whatever the last settings you used were. Plug it in and turn it on and you're live. I'm pretty happy with the Behringer (although the interface is pretty baffling sometimes—the fx returns also have sends, for instance).

- There's no need to eliminate ALL your monitors. I know drummers who don't like IEMs and want a wedge. What if only the singers got IEMs?

- You don't necessarily need 5 separate AUX sends. That's only if you want 5 separate mixes. If your band members are OK sharing mixes, you could totally just get a rackmount headphone amp (I have one that has 6 or 8 outs) and send several members identical mixes but with custom volumes.

- My experience with the Shure SE215s is that they pretty much block out most of the sound. We can't hear each other talk on stage unless we're talking into the mics. Because of this, and because I'm usually running sound (when we're handling it), I tend to keep one IEM in and one out. That way I can also hear the mains a little.
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Old 05-19-2017, 11:53 AM
jstegeman jstegeman is offline
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I agree with the comment about not necessarily needing to ditch your mixer unless you need custom monitor mixes, but the Behringer Air XR18 is nice. Not only does it remember your last settings, but you can also save all of the mix settings and restore them (meaning you can have multiple setups), it has some decent FX if you want to use them, and you can adjust the mix from anywhere. It's a nice piece of kit - we got one at our church, and it works really well. I also like being able to name the channels so I never have to remember "lead singer is on channel <whatever>"
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Old 05-22-2017, 07:47 AM
MikeBmusic MikeBmusic is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by midwinter View Post
- My experience with the Shure SE215s is that they pretty much block out most of the sound. We can't hear each other talk on stage unless we're talking into the mics. Because of this, and because I'm usually running sound (when we're handling it), I tend to keep one IEM in and one out. That way I can also hear the mains a little.
Interesting, I didn't find my SE215s that way - we used them for practices as well. The only time we couldn't hear is when someone was playing their instrument (which was then getting picked up by the mics and coming through the earbuds).
Of course that was 6 years ago, I'm deafer now!
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Old 05-22-2017, 10:15 AM
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KevWind KevWind is offline
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Given the type of music the OP's group plays

One more thought about IEM's is that you can consider using one or several LDC's without the feedback issues associated with stage monitors
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Old 05-23-2017, 12:51 AM
pieterh pieterh is offline
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I remember being surprised that Alison Krauss and Union Station were "only" using 58s on the voices (and c535s on instruments) when I saw them live a few years ago. I chatted to the FOH engineer who pointed out that although vocal mics such as Neumann KMS104/5 would be great because the band use IEMs the extra detail that such mics pick up become a distraction - the need to be close to the mic meant that "scrap" sound in the monitoring was kept to a minimum.

With no wedges on stage the quality of FOH sound is much easier to control - with the best will in the world some sound is always going to bounce out to the audience - good engineers will work with the mix to keep the effect to a minimum of course. What's more, as KevWind points out, if you are not using wedges on stage large diaphragm mics can be interesting on stage - though still not in omni mode if the signal will be fed to FOH.


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