In ear monitor advice

jay7347 · #1 09-07-2018, 08:05 AM

Most of my playing these days is lead work in a worship band. I use our "in ear" setup which I love for its control of different channels and the EQ ability thru the iPad setup but hate for the sound of our cheap in ear monitors. Think old AM radio type sound. I'm thinking of upgrading to some Shure SE315's. Has anyone had any experience with these or any other medium to higher end in ear monitors? Will I get that much better sound from them? Its causing a problem when I play as I find myself backing off when the tone sounds so crappy as opposed to how it sounds in my studio when practicing.

Thanks! :-)
-jay

Johnny K · #2 09-07-2018, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay7347

Most of my playing these days is lead work in a worship band. I use our "in ear" setup which I love for its control of different channels and the EQ ability thru the iPad setup but hate for the sound of our cheap in ear monitors. Think old AM radio type sound. I'm thinking of upgrading to some Shure SE315's. Has anyone had any experience with these or any other medium to higher end in ear monitors? Will I get that much better sound from them? Its causing a problem when I play as I find myself backing off when the tone sounds so crappy as opposed to how it sounds in my studio when practicing.

Thanks! :-)
-jay

I use these. KZ ZBT's

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have a couple of pair of them. I use them mostly while drumming. I bought a set of foam tips to get good sound isolation and block out the high frequency and dB's of cymbal crashes. I also bought an upgraded cable set with the mic-delete.

My second set I use with my iPhone and I honestly haven't heard a better set of buds. I bought them based on a review I saw on YouTube. Prior to that I have been using a pair of Audio Technica over the ear headphones. I haven't used them since I got the K-Zeds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhDfFXfhJFE

His review is very honest and he did a follow-up to it and he still likes the K-zeds.

Hard to beat for 20 bucks.

The only thing I would like to add to my set up is a belt clip type headphone pre-amp. I have them plugged into my Behringer UHC404HD interface with an extension cable and Sennhiezer 1/8 to 1/4 adaptor jack.

You can see they are hardly noticeable.

B. Adams · #3 09-07-2018, 02:52 PM

I have a few pairs of SE315's, and they're my favorite "budget" IEM's. They sound great, and the foam fits my ear very well. The swivel connectors are much more reliable than connectors with pins. I've never had an issue with my SE315's.

Guitarplayer_PR · #4 09-07-2018, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay7347

Most of my playing these days is lead work in a worship band. I use our "in ear" setup which I love for its control of different channels and the EQ ability thru the iPad setup but hate for the sound of our cheap in ear monitors. Think old AM radio type sound. I'm thinking of upgrading to some Shure SE315's. Has anyone had any experience with these or any other medium to higher end in ear monitors? Will I get that much better sound from them? Its causing a problem when I play as I find myself backing off when the tone sounds so crappy as opposed to how it sounds in my studio when practicing.

Thanks! :-)
-jay

I use the Shure SE215. Unless I really need an upgrade, these are my go-to "in ears."

jay7347 · #5 09-08-2018, 06:53 AM

Thanks folks, leaning towards the Shure but those KZ's are sure tempting at that price. I guess practicing in nicer headphones spoils my ears. (Sorry for the late correction, that's what I get for trying to write in between customers at work.)

-jay

guitararmy · #6 09-08-2018, 08:44 AM

https://www.amazon.com/MEE-audio-gen...8-3&ref=sr_1_3

I find these fit my ears better than the KZ's.

ljguitar · #7 09-08-2018, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay7347

Thanks folks, leaning towards the Shure but those KZ's are sure tempting at that price. I guess practicing in the spoils my ears.

-jay

Hi Jay

I just wear cans (regular headphones) because fidelity and stage noise are an issue for me. At age 70, I'm done wrestling with ear-buds on stage. Not going to drop several hundred bucks to get ear molds cast and custom in-ear-buds built.

Fortunately, our worship leader allows instrumentalists to wear cans.

J185-4Me · #8 09-08-2018, 10:44 AM

I'm quite interested in this discussion, since I've been looking at these too, mostly for playing in our church band. I play some acoustic but mostly electric guitar.

We currently have the KZs (which are $25 on amazon) available at church, but much as I love everyone I play with, I'd like to keep to my own ear wax.... :-)

I want to get a pair for myself, and so far I've "narrowed" my search down to the Shure 215 LEs https://www.amazon.ca/Shure-SE215SPE...APBTR8P55&th=1, the MEE M7 Pro https://www.amazon.ca/MEE-audio-EP-M...s=Mee+audio+M7 , and the Audio Technica ATH-E40 https://www.amazon.ca/Audio-Technica...1&keywords=iem

I'm not sure I want to or need to go much above the $200 CAN range, and am sort of leaning towards the Shure 215 too. But I wonder if others have experience with the MEE M7 Pro (rather than the M6)?

Fred

jay7347 · #9 09-08-2018, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Jay

I just wear cans (regular headphones) because fidelity and stage noise are an issue for me. At age 70, I'm done wrestling with ear-buds on stage. Not going to drop several hundred bucks to get ear molds cast and custom in-ear-buds built.

Fortunately, our worship leader allows instrumentalists to wear cans.

Hey Larry, been way to long brother. I've talked to our worship leader about headphones as I had one pair of Bose that weren't too big. We both are kind of kicking around the idea of that making us seem "disconnected" so to speak with the congregation. And we both realized that yeah, we're kind of disconnected with ear buds also. So that issue balances against the issue of monitor stage noise which we're trying to cut down. Its different for him because he has more interaction. Me, I just stay in back and try to play the right notes.

The bottom line for me though is the fidelity. With monitors, I had no control and frequently couldn't hear myself. With IEM's, I have control but the fidelity causes me to subconsciously back off on my playing. What sounds great in the house or to the sound booth sounds like crap to me in really cheap IEM's through an iPad.

-jay

jay7347 · #10 09-08-2018, 11:56 AM

Ah Mod's, just curious why this got moved to acoustic amplification when we, or at least I haven't talked about acoustic at all. Not meaning to be rude, just trying to understand. Monitoring sound on stage is an issue that could be either electric or acoustic depending on the individual, which is why I went General Discussion.

Tnx,
-jay

YamahaGuy · #11 09-08-2018, 02:49 PM

My Shure 215s are ok, but feel too big for my ears. I also have MEE Pro6s and they're great!!! I'd like to try their new dual driver units, but can't justify it since I only use IEMs every couple months or so.

ljguitar · #12 09-08-2018, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay7347

Ah Mod's, just curious why this got moved to acoustic amplification when we, or at least I haven't talked about acoustic at all. Not meaning to be rude, just trying to understand. Monitoring sound on stage is an issue that could be either electric or acoustic depending on the individual, which is why I went General Discussion.

Tnx,
-jay

Hi jay

You could Click on the triangle outlined in red (top right corner of post) and ask a moderator directly.

My guess is PA questions, acoustic amp questions, mic questions etc seem to land there…and it is an amplification question not a guitar question.

jay7347 · #13 09-08-2018, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi jay

You could Click on the triangle outlined in red (top right corner of post) and ask a moderator directly.

My guess is PA questions, acoustic amp questions, mic questions etc seem to land there…and it is an amplification question not a guitar question.

Got it tnx!
-jay

dcopper · #14 09-08-2018, 06:06 PM

I use BOSE earbuds- they do allow some sound in, which is what I like, but mostly I hear what is coming from my IEM system. These are the less expensive BOSE earbuds without the mic.

My venues are usually smaller venues so there is not a lot of stage noise and the volume is not very high. The BOSE give me basically what I need.

davidc

shufflebeat · #15 09-09-2018, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YamahaGuy

My Shure 215s are ok, but feel too big for my ears.

Just checking, have you explored the different sizes of Comply foam tips. I've been using se215s for a while (Jumbo tips) and found it difficult to believe anyone could fit the little ones.

To the OP - in my experience a useable sound can be coaxed from all but the crappiest of crappy earbuds. How much control do you have over gain staging, EQ and dynamics. Given the right idiot it's possible to make fantastically expensive 3 driver IEMs into eardrum destroyers - it would be handy to identify the problem properly before spending on a solution.

On the other hand it's always nice to have a decent set of buds, whatever the justification