IEM systems... experiences/ recommendations?

Melb_shredder

Orpheus: Melodic Death
Mar 9, 2008
2,852
1
36
Melbourne
Hey guys.
I'm about to go down the IEM route for live shows (vocals + guitar) and have to clue where to start.... A good set of generic buds, or do I get full molded? And what IEM brands are decent? The Sennheiser G3 stuff looks good and there's the Shure PSM 200 which looks decent, but outside of that, no idea :\
 
When it comes to ears and RF there's no cheap route. Get the best transmitters you can plus a powered antenna. My custom molds are the best, I have a pair of 6 drivers and 2. Honestly for live stuff, the dual drivers are plenty. Always use a limiter on your ears (good transmitters are built in) and don't trust the drunk sound guy. Your mix will vary greatly from your practice spot to the stage. It's very dry so sometimes cymbals help in your ears. Everyone in our band tents to pan everything (even kick snare click vocals etc) because it's easy to get things lost in the mix. Turn everyone else down before you turn yourself up too. Anyways, that's my 2 cents
 
I've just done exactly this. I opted to pick up G2 & even some G1 components second hand to keep the costs down (we were kitting out the entire band with individual stereo mixes, so buying brand new G3's for everyone would have got ridiculously pricey). The one thing to be wary of if you're running multiple units is Intermodulation, which is effectively frequency dependant wave cancellation, it can cause unpleasant noise and interference between units. The more units you have, the more it is likely and the more you will have to frequency plan. I would also recommend an Antenna Combiner if you're using multiple units, we have had quite a few issues with drop-out.

Also, make sure you learn a little about legal bandwidth in your country. In the UK after the Digital Switchover, Ofcom decided to sell off the bandwidth and re-shuffle in a bid for European Harmonisation, but didn't consult the Broadcast industry before making it's final decisions. Eventually after a lot of lobbying, basic user bandwidth is now allocated to Channel 38 but requires a yearly licence to be purchased, there is also free bandwidth on Channel 70 but none of the manufacturers make gear that uses this frequency any more.

The direction I took with earpieces is to get some good quality generic units first as a baseline, and then see if it warranted upgrading. We're currently running on a collection of Shure 215's, 315's & 310's. Popular opinion and my experience is that the 215's are actually better than the 315's if you're performing guitar based music, 315's are potentially more accurate but 215's sound much more exciting. Probably a personal taste thing to some degree.
 
The Carvin unit is very good for the money. I grabbed that and some Shure 215's before spending a shitload of money on a nice Sennheiser system just to make sure I got along with IEM's....Well, I've not felt the need to move from the Carvin yet.