In ear monitors...

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006

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Jan 10, 2005
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Whats a great system to go with without going broke? I hear the one that Carvin has is really great, plus it's substantially cheaper than the Shure and other brands. I'll need like...ok we have 2 guitarists, a bassist, and two vocalists. So 5 monitors. Cheapest way?

~006
 
The Carvin system, with 5 receivers and a transmitter, is $820 total. If I went the Shure route it would be like $600 *per* band member...

~006
 
I have zero experience w/ the carvin system so take this for what it's worth.
I do have a lot of expereince with shure and senn wireless systems and in ears and I can tell you I've never felt like they were over-priced. Sooo...I can't help but be suspicious of a system that manages to undercut shure's entry level system by more than 50%. And FWIW I have been very disapointed in all of th carvin PA gear I've seen. Personally I think they should stick to guitars.
 
Maybe it's just that Shure and Sennheiser overprice theirs? We just don't want to spend $600 per band member on an in ear monitoring system when Carvin offers one for $820 total. I mean...If I remember correctly, the Shure system only allows so many receivers to be used with one transmitter. And if I remember correctly also, we would need two transmitters to cover my band...and thats rediculous. I'm going to go check on the Shure and Sennheiser systems real quick though to make sure.

~006
 
Man would I love to get any of these in-ear thingies!
My band mostly plays smaller venues, with mostly small stages and not as good PA's...So you imagine the monitoring...And it's worse than you imagine. :tickled:
 
Up to four simultaneous compatible systems
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That's for Shure's entry level system, which I would have to spend even *more* money just to make it wireless. Then I have to buy the extra receivers, AND another transmitter just so we can have that 5th receiver. So we're talking well over $1500 or so at *least*.

For the next up Shure system and the Sennheiser G2 system...they don't even mention how many receivers can be used at one time. Wonderful. So...still $900 to start off with on the Sennheiser G2 system, plus 4 additional reveivers...again, well over $1500 at least.

~006
 
Plus $460 for EACH additional body pack receiver on the Sennheiser system. More like $2,700 for that system. Hmm...$840 > $2,700. I mean really how hard can it be to make one that just works? I'm saying that because maybe Carvin just doesn't overprice theirs, or theirs aren't as (technically) "fancy" as the Sennheiser or Shure systems, plus you don't have that *name* to pay for either with Carvin. Or maybe the Carvin *is* a peice of junk...hmm...

~006
 
^^^ Exactly. I'm betting that most of that money is charged for the name that is screened on the products. I think I will talk to the guys about the Carvin system. I would buy the base unit (transmitter and receiver) and they could each buy their own receivers, they are only $129 each, if they wanted them. Realistically, the vocalists don't need the IEM's, they listen to the stage monitors anyway, but it's so difficult for us (guitarists and bassist) to hear the drum beats through them sometimes. Mostly because the monitors on the stage completely SUCK. We use programmed beats playing on my PowerBook via iTunes, and we don't have our guitars in the stage monitors because we don't need them plus it helps for us to hear the beats better.

Yeah, I think I'll try the Carvin system out, it's got a return policy anyway, so it's a win-win either way, keeping it or returning it. I'll be sure to give a review for anyone else wanting IEM's but not wanting to go broke at the same time if the Carvin system is any good. :)

Anyone curious to see what kind of beats we use, check out my band in my signature, hehe.

~006
 
You usually can't go wrong with Carvin stuff, it's all pretty high quality in my experience. I've heard that Carvin's In Ear systems are really good overall, but everyone unanimously says that the earphones that come with it are not that good, so you'll probably want to upgrade those which will be at least $100 per person.
 
Not good in what ways? Could you elaborate a little more? I know KOSS stuff isn't that great. I have a lot of Sony earbuds laying around all brand new, I honestly couldn't tell you why I have so many, lol, but I do. Not the cheap ones either! Where can you find reviews of those Carvin IEM systems?

~006
 
Not good meaning that they don't get a very good seal, so stage noise becomes an issue. As far as reviews, the only place I've seen anything like that are from the users at the Carvin boards, but I don't know if that info is still there since they've recently changed the board.
 
Well, we don't use a real drummer. And we also use PODxt's directly into the PA (no, it does sound really good, metal shop packs rock), and a Bass POD 2.0 direct to the board as well. There are no amps, drumsets, or anything to battle with on stage. The only thing really making any audible noise on stage are the vocalists. We would just have the IEM's so that we could hear the programmed beats much better than through the crappy stage monitors. Like I said, I think I'll get the Carvin IEM system anyway. I can always get my money back.

~006
 
I've been very happy with Shure PSM 400 and PSM 200 series. I wouldn't mess around with anything cheaper if I were you, the real risk is your hearing - in ear monitors MUST have an onboard limiter or they're simply unusable. Always test your channel settings before you go onstage in a new venue, you never know what kind of interference might be around.
 
There's an adjustable volume on every receiver, and our beats are all leveled out, so they never peak, they are always the same volume. We will be running the beats out of my PowerBook and into a DI, one of those will go to the transmitter, the other will go to the sound guy. We only need the programmed beats in the IEMs, nothing else. I think we'll be fine with the Carvin setup. Like I said, I can always return it and get my money back.

~006
 
Nitronium Blood said:
Can it be the blonde female smurf? She is quite sexy.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I would advise not to go with Smurfette. Let me explain: Remember how she double crossed Gargamel? I mean he was the very guy that created her but still she had her own agenda and adopted the smurf way of life rather than destroying smurf village. It was of course Papa Smurf who transformed the ugly brunette Smurfette into the blonde bombshell she is today.

Trust me, you want your monitor smurf to be reliable when you're performing amidst 40 million decibels of stage noise. Don't go with Smurfette, Vanity, Clumsy, Jokey, Harmony, Lazy or Grouchy.

Sorry for hijacking 006, but I felt a heads up was necessary. Please remember to share your opinion on the Cravin system with us.
 
Razor, I would be willing to ship it to you. No joke. Sounds kinda wierd from some random guy, I know. Plus you could try it out and tell me how it is :)

~006
 
006 said:
Razor, I would be willing to ship it to you. No joke. Sounds kinda wierd from some random guy, I know. Plus you could try it out and tell me how it is :)

~006
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer, I'm not looking to buy for a couple of months but if the offers still open I might take you up on it.
 
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