In ear monitor

rubboardman

Junior Member
From time to time we play gigs where we don't have monitors, I am the drummer and would like some input on getting in ear monitors for me while I am playing. I am looking for something very easy to use and it dose not have to be very expensive. Thanks.
 
Your a drummer so you can save a bunch by not going wireless, I have been using a shure p4hw for 10 years now and if it dies I would absolutely buy another, they are $279 new but should be able to get a used one for $100-$150. They allow you to mix 2 channels on the unit itself as well as volume. Personally I have the band in one channel and my vocals in the other and with the unit clipped on my left side it allows me to adjust my vocals in the mix as necessary without having to wait for the sound guy right in the middle of a song if need be. Also the earbuds they come with are one of the best I have ever used.

http://www.ineargear.com/images/386_P4_EB6.jpg
 
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Here is how I have mine set up:

I use Ultimate Ears Super fi 5 Pros (they are much less expensive now, than when I first got them)
I have them wired to a headphone extension cable that plugs into a little 8 channel Yamaha mixer (about $100).

I take a feed from my click, and also one from the house and line those to the mixer, this way my live mix is on one channel and the click is on another, and I can mix them how ever I want. It's a real easy way to go.
 
My setup is JH-16s wired to a Shure P4HW thats clipped to my belt at the back. I run this into the stage snake and Im all set.


F
 
I am very interested in this set up. Are you running a hard line off the board, like a monitor 2, directly to the Shure unit? the mix is controlled at the board, and I have control of volume and balance in the ear buds? $279 on Amazon, thats a done deal.
 
I use these http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/st...10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665376473 with an inline volume control and run that all via 1/4" to the snake. Been using this type of setup for almost 5 years. These specific Sony headphones for over 2 years and love it. They DO NOT come off. I sing and have a head/ boom mic I wear as well. No issues at all and I spent a total of $70 with the headphones, cable and volume control. Sound quality is excellent!
 
I use these http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/st...10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665376473 with an inline volume control and run that all via 1/4" to the snake. Been using this type of setup for almost 5 years. These specific Sony headphones for over 2 years and love it. They DO NOT come off. I sing and have a head/ boom mic I wear as well. No issues at all and I spent a total of $70 with the headphones, cable and volume control. Sound quality is excellent!

Are you pulling a monitor send off the board via the snake or something different? Is the input an xlr or a 1/4" ?? I am fired up to pick one of these up.

THANKS!!
 
I am very interested in this set up. Are you running a hard line off the board, like a monitor 2, directly to the Shure unit? the mix is controlled at the board, and I have control of volume and balance in the ear buds? $279 on Amazon, thats a done deal.

Hard line is run to the snake, then my XLR (provided with Shure unit) is run to the snake. Mix is controlled at the board - done during sound check and the volume is controlled by knob on Shure pack. Balance is also done on the pack itself.


F
 
Hard line is run to the snake, then my XLR (provided with Shure unit) is run to the snake. Mix is controlled at the board - done during sound check and the volume is controlled by knob on Shure pack. Balance is also done on the pack itself.


F

So are you pulling your signal from a monitor out, or from the main FOH mix??
 
I am very interested in this set up. Are you running a hard line off the board, like a monitor 2, directly to the Shure unit? the mix is controlled at the board, and I have control of volume and balance in the ear buds? $279 on Amazon, thats a done deal.

Yep, I am lucky as my board has 6 monitor sends plus an a/b out, but you could also use a splitter on the mains and or the mic itself, or a direct out, or a direct box, etc, if you didnt have enough monitor sends because you have control of the volume as well as the mix between the 2 channels right on your hip. I did forget to mention that it also comes with adapters to convert the xlr inputs to 1/4" which comes in handy as you can use any spare channel in the snake no matter what it is, or the 1/4 out of a direct box, Also I only use 1 ear bud as well which allows me to blend what im hearing from the stage as well as the unit and also allows me to hear my band mates if and when they may want talk to me without the crowd hearing them, like if they want to change the order of the set list do to crowd response of the current song were playing, etc. It also has some internal features, 2 different eq settings, limiter, input attenuation, and the mix knob can be set as either a fader for left and right in stereo mode , or the mix between the 2 channels in mono mode, plus its is powered by a 9v battery or phantom power if available. Btw I clip the unit on my left side so I can still play high hats and snare with my right hand if I happen to need to make an adjustment to the volume or the mix mid song. Its a great unit for the price and I paid almost twice that 10 years ago and If something were to happen to it I would certainly buy another without hesitation. Funny thing is other than a couple sm57's I use for miking guitar amps its the only piece of Shure equipment I own as I am usually an Audio-Technica guy...lol... Hope this helps...
 
Yep, I am lucky as my board has 6 monitor sends plus an a/b out, but you could also use a splitter on the mains and or the mic itself, or a direct out, or a direct box, etc, if you didnt have enough monitor sends because you have control of the volume as well as the mix between the 2 channels right on your hip. I did forget to mention that it also comes with adapters to convert the xlr inputs to 1/4" which comes in handy as you can use any spare channel in the snake no matter what it is, or the 1/4 out of a direct box, Also I only use 1 ear bud as well which allows me to blend what im hearing from the stage as well as the unit and also allows me to hear my band mates if and when they may want talk to me without the crowd hearing them, like if they want to change the order of the set list do to crowd response of the current song were playing, etc. It also has some internal features, 2 different eq settings, limiter, input attenuation, and the mix knob can be set as either a fader for left and right in stereo mode , or the mix between the 2 channels in mono mode, plus its is powered by a 9v battery or phantom power if available. Btw I clip the unit on my left side so I can still play high hats and snare with my right hand if I happen to need to make an adjustment to the volume or the mix mid song. Its a great unit for the price and I paid almost twice that 10 years ago and If something were to happen to it I would certainly buy another without hesitation. Funny thing is other than a couple sm57's I use for miking guitar amps its the only piece of Shure equipment I own as I am usually an Audio-Technica guy...lol... Hope this helps...

Great info, thanks a ton! I am going to research the ear buds too. I am gigging this weekend, but I think I will wait until next week to get this set up going. De-bug it at rehearsal rather than the gig.
 
Great info, thanks a ton! I am going to research the ear buds too. I am gigging this weekend, but I think I will wait until next week to get this set up going. De-bug it at rehearsal rather than the gig.

The earbuds they come with sound great and come with two types of replaceable tips, the regular rubber type and a foam type similar to foam earplugs that you scrunch up between you fingers so then they swell back up after you put them in your ear which are the ones I use because not only do they completely isolate they also stay put with no fear of falling out no matter how much of a headbanger you may be...lol

http://di1-2.shoppingshadow.com/ima...re+EA120+or+PA750+Yellow+Foam+In+Ear+Moni.jpg

PS: Sorry I just did some searching and when they were psm400's they came with the earbuds and I had paid $499 almost 10 years ago, the p4hw which is the same body pack does not come with the earbuds at the $279 price, I guesss the reason is so people can buy the unit at a reduced price and use any type of headphone or earbud, anyway I have a links to the E3 earbuds that came with mine and also sold for $179 separately and have since been replaced buy the SCL3 at $149. I also have a set of shure E4C earbuds that were supposed to be the end all for ear buds but for $299 I dont really see much of a difference sound wise and actually find the e3's lighter, and they all use the same foam inserts, anyway hope this helps and sorry for the miss information.

http://www.audiogear.com/Resources/ShrE1.jpg
http://www.audiogear.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?key=SHRE3&preadd=action
http://www.travelizmo.com/archives/000299.html
 
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UPDATE- I picked up the Shure wired monitor, also got some Shure earbuds as recommended. I love the unit, I was able to try it out this weekend on a 2 night gig. I found my personal stage volume decreased, simply because I am not struggling to hear vocals and instruments on stage. I tried using one monitor send, which went into a y connector, then into the Shure. I had some issues during our sets, the mix was panning from right to left. It was cool for awhile, then the right earbud cut out, then the left. This bounced around and kinda drove me crazy. When I did get a good mix, it was awesome. I need to trouble shoot this and determine if this is a connection issue, cable issue, or an issue with the unit itself.

suggestions?
 
it's probably because the monitor mix would most likely have been sent via a mono jack and your headphones are stereo.

Best way to do it is get a little 4 channel mixer then you can run the mix into one of the channels then EQ the sound and control it yourself from on stage- then run your headphones from the headphone out on the mixer and you will get the monitor mix in stereo in your ears :)
 
Id say check all the connections, Ive used one of those for about 10 years now and never had that problem, Yes the signal will come mono but that wont make a difference as it would be in one ear bud or the other if the unit is set on stereo and in both if its set on mono.Still shouldnt jump back and forth. If the battery is low the unit will shut down early to let you know and you just turn it off and back on to reset. If possible try to get a direct out from the board for FOH mix or an A/B out which is what I use for the FOH mix as it has s seperate volume control from the mains so you can get a hot signal and control it yourself at the unit, or just get the tech to send you a signal from one of the monitor mixes which is what I do for my vocals so I can control the in ear mix on the unit myself, and again make sure yo get a fairly hot signal yo you can control volume yourself. Also not sure in its in the newer unit or not but mine has 3 different db cuts I can choose from, make sure its on 0db and not one of the -db ones. Switching form side to side almost sounds like a possible jack problem on the earbuds, check the connection there just to be sure.
 
it's probably because the monitor mix would most likely have been sent via a mono jack and your headphones are stereo.

Best way to do it is get a little 4 channel mixer then you can run the mix into one of the channels then EQ the sound and control it yourself from on stage- then run your headphones from the headphone out on the mixer and you will get the monitor mix in stereo in your ears :)

Yes, it is a mono send from the aux1 output. However, the Shure manual states this is ok, and to use mix mode to equally split the mono signal to each ear bud. I tried running the mono signal to the R line on the Shure, mix mode on, and I had these issues. Also, we ran the mono off the board to a splitter, then connected both R and L to the Shure. Mix mode on, also tried off, same result. The only thing we did not try was to run the FOH R and L directly to the Shure.
 
Yes, it is a mono send from the aux1 output. However, the Shure manual states this is ok, and to use mix mode to equally split the mono signal to each ear bud. I tried running the mono signal to the R line on the Shure, mix mode on, and I had these issues. Also, we ran the mono off the board to a splitter, then connected both R and L to the Shure. Mix mode on, also tried off, same result. The only thing we did not try was to run the FOH R and L directly to the Shure.

Mix mode allows you to adjust between the 2 lines in on the unit , it does not allow you to adjust between one ear bud and the other unless your unit is in stereo mode. If your only running one signal to one of the inputs on the unit make sure the mix control on the unit is turned full for that channel as it will work like a volume control from the 1/2 way point down as this is what allows you to adjust the balance between 2 signals if you were to input a second signal on the second line.
 
sorry if it's already been said, but make sure you always use some sort of limiter in the chain. you don't want to blow your ears!
 
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