Custom moulded in ear monitors for musicians

[Caz]

I made a blog post about in-ear monitors for musicians. Talking about which brand, how many drivers, vented vs unvented. It's something I've had to learn about after putting it off for years - so many bands now are specifying to bring in-ears and the non-custom ones weren't cutting it. These are from a UK company called ACS.

https://www.carolinescottmusic.com/single-post/custom-made-in-ear-monitors-for-musicians

Caroline

 

[Chris Whitten]

I have ACS ear protection plugs. I have worked with musicians who use ACS IEMs. Very good.
They were great when they did my custom moulded -25db plugs.

 

[Living Dead Drummer]

I've been using custom mold IEM's for nearly 15 years. I'll never go back to a stage wedge. My current ones are Ultimate Ears UE11 Pro.
They have 4 drivers, 1 high, 1 mid, 2 low. This is engineered specifically for drummers and bassists with that extra low end. I'm absolutely in love with them. Previously I used the UE 4 Pro. Still fantastic even thought it was a lower base model. I use them as backups now.

 

[Bo Eder]

I too love IEMs. But I’m on a budget with Ultimate Ears UE5’s. They work great.

 

[Winston_Wolf]

I'm on an even lower budget, with Mee Audio's MX 2 in ears with custom tips, and I am extremely happy. Mine are only dual driver, but I get a good mix with enough low end to make my bass drum very present in my mix but it doesn't hurt the overall clarity. I'll also never go back to wedges and I love having a clear mix and a ton of isolation.

 

[mday]

I use ACS IEM's

 

[LarryJ]

Another happy user of UE5s.

I play a lot of big band and getting any sort of good mix in a live situation is a pipe dream, but I can't always hear everything in larger venues. I got my UE5s with an ambient port, which lets me hear the brass and rhythm sections. Putting only the saxes and vocals in my IEM feed gives me a usable mix plus good hearing protection.

 

[ottog1979]

Also an IEM user that will never go back. Sound quality and control of my own mix are the reasons. Started simple/cheap with KZ S10 Pros and loved the IEM experience so much that I bought custom molded UE11's within a few short months. I'm a constant user for 2.5 years now.

 

[Jeremy Bender]

What device is available to use ensure there isn't accidental high spl in that close proximity to the eardrum?

A gate or limiter of some kind?

 

[SYMBOLIC DEATH]

You will want a limiter and a feedback destroyer.

 

[LarryJ]

At church we use Behringer personal mixers that have a limiter. Most other venues the sound man gives me a standard XLR monitor feed and I run it through a small Fischer IEM amplifier that I wear on my belt. It can take line levels for a passive or active monitor and has a limiter plus volume control.

 

[I-P]

I haven't splurged on a molded set of IEM, but my experience with off the shelf in ears are: great for sound, horrible for isolation. (Like toilet paper stuffed into your ears. Useless and damaging).

 

[Winston_Wolf]

I haven't splurged on a molded set of IEM, but my experience with off the shelf in ears are: great for sound, horrible for isolation. (Like toilet paper stuffed into your ears. Useless and damaging).

I started with universal ear tips when I got my first set of in-ears. I found a tip style that worked well for me isolation-wise, but they'd eventually work their way out of one ear while I was playing. My custom tips were about $200, including the cost of the mold impressions being taken. That made my whole new in-ear set up about $300, and I think that's money extremely well spent. In-ears were something I ignored for a long time because I just assumed they would be way too expensive.