Wireless In-ear Monitors

[LarryWilliams]

I play in a 6 piece traditional bluegrass band. Our bass-player is slightly hearing impared and likes to be in-line of sight to the guitar player as a safety factor. That puts all 6 of us in a row on stage. Needless to say, floor monitors in most places are unuseable once we get the mics hot enough to pick up the mandolin and dobro. We are considering buying a wireless in-ear monitor system so we all can hear one another again. Like any other local bluegrass band we're not rich and are looking to do this as cost effective as possible but we want to have decent sound to replace the monitors.

I am looking at the wireless systems from Shure (PSM200/400/600). These are a might more pricey than we'd like.

The Nady PEM-500 and the Rolls WPM61 are also in the running mainly due to price.

Does anyone have any experience with these systems and could help lead a fellow mandolin picker in the right direction??

Thanks - Larry Williams

[Hubert Angaiak]

We tried the Nady PEM. Its another thing that will go wrong. It has a protective circuit which will turn off when the db's peaks to protect your ears. Its happened when someone hits a string really hard and its off. The receiver has 9 volt battery. I think if I were to do this again I'd go the way of personal monitors with volume knob and its on a mic stand and you control the volume of the monitor. Wireless is good, but you get what you pay for. I use the PEM to watch TV if I don't want to disturb people who are sleeping. Good luck

[mandofiddle]

I have the PEM 500. Does good for what it is, an inexpensive version of the Shure and Sennheiser. I actually don't use the protective circuit switch. It has an on and off switch, so I just leave it off. Currently, we're using the Sennheiser wireless in-ears though. The thing with the PEM is that its not the most sturdy in terms of how its built. The bodypack is plastic. One drop on a hard floor, and I'd guess it'll break. I haven't dropped mine yet. The Sennheiser's we're using are built pretty rugged, in metal casings. Both have similar sound quality though. Just make sure you get good earphones. I use the Shure E2's (around $85) and they're totally worth it... Shameless plug... If you interested in the PEM, let me know (PM me). I'd be willing to sell it at a good price since we're using the Sennheisers. I have 1 transmitter and 1 bodypack receiver. Both are in great condition, and work perfectly. I've had the transmitter in a rack case since I've had it, and it has about 50-75 hours of total use on it. The only reason we're using the Senheisser's is because the guitarist we just hired has 4 of them, and since there's four of us, we all want to use the same thing...

[mandroid]

I hear(?) radio stations nearby are just as likely to be picked up by your wireless reciever,as your own transmitter, so don't setup without a hardwired backup at the ready.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/blues.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/blues.gif

[LarryWilliams]

After talking with the other band members, we have decided to try the wired approach first. Looks like you'd need a wireless system with multiple frequencies and preferably in the UHF band to avoid near-by interference. Looks like what fits the bill would be the Shure or higher priced systems which is beyond what the others are willing to invest at this time.

We don't move around a lot on stage so the wired approach should work out OK if everyone can manage to not trip themselves over the cords.

mandofiddle, I've also noticed that the Nady PEM and Rolls systems both have plastic receivers also. I'm afraid that some of us might be a little bit uncoordinated and drop them. #I guess I'll have to leave the wireless option for now.

[mandofiddle]

Hey Larry,
If you're going wired, here's an inexpensive option that we used for a short time. Get a headphone amp. In your case you may need two, unless you can get one with 6 channels or more. We got a Behringer 4-channel for $100. Then you'll need to get the necessary cables and ear-phones. If you want separate mixes, you'll need more cables. One thing we noticed though that made us all start using the main mix. If everybody has a separate mix, then everybody is hearing different dynamics of the band. We decided to use the main mix so we could hear exactly what the audience is hearing. That way we can adjust loudness, softness, etc, and know exactly the result.

[grant_eversoll]

If as you say your floor monitors " are unuseable once we get the mics hot enough to pick up the mandolin and dobro." you are doing something wrong

1.Are you feeding them with a monitor send or the same send you are sending to the mains?

2. are you using the same power amp for mains and monitors...and not splitting the power?

3. do you have a different EQ for you monitors?..more than just the on board three band eq

4. Have you tried different placement?

the only time we have a feedback problem with our manitors is when we have them (the monitors) to hot. the reason this happens is because at time our guitar players like to see just how loud their marshal full stacks will go...I guess I should let you know I play in a classic rock band.

I do not like ear buds for me they kill too much of the other sound

[LarryWilliams]

mandofiddle,
we've decided to give the Behringer 8-channel headphone amp a try ($140) with the cables, etc. I think we're going to start out using the main mix to the earphones for the reason you've stated. We figured if we were hearing what the audience does it should help us to get the dynamics right. Sounds like maybe we are on the right track.

[LarryWilliams]

grant_eversoll,
I agree we are doing something wrong. we are feeding with a monitor send, different power amp from mains but same EQ for montitors and mains. We've tried different placement and are successful but sometimes there is not enough room out front to get them away from us. Also we currently have 2 monitors for 6 people (which is a problem). Since we felt we were going to have to add monitors so everyone could hear, we thought in-ears might be easier to lug around and could be used on PA systems other than our own.
Thanks for your input.

[grant_eversoll]

buying another EQ would help alot. with the monitors having their own EQ you can pull out the feed back.

going with the main mix for your monitors to be "hearing what the audience does" is not always right. yes it will work better for a bluegrass band than a rock band and this is why. With a rock band you have amps and drums pushing their own sound off stage and the PA is just bringout more of that sound but the aduance hears all of the sound and not just what the PA is sending, like I said with a blue grass band the aduance dose not hear much of what is coming off stage only what the PA sends

I have been playing live for 27 years and trust me...the sound will never be right for everyone, you just have to do your best and HAVE FUN!!!!!

[Lieufire]

Hi Larry,
My band is using 5 Carvin PM-5 personal monitors. They mount on top of a mic stand and you can easily position them not to feed into the mics. And you can place them high enough to hear well, but not blocking you from the audience. We use a seperate amp and EQ for the monitors and they have worked out great, just 5 more mic stands and cables to set up.
Mark