In-ear monitor vs headphones vs stage monitor

I have tried IEMs about 4 or 5 times, the first time being about 15 years ago, and the last being about 4 months ago. I have had nothing but absolutely terrible experiences with them every time. Granted, I don’t own any, so every time I’ve used them, I’ve just had to make do with whatever was available.

I’m sure that things are very different in the pro arena, where they have top-of-the-line stuff and customized mixes and all that. But every time I’ve used them, it’s been a bone-dry, horrible-ass mix in which I can either barely hear myself or it's a distorted mess.

And, as several folks have mentioned, the feeling of isolation is crippling to me. I absolutely hate it. It feels so unnatural and sterile. In short, it’s always been the most uninspiring situation to perform in that I can imagine.

What’s crazy is that, every time I’ve used them – in these completely “non-professional” settings – other band members always go on about how awesome they are and that “Once you try them, you’ll never want to use stage monitors again!”

Needless to say, that hasn’t been my experience at all! 🙂
 
You actually answered this yourself. IEMs give you isolation - they become absolutely essential, and the need for everyone to have a customised mix is absolutely and utterly essential - but before you move to IEMs you must have the rest of the system in place. If you have a rotten mix, you are truly stuffed. However - most digital mixers now have IEM monitoring - with personal mixers, or apps or something similar.

What you certainly cannot do is pull the XLR out of your powered wedge and stuff it into a small Behringer type inline amp and put IEMs in. You've probably never heard what that wedge was doing on it's own, without the rest of the stage sound.

My first rule with IEMs is that if you do not wish to mix yourself, then you MUST trust the person stage side who is going to do the mix for you. It is not a simple job, and if they get it wrong, your performance will suck, or just be impossible. On a festival stage with a really terrible mix, you can even move away from a screaming monitor, or you can kick it sideways. With your ears in, and no hands free, you're dead in the water.

In the old band, I didn't turn the audience mic up much - but the keyboard player and singer had the audience way up in his. I often found the audience put me off, not helped - he was the other way, like you, he felt isolated, so turned that knob up!

Once you have tried them done right, you'll never want to go back - but done badly, they're awful. I like my personal mixer - we have two channels dedicated to audience and reverb (on the vocals only). For me, reverb up, audience down.
 
I've found that if you want vocals in-ear, a good way to do it is get an XLR splitter box and put it at the base of your mic stand, then run a short cable to the mic and use the house cable to plug into the output of the splitter box. Then use another cable to plug the isolated output of the splitter box into a small mixer (in my band's case, the ART ProMIX 3-channel, one channel for each of our vocals) that feeds the in-ears. Yes it takes more time to set up and you gotta show up with your own extra cables and XLR splitter boxes (along with the in-ear setup). Yes it changes the sound but for an older guy like me who has tinnitus, you just turn the in-ears to a little higher than what you're hearing through the earplugs and it's good--just not as ear-damagingly loud. But our ears aren't ringing at the end of the night and our voices aren't blown out from having to yell extra just to hear through the monitors/PA, and we get the exact same mix every time.

All that said, it's not for everyone!
 
To do it right, you need to split all the sources, instruments and vocals, and put them in the IEM mixer. And you need to include things that might not need to be in the audience mix (like drums and amps) because they're loud enough in the house.
 
Don't know Jack about IEMs or their MO but I DO know to avoid those budget USB mixer.
The analogue side will be good to excellent but those 'first generation' USB mixers used a generic 16it* converters and they were noisy, inserted a ~6kHz tone at about -50dBFS. This was especially the case on the USB monitor return...NOT what you want in OP lug!

Whatever mixer you might consider check that it is a 24bit USB recording system and if that isn't spelled out in the specification? Ask! Also, 'stereo' USB mixers are very inflexible in what you can actually record. Usually just the 'pre everything' mix.

*Not that '16bits' is not good enough. CD D range after all, no, the converters were flawed shit.

Dave.
 
Thanks for all the great input and teachings. I've been going to a local Open Mic for the last few weeks. I was starting to feel better with using the stage monitors. That was until last night. A major disappointment. Several things happened but the biggest issue remains me getting the mix set and the volume of the mix such that I can hear myself and, thus, allows me to relax and focus on just singing/performing the song. Based on last night, those in the audience would never guessed I had practiced those songs many, many times. And while I may not be the best judge, a few of those times were pretty good, if I do say so myself.

In between performers, the sound guy (great guy, helpful, supportive, patient, etc) works to get the next performer plugged in, set up and then adjust the monitor mix to the performers preference. I must have really messed this up as my mix was terrible. I don't blame anyone other than myself. But clearly I need some pointers as how best to do this. And mine should be simple - and will be once I figure it out. In the meantime..........ugh!!! >:(

I have only a mic and my mp3 player as input. Nothing else. I want the mix right and I want the volume right. Early on in this string someone commented that the input from the mix can conflict with the bone transmission. I can understand how that might happen.

I felt I was getting a handle on this but I'm back to square one with this issue. I've resolved myself that IEM for Open Mic is not a long term solution particularly if I want to perform at more than one venue. I need to understand the very basics of setting the mix so I can practice at home, understand what I want and then be able to communicate this to the sound guy (what to communicate, how to communicate, all the very basics). I see some guys doing sound checks on the mic to set the mic level, as an example. Some people don't do anything. Lucky them. :-)
 
In professional performance situations, you can have an "ambience mic" or two on the audience to help with that "feeling of isolation". In the studio what you want are good headphones, not earbuds.
 
dbsoccer said:
Thanks for all the great input and teachings. I've been going to a local Open Mic for the last few weeks. I was starting to feel better with using the stage monitors. That was until last night. A major disappointment. Several things happened but the biggest issue remains me getting the mix set and the volume of the mix such that I can hear myself and, thus, allows me to relax and focus on just singing/performing the song. Based on last night, those in the audience would never guessed I had practiced those songs many, many times. And while I may not be the best judge, a few of those times were pretty good, if I do say so myself.

In between performers, the sound guy (great guy, helpful, supportive, patient, etc) works to get the next performer plugged in, set up and then adjust the monitor mix to the performers preference. I must have really messed this up as my mix was terrible. I don't blame anyone other than myself. But clearly I need some pointers as how best to do this. And mine should be simple - and will be once I figure it out. In the meantime..........ugh!!! >:(

I have only a mic and my mp3 player as input. Nothing else. I want the mix right and I want the volume right. Early on in this string someone commented that the input from the mix can conflict with the bone transmission. I can understand how that might happen.

I felt I was getting a handle on this but I'm back to square one with this issue. I've resolved myself that IEM for Open Mic is not a long term solution particularly if I want to perform at more than one venue. I need to understand the very basics of setting the mix so I can practice at home, understand what I want and then be able to communicate this to the sound guy (what to communicate, how to communicate, all the very basics). I see some guys doing sound checks on the mic to set the mic level, as an example. Some people don't do anything. Lucky them. :-)
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If you are going to an open mic that actually provides a real monitor mix, kudos to them. At my open mic, what comes out of the monitor is the same as the mains, but as the room is not overly large, the powered speakers on either side can be heard easily by all but sitting (chair) performers. I certainly could hook the system up to provide a real monitor mix, but at an open mic, my signup sheets are usually pretty full, and I still give 3 songs to everyone, so after plugging in instruments, swapping mics, etc, I ask them to test their volume, do a quick adjustment on the board, and then fine tune it during the first song. If I had to set up a monitor mix for each player too, everyone would only get 2 songs. And I get compliments from people all the time on how it sounds.
I think you problem may be your music source - that MP3 player. I have had people come to my open mics using their phones for backing tracks, and it is hard to balance an MP3 player/phone's output with a live singer, the best you can get is a balance so the audience hears the tracks AND the singer. If you can't hear yourself well in the monitor, you should move to find a spot that works better - maybe closer to one of the mains speakers.
 
Why would you do this to yourself for an open mic night?
Simply walk in like you own the place, hand the sound guy your music, sing your heart out and bask in the adolation of your fans.

Buying equipment and adding setup time is overkill.
 
Yes, I've dropped any serious thoughts of IEM. But the 'problem' that prompted these thoughts remains. I feel I can sing pretty well without a mic. But put a mic in the mix and I'm close to having my adoring fans start to throw food. (Of course this wouldn't happen.) I am trying to find a way to make this transition and not lose the 'pretty well' piece. And I realize it's as much mental as anything.
It's not fun, as it should be, if my performance (from my point of view) is well below where it should be. It will be fun and I'll be able to "bask in the adoration of my fans :ROFLMAO:" when I finally get this figured out. Thanks!
 
It's really just a matter of doing it enough to be comfortable. One thing that messes with some people is that their voice coming out of the monitor doesn't sound like what they are used to hearing. So your brain tries to filter out the "noise" to hear what it is used to.

That's one of the causes of people asking for more monitor, even though it's already louder than the mains. They don't realize that all that noise they are fighting is actually their own voice.

You simply have to put yourself in that situation enough to figure out how to make it work for you.

Another thing you could try is putting an ear plug in one ear. That works for some people.
 
Thanks Farview. I think you're spot on with my situation. I practice a lot but not so much with the mic and monitor. And, of course, I hear myself talk all day and I know what that sounds like and the singing without the mic reinforces this sound. So, like you said, I put a mic in front of my mouth at Open Mic and my reaction to the sound coming out the monitor is, "Who the hell is that?" At that point the focus is not on performing but trying to recover from the strange voice. As your suggesting practice with the mic will make the strangeness less strange and unsettling. But I also feel I did something the other night that exacerbated the situation. The first was one I'd never done before and the first note of the song was soft and held for several beats. In the future, my first song will be one I'm comfortable with and one that starts with a note that is short and one I can just jump on with some energy. Once I get beyond the first note or two I think I'll be fine. In the mean time, practice with the mic.
 
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