Wedge's or In-ear?

What do you use on stage?

  • Monitor Wedges

    Votes: 21 55.3%

  • In-ear earphones

    Votes: 17 44.7%

  • No monitors at all

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    38
T

timvdwest

New member
Was wondering how many people haven't discovered the benefits of using in-ear monitoring systems on stage. Depending on what music you play, these can make your band sound 200x better.

Here's a poll to see what's being used.
 
We use in ears, but we also use monitors as well if possible, what we find is that if we run some sound through the monitors it fattens up the in ears, however compared to a normal monitor mix without in ears the monitor volume is greatly reduced.

Sound guys love us when we plug in our in ear rig and ask for the foldback to be turned down.

Has also saved us on tour when we turn up at a small bar to find no foldback system at all.

Cheers

alan.
 
In ear. When we started making the switch it was a constant battle with our drummer, he insisted he needed a wedge. Now he doesn't go anywhere without his in-ears.
Still like to throw a little back through a couple wedges up front, though. Like that special "security blanket".
 
I think drummers and vocalists especially benefit from having in-ears. Also when there are vocal harmonies going on as well.
 
In ears are a bit of a tricky game. There are definate advantages and disadvantages of each. For me I will stay with wedges for now because it makes life much easier.
 
In-ear monitors = no sound whatsoever re-entering mics = no leakage = much better sound out front for your band.
 
Just to add to my eariler reply.

When I first started using in ears there was a tendency to turn them up too loud. Maybe this was due to the amount of band (stuff not going into the in ears) being cut out of you're hearing. After a while I turned them down and found that not only could I hear all the things I wanted to hear (via the in ears) but the whole gig was at a comfortable level so I was not going home deaf at the end of the night.

They do take some getting used to but when you do there is not going back.

Cheers

Alan.
 
I just started using an in-ear system about two months ago. I purchased a Carvin 900 series IEM and when I tried to get use to it at practice but initially I hateded the thing. The first time on stage I threw the thing off and told our sound guy to get me a monitor wedge. But as others have said, it takes time to get use to it and if you have a good sound man (Which lucky for our band we do) he can make it sound like an i-pod and the levels are very comfortable. Getting the noise level at a good balance is key and also a good set of IEM ear buds make a huge difference too. Now that I've used them a few times Im getting more use to it and its more enjoyable.
 
austinm08 said:
In-ear monitors = no sound whatsoever re-entering mics = no leakage = much better sound out front for your band.
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Sorry, but this just isn't true. There are still drums and other amps on stage that can certainly still cause fairly serious issues at the mic. After working with a few thousand bands doing live sound on systems of all types and sizes, what I have decided is that wedges are easier to deal with provided the bands know how to treat them and their stage stuff. For some people however, in ears are quite possibly the only solution. It just depends on a whole lot of factors.
 
I'm too worried about the risk of hearing damage with in-ears. Even if someone doesn't mess up and pop your eardrums, you just don't notice how loud headphones are at levels where you'd be backing away from a speaker.
 
iqi616 said:
I'm too worried about the risk of hearing damage with in-ears. Even if someone doesn't mess up and pop your eardrums, you just don't notice how loud headphones are at levels where you'd be backing away from a speaker.
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In my opinion, the key to a good mix and sound levels with in-ears is having a mixer at each players / singers fingertip. We use the Axiom mixers, everyone has their own and sets their own levels to their taste. No problems with excessive volume unless thats what you want. Our sound guy has built isolation boxes for the amps off stage, glass around the drummer, and he claims to get a better mix in the house.
 
Don't you worry about hearing damage from plugs?
It doesn't take much for a sudden burst to fry those little hairs.
I'd be paranoid - I've had enough damage already.
 
Wedges, by far. In-ears are problematic if you do not have a very good engineer who works with you on a regular basis. They cut off other sources of sound, which means you need to have everything in the monitors which can be very confusing if the mix isn't perfect. With wedges, all you really need is enough to give you the cues you miss without them - usually a bit of kick drum and maybe some snare, bass, and some vocals - unless of course you are singing, in which case you don't want the bass as it will tend to make you sing flat, but you will want a bit of piano and/or guitar to get your pitch cues. What you absolutely do NOT want in wedges is a bit of everything - it will just get muddy and confused, and you will not be able to hear anything of value.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I love in ears - I usually like them a little louder than the rest of the band so having my own volume control is sweet. Communicating on stage off mic can be tricky though.
 
rayc said:
Don't you worry about hearing damage from plugs?
It doesn't take much for a sudden burst to fry those little hairs.
I'd be paranoid - I've had enough damage already.
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In ear systems generally have a lmiiter built in. So this is not much of an issue. Unless your an idiot like me. Last night i was recording a session, drummer had his isolation cans on. I had in ears in but neither were through the in-ear system. Rather through a headphone amp. I cranked a room mic up, but forgot to turn the monitors off.. ouch.
 
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