I have been trying out IEM at rehearsals and personal practice for a few weeks, in preparation for gig use.
I play bass in a big band. For practice at home, I always use headphones. At rehearsals, I am usually the only amplified instrument, except when we rehearse with the vocalist, who is also amplified. Piano is acoustic at rehearsal. Rehearsals with 14 wind and brass plus drums can get quite loud. I have tinnitus and this volume is an aggravation. Many of the players use ear plugs. I tried them, but I could not hear myself very well.
I decided to try IEM. I bought Sennheiser IE-100 and Rolls PM55P. I connect to the Rolls unit via a Radial Pro DI. The only signal processing I use is an Alembic SF-2 Superfilter.
I tried it at home and it was perfect. IEMs are more comfortable than headphones, especially when it is very warm.
First rehearsal: I need the amp and speaker because everyone else needs to hear the bass. I could not hear drums very well because the IEMs are well sealed from ambient sound. It was a challenge.
Second rehearsal: I moved the bass speaker so that it was away from me and closer to the other instruments. Stood in front of drums. Still a challenge balancing bass sound in IEM and hearing drums.
Dance gig this weekend: We were the main act for Saturday night; this was a music festival. Because of a venue problem, we did not have access to the stage for the scheduled sound check. FOH was provided by professional sound engineering company with several techs. Due to the late access, the sound check was not complete when the crowd started arriving. The sound engineer gave me a monitor feed for the IEM (he thought). The sound engineers had no control over the incomplete sound check; they were rushed just like us.
First set: No monitor signal. It was just like rehearsal. I could hear myself but not much else. I made it through the set. The attached link is from the first set. Sound techs began to troubleshoot why I had no monitor feed.
Second set: Good thing that I brought an amp and speaker. I dropped the IEM and used the amp; the first couple of tunes were a mess as I tried to get the amp volume right.
Third and fourth set: The sound techs got the monitor feed working and I went back to IEM and turned off the amp. The monitor feed was not good; I could hear keyboard, vocalist and snare drum, however, the snare was terribly loud. I worked with what I had.
I will keep working at it. The next couple of gigs are outdoors. I think it will be fine once the bugs are worked out. Without a good monitor feed, IEM seems to be no better than amp and speaker.
I play bass in a big band. For practice at home, I always use headphones. At rehearsals, I am usually the only amplified instrument, except when we rehearse with the vocalist, who is also amplified. Piano is acoustic at rehearsal. Rehearsals with 14 wind and brass plus drums can get quite loud. I have tinnitus and this volume is an aggravation. Many of the players use ear plugs. I tried them, but I could not hear myself very well.
I decided to try IEM. I bought Sennheiser IE-100 and Rolls PM55P. I connect to the Rolls unit via a Radial Pro DI. The only signal processing I use is an Alembic SF-2 Superfilter.
I tried it at home and it was perfect. IEMs are more comfortable than headphones, especially when it is very warm.
First rehearsal: I need the amp and speaker because everyone else needs to hear the bass. I could not hear drums very well because the IEMs are well sealed from ambient sound. It was a challenge.
Second rehearsal: I moved the bass speaker so that it was away from me and closer to the other instruments. Stood in front of drums. Still a challenge balancing bass sound in IEM and hearing drums.
Dance gig this weekend: We were the main act for Saturday night; this was a music festival. Because of a venue problem, we did not have access to the stage for the scheduled sound check. FOH was provided by professional sound engineering company with several techs. Due to the late access, the sound check was not complete when the crowd started arriving. The sound engineer gave me a monitor feed for the IEM (he thought). The sound engineers had no control over the incomplete sound check; they were rushed just like us.
First set: No monitor signal. It was just like rehearsal. I could hear myself but not much else. I made it through the set. The attached link is from the first set. Sound techs began to troubleshoot why I had no monitor feed.
Second set: Good thing that I brought an amp and speaker. I dropped the IEM and used the amp; the first couple of tunes were a mess as I tried to get the amp volume right.
Third and fourth set: The sound techs got the monitor feed working and I went back to IEM and turned off the amp. The monitor feed was not good; I could hear keyboard, vocalist and snare drum, however, the snare was terribly loud. I worked with what I had.
I will keep working at it. The next couple of gigs are outdoors. I think it will be fine once the bugs are worked out. Without a good monitor feed, IEM seems to be no better than amp and speaker.
