Best in-ear monitors for guitarists?

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luther910

luther910

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My band and I has decided to invest in IEM's in order to get the best possible monitoring and FOH sound. For those of you guys who are experienced with in-ear monitoring, what would you recommend both from a pure quality and best value standpoint?
 
Check out Alien Ears...great prices and the product is really good. My only issue with IEMs is that no matter what systems or buds I've tried, the guitars always sound less than stellar. That's the trade off though to be able to hear everything better, mainly vocals. I find I play better without them but sing better with them.
 
SkyhighRocks":3ndsgwzx said:
Check out Alien Ears...great prices and the product is really good
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Interesting. And what model do you use? Are the eight speaker ones to bass heavy for guitarist use i.e neutral sound?
 
Westone, Ultimate Ears, ACS, they all make great IEM's. The best route is the custom molds, but they're also insanely expensive. If you're looking for budget IEM's, Shure's SE line are great, and they have a heavier duty cable and better connectors (Swivel mini coax instead of two-pin) than even the high end IEMs. The one thing I don't like about ACS is that the cables are hard wired into the ear pieces, so you have to send them back to be repaired if the cable becomes damaged.
 
Westones have a large soundstage which makes it easier to distinguish and separate each individual instrument. Replaceable cable if rough gigs are common and a large range of included buds. Not too much bass but i'm sure you'll feel it around on stage
 
Good luck to you. I felt that you don't feel part of the "band" as a whole. Like you were just an individual or something and the guitar sounds small too. I hated them. However, the drummer, bass player and singer loved them!! I did one ear in and one ear out most of the time in order to still "feel" the band better. So really I didn't help you here at all, but just passing along my experience. Hope you have better luck and like them better than I did. But if you sing, they will really help you in that aspect.
 
I've used UE's for the past two years, and am really happy. Everything is really discernible, and has it's own "space". The other thing with IEM's I've noticed is that if you have the ability to pan things in your mix, you need to. Having things panned really helps you to know what is going on because you know the keys are on the right, and your rhythm guitarist is on your left and if something sounds funky figure out what side its coming from. If everything is straight down the pipe them you might have a tough time.

Definitely Definitely go the custom molds route. They're a little more pricey, but well well worth it.
 
Thx. Appreciate +/- inputs from you all. I am aware of the minus sides to IEM's as well. We are already using earphones trough pro tools in the practice arena and it certainly give the sound/band situation a different feel, but it's very good for the hearing. Before there was constant arguing about who was the loudest (yes of course it was the drummer) However, practicing now has more quality because you can actually hear what everybody is playing, and you can listen for the important details. I've also noticed that singing in tune with our vocalist is easier now.

I've been looking at Ultimate Ears and JH costum (same guy right?), and they cost a lot. I want to have molded,good quality IEM's, but I realize there is more companies making them than I thought. Alien Ears was new to me.

Question, should I stay away from the more bass heavy IEM's?
 
It's important to have a good monitor engineer who knows how to mix IEM's. Otherwise you won't like them.

You don't need overly bassy IEM's. You'll feel the stage volume bass, so there isn't much need for a tremendous amount of low frequencies in your mix. What you need first and foremost is clarity, and that's for every frequency range to be separated in the mix. This is done most efficiently by having at least 3 drivers per ear, one for lows, one for mids, and one for highs.
 
MississippiMetal":1ow7dioe said:
It's important to have a good monitor engineer who knows how to mix IEM's. Otherwise you won't like them.

You don't need overly bassy IEM's. You'll feel the stage volume bass, so there isn't much need for a tremendous amount of low frequencies in your mix. What you need first and foremost is clarity, and that's for every frequency range to be separated in the mix. This is done most efficiently by having at least 3 drivers per ear, one for lows, one for mids, and one for highs.
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I know what you mean...the guitar never sounds good to me in ear...sounds great out front but the problem is having it pressed against the ear drum. We're not used to hearing a guitar that way. My next 3-4 gigs are outdoor fair/festival type shows. I'll be using stage wedges since I can turn up louder without worrying about it being too loud for the sound guy. Indoor gigs, I usually will deal with the IEMs.
 
It's worth it to me. I've saved so much of my hearing using IEM's.
 
I have a Shure PSM200 and run the guitar through one side and the rest of the band in the other. I use cheap $30 Skull candy ear buds and as everyone has said, most of the time my guitar sounds ok but to be able to control the volume more than makes up for it. If I was rich I would invest in Avioms, we use them at church. They give everyone their own personal mix. :rock:
 
I have the Shure SE 215's. They are the cheapest of the Shure earphones at $100. I actually use them for monitoring while recording because they sound better than my Audio Technica ATH-M50's and isolate sound better than earplugs! I can't imagine what the higher end models sound like! :thumbsup:

Oh...I'm a guitarist by the way. I'm not in a band or play with a loud drummer. But when I'm recording I can actually crank my Mesa Roadster, sit 3 feet away, and the only only thing I hear is what comes through the Shures. They are amazing!
 
I use the SE315's, and I've really enjoyed them. I've thought about getting an ear mold injection done and having Sensaphonics make a mold sleeve for the SE315, but that would cost nearly as much as the buds themselves.

The "cheaper" ones are still a pretty pricey investment, and they often come in small soft zipper pouches, such as mine did. I scored a Pelican 1010 case from Tour Supply for $15 to protect them and keep them dry, and that's worked out great.

And you're right about the sound isolation. I've stood behind the drummer while the entire 6 piece band was thrashing away and all I heard was my mix.
 
Really glad to see this thread! I'm a 30+ year guitar player and recently switched to IEMs. I have audio technical M2. The buds that came with the kit were single driver and have since been damaged. With them everything sounded decent EXCEPT for the guitar. Sounded very thin and processed, nothing like what I heard in front of the amp OR out in the house. I use an SM-57 to mic. the amp.

So, I'm wondering where to put my money first. A better microphone? Or dual driver in ear buds? Wondering which I might get the best overall guitar sound from. Sounds like both are equally important, but I can only invest in one at a time. Will dual driver in ears make a significant difference from what I've heard so far using single driver?

One other note, I've always been a tube amp, analog pedal player. Now I've decided to go with Fractal Axe effects for some live performances. Wondering if anyone here has experience working with digital guitar processors with in ears? I'm hoping that what I lose in tone (although the digital stuff sounds SO much better now) I will gain in better overall sound through my in ears.

Thanks and hope someone can offer some input/advice.
 
MississippiMetal":1eoiukos said:
It's worth it to me. I've saved so much of my hearing using IEM's.
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Do iems isolate better than passive over the ear headphones? I have stayed away from iems since I don't like putting things in my waxy ears. After two ear surgeries, I can't pan with headphones due to the discrepancy between my good and bad ear.

The sennheisser headphones I have claim up to 30dba reduction. How much can you expect from iems?
 
IEM's are so worth it, in ear fitted is worlds better than over the counter and much better isolation than over the ear. blackba if you've had ear surgery in ears may be the best way for you to go. I use 1964 ears and an akg unit, take a mono aux out and split it stereo into my unit, gives me pseudo stereo. we use a presonus digital board so i dial in my mix and levels. I started with a share psi 200 and 215 earbuds, night and day difference plus i can hear after gigs ( we are really, really loud)
 
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