In-ear monitors

[verbalakrobat]

Aarrggg, sorry! I have overlooked your Gear info.

[cphollis]

I'm surprised no one is suggesting to use two small mixers, which is what I used to do for a while.

Your keys signal is split. One feed is sent to the main desk, the other feed to your second small mixer. That one takes the front desk feed, mixes it with your keys signal, and feeds your IEMs. That way, you can set one level for the mains, and a second level for your ears with "more me" in the mix. It can get infinitely loud that way, and your volume adjustments won't affect the mains or other monitors.

Carrying around two small mixers for your IEMs is infinitely preferable to using a stage amp.

Other tips? If you are a multi-keyboardist, consider a *real* mixer like the XR18, where you can mix and match feeds, sends and effects to your heart's desire. You can be the PA for the band in a pinch! Also, I am using very inexpensive 5-driver IEMs ("chi-fi" ~$60USD) which are truly amazing and not a tragedy when they get lost, broken, etc.

[ajstan]

I'm surprised no one is suggesting to use two small mixers, which is what I used to do for a while.

Hey Chuck, hope all is well. You must have missed my post in this thread from Monday - I even mentioned the KZ ZS10 Pro IEMs! Were the those the 5-driver chi-fi earbuds to which you were referring? I'm looking to pick up a set as a backup for my Weston AM-Pro 30s with custom earmolds.

[cphollis]

I'm surprised no one is suggesting to use two small mixers, which is what I used to do for a while.

Hey Chuck, hope all is well. You must have missed my post in this thread from Monday - I even mentioned the KZ ZS10 Pro IEMs! Were the those the 5-driver chi-fi earbuds to which you were referring? I'm looking to pick up a set as a backup for my Weston AM-Pro 30s with custom earmolds.

Hey, @ajstan, thanks! Yes, I did miss your post!

I'm still using those, and still like them! Custom ear molds would make them very sweet. I'm using the aftermarket memory foam ones which aren't too bad, along with a beefier cable. And I don't cry when they break, are lost, etc. I even got a few for my bandmates to try!

Also a great find: the four-channel Behringer powered DI -- I can always deliver a clean & hot signal even if the mixing board has weak preamps, and still split things off if I want to submix for my ears.

[ajstan]

Thanks, I'll probably give the KZ IEMs a try! I'm used to the ambients, but a sealed IEM as a backup will be just fine. Our guitarist uses the KZs and speaks highly of them, but I wanted a keyboardist's take. The Key Largo is still working great for me as a mixer/DI. Since the beginning of 2021, our band has been all IEMs with our own XR-18 stage box and splitter snake to control our own monitor mixes for consistency, no matter who is running FOH for us.

[Ritchie333]

Time for an update on this thread. (Please don't read on if you're eating something!)

I fixed the problem with the SL215s - they were full of ear wax. Moral of this story is clean your ears properly. Having cleaned and disinfected them, they now work perfectly.

I'm currently running the feed from my Stage 2 into the desk, into an LD MEI1000 wireless system. Get a great stereo stage mix.

[RBkeys]

Hi Ritchie, I run a couple of different set ups with IEMs. When there’s full production and a monitor engineer I take a mix from the monitor board with keys sat just above everything else, but on gigs where that’s not an option, I have a pair of ACS custom evolve ambient molds that have ambient filters built in alongside triple drivers. I take the headphone output from the stage 3 into a fischer amps ‘stick’ to feed the keys direct into my IEMs and get enough ambient stage sound from the filters to hear what I need from the rest of the band (adjusting the volume of the keys via the fisher amp to get the right balance). It’s worked really well for me - not perfect, but no speakers to haul around, and great ear protection! Hope this helps.

[christianjwagner]

xMy 50 cents from hundreds of concerts played live.
I switched back and forth from in-ear-monitors to wedges on stage etc. Now, I found my best solution:

• A decent pair of custom-molded in-ear monitors with good drivers. They may cost around 1000 EUR or even more but it is an investment, just like your Nord Stage is - which is not cheap at all. Whoever lives in Germany, I can recommend Hörluchs, company based in the area around Nürnberg. Good quality, quick, good service. If you want to be able to hear instruments clearly on stage, this is the way to go. My opinion.

• I usually play only with one side of the in-ear monitors in use. This gives me the benefit of two worlds: on one ear I hear crystal clear, dry and isolated sound of my keyboard and the other instruments through the monitors, on the other ear I have the full atmophere incl. the deep bass of the stage, audience etc, important to not be fully disconnected from what's happening.

• This is now special and not for everyone: I have an own on-stage active, three(or four?)-channel-input monitor from Electro Voice next to my keyboard who is fed (a) by my individual monitor mix and (b) on a separate channel a dedicated keyboard channel going out from my DI box. This allows me to quickly adjust my keyboard level in the mix without fiddling with WIFI mixer channel apps. This mix is then also send out to my in-ear through my wireless system. I made a quick sketch below. This can also be easily skipped (i.e. if I play in another band).

This required some try-and-error, but I wouldn't miss it.

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