May have to scrap the IEM idea...

[StephenJ]

As I mentioned in another thread in the Technical area, I was thinking about using IEM's as opposed stage monitors. The problem for me is the isolation they create. In order for them to sound good they need a tight seal in your ear and thus block ambient sound...a welcome feature for someone listening to their mp3 player on a plane, but for my purposes it's not a good thing. Often during a job (and sometimes during a song), I need to communicate with other members of the band. Also, since I'm the front man, I need to be able to talk with people who approach the stage. I contacted a friend of mine who plays guitar with a prominent band in the Maryland area "Gazze". He says that this sound blocking characteristic of the IEM's is a real problem for them. He has to literally yell to the members of the band using IEM's to be heard.
~ Is there such a thing as a good set of IEM's that don't isolate the listener?

Thanks,
StephenJ

[JrummerJ]

No, that completely defeats the purpose of IEMs. I use them behind the drums and they work great. I am however, the only one in the band that likes them.

Basically you can't have it all. There is no great way to get rid of wedges and feedback without IEMs, and conversely, there is not a great way to have IEMs, protect your hearing, and still allow you to talk at a normal volume to hear each other. Open your eyes, pay attention, and you'd be surprised at the level of communication that can be acheived with the IEMs in.

J

[Kris NH]

What??????

[uglybassplayer]

As I mentioned in another thread in the Technical area, I was thinking about using IEM's as opposed stage monitors. The problem for me is the isolation they create. In order for them to sound good they need a tight seal in your ear and thus block ambient sound...a welcome feature for someone listening to their mp3 player on a plane, but for my purposes it's not a good thing. Often during a job (and sometimes during a song), I need to communicate with other members of the band. Also, since I'm the front man, I need to be able to talk with people who approach the stage. I contacted a friend of mine who plays guitar with a prominent band in the Maryland area "Gazze". He says that this sound blocking characteristic of the IEM's is a real problem for them. He has to literally yell to the members of the band using IEM's to be heard.
~ Is there such a thing as a good set of IEM's that don't isolate the listener?

Thanks,
StephenJ

Were you planning on blending your drum sound with a feed from your mixer/pa to hear the rest of the band? If so then the solution is simple: Setup an omnidirectional mic fed to the board that will provide the ambient sound and blend in as much (or little) as needed. If needed, you can use a device like the Rolls PM350 Headphone Monitor to blend the signals.

- Ugly.

[JrummerJ]

Were you planning on blending your drum sound with a feed from your mixer/pa to hear the rest of the band? If so then the solution is simple: Setup an omnidirectional mic fed to the board that will provide the ambient sound and blend in as much (or little) as needed. If needed, you can use a device like the Rolls PM350 Headphone Monitor to blend the signals.

- Ugly.

Agreed, about the only way to solve this problem is to have some mics that just feed through the IEM system. Good point.

J

[StephenJ]

Thanks for the suggestions.

StephenJ

[Mr Stixx]

Have you tried just using one side of the IEMs leaving your other ear open to the ambient noise. I worked this way for a gig and it was not the best sound for me but it still worked.

[uglybassplayer]

FWIW, I remember reading about an IEM system by Sensaphonics that employed tiny microphones in the earpiece to provide ambient sound. I'm sure they're not cheap, but it does supposedly address the problem you're having.

Edit: Found the link to it: http://www.sensaphonics.com/prod_3d_ambient.html

[SuperPuss]

Were you planning on blending your drum sound with a feed from your mixer/pa to hear the rest of the band? If so then the solution is simple: Setup an omnidirectional mic fed to the board that will provide the ambient sound and blend in as much (or little) as needed. If needed, you can use a device like the Rolls PM350 Headphone Monitor to blend the signals.

- Ugly.

Agreed. When I work with a band that has IEM's, I set up a pair of small condensers, something like Rode NT5's (I've even used Neumann KM84's but that is an extravagance!!) each side of the stage panned left and right and run that into the IEM's. I generally point them diagonally across the stage from the back corners out to the crowd about the same height as drum overheads.

[StephenJ]

I really appreciate all the interest and suggestions. To try and keep things as simple as possible I'm going to try the one-ear approach at my next job.

Thanks again everybody

[Michael Render]

The new Audio Technica M3 units have a mini jack for an ambient mic. Brilliant idea.

[SuperPuss]

The new Audio Technica M3 units have a mini jack for an ambient mic. Brilliant idea.

That's cool
Do you know if it is a stereo input? That makes a big difference to the naturalness of the whole IEM experience.

[Michael Render]

Yep, stereo, mono, or personal mix mode. Here's the specs:

http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wls_monitor_systems/2cc56cdea4cf6933/index.html

[SuperPuss]

Yep, stereo, mono, or personal mix mode. Here's the specs:
http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wl...933/index.html

Very cool
I wish all artists would switch to IEM's. They are so much better from so many perspectives. Artists get to hear what they want. Feedback is eliminated. Stage sound is much more controlled. EQing can be done for sound quality rather than feedback rejection.....and so on...