javi_bassist

1 hour ago, wateroftyne said:

All fair comments...

re: fit - I use large Comply tips. I've got big 'ol ear canals, and they're just the job.

Sound-wise.. it's such a personal thing, isn't it? To me, the lows don't sound boosted or flubby - just nice and tight, with lots of natural definition in the mids, and smooth top.

One of the problems with IEM stuff is the inability to try before you buy... it's all a bit of a lottery, isn't it?

About the fit, I forgot to mention that many many in ears are not comfortable for me. I probably have weird ears. And the Plunge are not the most comfortable for me, but they are comfortable.

And yes, I agree about the lottery. I have too many in ears that confirm that haha. But I have to say that if I have to recommend one set, the Plunge will be one of the first I would suggest.

8 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

I used my Plunge Audio Dynamics for the first time yesterday....

 

A bit of background: I use my existing IEMs occasionally, mainly under protest. They're KZ ZS10s, but they always sound brittle, fizzy and uninspiring to me, so I stick with my ACS attenuators and a monitor whenever I can. That setup is a bit of a clart on for the band and our engineer, so I promised myself I’d finally make the leap.

 

I did some research (not easy, given the sheer volume of ChiFi IEMs out there muddying the waters) and also looked at more expensive options like ACS.

 

In the end, I landed on the Plunge Dynamics. Handmade in Canada, they’re not custom moulds, but they still offer 15dB of attenuation. There’s also a pricier, non-ported stage version that provides even more isolation, but they Dynamics seemed to suit my needs.

 

They're a single dynamic driver rather than a complex array of dynamics and armatures like most IEMS. I was hoping that would translate into a warmer, more natural sound, and I was right... they’re a genuine revelation.

 

As soon as I put them in, I could tell they're night-and-day compared to the KZs. They're so immersive, with a real sense of air and warmth, without feeling isolated. The bass is round and dynamic. I went through soundcheck and the gig without giving them a second thought.

 

They’re beautifully made and packaged, with high-quality accessories, and they arrived from Canada in just a few days. If you’re in the market for new IEMs, they’re definitely worth a look...

 

Good to hear that they work for you. I have to say that, even though I agree on everything you said, in my case, there are two aspects that I am not 100% with:

-They are comfortable, but not extremely comfortable for me. You have to look for proper tips. I find it funny that my "perfect tips" for my Plunge Audios are foam size M. I usually use foam L in all of my in ears. And I could use silicone L with the Plunge as well, but foam, M. The are comfortable and they stay in the ear, but they are not as comfortable as my Sennheiser (for me).

-Soundwise, I think they are a little bit bassy. When I use them to listen to music, they are incredible. However, after some gigs with it, I had some issues having "too much bass" in some gigs and losing some mids. 

Don't get me wrong, I would recommend them. And for the price, they are really really good. I tend to favour Dynamic drivers over BA (even if it is only one Dynamic vs various BA). I'd prefer to play with the Plunge Audio than the Westone X30s, which are also really really good.

11 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

Ordered these bad lads on Sunday. Winged their way over the Atlantic from Canada in four days. What a time to be alive!

 

Plunge Audio Dynamics. They'll get a run out next weekend...

 

Let us know what you think of them once they arrived!

11 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

Ordered these bad lads on Sunday. Winged their way over the Atlantic from Canada in four days. What a time to be alive!

 

Plunge Audio Dynamics. They'll get a run out next weekend...

 

Let us know what you think of them once they arrived!

On 29/12/2025 at 13:16, kiat said:

Setup for 80s covers band gigs in pubs to big halls (400). 2 recent gigs with it and it performed as well as expected (better than me 😂). 

 

My first big board and I'm pleased that the effort to route into a patchbay at the back helps operationally (19" audio rack panel with d-series cutouts, am waiting on the TRS module, hence the temp solution).

 

Only two effects pedals! 😆. The rest is wireless bass receiver and IEM transmitter, battery, headphone amp and tuner.

 

It can be totally wireless without the XLR FOH feeds (bass out, band IEM in) when I use a pair of low latency 5.8GHz instrument dongles to reach my amp. The pedal switcher has triggers that I use to control the presets on the MB301.

 

I do not fully understand how you combine the headphones amp and the IEM. Could you explain it?

I used to use a Sennheiser XSW, receiving bass in channel A and FOH in channel B and I make the mix. But you are not doing that.

8 hours ago, Linus27 said:

After giving IEM a quick go last year with a Behringer P2 and being pretty successful on the few songs at a gig I tried it on, I fancy giving it a more series go and going full on wireless.

 

I'm thinking of giving either the Swiff WX520 or Xvive U45 a go. I wouldn't mind a personal monitor station and I'm ok for earbuds as I love the KZ ZS10 Pro's that I bought.

 

The only bit I'm unsure about is how to connect the personal headphone monitor. I get that the XLR from my Sansamp will go to the FOH desk. Would I then run a line from the FOH desk into the Line Input of the personal headphone monitor and a line from my Output of my Sansamp into the Instrument In on the personal headphone monitor. This would give me the FOH mix and my bass mix that I can adjust individually to my taste. I would then plug the IEM base into Headphone Output and then the IEM backpack to my strap/back pocket.

 

Does that sound about right or is that wrong? Is there a simpler way of being able to adjust my bass volume and the FOH mix individually in my IEM?

 

Below is the personal headphone monitor I'm thinking about getting.

 

 

That is exactly what I do with the Rolls. I also ask the soundguy not to send any bass in my mix, to avoid phase issues.

That Swift wireless system seems interesting. In Thomann however, it has not so good reviews. The thing about dropouts I guess it depends on your gigs. I currently use the Xvive U45 (5.8) and I never had an issue. The rest of my band use the U4 (2.4) running simultaneously 3 U4 and never had an issue either. 

I must say that with my Line 6 wireless (G10s and G30) I had some dropouts sometimes, but I still use them. I use also the Fender Telepath and I had issues when using it close to the U45. 

I have also received the Westone X30. They sound incredible. However, the cable is really really annoying. I mean, when you have it in place it is fine, but I do not like it. But the sound is really good. I am comparing it now with the Sennheiser ie400 and ie100 and it is difficult to choose one. I am still making more tests... 

32 minutes ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

How do you have the Rolls wired in, Javi? Does it mix the signal from the desk the Anagram? If so, is the bass channel muted on your monitor send, or do you mix the anagram over the top?

The bass goes from the Anagram to the Rolls. The mix from FOH has no bass, to avoid phase issues. 

I went really deep into the rabbit hole of in ears. I went from KZ ZST, KZ Castor pro, KZ ZS10, Sennheiser IE100 and IE400, Shure 535, Plunge Audio Dynamic, Soundbrenner Waves (and Westone X30 are on its way) and I went back to Sennheiser. Now I have my IE400 with custom molds and the IE100 as a spare. I am even tempting on trying the IE500, but I read that they are not that good and they are expensive, but the Sennheiser are really really good. I am preparing a full review of all the models I have tried.

I am also currently using the Xvive U45 with the Rolls PM351. It is a great combo IMO that allows me to have always control over my bass (sometimes I am very picky and my experience has taught me that it is better to rely on you than in the soundguys, since we do not work with our own soundguy). I previously have the Sennheiser XSW, but this is more straightforward and easy. And I had some dropouts with the XSW and never with the Xvive. 

I already shared my goals, but I saw this image and I laughed because it could be me

My main goal for 2026 is to stop buying music related gear. I have my expenses below my earnings, but still, too much money. 

Other than that, I think this next year I will probably have less gigs than in 2025, so I will keep on studying jazz and improvisation.

Apart from that, I also want to start playing my synth again and keep on with guitar.

I received last week a pair of Soundbrenner Waves after a lot of the Spam in Instagram. And I have to admit that they are incredible. They are one of the most comfortable in ears I ever used. And soundwise are great. They have a little bass boost, but just a little, which makes them really good for gigging. The cable is fine, I like it. I was very skeptical with them until I tried them. 

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

Is the U45 a decent step up from the U4 for you? I note that it's a 5.8 GHz, whereas the U4 is on the more crowded 2.4 GHz.

 

In my case, I never had a U4. However, I had some interference with some wireless going in 2.4 so I bought directly the U45. My other bandmates (3 people) uses the U4 without any issue.

Open question for the guys who use stereo. How do you setup? My Sennheiser XSW is capable of stereo, but I just used it to mix the bass in one channel and the rest of the band in the other.

I am using and abusing (for 6 months, at least 3 gigs a week) the Xvive U45. The rest of my band has the U4s and we are all happy with them. I have to say that I have mine attached to my pedalboard because I have a Rolls PM351 before it to level my bass myself (I had horrible experiences with soundguys). Except for ona project that we make our own mix using an app, for the rest I use the Xvive.

I have used the Sennheiser XSW in the past with good results. Some droputs sometimes, but it was all good overall.

10 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Using reverb to enhance the IEM experience

My understanding is that reverb isn't particularly widely used by your average pop / rock set bassists like me, but the IEM interaction is an interesting one! Apparently a very subtle hall (or hall-like) reverb in IEMs can make the bass tone subjectively nicer and the gigging experience more pleasurable for the bassist, even though it does not improve articulation in a technical sense. This is a monitoring and human-factors issue, not a tonal-engineering one. 

 

IEMs lack:
- acoustic coupling with the room
- cabinet air movement
- spatial cues from reflections

 

So, a small amount of ambience:
- Restores a sense of physical space
- Reduces the “dry DI in your skull” effect
- Makes sustained notes feel more musical
- Lowers perceived fatigue over a long set

 

Not something I've given much thought to before! Dunno if this chimes with other IEM users' experience?

Interesting. I will try that in my next gig

21 hours ago, Mokl said:

Unfortunately we get almost no chance to rehearse, so I’ve had to hit the ground running with getting used to using the IEMS at gigs/live. Of the 3 gigs I’ve done so far with them, I’ve had mixed results. I’m tending to find the sound can get overly boomy and lacks definition, and last night the tone was really unpleasant – horrible top end coming through so all I could really hear was fret noise, with little definition. There was an unpleasant low mid-y dissonance to the tone which I couldn’t seem to dial out with my bass' EQ, so much so that it almost sounded out of tune (it wasn’t!!). I did have to have my amp stage volume turned down pretty low, so wonder if this contributed as the previous gig the sound was better, but can’t help thinking this was because sound from the amp was making up for inadequacies in ear.

I cannot say my case is the same as yours, but I got myself a pair of Shures 535, which are a little bit boosted in the mids. First time I tried them, I found them awful. Really mid boosted, no bass, clanky and incredibly annoying. I changed the tips to ones that fit me better and the result was incredibly different. I love them.

Another thing that happened to me a couple of weeks agois that I was going to play for the first time with my Sennheiser IE100 with custom molds. In the soundcheck, it was all boomy with a lack of definition. My thoughts were "this gig is going to be hard and I hate my custom molds". Then, I heard myself during the gig perfectly. The issue was that the soundguy had the sublows boosted and the subwoofers just below me were too loud. Even with custom molds. I cannot really explain why this happened, but it did. 

9 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Although I don’t use IEMs live, the boomy bottom and overtly top don’t point to poor sealing of the buds. Try the setup at home, directly from your DI to your P2 and see what you think of the sound both with a “perfect seal” and deliberately ruining the perfect seal.

Man, perfect seal is everything. But also be aware of the shape of the in ear itself. I cannot use KZs because they just pop out from my ear. And I tried several different tips. I moved to smaller in ears (Sennheiser and Shure) because of that

8 hours ago, dub_junkie said:

My moonlight blue P34. Did have a 735a and was after a P35 but as is the way of things, I ended up with the 4 string. No complaints. Great bass!

I also had (and still have, being my number 1) a 735 and I got myself a BBP34

14 hours ago, dave_bass5 said:

OMG, this is crazy. As i said recently, ive used my singer’s IE100 pro’s for a bit. I really like them. I was just putting them way and realised i wasnt sure which is which, they both look similar. My IE400’s have more worn tips from using them more, her’s tips are newer that i put on a while ago. I noticed one has a more transparent case as well. Looking closely at ‘mine’, using a magnifying app on my phone, i was shocked to see IE100 on them. So it seems ive been using IE100’s for months, well over a year at least, and she has had my IE400’s 😂. 

 

Now i know why i liked her’s so much. 

 

Bloody hell 🙄

Hahahaha. They are really the exact same in size. My IE100 are red and my IE400 are black, so I cannot confuse them. 

Yesterday, I used my IE400 in a gig and I find that the IE100 and 400 are very similar. I think the 400 sound a little bit better, but since I have my 100 with custom molds, I may be using them more hehe. 

On 14/11/2025 at 14:42, dave_bass5 said:

Ive been meaning to do this myself for a couple of years. Please let us know how you get on. 

I tried them in two different gigs I had this last weekend. I have to say that they are great. It was the first time for me using custom molds and they fit perfectly. So perfectly that they are difficult to remove hehe (I cannot just grab them from the in ear itself because I could damage it. It happened to a friend who went custom molds in the same place with his IE400).

The sound improved. I have to say that during soundcheck I was concerned because there was too much low end without any definition, I control my in ear with a Rolls and I couldn't find a sweet spot. However, as soon as we started the gig, everything was perfect. Bass had a lot of definition and I loved it. Low end is now more present and highs were a little bit rolled out (not so much, but a little bit. I prefer it this was to be honest). 

Do I recommend it? Absolutely. 

My two boards updated:

Board #2: Simple. Peterson Tuner-->JHS Prestige-->Ampeg Opto Comp-->JHS Colourbox v2. I use the Prestige to give a little boost and also to have similar signals from different basses. The Ampeg Opto Comp because I wanted an optical compressor and I kinda like it. And the JHS Colourbox is a really really good clean preamp. I made this board because last time I recorded for a singer, the producer just use a Neve kind of preamp and an LA2A compressor and I just love the sound. The Colourbox is the closer I got in a pedal. The Opto Comp might be replaced in the future, but so far, so good.

And this is my main board:
A few days ago Jad Freer uploaded this image. I must admit that it took me some time to fully understand its potential and I think it is a game changer (for me). With the HX Stomp I always had this "internal fight" that if I put the preamp before the HX Stomp (or in the loop) I lose the ability to have a DI, and if I put it at the end, there are some effects that are affected by the preamp. With this solution, I can have the Capo anywehre in the chain inside the HX Stomp and still being able to use the DI. I can even use both DIs out because one would be still totally clean and the other one with all the chain.

So this is my pedalboard, plain and "not-so" simple:
Canvas Tuner-->Jad Freer Capo
In the loop: HX Stomp
In the loop of the HX Stomp: Cali76
With this pedalboard, I can have the Cali76 and the Capo anywhere in the chain of the HX Stomp. I hace currently a chorus effect after the Capo and it sounds much better after than before it.

I just wanted to comment something. While my custom molded are being made, I had a couple of gigs this last weekend. My KZ KZ10 broke so I did not have any in ears (I have a spare cable but back home and the gig was out of town, I could not go and get it). I had to go with a friend of mine (also professional bass player) to a store nearby to get one. There were not many choices, and I got Shure 535s. A bit expensive but my friend told me that they were the ones he was using. 

I went to soundcheck and, even though I could hear the bass and everything a little bit more clear than with the Sennheiser IE400, the sound was awful. With too much mids. So I tried to change the eartips to another pair that comes with the headphones, foam and bigger. They sealed perfectly and went back to soundcheck. Oh man what a sound... I just love them. Compared to the Sennheisers, they are clearer. I can hear everything better. I find the IE400 to be more musical, much better choice to listen to music. However, when I play with them at a gig, when everyone was in a bassy part, I could not hear myself that clear. I could feel there was my bass, but not hear it clearly. With the Shures, I can hear it. 

I compare it to the IE400 because they are the ones I had been using for a year and I had the IE100 for spare. However, I have a friend who had problems with the custom impressions and the IE400, so I tried with the IE100 just to see if I prefer custom impressions. 

I have always avoided the Shures in general because it seems like the general consensus in all forums were that they were not good. All I can say is that I love them. I used it in both gigs and they were amazing. 

Last Tuesday I went to get custom impressions for my Sennheiser IE100. Let's see how they work. 

2 hours ago, Jackopie1 said:

Nice board! I like the look of the Boss. I assume the Octaver is solid- what about the envelope filter?

I'm experimenting with some of them. Not 100% convinced, but they are usable. I'm liking the unit more and more, but it is not plug and play. 

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

 

Loving my GT1000 Core too - appreciate that it may be less intuitive than the Stomp, but definitely worth putting in the time. Our lead guitarist is also using one and I'm really liking both his range of sounds and my bass tone that the Core is delivering.

I really like the sound out of it. I am still trying compressors, but they are good. I might go back to my Cali, I don't know. There is a feature that I love and it is the ability to have different Input levels and have them in the memory. I play different basses and that feature is pretty awesome I think