EBS_freak

Phil is right, the learning curve of the RCF is a lot quicker than the Behringer. Just to add... Another massive key benefit of the XR18 over pretty much every similar format mixer, is the inclusion of ultranet - if you want to go down that route.

I can probably help you with that as I’ve had a fair few different models in my ears! As a rule of thumb, the UE6 is somewhat equivalent to the a quad balanced armature setup (treble, mid, bass, bass). The UE6 is probably a bit warmer sounding than most balanced armature IEMs which a lot of people prefer. Balanced armatures tend to sound a bit tighter than dynamic drivers - but again, unless you are comparing the two side by side.... you'll probably not find that immediately apparent. Each IEM manufacturers quad sound different. Some are more mid pronounced, others more smiley faced in their EQ. In reality, if you are using a digital desk, you can shape the EQ to taste anyway, but it’s nice to have IEM signatures close to what you want to hear. I always found my Roxannes sounding very different to my A12ts. The latter are much brighter sounding and have a smoother response in the top ends. I always found my Roxannes sound a bit hot on vocal “esses” and the sibilance was no way as good as my 64s. The Roxannes were also a very much darker, more mellow sounding IEM. The UE5s are very thin compared to the UE6 with a more pushed mid response, which is why vocalists tend to like them. Vocalists tend not to be particularly bothered by the bass of the UE6s that bass players, drummers and keys players crave. Any bass junkies are going to approve of the fuller bottom end response of the UE6. IEMs, especially at the lower end of the price scale, are never what you’d call flat or reference. And to be honest, flat is pretty boring anyway. Most people like to hear a mid range dip around 600Hz anyway. You will see that this is common in a lot of IEM frequency responses. This is no accident - even when you are mixing at a desk, it’s common to pull frequencies around 600 to make the band sound “right”. Custom fit does add more to the game. The better the fit, the better the bass response and of course, the better the reduction in ambient sound. If you have a leaky fit, the first thing you lose is bass. So whilst you could have like for like in terms of drivers and tuning, a custom fit means you are less likely to lose low end response. If I was to try and put a number on how much a custom fit can improve things sound wise, I’d say 10-20 percent. Of course, the big advantage is the comfort in the fit. They just fit. Perfectly. They are comfortable and don’t randomly fall out. No tips to worry about. The reason why the UE6 is soooo good though, is that it offers similar bass response and headroom to units that typically cost over a grand. Yes, ok they units are generally balanced armature based and hence perceived to be “better” - but again, for stage use you won’t tell the difference. In fact, it’s only when you do a back to back A/B you are likely to pick up on the subtle differences. Where the UE6 would suffer in the high end - if it was to use a dynamic - it doesn’t lose because a balanced armature is still used in the highs. To put it into context, if I was to compare my triple ACS customs (triple balanced armature) to the UE6s (a triple hybrid), then there’s no comparison. The ACS sound thin, can’t cope with bass and distort. I would put any quad JH, 64 and UE6 (or UE11+) against the Shures and they would all eat the Shures. Dont get me wrong, Shure have some great offerings - I have a lot of their mics, PSM900 IEM systems, wireless ULXD for example - but the IEM offerings are distinctly mediocre, especially for the money. They very much trade on their name in that department!

https://www.designacable.com/combo-cable-for-iem-systems-in-ear-monitoring-instrument-and-stereo-headphone.html (it's referenced in the links section in section 2 text btw!)

I think the message I was trying to get across is that most people end up doing something like this - Shure 215 -> Shure 535... and at some point people will invest in sleeves for those Shures. And then they get annoyed when the sleeves are a bit fiddly. It gets annoying removing your inears, especially mid song, and the sleeve stays in your ear whilst the iem is in your fingers. So already you've spent 85 + 180 + 150... so there is 415 quid. OK, you can sell the 215 and 535 but they don't really have any notable resale value - it's almost worth not selling them. Obviously the custom sleeves will have no resale value at all. So what I'm trying to say, is that you can factor and write off 415 worth of bad purchases, that's already a huge step forward towards the UE6s. The reasons that I call out the ZS10s is that for £45, you'll get the headroom and experience of something with a decent amount of headroom and see if the IEM concept works for you. If it doesn't, losing £45 is a world of difference to the £615 for the UE6s. As above, 37dB, no way, no way. That should not be considered as a selling point - because it's just plain BS.

Just reread the guys article as I couldn't quite believe the guff that I was reading - OK - I've figured out what this guy is doing. It's proper Heath Robinson. He's relying on the bleed of IEMs to hear the rest of the band and using the IEMs to boost just his bass into his ears. Gives you no control over the mix... I could go on... but I have no time for this guys approach to IEMs or his reviews of IEMs. He doesn't even implement an IEM system properly.

Also @Al Krow- in response to your 535 question, they still aren't great compared to what else is out there. Save up for UE6s. If you're serious about going IEMs, save yourself the wasted money on the journey. Meanwhile, just get yourself some ZS10s to tide yourself over - or at least get those to make sure the IEM route is for you.

Shure IEMs tend to get a good rep because they are "Shure" and "Shure" are great, right? And all these people giving them a good rep, what's their experience? What other earphones and reference points have they got - those IEMs that came with their mobile phone? Conversely, a drummer mate of mine that I pushed the way of UE6s was using Shure 846s - and his words were that his Shure's performance was way, way beneath the experience he was getting from the UE6s. I would never recommend the 215 to any bassplayer. Not even to somebody wanting to dip their toe in the water. The headroom of the ZS10s offer a much better experience for a much lesser cost. I've never said that the ZS are the end game - but a great, cheap entry drug to IEM that will give you the headroom without the distortion, the distortion which tends to be prevalent in the 215 and their lack of headroom. Don't buy on the basis of being Shure - because ultimately, they simply aren't that good, no matter where you are in the model range. I have to say though, in that link, this section is something that I really don't agree with - OK, taking each bit in turn - Err.. What? By using a bass amplifier at volume, your bass floods your stage with sub frequencies that go into the open mics and destroy the integrity of your monitor mix. "More control"? More control that a monitor mix where you can mix each instrument separately? More control where you can control the volume without impacting your front of house mix? More control than splitting out your bass signal and being able to EQ for you inears? etc... Utter BS. Blocking out frequencies all depends upon how good your fit is. If you IEMs don't fit right, they will leak. BTW Shure's 37dB cut is ridiculous. Over the ear defenders are rated at 37dB - and even then, OSHA standards mean they are truly certified at -34dB. It's a marketing gimmick - you simply couldn't argue that putting in a set of Shure IEMs would offer anywhere near the same amount of protection. It's plain BS. A good fit for a custom IEM will yield a cut of between 24-27dB - the equivalent of putting your fingers deep into your ears. Even then, there will be some ambient noise transferred to your ear via the vibrations through your skull and flesh - but this will be minimal in comparison (and not at all noticeable once you have your mix coming through you IEM. Most IEMs have better lower end response than bass cabs. All IEMs should(!) have way better high end extension than a bass cab - or PA cab for that matter! The only complications come from when you are asking too much from a single driver or when you haven't got enough drivers to give you the headroom to reproduce those frequencies at the volume you crave. In the same way, you wouldn't expect a single 8 inch driver loaded bass cab to have the full extension of a big bass rig, or a PA with just vocal tops and no subs to be able to cope with a rock band that demands a lot of low end. So, when considering your IEMs, consider you want to hear your whole band - like you would on a hifi - so you need to be able to reproduce the kick drum and bass as well as the vocals with all the bright airy top end that gives you the clarity. That means multiple drivers as there aren't IEM drivers that are good across the whole frequency range, despite what the vendors of single drivers would like you to think. And yes, things like 215s may sound great when listening to studio recordings - but those studio recordings have been mastered and have taken control of all the transients etc that would be otherwise troublesome in the live environment. This guy is on crack. Decent IEMs will not distort. You'll go deaf before they distort. If there is any distortion in an IEM at a sensible volume, there's only a number of causes. There is distortion in the signal chain - usually something clipping - or the IEMs are running out of headroom (not enough drivers). Heartfelt sounds? If you listen to bass recordings and can identify any heartfelt sounds, you can do the same over an IEM mix. And for the last thing to address - The bass frequencies will be able to reproduced no problem. The thing is, you don't actually want those frequencies on stage as that is where all the mud comes from as it leaks into the mics and over powers the PA. Yes, you can high pass the channels - but that also means high passing some details that you want to keep. Want to know why your band sounds all toppy? Maybe it's because you've HPF everything. Run a silent stage... there's no need to HPF anything - and you're band will sound a hell of a lot better (fatter, warmer) for it. As for the physical vibrations - if you really want that to get your rocks off - get a haptic device. Job done.

That's the one!

For monitoring, you want everything to be pre fader - this means that if you change the sliders on the front of house mix, it doesn't impact your monitor mixes. If you have mixes as post fader, then changes out front will impact your monitor mixes... which is obviously not ideal.

Generally you won't want reverb in your monitor mixes, especially when singers are involved as it can throw off the ability to pitch. Anyway, what you'll need to do is put the fx return into your aux mix.

It's part of the transition - but can you disclose more about how you feel self-conscious? Is it because you can hear any little mistakes a lot more clearly?

Also, IEM is not FRFR - IEMs are far from what you'd call flat.

There seems to be a big misconception here about FRFR. Basically, FRFR is a means of hearing your signal without any further influencing factors that will otherwise change your basses tone. Whereas traditional bass cabs tend to have their own prebaked sound that influences your tone, a FRFR amp/cab setup does not. If you want to emulate a speaker cabinet, then you have to do so - typically via modelling. Likewise, your pre is what is doing your tone shaping and the FRFR output phase has no further influence.

So many finishes I love... but for me, I keep coming back to WHITE - and it looks the best under stage lights (IMHO)

To be fair, from a processing point of view, it's probably a bit of a step up from the Mackie.

Now That's What I Call an 80s Tribute Band.

Scratch that. I guess a Xennial's mixtape would actually contain 90s. Xennial nursery rhymes

Xennial mixtape

As great as Jamiroquai are, for me at least, they have never been the same since the departure of Smith (RIP ) and Zender.

How do you play? By remembering patterns?

This thread needs a before and after pic!

Tinnitus is pretty banging too!

Section 4 - https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/389429-the-iem-bible-thread/?do=findComment&comment=3944328