The IEM (in ear monitors) Bible thread - a guide to help every musician

[javi_bassist]

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. 

[dave_bass5]

Thanks for posting that. Looks like a really good move. Will definitely look in to this in the new year. 
As it happens I’ve been using my singers IE100 pro’s (with my comply foam tips) for the last two gigs. They seem to be a slightly different fit, but enough to fit a bit more securely than my IE400. I’m not giving up on the 400, as they have a slightly better sound for me, but i started to find they would come a bit loose if i smiled or shouted across the stage (2 things i try not do 😎). The 100’s don’t dislodge quite as easy. 
Sounds like a good reason to go custom, but now it’s for which pair. 

[Owen]

On 01/12/2025 at 12:34, dave_bass5 said:

 but i started to find they would come a bit loose if i smiled 

Bass Police are coming for you. 

[dave_bass5]

2 minutes ago, Owen said:

Bass Police are coming for you. 

Let 'em come, im playing keys 😂

[Owen]

4 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Let 'em come, im playing keys 😂

[dave_bass5]

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 🙄

[javi_bassist]

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. 

[dave_bass5]

I can see a difference if I look close enough, but I never thought I needed to. Surprised they managed to print the name on them but I didnt even know it was there until I decide to look for it last night. So the IE100's (clear) are a little less transparent compared to the clear IE400

 

Even worse, she stopped using them about 6 months ago (I didnt know this), because one of he foam tips ripped off and she assumed they were special fits so she brought a £20 set of those nasty Chinese ones (not KZ's), and has been using them. So my IE400's were disgarged. 

 

[Mokl]

Hoping for some advice from those of you who’ve been on the IEM journey that I’m just embarking on.

 

I've come crashing into the 21st century and joined a band with a decent PA setup and who all use IEM. Not having used them before, I consulted this great thread and I’ve sorted myself some LS10 Pros and a P2 headphone amp.

 

Plugging directly into my amp’s DI in my man-cave environment I get a pleasingly useable tone, nicely rounded and defined. 

 

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 realise this may be a mixer setup issue, and last night we briefly played with that (it had a preset tone curve from a previous bass player with mid-scoop), and effectively bypassed any EQ to my ear mix. This didn’t seem to help much, although there was a small improvement. There’s obviously limited scope to experiment in a gig environment.

 

I do have particularly small ear canals (!) but feel like I get a reasonable seal from the IEMs after upgrading to comply foam tips; the guitarist and singer sound great in my ears.  Even so, I guess I’m asking if what I’m experiencing sounds to you experienced folks like inadequacies with the seal or setup of my IEMS, or whether you think it lies in processing of the signal somewhere else between my bass amp’s DI and my IEM? Do you think I would benefit from a different IEM make/model with a different inherent tone? I am planning to go custom moulded at some point next year, but would like to get to a place where I’ve at least some experience and confidence with IEM under my belt before I splash the cash.

 

Thanks in advance and apologies for the small essay!

[JapanAxe]

11 minutes ago, Mokl said:

Hoping for some advice from those of you who’ve been on the IEM journey that I’m just embarking on.

 

I've come crashing into the 21st century and joined a band with a decent PA setup and who all use IEM. Not having used them before, I consulted this great thread and I’ve sorted myself some LS10 Pros and a P2 headphone amp.

 

Plugging directly into my amp’s DI in my man-cave environment I get a pleasingly useable tone, nicely rounded and defined. 

 

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 realise this may be a mixer setup issue, and last night we briefly played with that (it had a preset tone curve from a previous bass player with mid-scoop), and effectively bypassed any EQ to my ear mix. This didn’t seem to help much, although there was a small improvement. There’s obviously limited scope to experiment in a gig environment.

 

I do have particularly small ear canals (!) but feel like I get a reasonable seal from the IEMs after upgrading to comply foam tips; the guitarist and singer sound great in my ears.  Even so, I guess I’m asking if what I’m experiencing sounds to you experienced folks like inadequacies with the seal or setup of my IEMS, or whether you think it lies in processing of the signal somewhere else between my bass amp’s DI and my IEM? Do you think I would benefit from a different IEM make/model with a different inherent tone? I am planning to go custom moulded at some point next year, but would like to get to a place where I’ve at least some experience and confidence with IEM under my belt before I splash the cash.

 

Thanks in advance and apologies for the small essay!

Do you have full control over your own monitor mix, eg via a phone app? My IEM experience was initially poor and hugely variable until I did.

[dave_bass5]

What mixer is it? 

[Mokl]

1 hour ago, dave_bass5 said:

What mixer is it? 

I've just asked, and it's a Behringer XR18 with Mixing Desk app?

 

Mixing Station, I should say..

Edited 1 hour ago by Mokl

[Mokl]

1 hour ago, JapanAxe said:

Do you have full control over your own monitor mix, eg via a phone app? My IEM experience was initially poor and hugely variable until I did.

Not sure at the moment, hoping that might be possible ☺️ 

[dave_bass5]

11 minutes ago, Mokl said:

I've just asked, and it's a Behringer XR18 with Mixing Desk app?

 

Mixing Station, I should say..

Thats what we use. One idea is you could use the built in Amp sim on your channel of the IEM. This gives it a bit of life. My bass player DI's in to ours, and the bass sounds ok to me in my IEM's. Not spectacular, but as its a direct input with nothing as far as FX goes, its a sound I would be happy with if I was were playing bass. 

I'd say if the Guitars are sounding ok (and the drums?) then it could well be the fit of the IEM's or a drastic EQ making you lose the low end. Ive had occasions where my IEM mix has got drowned out by the stage volume and its sound awful, but re seating the IEM's fix it. I get a good fit, but if I shout or smile too much I find the fit can loosen a bit, and that can let too much noise in. 

 

[Mokl]

Thanks for this, bit to think about there. The issue I've had is more a very boomy sound, and the last gig that combined with overly bright treble. 

 

Do you know if there's individual mix control with that app? None of the others seem to use it, but a quick Google suggests that might be a thing.