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

[Chienmortbb]

21 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

We do the small venues too and didn't have a problems. However we went to 5.8 in the first place was I used to use the internal router on the X18. As soon as I turned the XVive U4 on, there was no X18 connection. You could have one or the other, so I had to go to a an external 5.8 router.

I had a similar experience, the guitarist turned on is new Wireless system and the mixer disappeared. 

 

One of the problems with 2.4GHz is that, as well as the overuse of the band, Wi-Fi channels overlap. 5.8GHz do not, having a guard band between channels. To avoid any issues, you should also do a scan using your phone. iPhone and iPad have a utility called Airport Utility that allows you to see any close networks. Also, you must secure your network AND hide the SSID.

[Chienmortbb]

On 06/01/2026 at 12:43, TimR said:

Yes. I guess one problem with WiFi is people having their phones searching for SSIDs all the time. Latching onto your transmitter and trying to see if they can connect. 

Hide the SSID?

 

[dave_bass5]

33 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said:

Hide the SSID?

 

Yep, thats why I already do. Everyone in the band has our network(s) already set in their phones (not that most use it). 

[Buddster]

2 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

Hide the SSID?

 

I tried to hide it, but ended up going to the clinic 

[Muzz]

Just for the record, our BL did a recap of 2025, and we did 56 gigs (I also did, IIRC, 8-10 gigs with other bands), and looking at dates, 42 of them were with the Lekato MS-02 system. Probably a dozen rehearsals, too. No dropouts, no issues, most gigs they're switched on for about three hours from start of soundcheck to inevitable encores, no battery life issues. I may have been lucky, but I'm stil rolling with the MS-02s, especially for the money. Still running in mono, mainly because the BL won't cluster two channels to one out of his XR-18 to give me a stereo feed.

[Woodinblack]

46 minutes ago, Muzz said:

 42 of them were with the Lekato MS-02 system. Probably a dozen rehearsals, too. No dropouts, no issues, most gigs they're switched on for about three hours from start of soundcheck to inevitable encores, no battery life issues.

 

I have never actually ever had a problem with the MS-02, just they feel a bit flakey, and on mine the power button is not the best (it works, but its like if you push it too much it goes off again). I think they are a great system for the price (wish the stereo / mono and on/off buttons were further apart!) and I will keep them as a backup

 

46 minutes ago, Muzz said:

Still running in mono, mainly because the BL won't cluster two channels to one out of his XR-18 to give me a stereo feed.

 

My channels aren't linked, I never got round to it, I just use 5 and 6 as a pair, and set them manually as I want them. 

[dave_bass5]

Good to hear the MS-02 is up to gigs. I got my singer a set for Christmas. When we set them up at home with the XR18 in stereo, running a virtual soundcheck from the recoding of the last gig, she said ‘and whats the difference from my U4?’ 🙄
We did notice a bit of cutting out as she was handling it. Not signal as such, it seemed the output jack was a bit cutting out. We were using headphones with a chunky jack so i put it down to that. 

Edited 9 hours ago by dave_bass5

[dave_bass5]

1 hour ago, Muzz said:

Still running in mono, mainly because the BL won't cluster two channels to one out of his XR-18 to give me a stereo feed.

Can you not do it yourself in whatever app you are using, or do you mean he doesn’t want it done?

[Al Krow]

22 hours ago, javi_bassist said:

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. 

 

Thanks for pointing out the mixed Thomann reviews of the Swiff WX520 - very helpful. Given I've just recommended the unit to our singer, for whom it will be a significant outlay, I've had a read through (and pulled the reviews together in English translation in the attached note, in case of use for anyone else). I found the review by a chap called Jonz particularly good. He very helpfully listed the pros and cons and was obviously loving it, until it broke after 6 months! Shame.

Swiff Audio WX520 - Thomann Reviews.pdf

Edited 8 hours ago by Al Krow

[Al Krow]

3 hours ago, Muzz said:

Just for the record, our BL did a recap of 2025, and we did 56 gigs (I also did, IIRC, 8-10 gigs with other bands), and looking at dates, 42 of them were with the Lekato MS-02 system. Probably a dozen rehearsals, too. No dropouts, no issues, most gigs they're switched on for about three hours from start of soundcheck to inevitable encores, no battery life issues. I may have been lucky, but I'm stil rolling with the MS-02s, especially for the money. Still running in mono, mainly because the BL won't cluster two channels to one out of his XR-18 to give me a stereo feed.

 

That's a very tidy haul, Muzz - congrats! (And hopefully you're not about to tell me that bookings were down 40% and it was actually a really crap year for you guys!)

 

Are you guys doing a mixture of pub and function work or predominantly doing one or the other?

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

 I found the review by a chap called Jonz particularly good. He very helpfully listed the pros and cons and was obviously loving it, until it broke after 6 months! Shame.

 

Thats not ideal, my U4 took 13 months to break (ie, just outside waranty)!

[Al Krow]

56 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

That's not ideal, my U4 took 13 months to break (ie, just outside waranty)!

 

Interestingly, the U45 has had superb reviews on Thomann:

Xvive U45 4.9★ (28 reviews)

Swiff WX520 3.8★ (21 reviews)

 

and the older U4 which has been around the block a fair bit longer:

Xvive U4 4.5★ (361 reviews)

[dave_bass5]

My wife’s U4 had to be exchanged within a month or so IIR. She has had the replacement quite a while now and it’s been fine.