IEM - Pros & Cons, vibe wise.

    Are there any guitarists, using backing tracks, using IEM?
    At present I am involved in a duo who are going to be using tracks. Live wise we will have a backing track, two vocals, & a guitar & bass.
    I’m just wondering what kind of onstage vibe you’re getting, as opposed to getting the thump and power from a floor monitor.
    Is anyone already doing this, who has a valid view?

    One of the bands I play in we use tracks a lot. The click and audio cues are panned hard left and the audio is panned hard right. The audio tracks are all converted to dual mono tracks and run from Logic Pro x so we can balance the instruments as needed. House sound is mono. Each musician has an iPad and we can balance out instrument to the track and other live instruments and vocals. I use the Weston AM30 (I believe) that allows some stage audio to come in. They are great for IEM which is the intended use but make poor headphones as when I use them outdoors the wind can make a lot of extraneous noise through the hole. As we play at the same location, we have an audience mic that provides some ambient sound and that worked well for me and other band members who use Shure IEMs (415?). Apart from the wedge for the vocalist and the acoustic drums and guitar, the stage is silent. The flexibility of dialing in my sound and saving my hearing outweigh the benefits of “thump and power.” Also makes mixing the house sound a lot easier for the sound guy (we can almost set it and forget it now).