What types of in-ear monitors has the best frequency response for use with the Kemper?

  • What types of in-ear monitors has the best frequency response for use with the Kemper? I have tried a range of headphones with my Kemper amp because I want to have my band in/on my ears, but the sound is always ultra harsh. It sounds so dead, harsh and sharp with no depth to it.. It really makes me play worse than I normaly do with "amp in the room feel". I am now looking for expensive in-ear monitor systems that professionals use.. I want to have something that works well with the KPA and that gives me good quality sound from the mixer table or FOH. Do you guys have any good suggestions?

  • I wouldn't go throwing money at an expensive IEM set-up and expect miraculous results.

    If you've tried multiple different headphones and they all sound bad, there may be other issues at hand.


    I have a 30yr old set of cheapo Sennheiser eh150 headphones that I bought new for like $100 in the early 90's. The foam pads are so deteriorated that they leave black crap all over my ears after I use them......BUT....they sound so good, that I've never felt the need to upgrade. They translate extremely well to what I hear through my desk monitors and as well as my PA speakers.


    That being said, for live use, I use a Mipro Mi909 system with Westone UM Pro30 IEM's. That is a killer, relatively budget friendly, set-up too.

  • You would actually want headphones or IEMs with a flat oder linear frequency curve, just like studio /, near field monitors.

    Otherwise it will never sound like the actually dialed - in tone you give to the FOH from the outputs.

    If you look at UE I would consider the UE Reference model.

    If you Wanna go with a german brand, choose Vision Ears and go with the VE 3.2 or VE 6X2.

  • The thing is that I now use an AKG Perception 2 headphone, which is supposed to have flat response too. But it sounds horrible.. Space function doesn't do anything else than adding some space, the sound is still terrible on it.. I need to use the in ear from my mixer also, so adding anything extra will result in the audience hearing it too.. Only solution I've found so far is to put on a hard low pass filter to make it sound OK for me, but that sounds bad through the speakers, so it's not really a solution..

  • If the sound is difference through your headphones and your speakers, one of them isn't flat/linear. It's just as easy as that.

    They would sound more or less the same if they were both linear.

  • You have two totally different problems to address.


    One is neutral monitoring for testing rigs and making sure they will translate well to as many live situations as possible.


    The other is getting a monitor sound that works for you personally on stage.

    They are totally independent of each other. While it is tempting to think that the best solution for on stage is very flat/neutral IEM, this isn’t necessarily true. You shouldn’t care whether the IEM are flat and sound like the FOH mix. You only need them to sound good to you.


    IEM are no different than wedge stage monitors. Many of the best hi end wedges are far from flat but have a peak in the range that accentuates vocals and makes it easier for the vocalist to be heard on stage. Unfortunately, that same peak can make guitars sound grating.


    For IEM, I use Shure SE425 with custom moulded sleeves. They aren’t the best IEM out there by any stretch of the imagination but they are very detailed in the mid range where the guitar sits so they make it easy for me to get a monitor mix that lets me hear guitar well. A more neutral IEM doesn’t always sound better. In the same way as an EVM12L isn’t necessarily better than a V30 - they just sound different and some people like one more than the other on stage.


    What does REALLY matter though is fit. Regardless of which brand or model you go for make sure you get them fitted to your own ears rather than using the little rubber or foam seals that come with most lower to mid range models.

  • This is what I'm looking for, some IEM that primarily makes my guitar sound good in to my ears right from the foh mixing table. I don't really care about the sound the audience will hear, because that's the sound engineer job to fix it properly.. Earlier, before I got the Kemper, I had these wedges in front of me on stage, and I think they translated very well! But I can't shake the feeling that even the most expensive IEMs will sound harsh and gritty, and just plain make my guitar playing worse.. I don't know how guitarists are able to use IEMs at all, since those I've tried just plain sucks. I'll admit I only have tried cheap ones here at home, and then the AKG Perception 2 which is supposed to give clear sound, it gives TOO clear sound.. Really really gritty

  • Well, overall I agree with you.

    But I dial my sound the way I like it and I want this exact sound to arrive at the FOH.

    I want the people to hear my tone as I like it and don't quite get. Why you would want the FOH to get a different sound then yourself?


    Of course you can go with other IEMs than linear ones to make it suite you taste a little more.

    But the problem I see is: if I change anything with non-linear IEMs, I won't know how it changes the sound for the FOH.

    If I change anything with linear IEMs, I know it will be the same at the FOH.

    If you never change your sound with IEMs only, feel free to use mid boosted IEMs if it's what you like, but be careful if you wanna change the EQ

  • I want the people to hear my tone as I like it and don't quite get. Why you would want the FOH to get a different sound then yourself?

    because the problem on stage is trying to hear yourself rather than hearing a perfect mix as the audience hears it. Having spend 25+ years in a band with a horn section I can tell you that those buggers don’t care what the audience hear they just want to themselves, then more of themselves, then EVEN more of themselves. It got to the point where their monitors were so loud they were interfering with the FOH mix and they still complained they could hear enough of them over the band. At the same time the band couldn’t hear anything but horns. For me to get a sound that lets me hear myself requires my sound to cut through the stage noise. That might not be the sound I want the audience to hear. Admittedly this was mainly in the bad old days when I was relying on a guitar cabinet to hear myself on stage. In Ear Monitoring massively improves the situation but the basic issue remains the same; a sound that allows a guitarist to hear their self in a busy live mix isn’t always the best sound to blend into the audience mix. This is also one of the main reasons the monitor output on the Kemper has independent tone controls from the main outs.

  • Ah ok, now I know what you mean.

    I should have said: my tone is usually a tone that fits and cuts a mix pretty well.

    In my monitor mix i boost the volume of my guitar a little and I'm fine.


    Funny thing is:I'm a teumpet player myself and yes, we do like to hear ourselves :D

    But I also need to hear to other horns and the base.

    If I could not hear myself and the mentioned others I would not be able to intonate well enough. It's not just blowing air and pressing valves :)

  • Funny thing is:I'm a teumpet player myself and yes, we do like to hear ourselves :D

    But I also need to hear to other horns and the base.

    If I could not hear myself and the mentioned others I would not be able to intonate well enough.

    Bloody trumpet players. You just can't get away from the buggers. Is there a conspirace where you guys get together and stalk me :P


    The hearing other players is part of the trouble with brass players too.


    "I can't hear myself turn me up". Monitor engineer does so.


    "I can't hear the Bone now turn it up."


    "I need more Sax could you turn it up"


    "Now I can't hear me could you turn me up some more."


    Then the Sax player says "I can't hear me could you turn me up please"...................


    It finally gets to the point where the whole horn section are so loud they all say "We need to hear the vocals to know where we are (in our case the singers would often change the structure on the spot adding in add lib and audience sections). Could you give us more Vocals in the monitors please."


    Eventually we would end up with the horns saying We need more drums we can't hear drums. At the end of the gig they would moan about the stage volume being so loud they are damaging their hearing whey can't the back line turn down :wacko::wacko::wacko:


    Volume is one part of it (just turning up the guitar) but you can easily then find it drowns out something else. Concentrating on finding frequencies that cut through better is often more effective than raising volume.

  • We use a Behringer X32 rack for out IEM mixes. This gives us a dedicated EQ for each IEM bus so I can get a decent sound. I still hate it though :).


    If you have the same possibility use the looper to record something so your hands are free to tweak until it sounds best. Or even better: use the virtual sound check feature to tweak in the context of the full band.

    Kemper PowerRack |Kemper Stage| Rivera 4x12 V30 cab | Yamaha DXR10 pair | UA Apollo Twin Duo | Adam A7X | Cubase DAW
    Fender Telecaster 62 re-issue chambered mahogany | Kramer! (1988 or so...) | Gibson Les Paul R7 | Fender Stratocaster HBS-1 Classic Relic Custom Shop | LTD EC-1000 Evertune | 1988 Desert Yellow JEM

  • I agree with Wheresthedug . The 425 iem suit guitar nicely.

    I tried our keyboardists expensive iem with ultra highs and lows and they sound great for full range music playback but the narrower response of the 425 suit the guitar sound, in my opinion.

    Also, there is often enough low frequency spilling across the stage that i prefer the “band mix” to have a hpf of 100-150hz and have it compressed so it doesn’t override the guitar sound.

    Use your iem as earplugs to notice what gets blocked out (ie with them unplugged) and what still can be heard, typically low freq stuff, which you then dont need much of feeding to your iem.

    Also transients from kick drum and other louder sounds can suck up your headroom, hence the suggestion to compress or limit the guitar-less-audio coming into your ears.


    If theres anyway you can at least have the kpa stereo sound in your ears it will add a bit more depth and sense of space, as mentioned by DonPetersen


    I think its wise to have a limiter too to avoid damaging your ears, especially if someone else has the ability to (accidentally) feed you excessive levels

  • Many good advice here guys! I have found a local high end shop that molds in-ear for my spesific ears.. I have also been adviced by the local audio shop here to go for the SHURE PSM900, maybe this one has it's own limiter in it slateboy ?


    My local in-ear molding company is also selling their own for quite the price here: https://translate.google.com/t…antek.no/in-ear-monitors/


    The five-element one going for about USD 1288,-.. I'm torn when it comes to the element itself, if I should go for the cheaper one that Wheresthedug uses or if I should go for expensive ones with many elements in them (for more control?).

  • The PSM900 does have an in built limiter. I believe it is a top notch piece of kit. I have the much more basic PSM300 which works well enough for my needs but if you can stretch to something higher up the range I am sure you won’t be disappointed.


    As for the actual headphones themselves it is very much a case of personal taste rather than best. Its like studio monitors, more money generally buys you better performance but once you get to similar budget ranges users can’t agree on best. Some people like Adam, others Genelec, others.............it is very subjective.


    Unfortunately it is difficult to test in ears due to hygiene issues so you have to take a chance to a certain extent.

  • The PSM900 does have an in built limiter. I believe it is a top notch piece of kit. I have the much more basic PSM300 which works well enough for my needs but if you can stretch to something higher up the range I am sure you won’t be disappointed.


    As for the actual headphones themselves it is very much a case of personal taste rather than best. Its like studio monitors, more money generally buys you better performance but once you get to similar budget ranges users can’t agree on best. Some people like Adam, others Genelec, others.............it is very subjective.


    Unfortunately it is difficult to test in ears due to hygiene issues so you have to take a chance to a certain extent.

    Hmm this makes it extremely difficult for me. One cannot just try out in-ears, since they are very personal equipment. It would in worst case scenario end up spending tonnes of money on many different pieces until one can find a set that fits.. Makes it hard for me to choose the right equipment on first try

  • Maybe tryout the KZ models?


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    They review (and sound!) pretty good and cost next to nothing.

    Kemper PowerRack |Kemper Stage| Rivera 4x12 V30 cab | Yamaha DXR10 pair | UA Apollo Twin Duo | Adam A7X | Cubase DAW
    Fender Telecaster 62 re-issue chambered mahogany | Kramer! (1988 or so...) | Gibson Les Paul R7 | Fender Stratocaster HBS-1 Classic Relic Custom Shop | LTD EC-1000 Evertune | 1988 Desert Yellow JEM

    Edited once, last by musicmad ().

  • I'm thinking that there is a reason why they are so cheap. I'm not looking in to cheap options, unless many people can testify that these are good. Often YT reviews are paid reviews.. And like said earlier here that some in-ears can be good for someone and bad for others. I'm not sure how to go about this