IEM's sound horible

  • Cheap earbuds are not made to play at the spl levels needed. Even molded buds only blocks out 25db of ambient sound. This means that eventhough we might not be aware of it, we play much louder in earbuds when on stage, than if just walking the dog.


    So no, cheapo socalled iem (everyone will call even the cheapest of earbuds an iem) just wont do. They will crap out and sound terrible, because they are being maxed out. There is a reason companies like Ultimate Ears and Vision Ears excist.


    Add to that, that there is a pretty big difference in what sounds good on an entire mix playing from your mp3 player, and what feels comfortable for a guitar sound. The most hifi sounding buds are not very suited for guitar playing. You need more rounded highs and smoother mids for that.

    And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

    Edited 2 times, last by Kim_Olesen ().

  • This is not a post intended to fall on the OP as a ton of bricks, but rather an observation and words of wonder, based on collegues and countless forum/social media posts.


    Why do people buy an expensive guitar, expensive Kemper/Fractal etc, and then when it comes to the equally important thing, how they are going to hear what they are playing, buy the cheapest wireless iem system and iem they can get. It baffles me to no end.


    How we hear ourself is TREMENDOUSLY important. It’s NOT a place to be saving money. Buy a cheaper lawnmover instead LOL.

    A valuable lesson learned.


    To explain my situation. I recently got back into the band situation after a very long time away from it. This is the first time I've ever used in- ears. I was told by a friend that the KZ Pro's were a descent starter set. I found out the hard way, at least for my sound, they are not.


    I'm buying some Ultimate Ears.

  • A valuable lesson learned.


    To explain my situation. I recently got back into the band situation after a very long time away from it. This is the first time I've ever used in- ears. I was told by a friend that the KZ Pro's were a descent starter set. I found out the hard way, at least for my sound, they are not.


    I'm buying some Ultimate Ears.

    Sounds good. Please report back if possible.

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  • A valuable lesson learned.


    To explain my situation. I recently got back into the band situation after a very long time away from it. This is the first time I've ever used in- ears. I was told by a friend that the KZ Pro's were a descent starter set. I found out the hard way, at least for my sound, they are not.


    I'm buying some Ultimate Ears.

    It takes some time getting used to. After 15 years using iem (costum molded UE7, or 6 can’t remember, during the last 7 years) i still feel tempted to play without, because the kick is different without. But i also know that my hearing will be affected for days, if i fall for the urge.


    A word of advice. Remember that the point of iem is to get the level of “abuse” to your ears down. So instead of just getting a perfect studio mix in your ears, that you then play crazy loud in order to drown out the drums etc that you can hear from all the ambient bleed, consider just putting your guitar and vocals in them. And then the band (and drums in particular) will be quieter, but usually not too quiet, while you can hear yourself more clearly. It’s like using them as enhanced earplugs. This applies most to small stages ofcourse. The larger the stage, the more you’ll need of the others.


    The dangers in iem, is that because you are close to the source of the sound, you don’t really have a sense of how loud you punish your eardrums.


    Now we’re at it: NEVER play with just one in. You will try to drown out the stage volume coming into the other ear. And that means playing excessively loud, directly into your ear. You can damage your hearing within a short time.


    Also consider that it might be a good idea to be in control of your own levels, and then just have an aux feed from the foh mixer of what you need to hear, but excluding yourself (because you mix yourself into that feed). Look at the picture of my rig, that is what the rack mixer in the top case does). I take care of my guitar and vocals myself, and thus never have to ask for “more me in the monitors”. And should the feed from the foh fail, or the soundguy be clueless, at least you can hear yourself in the iem, and the rest via the inevitable ambient leak.



    Because, after all, you’ll still want to be able to hear what people say to you when you are 80 years old.

  • Cheap earbuds are not made to play at the spl levels needed. Even molded buds only blocks out 25db of ambient sound. This means that eventhough we might not be aware of it, we play much louder in earbuds when on stage, than if just walking the dog.


    So no, cheapo socalled iem (everyone will call even the cheapest of earbuds an iem) just wont do. They will crap out and sound terrible, because they are being maxed out. There is a reason companies like Ultimate Ears and Vision Ears excist.


    Add to that, that there is a pretty big difference in what sounds good on an entire mix playing from your mp3 player, and what feels comfortable for a guitar sound. The most hifi sounding buds are not very suited for guitar playing. You need more rounded highs and smoother mids for that.

    I agree with everything you have said here. As soon as a company has a design that has the smallest difference to all the others, they jack the price up. It is mostly marketing. It still may not cost any more to make. So the prices go up exponentially once you get away from the pack.


    My point was people tend to try the cheaper models knowing these facts. And for some people, this works out fine. And some people want a specific thing and are willing to pay for it.


    The real problem is also the fact that sound is impossible to define. What sounds good to one is not good to another. That is what is great about forums is most people have several headphones and you can at least compare the ones you own or know what they sound like and get a good reference point.

  • I agree with everything you have said here. As soon as a company has a design that has the smallest difference to all the others, they jack the price up. It is mostly marketing. It still may not cost any more to make. So the prices go up exponentially once you get away from the pack.


    My point was people tend to try the cheaper models knowing these facts. And for some people, this works out fine. And some people want a specific thing and are willing to pay for it.


    The real problem is also the fact that sound is impossible to define. What sounds good to one is not good to another. That is what is great about forums is most people have several headphones and you can at least compare the ones you own or know what they sound like and get a good reference point.

    Yeah agree 100%. Good sound is ofcourse not really something you can be objective about.


    A niche product, as this is….yeah, jacked in price. Finding a compromise between price and what is acceptable is so hard.


    To the OP: If you tried someone elses iem and you liked them, then you found what works for you. Buy that. (Just check that they sound good when played loud too ofcourse, so they don’t give in at the levels you need)

    And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

  • trcsooner Need to make sure you see this:


    If you tried a set of iem that you liked, look no further. Buy a set of those. Who knows, you might not like the Ultimate Ears ones.

    And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

  • Having used IEM's on and off for a few years, just want to emphasize some of the points made here:


    1) Most of the sound quality is the ear buds. So when people talk about expensive IEM's, they mainly mean the ear buds. The IEM systems themselves I have found are much of a muchness.

    2) Personally I prefer a full band mix. Its much easier to play and hear yourself in the context of the band

    3) Never play with one in and one out - it will damage your ears more than both out. It means your mix is wrong. Sort the mix.

    4) Put aside time in soundcheck for IEM's.

    5) Pro level IEMs/earbuds cost that much for a reason.

    6) You have to accept that IEMS are never going to give you the live "thump" that you get standing 5 ft from a fully cranked plexi. Also regardless of ambient mikes, you still fell isolated. But the benefits are massive, not least your hearing, but being able to hear all instruments properly means you play better as well.

  • Here is my experience.


    I use westone AM pro 20. AM means ambiance, it attenuate the sound but you can still ear what's happening outside.


    I plug them in headphones out with only my guitar. I can hear the mix from FOH or singer monitor.

    Sometimes, I also get a mix in kemper aux input and adjust my guitar volume through the kemper.


    Regarding harsh sound, high cut filter is my new friend since I discovered this powerful tool.

  • I have been using recently IEM and it took some time to get used to (rehearsing all my life on PA systems). There is definetely a big difference. The thing that i instantly noticed was that my guitar tone although it sounded good on the PA, on my ear buds (Shure SE215) sounded really harsh on the top end, and way too much gain. We are using a XR18 for monitoring and in the beginning i was eq'ing on the mixer but later i noticed that if i would want a full control on the frequency range of my tone in my ears in different live situations where i don't bring the XR18, i tend to use the main outputs for the FOH and my monitor out for the IEM because i can dial my IEM without affecting the foh tones. And of course i cut the presence and treble and boost the mids

  • I also use theShure 215SE model. My lead singer is an audiologist and made me custom molds. Not happy with the harshness. During rehearsal I use a set of over the ear Sony MDR 75 and I really like its sound as it’s a fairly flat sound. Many studio engineers use them for their so-called neutrality. Could anybody recommend a set of higher End IEMs that sounds a lot like the Sony MDR75s?

  • Last night, as a result of the drummer moving to an electric kit, we have all decided to move to IEM's, resulting in a silent on stage! Spooky!


    As a result, I got to break out my IEM set and various ear buds.


    The drummer was using over the ear headphones and even with my Westone WD30's ( triple driver, reasonable quality buds) they are not as good as his over the ear. As a result I suspect you may never get as good as over ears due to the physical size of the drivers etc. Someone else may counter this..


    I have also used SE215's and just don't like them. My Westone UM 10's to me are way better.


    He also tried my AZ10's - and like me thought they were very harsh.


    So I'm now on the hunt for upgrading my buds, and starting to look at custom buds, but they are so expensive. The point here is that the ear buds are the key to iem's and there are few shortcuts. You generally have to spend a reasonable wedge...

  • I also use theShure 215SE model. My lead singer is an audiologist and made me custom molds. Not happy with the harshness. During rehearsal I use a set of over the ear Sony MDR 75 and I really like its sound as it’s a fairly flat sound. Many studio engineers use them for their so-called neutrality. Could anybody recommend a set of higher End IEMs that sounds a lot like the Sony MDR75s?

    your Nick suggests that you are from the netherlands - if this is the case, you could talk to vision ears in cologne/germany. They sent a few universal test buds to me and me and the othets in our band could try then during rehersal and a gig. Afterwards, everyone made a decision wether to buy and which model. Of course custom molds translate a little different than universal plugs, but it was a good starting point doing it that way.

  • As i said earlier. More drivers (aka more hifi) does not necesarily translate to better guitar sound. Better have better guitarsound and (slightly) lesser experience of the full mix. The leakage from the stage will ruin the hifi sound anyway.


    The passive frequency divider circuits in the buds can have adverse effects on the guitar sound. Great for keyboard players and vocalists, but not always for guitars.

    And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

  • As i said earlier. More drivers (aka more hifi) does not necesarily translate to better guitar sound. Better have better guitarsound and (slightly) lesser experience of the full mix. The leakage from the stage will ruin the hifi sound anyway.


    The passive frequency divider circuits in the buds can have adverse effects on the guitar sound. Great for keyboard players and vocalists, but not always for guitars.

    If your guitar sound isn't the same in the IEM's, headphones & your studio monitors,(mine is also good in my1x12 with kemper kone) you don't have the right IEM's. My guitar tone is consistent throughout, and I am confident in changing settings if needed in any of those listening environments.

  • If your drummer is using a wireless system, since he is stationary have him switch over to a wired headphone amp. A good one. Not the 50$ Behringer. But something like the PreSonus HP2 Headphone Amplifier, and up. The difference between that and a wireless system is night and day. I suggested it to our drummer & he got it. I am jealous. It sounds amazing so big and full, & he has 2500$ custom IEM's.


    I have custom-molded 64audio Iem's. I do have a pair of the kz AS10's, "S," not "Z" 10's and they sound pretty good. They are a bit harsh in the top end compared to the 64audio ones, but in a pinch, they'll get me through a gig if I need them. When I got those a few years ago, the reviews were saying the "s" was better than the "Z" but I don't know I just have the "s."


    If you don't have custom IEM's you need to use the foam tips. You need to be isolated to get proper low end. If you are going to get custom IEM's. If you will continue to be a musician you should. Do not cheap out. You will regret it. I'll suggest 64Audio A6's great mid for your guitar tone. But do your research.