IEM tips?

    Been running Iems for years now and overall I'm happy since my ears don't ring anymore! However, I wish I could get my guitar to sound in my ears like it does FOH, which sounds great. I know upgrading my buds would help (I use sure scl5s) but are there any other steps I could take to warm the tone up?


    Currently I'm using a Kemper live direct to FOH and the tone is really good. It's not what I'm hearing in my ears though. What sounds warm out front or even on my MAudio home monitors, sounds very different and sterile in my ears. Are there any eq'ing tips I could try? In my ears, no matter what amp I've used over the years, sounds like a low level line 6 amp tone...you know that razor blade sound! I'm the type of player that definitely plays a lot better when I like what I hear.


    The system I'm using is a shure psm200. Not the greatest but it's all I have. I usually only take one channel from the sound guy and have him give me what I need but I want to try running the Kemper into the 2nd channel so I can control my own guitar volume. I tried it at home and same problem....sterile..complete opposite of what comes through my monitors. The Kemper does have separate outputs with separate eqs though.


    Any tips are appreciated!

    I'm pretty happy with my JTS IE6, which are cheaper but in my opinion the sound acceptable. Way better than my old Shure E2, which were disgusting.
    Question: when you are using IEM, are you using a real monitor too? In my experience it improves the bass and the body of the overall sound, influencing what you ear in your IEMs too.


    My suggestions, in case you are having this problems even if you use a real monitor with your iems, are:
    1) try a little mixer with some good preamp and an EQ, maybe you are having some troubles because of the low aux level with the gain turned up in you wireless unit;
    2) buy some custom molded IEMS. My drummer uses 1964 ears and he's very happy with them. I eared good things from alien ears too. Here in Europe custom molded IEMS cost too much for my pocket.

    The Alien ears are pretty reasonable in cost and he gives you a money back guarantee, even on the custom molded buds he sells.
    Upgrading to better buds is probably going to help the most.


    Having the exact same issue. Thinking about saying screw it, toss the IEM buds and use my Grado's...Paul Gilbert style... :D

    I ran a couple of tests today at home...


    First I ran the main out to channel 1 of my iem...this is the feed I give to FOH. I put a little in my ears and sure enough, sterile and shrill sounding.


    Then I ran monitor out to channel 2 of my IEM and adjusted the monitor out eq to remove some treble and presence. It did seem to help a bit but not much...still better than what I had.


    Lastly, I ran the monitor out to a Marshall Haze 15 112 combo and threw an sm57 in front of it...but not on the speaker cone like most people do. I backed it off about 2 feet to let the full scope of the sound affect the mic. I ran the mic into channel 2 of my IEM and this seemed better than the direct sound with the monitor out. Not perfect, but again, better than what I had. I may try this setup at my casino gig next weekend.


    Blending the FOH feed with a 2nd feed to my IEM makes the sound a little more bearable in the ears.

    My guess is your direct IEM monitoring is shrill because you have setup your rigs to sound good through the combo amp. The combo alters the tone and your rigs are tweaked to compensate. Now your direct tones have too much treble.


    This is one of the issues when not using FRFS monitoring. What you hear isn't what you get going to FOH.


    bd

    Quote from musicman65

    My guess is your direct IEM monitoring is shrill because you have setup your rigs to sound good through the combo amp. The combo alters the tone and your rigs are tweaked to compensate. Now your direct tones have too much treble.


    This is one of the issues when not using FRFS monitoring. What you hear isn't what you get going to FOH.


    bd


    Actually, my direct to FOH tone is great and sounds nothing like what is in my ears if you read the opening post. I don't use the combo usually. I also have a great sound through my home maudio monitors. i think the problem is cramming all that sound into a tiny ear bud...there's only so much they can handle tonally. They're also pushed up against your ears whereas the FOH and monitors aren't.

    Yeah, what you are missing is the sound of the room and the pushing of air by the speakers combined. I use IEM and have learned to deal with it to some extent. I send the monitor out to a mixer, then to the IEMs so I can EQ if needed. The quality of the buds really affects what you hear as well.


    I have just kind of tweaked my profiles a little so that I'm using some that sound great through the monitors/PA and still sound pleasing through the IEMs. With so many to choose from, it wasn't too tough. YMMV


    If it makes you feel any better, I had the same issue with my real amps. It just won't sound the same in the end but, to me it's worth not damaging my hearing and being able to hear myself and the other band members consistently.


    J