Help me complete my IEM rig (I actually have a budget this time...)

[jrm27]

Hey friends:

 

You have all been so helpful in my search for an in-ear rig and I've pieced something semi-useful together for my band, but actually we now have a budget and I want to do it right! Here is what I have currently...

 

1. Allen / Heath MIx Wiz 16dx

2. EAW Splitter Snake (Thanks Mark!)

3. Sennheiser ew300 IEM with two packs. First Generation... not G@ (I run them in Focus mode so that I can send two unique mixes from one transmitter... one to each pack in mono)

4. Rolls personal monitor amp (for our drummer)

5. We all are using custom molded Westone IEM.

 

Currently I have a budget of about 4k to rework this. I'd like to get all of us (there are 4 musicians) on wireless packs. I know the drummer could stay hardwired, so that is something I am entertaining as well. I also wouldn't mind some outboard compression/limiting that I could apply to the mixes to protect us from when the drummer starts to get a little too excited.

 

But, I am still a noob trying to figure out what to do. What would you do? Thanks!

 

-jon

[Special J]

Hey Jon,

Welcome to the wonderful world of in-ear monitoring. The easiest thing to do is to add another transmitter and 2 recievers to your rig, so that everyone has their own mix. Your in-ear receivers should have limiters built in to keep you from going deaf. We use some comps on the individual drums though, as he's a pretty heavy hitter. We use a digital console, so no outboard needed. Keep in mind that the headphone amp you're planning on using for the drummer has no limiting, so he has 0 protection right now. When I was playing drums, I found that both typical in-ear packs and headphone amplifiers did not have the low end response I was seeking, so I used an old BGW 100 watt amp with a headphone out for my power, and had a limiter in line, as well as a little belt clip volume control from future sonics. It was a great rig. It sounds like you've got the right idea going and some good gear to start.

[jrm27]

Yeah, it is not cool that our drummer doesn't have a limiter... that could be a big problem if something were to go terribly bad. I'm thinking the easiest solution is to sell our current sennheisers and pick up two sets of Sennheiser G2 and 4 belt packs. Since we are running mono, all the guys should be able to get their own mix then. That alone will run us about 3k though (if I am pricing things correctly). $950 per transmitter and $500 per extra receiver...Expensive!

[Zeromus-X]

Let me just go ahead and say I don't know if you need rider-friendly or anything, but I've yet to have a single problem with my Galaxy IEM system (the AS-1000 Anyspot). $500 for the system, it's wired or wireless, stereo or mono, add another $100-$200 for some great earbuds and you'll be way under budget. They have built-in hard limiters, something like 81 channels, shouldn't be directly affected by the FCC's redistribution of frequencies, and aren't bad on batteries.

 

I've yet to find a downside to them, assuming you replace the stock earbuds, which are akin to listening to your band through a vintage telephone handset.

 

I play 2-4 nights a week and use it at most shows (I don't bother when a monitor rig is provided by the festival/venue, since most mixing guys tend to not know how to mix with IEMs and I don't want to risk it), and I'm at zero failures.