IEM Mixing Issue

[jguitarguy27]

Last night my band played at a club that we usually play at once a month. This time around, we wanted to use our new In Ear Monitors rather than the wedges. Due to there being only two monitor mixes off the board, and us preferring three separate mixes, it wouldn't have been practical to set up our IEMs that night, so we just used the wedges.

 

In any case, the sound guy there told me about what another band does for their IEMs (they're a 9-piece horn band, and each member has their own IEM). Apparently they use some kind of XLR snake and take care of their own monitor mixes on stage, while sending each individual mic signal to the main stage snake.

 

I guess what I am imagining is some kind of mixer or snake that has XLR direct outs for each channel, as well as aux sends on each channel. These aux sends would then be sent to the IEM transmixers. So then the direct outs off this "imaginary" snake/mixer would get sent to the main snake, so that the main snake would still have each individual mic feed.

 

Is there something I'm missing here? Because I don't see how this setup is possible seeing as I cannot find a product like this.

 

Ultimately, we want to be able to control our monitor mix on stage, while still providing the main stage snake with all the mics as if they were plugged directly into it.

 

I should note that my band is a 4-piece. We share 3 mixes amongst us (drummer has his own wired mix, bass player and rhythm guitarist share a wireless mix, and I have my own wireless mix)

 

Hope you can help!

 

[B. Adams]

You can do it either with a splitter snake, or with one of the several monitor mixers out there with parallel XLR outputs on each channel. Either way you need a tail to get to the main stage box.

 

I'd suggest one of Mark's Split snakes.

 

If you want built-in splits, you could look at something like a Crest XRM or an A&H Mix Wiz 12M. There are a lot of other console choices too, the APB mixer is like a better version of the XRM, and there are several larger frame consoles with splits as well. If you don't need the built-in split, you can use any mixer you prefer.

 

Either way, you plug your mics in to your snake, and your system is already set up for your ears. Then you just run a tail over to the main snake and let the FOH guy do his thing. It's a whole lot easier than mixing the ears from FOH each time, and you can change it any time you want. If you have a board with a built-in split, you just run a fan to fan snake from the split output over to the main snake. It's your responsibility to get your signal to the snake, don't expect the house to have a split for you, or to run a couple dozen induvidual cables from your split to their snake.

 

In any case, the sound guy was right, having your own mixer is definitely the best way to do IEM's. It also helps to carry your own mics (if you're not already). You can get away with asking for standard mics for certain things, (like if you don't want to carry any SM57's or 58's), but it helps to have your own mics to keep your mixes consistant. You need to carry anything that's not a "normal" mic, even if it's something that they "should" have anyway. Everybody should have 57's and 58's, but they might not have 87's or 98's. Don't expect anybody to have any off-brand stuff, even if it's just something like an e609. You should also have your own stands, but again, you can get away with only carrying "special" stands if you're willing to use the sound company's stands. I'd suggest carrying your on short stands and maybe your lead vocalists stand, especially if he's picky. You can their cables, unless you need something special. It's a good idea to have your own drum cables, but all the normal stuff should be fine. Of course, it's ideal if you want to carry everything you need, and the sound guys will love you for it.

[agedhorse]

Also consider the Aviom and Hearback Technologies solutions.

[jguitarguy27]

Thanks for the fast responses. Considering our limited budget, getting a splitter snake in conjunction with a mixer sounds like the way to go for us. I already have a bunch of different mixers for the job. I also have a large whirlwind snake that I never use that I could sell, so in essence I would have to put for very little or no extra money. Great!

[bassred]

THe aviom and Hearback systems take a direct out from each channel and route that to a hub that sends the signals through a cat5 cable to the individual mixers.. I use the hearback system at church, only gives you 8 channels to play with, but it's way better than dealing with a bad mix! THe aviom gives you 16 channels to play with and EQ and some other nice features, but costs a lot more.

[agedhorse]

I'm sure I have seen 16 channel hearback systems...

[bassred]

The Hearback by hear industries? I've only seen the 8 ch. version myself. the Aviom is 16. On ther website they only show mixers with 8 channels, but they have a 16 ch adat option, I'm just not sure how that goes.

[agedhorse]

http://www.heartechnologies.com/mb/mixback.htm

[bassred]

Ah, I have seen that, but i seems like you'd be just as well off budgeting for any other monitor board.... except it's made by the same comapny.. my bad.