IEMs ....what's a decent entry model?

PolarityMan

Thinking about getting some IEMs with custom moulds. What's good at the entry level side of the market?

monquixote

I find you can't go wrong with whichever set of Shure meets your budget.

firepaulmusic

I just received my 64 Audio A3 custom moulds. Around £700 all in including having the impressions done. They sound fabulous, really full and detailed. No bleed in from the on stage sound which is important.

PolarityMan

Having researched a bit more to most people use a standard IEM model and just get custom tips separately?

Danny1969

Most people I know use standard Shure's, like SE215 or 315's ...... I do know a couple of guys on big money ears but only a couple.

The trouble with IEM's is generally the affordable receivers are shit, they hiss, they make strange radio interference noise and the built in amp is not great due to having very little power and tiny coupling caps. I tried an LD systems model the other day and couldn't believe someone could sell something so poor in terms of noise .... it was unusable in stereo mode and mono wasn't exactly stella. Likewise the Thoman T Bones units. We do have a couple of Sennheiser units which are very good but they cost a fortune, one was £650 odd. 
The above is why I built my own unit, I was an early adapter of IEM's and I kept at it until it sounded amazing, I wasn't willing to listen to any radio interference, amp hiss or shit fidelity. 
So unfortunately investing in good ear pieces is only have the battle. You still need a great transmitter and receiver ... and of course to fully enjoy it properly you need a STEREO send ..... I can't stress that enough, having to endure a mono IEM feed is barbaric and an infringement to basic human rights  

To begin with just try some Shures and use a hard wired cable, basically 2 (for stereo) jacks or XLR's to a 3.5mm female cable.. then you can see how you will get on with them without spending big bucks. Some of the guys I know just tape such a cable to their guitar cable, it's cheap, it works and it doesn't require batteries 

monquixote

Agree with everything Danny said.

I do the same

olafgarten

If the IEM Feed can get to your Pedalboard you can get a TRRS Jack fitted to your guitar and route the IEM signal through that, just split it out at the other end. Then plug your IEM's into another jack on your guitar. A friend of mine did that on his partscaster.

Danny1969

olafgarten said:

If the IEM Feed can get to your Pedalboard you can get a TRRS Jack fitted to your guitar and route the IEM signal through that, just split it out at the other end. Then plug your IEM's into another jack on your guitar. A friend of mine did that on his partscaster.

That will only work for a mono IEM feed as the guitar needs 2 wires and a stereo IEM signal needs 3, so 5 in total. TRRS has only 4 conductors.  A better way is to tap the signal off before it enters the guitar I think, which is what my own design does ...... 

Vaiai

A mate of mine who is in a touring band but also is a sound guy here in Edinburgh said that for just trying out and seeing how they feel and as a budget entry this LD ones are decent. http://www.gear4music.com/In-Ear-Monitor-Systems/LD-Systems
He said they are not noisy and only advice was to get a set of custom moulds but I think that's recommended for any IEM

PolarityMan

So I pulled the trigger on some shure 315s. I figure il wait to see how the included inserts fit before going for custom moulds. Apparently you can also use suguru to get the stock inserts to hold their shape so might also give that a try.

ash96

I use the shure PSM200 which works perfectly for any of the functions gigs etc I've done with them.
I use the 64 Audio A3's as well, but I know plenty of people who just use the stock Shure SE215's which I think the PSM200 comes with.

PolarityMan

Will be going wired using a headphone amp to start with, it will be a bit of an experiment for us gong to in ears so dont want to go full on wireless etc until weve figured out if we like it. I figure worth droping a reasonble amount on IEMs anyway though as can also use them for drumming, general music stuff etc.