Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 04/06/2009 - 8:22pm.
We tried that switch a couple years ago. Be mindful of the seasoned musician who likes his amp and the good old fashioned floor wedge. They will do you in and you'll be back to floor wedges in no time. Make it a gradual transition. Start with just one willing participant to give it a shot, learn to use it, and give you feedback (no pun intended). Once you get one on board and they like it, you'll have an easier time getting some others to transition because the one that used it can help others get use to it.
One thing we found that was even better than the in-ear itself was the ability to mix their own mix. We're using the Aviom personal mix system. They have 16 channels to mix however they want without affecting anyone else. We introduced it with the in-ear plugs... the verdict ended up being "we hate the in-ears, but like the Aviom". Our current solution is we've nixed the in-ears and went with some TC Helicon VoiceSolo VSM300XT personal monitors. They're small enough to be VERY directional to the person using it without blowing the stage volume out of the water, plus we still get the benefit of using the Aviom with it so that those using it can still build their own mix. They still have the choice to use in-ears or headphones if they wish.
Our drummer uses a headset which works great. If you end up with anyone using in-ears with or without the Aviom, be sure to wire-up a stereo pair of ambient room mics. Another complaint was that it was too closed-in feeling. The ambient mics allowed them to have the "air-like" live sound feeling. I have personally used the in-ears, headsets, and the TC helicon live and I liked all of them, but i'm more flexible than a lot of people. Also, the standard Shure in-ear's can be quite uncomfortable and you will have some complaints. There are some companies that make personalized ear-mold in-ears for fairly inexpensive. It may be worth the investment to save some headaches. Hope it all goes well!
Worship Leader Blog
IEM...
We tried that switch a couple years ago. Be mindful of the seasoned musician who likes his amp and the good old fashioned floor wedge. They will do you in and you'll be back to floor wedges in no time. Make it a gradual transition. Start with just one willing participant to give it a shot, learn to use it, and give you feedback (no pun intended). Once you get one on board and they like it, you'll have an easier time getting some others to transition because the one that used it can help others get use to it.
One thing we found that was even better than the in-ear itself was the ability to mix their own mix. We're using the Aviom personal mix system. They have 16 channels to mix however they want without affecting anyone else. We introduced it with the in-ear plugs... the verdict ended up being "we hate the in-ears, but like the Aviom". Our current solution is we've nixed the in-ears and went with some TC Helicon VoiceSolo VSM300XT personal monitors. They're small enough to be VERY directional to the person using it without blowing the stage volume out of the water, plus we still get the benefit of using the Aviom with it so that those using it can still build their own mix. They still have the choice to use in-ears or headphones if they wish.
Our drummer uses a headset which works great. If you end up with anyone using in-ears with or without the Aviom, be sure to wire-up a stereo pair of ambient room mics. Another complaint was that it was too closed-in feeling. The ambient mics allowed them to have the "air-like" live sound feeling. I have personally used the in-ears, headsets, and the TC helicon live and I liked all of them, but i'm more flexible than a lot of people. Also, the standard Shure in-ear's can be quite uncomfortable and you will have some complaints. There are some companies that make personalized ear-mold in-ears for fairly inexpensive. It may be worth the investment to save some headaches. Hope it all goes well!