Four common misunderstandings about in-ear monitors

As technology advances and costs decrease, in-ear monitors are beginning to catch on the market, and every musician who needs to monitor on the stage is eager to try.

Compared to traditional monitor speakers, in-ear monitors do have many features and benefits. However, in-ear monitors are not a panacea for solving any problems. Although it looks professional, there are some shortcomings and misunderstandings. Before you can use it, it's a good idea to understand these misunderstandings and their problems:

Myth 1: "Monitor headphones can solve all monitoring problems"

The effect of the monitor headphones is sometimes amplified. For various reasons, the performer is not satisfied with the stage monitor system, and may hope to solve by wearing the monitor headphones. But what many people don’t know is that the monitor headphones are the same as the speakers. It will also be affected by the GIGO principle, or even more serious. (Translator's Note: Garbage In, Garbage Out - the input sound is not good, the same is garbage)

For example, maybe you think that the monitors on the floor don't let you hear every part you want to hear, so you decide to use the in-ear monitor. Now, this poor mix is ​​sent directly. In your ear, there is a problem with the input mix. There is no small tuner in the headphones to mix the sound for you. So, what you hear is still a bad sound. What’s more terrifying is that because of the in-ear The monitor headphones will block the sound of some surrounding environment, and now the drum sounds and hand boxes on the stage become more difficult to hear. The solution that hopes that the hand box and the monitor speakers will be blocked together. In this case, you are right. Subtle changes in levels can become insensitive, making it difficult to handle performance skills and intensity.

If you only use the monitor headphones without listening to the speakers, the physical pressure of the bass will disappear.

So what sounds to put in the monitor headphones, how to arrange the mix is ​​a separate smart consideration. If you are a drummer, you need to follow a piece of bass sampling to play, in the stage monitor speakers, you think the speaker emits the shell There is a conflict between the low frequency and the kick drum, which makes both of them inaudible. Then you can let the tuner adjust the drummer's monitor speakers. If you encounter a monitor that cannot adjust the EQ independently or other problems that cannot be solved, use it again. The monitor headphones isolate the low frequency interference (but the low frequency is not as easy to isolate as the high frequency), or only put the samples in the headphones to compensate for the monitoring.

If you are performing at a large concert or music festival, the characteristics of the external sounds of the monitor headphones will also affect your feelings and affect the interactive emotions. So we can see that at some big music festivals, if the performers use monitor headphones, The professional audio team will transmit the live atmosphere to the performer's monitor headphones through a microphone that points to the viewer. Some high-end driven head-mounted monitors have even a small microphone to compensate for the ambient sound.

Also, wearing a monitor, you can hardly feel some low-frequency or ultra-low information. If you only use the monitor headphones without listening to the speakers, the physical pressure of the bass will disappear. This may be reduced. Your perception affects the mood of the performance.

Myth 2: "There is always no better in-ear monitoring"

This sentence is put in the case of limited funds. If you open it in the form of "money unlimited", then naturally all kinds of good equipment are better, but in most cases, the funds are always limited. In-ear monitoring on the stage is flexible and free to perform, must rely on wireless technology, and the standard wireless technology is much more expensive than the ordinary monitoring system - excellent frequency response, pure sound quality, interference-free signal - these High-end equipment that requires high investment is required. You can actually spend less money to purchase a monitor system that achieves the same effect or even better results.

Therefore, if you want to pursue in-ear monitoring and wireless devices with limited budget, not only will not achieve the expected results, but will make your investors regret that they did not invest this money elsewhere.

Misunderstanding 3: "Since spending money to buy in-ear monitoring, you must always use it"

It’s a strange logic that we often hear when you buy something at a big price. It’s much smarter to use on ideas than on unplanned use. Under no circumstances is it necessary or Should not use in-ear monitoring?

No need to use: no rehearsal or previous performance difficulties in the performance, the frequency conflict between the adapters is not a problem, do not need to listen to sampling and so on.

Unsuitable use: Increasing the in-ear monitoring system means more tuning time. If you are participating in a tight tuning time and there is no room for negotiation, you should allocate more time to the band. Members, to debug the most necessary parts. In general, a three-piece band assembly, test drum, hand box, test wheat, overall adjustment and basic monitoring must take at least 30 minutes, if there is still Other peripherals or adapters are even more complicated. In times of stress, you need to consider whether you still have time to install and try in-ear monitoring devices.

Myth 4: "Ordinary headphones can also be used to monitor"

Ordinary headphones, even if they are expensive, can't replace the in-ear monitoring system. Usually the headphones that you use to listen to music are very different from the in-ear monitors used in the field. So even if you pay for a headphone amplifier to DIY one In-ear monitoring solutions, you also need to buy the correct matching headphones. In addition to the above-mentioned differences in anti-jamming, frequency response and other characteristics, there is a very important difference is the sound insulation and protection of hearing functions. On stage monitoring, it is very likely to cause damage to hearing.

As mentioned in many hearing protection articles, we only have one pair of ears to deal with this crazy world. For those who have long been exposed to high-decibel environments, it is especially necessary to protect hearing. I have seen many want to use the ear in the field. The musicians of the monitoring system took the pair of ordinary headphones directly on the stage, let me connect it to any line that can feedback feedback. I was drunk on the spot. For various reasons, it is not effective!

Written in the end: Don't get me wrong, I'm not in the black ear monitoring system, it has countless advantages. But at the same time, there are many traps you need to understand. Although the increasingly popular in-ear monitoring system is not a saving A time-saving solution, but in the audio world, everything must follow the "depending on the situation." So, before you step into the world of ear monitoring systems, make sure you have done your homework and are ready Budget.