FEATURE
March. “The key thing is latency. If you were to stack up a digital wireless mic system with a latency of 3ms and an in-ear monitor system with a latency of 3ms and you throw in a digital desk that has a latency of 4 or 5ms, that becomes audible. It becomes like when you talk into a mobile phone and you get your own delayed voice coming back into your ear. You can’t perform with that.” Assuming any RF issues
have been dealt with and your signal is making it to the performer uninterrupted, the last, and arguably most important aspect of the IEM signal chain is the earpiece itself – a market that has seen fierce competition from both established and new brands. While most of the bigger brands such as Sennheiser and Shure offer their own earpieces that can be used with the supplied universal ear sleeves as well as with custom moulds, there are numerous bespoke options available now. Companies such as
Sensaphonics, the recently rebranded Jerry Harvey Audio (previously JH Audio), Westone, Ultimate Ears, and an ever-increasing roster of specialist, start-up, and consumer-focused companies provide custom-moulded
earpieces, with different options and configurations of either dynamic or, more commonly, balanced armature drivers. “Early IEM earphones were
dynamic ear buds from the portable cassette players of the day. While similar ear buds are still supplied with today’s
“With any wireless system RF interference is probably your biggest nightmare.” Tuomo Tolonen
smartphones, the technology behind IEMs for the stage has advanced significantly,” comments Sensaphonics founder Dr Michael Santucci. “The biggest early changes were the move to balanced armature drivers and custom- fit designs.” The benefits of going custom
are comfort and quality. While an earpiece fitted perfectly to an artist’s ear canal will allow for longer use without becoming uncomfortable, it’s the ability to block outside noise, lower the sound level, and create a perfect stereo mix independent of stage acoustics that really draws attention to these earpiece manufacturers.
“The advantages of using
IEMs is the -26dB of isolation which allows you to set your mix at a much lower volume than stage wedges and also without fighting all of the ambient noise that comes with live stage performances,” says Jerry Harvey Audio director of marketing, Corbyn Grieco. Of course audio quality is the paramount concern in any monitoring situation and recent updates to earpieces reflect that quest for clarity. Multiple drivers with dedicated crossovers are the order of the day with models such as the Jerry Harvey Audio JH16 featuring eight drivers per ear, with double dual low-frequency drivers, and an integrated three- way crossover; the Shure SE846 with its four balanced armature drivers per ear and True Subwoofer technology for increased low-end performance; or the Westone ES50 with five drivers, showing the constant pursuit of accurate audio reproduction.
IN THE TRENCHES While personal mixing stations can give musicians the ability to tweak their own in- ear monitor mix, many artists still rely on the experienced hands of a monitor engineer. Laura Davis got her start with Liverpool-based rental
A HELPING HAND FOR HEARING HEALTH
was founded in 1985 and began developing custom-fit earpieces in the early 90s with the mission to help musicians and sound engineers preserve their hearing health. The company now combines education on hearing loss prevention with designing custom in- ear monitoring options for the music industry, motorsports, and even NASA. Company founder Dr Michael
Santucci gives his thoughts on IEM safety:
Michael Santucci
WHEN USED properly, IEMS allow for significantly lower listening levels as the performer’s ears are isolated from interfering sounds on a live stage. Yet the idea of sealing your ear canal with a device capable of producing in excess of 120dB can be more than a little worrying. Billed as ‘the experts in safe sound’, Sensaphonics Hearing Conservation
26 March 2014
What are some of the safety issues when using IEMs? One major misconception about IEMs is that they are safety devices. This perception makes them all the more dangerous because it leads to a false sense of security that can result in the user actually turning them up louder! The fact is many IEMs can easily achieve volumes as high, or even higher, than floor wedge
monitors. They only function as hearing protection with proper use. Every artist has what is known as
auditory memory. This means that he or she will tend to set the volume of the IEMs to the same level as previously used with the wedge monitors. Many times, this can be a very unsafe level.
Are there any design features that can help increase safety while using IEMs? The key is to minimise unwanted sound. This is achieved by isolating the ear from the outside world, creating a tiny ‘listening room’ (roughly 1cc in volume) where only the desired sound is heard. Of course, the most difficult challenge to protecting hearing is getting the musician to wear the IEMs as they were designed – with both earpieces in place. When an artist takes out one earpiece during a show, it’s
often due to the need to hear ambient sound, such as audience reaction, acoustic instrument, or conversation.
How can you help ensure a musician keeps both of their earpieces in during a performance? To deliver stage ambience exactly as a musician would normally hear it, Sensaphonics designed the 3D Active Ambient IEM System. This patented design embeds tiny microphones in the earpieces, allowing the artist to add their sound to the monitor mix in a controlled fashion or, at the flip of a switch, hear the room in Full Ambient mode, just as if they were not wearing earphones at all. The musician can hear and interact with the audience, hear their instrument acoustically during performance, and even have normal conversation between songs – all with both earpieces in place.
www.sensaphonics.com
www.audiomedia.com
Sign up for your digital AM at
www.audiomedia.com
The Sensaphonics 3D Active Ambient System
company Adlib and now works as a freelance monitor and FOH engineer. She mixed monitors for Emeli Sandé for two years and tours regularly with Swedish electronic duo The Knife. “As a monitor engineer it is
much easier to create the sound the artist wants to hear with IEMs as you are starting with a blank canvas. IEMs give the artist isolation from the noises around them unlike wedge mixes, making it easier for you to create the sound they want,” she comments. Yet as anyone who works on
live productions will tell you, having a backup is key. Davis: “I like to use side fills as well as IEMs when I am working with most acts but mainly for electronic acts like The Knife as they need to feel the sub on stage. It is also good to have side fills as a backup – if the band took out their in-ears, at
least they would have some timing reference on stage.” “Personal preference is the key but I want my mixes to sound as if the performers are standing in front of you – as if you had no earphones in at all,” adds live audio engineer and consultant Daniel ‘The Mix Doctor’ East. “If you understand how to
create a more musical mix in the earpieces before the artist ever takes the stage, they’ll be much happier and more likely to take to the concept,” he adds. “Starting with a simple bed mix can do wonders, but it’s vital that the mixes be in stereo and that the artist wears both earpieces. “Speakerless stages were a tough sell in the early days, but almost every single artist who went that way loved it.”
www.shuredistribution.co.uk www.sennheiser.co.uk www.jhaudio.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51