In the words of my favourite Duck, Yoicks and Awaaaay! Now if you know how that cartoon ends, then you'll know the trepidation with which I approach the concept of In Ear Monitors. Will it be Glory or time to smack face first into a tree?

Who knows. So for all you folks relying on us as Crash Test Subjects  for the various things we do (making videos, using new sound tech, building our own Steadicam etc etc), here we go.

As per usual, everything starts with some research.

In Ear Monitors are basically comprised of three components: 1 a transmitter, 2 a receiver and 3 the earpieces (the actual little things that go in your ears).

Pricing is as variable as you could ask for, but  you spend around $2K to get the full kit for name brand stuff, more if you go for custom fit earplugs!

So I started by looking around at the various makes and models, spoke to 2 sound engineer mates, asked our facebook and musician friends and got as much feedback (no pun intended) as I could.

Firstly, I had to define my objectives:

1. Protect my hearing - we play a lot, and we do long shows (3 sets usually), and we have three electric instruments and drums. Even without huge amplification thats quite a lot of noise, so I normally wear earplugs anyway (between -15-25db attenutation)

2. Improve the foldback -  because I've started recording our live stuff, I've noticed that when the guys get in the groove and get a bit excited, their sound goes up. Given that I am wearing earplugs, this can lead to off-key singing (my bad) or a Sound Level Arms race, as I ramp up the fold back, which makes them louder, which then gets me to turn the fold back up etc etc.

3. Reducing Harmonica Reed Blow Out - Neil Graham (www.neilgraham.com.au) who makes and fixes the custom harmonicas I use noticed that I was blowing out a few reeds. He opined that it's because I am trying to compete with Electric Instruments and so I am overblowing/drawing. He suggested In Ear Monitors in order to reduce the air I'm putting through the instrument and to allow the PA to do its work (FYI I dont run my Harmonica into an amp, I go through a vocal mike to the PA/front of house, yes  I know a lot of harpists use a bullet mike and a tube amp, and yes its a nice sound, I've tried that too and like it, but it's proven problematic when doing gigs with sound engineers who arent used to harmonica players so I have settled for a direct to pa approach)

With those objectives in mind, and with the help of advice and suggestions from the Muso and Soundo community, I went looking for a solution that fit my objectives and budget.

Luckily for me, I was able to pick up an entry level Shure PSM200 at a price I could afford, from the helpful folks at  www.jdsound.com.au - Thanks to Eva for getting them to me so dang promptly!

Ok, so what did I get?

Shure have a series of models, but some of them have been dropped from the catalogue due to changes in Radio Frequency requirements from various governments and a big warning to all Australian users, the older PSM400's are now discontinued due to Radio Frequency Issues in the US, which is why they're cheaper on Ebay and apparently, they now have the same problem in Australia, so avoid that model (thanks to OSIS on Facebok for setting me straight on that).

Yes the PSM 900's have more bells and whistles and one day when I can afford'em, I'll consider buying them (or the equivalent upgrade at the time), but for right now, its all about practicality.

Now I principally chose the PSM200 because: JD had an awesome special on them and because they allowed 2 inputs and the monitoring can be done from the input OR the Desk/PA return.

So here's what I got in the set:

The receiver.

 The transmittier - note on the left hand side there, two Line/XLR inputs - this is where your mike/instrument OR desk return enters. On the rear are two outputs which are straight pass-throughs, allowing you to monitor the input directly from the front and have a clean signal go to the desk. The front level controls do not affect the signal to the desk. Neat.

Shure 115 In Ear Monitors - now these look like regular headphones, but the speaker is the same as a hearing aid speaker, as opposed to the usual sort of membrane thing you get in a standard headphone. According to my research, this is important, but I'm not audio-savvy enough to provide an explanation. FYI the 115's that came with this kit are 'single driver' which means there's only 1 'speaker' inside - the top models can have up to 4 separate drivers, giving you sound that's close to natural reproduction. However, that's not in my budget yet.

The 115's come with a series of squishy ear bits that you insetr into your ear but the mechanical components hang outside

Not so crash hot for sound isolations (objective 1), but all in all, a good unit, good make and a good price.

Now the second thing I did was to look at the In Ear Monitors themselves. I had suggestions to get the 3 driver custom in ear, but thats just out of my price league - they can set you back $1200-$2500, depending on which brand etc. 

I spoke to --- -------- -------- (Melbourne based)

  UPDATE Jan 2012 ---: I cancelled my order  for custom ear monitors from this Melbourne Based supplier; I am sure other people will have good results with them, but I chose to take my business elsewhere and  I am deleting their company name from the blog. I'll leave in the steps so you can see how the custom ear moulds get taken.

was in Sydney to do some earmolds for other folks, so I went in for a custom ear mold. 

Here's ------- with his travelling kit, a new identity in 20 minutes or your money back...lol..no, just squishy stuff

 This is what the finished product looks like

Now if you compare it to the 115s (scroll back up) you'll notice that all the mechanical components are now housed within the earpiece itself. 

Me with squishy ear stuff - not the first time i might add, this is what I did to get the custom attentuation plugs i've been using.

---'s stuff isn't cheap, so I got the 'entry' level (single driver) setup, but importantly, the custom fit will give me up to 28Db attenuation (sound isolation). They're also good quality stuff with a detachable (replaceable) cable, as opposed to the fixed cable on the 115 - that means if you snag the cable, you can replace it, whereas with the 115's you have to get a whole new headset.

 Now I tested the PSM200 kit using the 115 earpieces at this weekends gigs (I wont have the custom earplugs for another week or so)

What was the verdict?

You'll have to wait for part two! (I'm in need of lunch!)