Hi,
I need some advice on in-ear monitors. We have a 4 piece band comprising bass, guitar, vocals and violin. Drums and keys are on backing. The vocalist and violinist could use in-ear monitoring in order to keep to tune better, but we're unsure of what gear we'd need to accomplish this.

The violinist would ideally need to hear both the full mix, or at least just the backing, and the violin, and would be able to change the mix between the violin and everything else/backing. The vocalist would need the same but would need to be able to balance vocals against everything else in the mix.

It would suit us better to have a set-up that could be operated entirely from the stage, which removes any concerns about whether the desk has enough aux sends to cope with everyone's requirements. If this meant it wouldn't be wireless, we could live with that.

Any suggestions on how we can accomplish all this would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

Vaughan

What amplification are you using (inc mics and pickups) and are you sitting/standing/leaping about like a lunatic?

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Ohm's Law states, "Your PA isn't as powerful as you think it is".

Hi,

Both the vocalist and violinist go directly into multieffects, which then go to the desk and then to front of house/stage monitors. The vocalist uses a AT condenser mic (phantom power supplied by the multieffects) although he could also use a dynamic mic. The violinist uses an electric violin, although I'm not sure what exact pick-up she has on it (it's built into the violin rather than one of those that you attach to an regular violin.)

Hope that helps.

Thanks

Vaughan.

Oh, also, both vocalist and violinist are standing on stage, but are not particularly energetic so wired options are still potentially okay.

What sort of budget are we talking here?

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www.exaviormusic.com
www.manninmusic.com Music Teacher, Isle of Man

I was hoping to pick something up second hand for around £300...does this sound about right?

The first thing that comes to mind is a couple of Behringer ma400 MicroMon units. You can connect a feed from your Aux send with whatever mix seems appropriate then each user adds whatever they want of themselves without affecting anyone else's mix.

These are pretty cheap leaving you with money to buy good earphones which will be the most important link in your chain.

I've used one in the past it worked well as planned. I stopped using it because I needed to be more mobile than the unit would allow.

There are 3 possible areas of concern:
The ma400 uses a wall wart power supply which requires mains power wherever it's used. A phantom power option would have been much more user friendly but even that's not a big deal if you're already using FX units onstage.
There is no limiting system so be sensible with levels and plugging/unplugging.
This is Behringer we're talking about. Retain your proof of purchase in case you are unlucky enough to get one of the rare dodgy units which needs replacing after a few weeks (sarcasm alert!).

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Ohm's Law states, "Your PA isn't as powerful as you think it is".