Live/Studio in-ear monitors and tinnitus!

[danielgrieff]

Hey guys,
Just wondered if anybody had any experience in this field: Basically I play in a band that plays along to an Ableton-housed metronome. We wear earphones to hear the metronome on-stage.
This works well, but Ive been having a bit of trouble with my ears lately because of the sheer volume of the band! Our violinist has wisely adopted a pair of earplugs, the kind that reduce amplitude without affecting the audible frequency range (he doesnt feel the need to play in time with the rest of us, so doesnt wear the earphones...).
Ive used some sound cancelling earphones, but because they cancel sound I cant monitor my playing through the backline very well. I also tried submixing some of my guitar into my earphones, but that just ends up feeling awkward because I can hear my instrument far too well and I lose track of what everyone else plays.
Are there a set of earphones that have filters based on the same principle as the earplugs that reduce the volume of sounds (without frequency-damping)?

Any input you guys have is very gratefully received!


Dan

[Ryanmf]

I once had a conversation that lasted at least half an hour with Daedelus (Don't ask me how/why. I don't know either.) about custom molded plugs/IEMs from the House Research Institute (at the time it was still called the House Ear Institute, I believe it's a branch of the USC Medical Center, though they may just be coincidentally near each other). Anyway, long story short, he highly recommends them.

I'm not sure if the product you're looking for exists, but perhaps they can point you in the right direction: http://www.hei.org/education/soundpartners/sp.htm

[infiniteB]

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[Nilus]

It sounds to me like you would benefit from a better mix in your in-ear monitors. You should be getting a perfect mix (to your preference) in your sound isolating earphones and your engineer should be setting the sound for the house. Otherwise I would say you are playing to loud for the environment you are in (common mistake for new bands.) Hope that helps…

[rikhyray]

Custom moulds will improve the isolation slightly, also overall sound quality but your problem seems to be poor mix, just like in production, take your time and mix it right, louder does not mean better. Using IEM be sure that there you have some professional protective circuit, limiter. Unlike with regular stage monitors with in ear it might be just ONE TIME too loud and you can say good buy to hearing and welcome tinnitus, for the rest of your life.