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[Steve Garris]

The bass player in our hair-metal band was the last to switch to IEM's. He is having difficulty dealing with the isolation from the audience, and some clarity issues with his IEM's. It has been recommended to him by other band members to wear 1 in, and 1 out (he's in several tribute bands). What they do is install an attenuating filter in the other ear, such as the Westone WM16.

I've always read that having 1 in and 1 out is a very bad idea, but what if you use a filter in your out ear? The goal is to get some stage and audience sound, but attenuate the loud cymbal stuff. Is this a practicle method?

His current buds are Shure E2 (single driver)

I'm going to recommend these Westone buds that are on sale:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UM3XRPM

[Brian Adams]

The clarity issue can probably be EQ'd to be better. Better buds will probably help too, of course. Leaving 1 bud out of the ear is typically a bad idea, since you then often need to raise the level of the other one to levels that can be damaging. A plug in the open ear is an interesting idea though, and one I haven't seen before. That would probably make the volume level of the single bud more manageable, but it's hard to say without trying it.

As far as ambience, why not set up an ambient mic? It works for most bands. Otherwise, there are packs and buds out there that have ambient mics built in, although they tend to be on the expensive side.

[Debbie Dunkley]

The bass player in our hair-metal band was the last to switch to IEM's. He is having difficulty dealing with the isolation from the audience, and some clarity issues with his IEM's. It has been recommended to him by other band members to wear 1 in, and 1 out (he's in several tribute bands). What they do is install an attenuating filter in the other ear, such as the Westone WM16.

I've always read that having 1 in and 1 out is a very bad idea, but what if you use a filter in your out ear? The goal is to get some stage and audience sound, but attenuate the loud cymbal stuff. Is this a practicle method?

His current buds are Shure E2 (single driver)

I'm going to recommend these Westone buds that are on sale:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UM3XRPM

Steve, I always set up an ambient mic - just a sm58 on a short stand somewhere convenient on stage. No-one seems to mind where.

[Steve Garris]

Steve, I always set up an ambient mic - just a sm58 on a short stand somewhere convenient on stage. No-one seems to mind where.

Do you point it at the crowd? Do you open up the gain on it a bunch?

[Debbie Dunkley]

Do you point it at the crowd? Do you open up the gain on it a bunch?

Yes - pointed at the crowd.... gain is prettynormal. Tried to get away without it once to see if they would notice and they caught it right away as soon as they turned up their packs.

[Steve Garris]

Yes - pointed at the crowd.... gain is prettynormal. Tried to get away without it once to see if they would notice and they caught it right away as soon as they turned up their packs.

OK - I better try it again. I did it once with this band, and they said they didn't notice. I'll set one up and crank it in their ears. We have a big show Saturday. Thanks!

[Debbie Dunkley]

OK - I better try it again. I did it once with this band, and they said they didn't notice. I'll set one up and crank it in their ears. We have a big show Saturday. Thanks!

The band members  have it set about 6db lower than the vocal mics which seems adequate.

When you tried it, you might have been getting more ambient sound than I do through the mics you use elsewhere - vocals/ drums etc which causes the ambient mic to not get noticed as much in the mix. I'd give it another go though... good luck!

[Jean-Pierre Coetzee]

As far as I know one in and one out with a filter is the best compromise, audiologist s(or whatever their called) that I have spoken to that work with professional musos recommend that as a compromise but much rather recommend that you use ambience mics or the mixing packs/phones that were discussed earlier.

[John Chiara]

As far as I know one in and one out with a filter is the best compromise, audiologist s(or whatever their called) that I have spoken to that work with professional musos recommend that as a compromise but much rather recommend that you use ambience mics or the mixing packs/phones that were discussed earlier.

My take is that most folks using one in one out don't have a real mix going on for the ears. This is a big reason I recommend getting the X32 rack to Behringer users, as you can split inputs and set up a completely separate monitor mix...including different effects settings...so you can actually create full featured stereo mixes. One in one out is basically a musical hearing aid.

[Fraser Moffatt]

I struggled initially with IEMs and tried the 1-in/1-out method. Made monitoring the full mix "better" but I gave myself a doozy of a headspin for a few days afterwards. Symptoms similar to inner ear infection (dizziness/nausea). My guitar player can go all night with one bud out and no lingering issues.

But I think I'm more susceptible than average; I beleive it's due to having experienced a number of head injuries while playing sports like football, hockey and rugby over the years (when concussions weren't taken seriously). Also those handfuls of fistfights where I've had my lights punched out a couple of times.  Also have had a couple of good crashes mountain biking and DH skiing before helmets became a thing.  Jeezus, I'm lucky to not be a complete vegetable right now.
 
ANYWAYS, when using IEMs, I keep in both buds and work with the tech to get as good a mix/level that I can. Not worth it to me otherwise.

[ProSoundWeb Community]