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[John P. Whiteker]

A couple years ago we went with the Galaxy Audio AS1100 in-ear monitors along with Linsoul KZ AS10 earbuds and as the sound guy who's tasked with mixing monitors as well, I've struggled to make my musicians happy with them. They sound very bright in my opinion and we cannot get them to deliver a decent signal with bass guitar or electric kick drum without distorting. And if they catch interference for any reason, they'll all but blow your eardrums. I've considered upgrading us to the Shure PSM300's, but at $800ea, are these going to deliver much better lows? Smh.

[Brian Jojade]

Have you tried different earbuds?  That could make a world of difference for a lot less money.  And if you get good earbuds, and it still doesn't work, you can use those earbuds on a better quality IEM solution, so it's not money wasted.

[John P. Whiteker]

Well, we originally tried the 2nd tier earbuds from Galaxy and we were not impressed at all. These AS10's are pretty great for $60ea. We've tried them with wired headphone amps on stage and they are terrific. So, I know the buds can deliver, but this wireless system just can't seem to deliver the lows. I wonder if I put some compression on the monitor aux sends perhaps. Thoughts?

[Tim Weaver]

I have found these KZ ZSR () branded in ears to be very good for the price. I was turned on to them by one of the musicians in our youth band and I ordered some of the 20 dollar single driver ones. They work well enough for the singers, but do distort on bass. But the triple drivers work for bass as well. And they are only 30 bucks.

I would try a few pairs of these ZSR's. I would also most definitely get better radio gear. Even the cheapest Shure or Sennheiser iem sets will be much better than the galaxy stuff.

[Pete Erskine]

A couple years ago we went with the Galaxy Audio AS1100 in-ear monitors along with Linsoul KZ AS10 earbuds and as the sound guy who's tasked with mixing monitors as well, I've struggled to make my musicians happy with them.

It's the ears buds that are at fault.  Change to Future Sonics molded ears for the best in industry low end.

https://futuresonics.com/

even their non mold ears have more bass than any other product.

[Seth Udoll]

A couple years ago we went with the Galaxy Audio AS1100 in-ear monitors along with Linsoul KZ AS10 earbuds and as the sound guy who's tasked with mixing monitors as well, I've struggled to make my musicians happy with them. They sound very bright in my opinion and we cannot get them to deliver a decent signal with bass guitar or electric kick drum without distorting. And if they catch interference for any reason, they'll all but blow your eardrums. I've considered upgrading us to the Shure PSM300's, but at $800ea, are these going to deliver much better lows? Smh.

Hi John,

Here's my experience.  Different equipment, same problem.  We use Audio2000's IEM transmitters and body packs and have tried various buds from $20 cheapies to the Shure 315's.  We've even tried the Shure PSM300 system in hopes of improvement, which didn't solve it.

I haven't got it completely 100% yet, but very close.  This is what I've observed.
- Take care not to put too hot of a signal to the transmitter, mine clips at a much lower input than an amplifier does.  That has caused distortion associated with bass/kick.
- My father was complaining of distortion with the bass.  I put his buds (Shure 315's) in my ears to hear what he was hearing. Holey CRAP!!! It was WAY too loud.  I turned the body pack volume down to a reasonable level and the distortion went away. 
- Buds with higher sensitivity go louder with less distortion
- Buds designed with increased sensitivity in the bass frequencies... wait for it... have more bass.  Which requires less in the way of EQ and the signal going out to the transmitter gains a little headroom.

Of the buds I've tried, these have been the best mix of performance vs. cost.  Very decent sensitivity at 108dB/mW and strong (but not too strong) bass response.  They play loud and clear without requiring the body pack to be running into distortion near the limit of it's amplifying capability.  But, I haven't tried them all.  I'm sure there's other good options out there too.

Have you listened to it a various levels?  Does it only distort when it's near peak volume or is it distorted at all volumes?  If at all volumes, I'd verify that the transmitter isn't getting clipped.  If only when near peak volume, I'd consider trying out some buds with higher sensitivity.  The buds you are using are rated 105dB/mW.  The one I linked to above requires half the power to make the same volume, which may allow the bodypack to play the desired volume more cleanly, less or no distortion.

That's all I can offer.  Hope it helps.  Good luck!

-Seth-

[Seth Udoll]

Could also try a highpass filter on the output bus, maybe 50-60Hz, and see if that helps too.  It may seem counter intuitive, but give it a try and see what you think.  Most bass amps aren't real strong below that point anyway. 

[Erik Jerde]

A couple years ago we went with the Galaxy Audio AS1100 in-ear monitors along with Linsoul KZ AS10 earbuds and as the sound guy who's tasked with mixing monitors as well, I've struggled to make my musicians happy with them. They sound very bright in my opinion and we cannot get them to deliver a decent signal with bass guitar or electric kick drum without distorting. And if they catch interference for any reason, they'll all but blow your eardrums. I've considered upgrading us to the Shure PSM300's, but at $800ea, are these going to deliver much better lows? Smh.

If you want to know exactly what the galaxy can do vis-a-vis frequency response send pink noise out an output, Y it into your computer interface on channel 1, take the other leg of the Y into your IEM TX.  Take the output of the RX into channel 2.  Balance gain, find delay, run a transfer function.  You used to be able to get SMAART for free for a 30 day trial if you don't already own it.  Not sure if that's still the case since I've owned it for years.  If the TF shows no low end then other buds won't help and you know where to spend your money.  If the LF is there then pursue buds.

[Seth Udoll]

If you want to know exactly what the galaxy can do vis-a-vis frequency response send pink noise out an output, Y it into your computer interface on channel 1, take the other leg of the Y into your IEM TX.  Take the output of the RX into channel 2.  Balance gain, find delay, run a transfer function.  You used to be able to get SMAART for free for a 30 day trial if you don't already own it.  Not sure if that's still the case since I've owned it for years.  If the TF shows no low end then other buds won't help and you know where to spend your money.  If the LF is there then pursue buds.

That's a good point.  Even without SMAART, just connect the body pack output to an input on the board and take a look at the RTA for that input.  It should be fairly evident if the bass response is falling off. (I'm assuming a digital console is being used)

[Seth Udoll]

...we cannot get them to deliver a decent signal with bass guitar or electric kick drum without distorting. And if they catch interference for any reason, they'll all but blow your eardrums...

Thought about this a little more.  It sounds like the volume is pushing the limit and likely causing the distortion.  Part of the usefulness of IEM's is to protect the hearing of the user by blocking stage noise, allowing the monitor mix to be heard at a lower volume.  If feedback is super loud, it sounds like a remix of the bus is possibly in order, it's way too hot.  Pull the vocals back.

You might try remixing their IEM mix, their instruments first and building it up from there, making sure volume is appropriate.

Might fix it.

[ProSoundWeb Community]