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Thread: Headphones vs Monitors

  1. #1

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    What do you prefer during live gigs? Also, what brand and size do you prefer?

    I'm doing a lot of research, but I still haven't come up with a conclusion yet!

  2. #2

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    i like a monitor, its just what i have always used. ive tried headphones and in ears, hated both. the headphones got kinda sweaty and hot, and the inears were just uncomfortable and bugged me . we use a sound company for our gigs , the size of my monitor changes with the size of the stage we are playing on . in a average club i mostly use a 12 speaker with a horn mounted in a cab. on a bigger stage or outdoors i use a 15 inch jbl cube with a horn sitting on top of it . and i always have the monitor guy add some kick and snare in my monitor , plus all the vocals ,and the keyboard. i can hear the guitars and bass without them being in my monitor.
    Tamaholic

  3. #3

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    I prefer in-ears headset, but my bandmates like the monitors, as well as the in-ears. My bass players likes to have one earbud in, and the other out. My lead vocalist likes in-ears, but also likes the security of the monitors as a backup. During the last gig we had some troubles hearing each other through the in-ears system, so the monitors were crucial. I fixed the issue during the next practice, but I think the monitors with stay in place for now. We're going to play again on Sept. 22, at a church's "Block party," and we'll be a part of the warm up for a Country Western band - I'm told they are well known. I have no idea what the setup will be, so it should be interesting.
    Quoting gonefishin: Just have some bacon with ya when you go pick her up..........youre an instant chick magnet.





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  4. #4

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    On drums I like in-ears so I can hear the met. If I can't have the monitor in my ears, I still use in-ears with my met just turned down so I can still hear the wedge.
    Kits:
    -C&C Player Date 13/16/22
    -65' Ludwig Super Classic 13/16/22

    Snares:
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    -Ludwig Black Galaxy Acrolite 5x14 snare
    -Ludwig 65' Super Classic 5x14 snare
    -Ludwig 64' Pioneer 5x14 snare
    -PDP Classic Wood hoop 6x14 snare

    Rides:
    -Zildjian 22" Constantinople
    -Zildjian 22" Kerope
    -Zildjian 20" Constantinople
    Hats:
    -17" A Medium crash over K custom dark crash

    -DW 9000 pedals

  5. #5

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    I like a huge drum fill 2x15" and horn 1000w power house ... Oh yeah

  6. #6

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    Around ear headphones, I never play without them.
    ZildjianLeague/LP/Aquarian/Mapex/Pearl
    Snares: 4
    RIP- Frank, Wolvie, Les Paul
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  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Russ View Post
    Around ear headphones, I never play without them.
    i didnt know that you played live gigs.
    Tamaholic

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by atomcorr2 View Post
    i didnt know that you played live gigs.
    I've been busy in the last couple years, yes. Thing is, I use around-ears no matter where i'm playing at. I've played with them live, band practices, auditions, or just at home solo. I'm used to the feeling, so it's a part of my routine now.
    ZildjianLeague/LP/Aquarian/Mapex/Pearl
    Snares: 4
    RIP- Frank, Wolvie, Les Paul
    Quote Originally Posted by Pearl MCX Man View Post
    I wish I was your wife
    Quote Originally Posted by amdrummer View Post
    if double bass is cheating then so is using two sticks

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  9. #9

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    I've used monitors since the dawn of time, although lately I've played a few times with both in ears and headphones. Like Tom, I haven't gotten the in-ears comfortable yet. The headphones might look goofy, but they are much better for my hearing and 1,000 times easier to clearly hear the mix. It also gives us 2 monitors up front for the 2 guitarists and bassist, whom we all know are big babies about "hearing themselves" .
    Jesse

    1986 Tama Crestar - Lacquered Piano White
    2016 Roland TD-25K
    2015 Tama Starclassic B/B - Indigo Blue Sparkle

  10. #10

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    Monitors for me. I sweat too much for headphones and they slide around while I play. I don't like anything crammed into my ear either.

    At home 2x 15" Peavey PR115 @ 600 watts:



    At gigs 1x 15" floor wedge @ 600 watts aimed at the back of my head:


  11. #11

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    Monitors.

    Ear Phones if I'm playing with sequenced tracks.

  12. #12

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    No question headphones make you sweat. I sweat like crazy already, so it isn't pleasant .
    Jesse

    1986 Tama Crestar - Lacquered Piano White
    2016 Roland TD-25K
    2015 Tama Starclassic B/B - Indigo Blue Sparkle

  13. #13

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    Moniters all they way!!

  14. #14

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    I've only ever gigged with monitors. But recording and laying demos I use headphones obviously. At some point I'll be going to in-ear monitors. We'll see how I like em.

    The only two constants I have are DW and Zildjian.

  15. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Northern Redneck View Post
    Moniters all they way!!


    +1 I hate earphones.

  16. #16

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    When you need the only 2 monitors you have up front, you wear headphones or don't hear anything. That's what I was up against.

    It might be a lot less "rock and roll" but it's a heckuva lot better for your hearing.
    Jesse

    1986 Tama Crestar - Lacquered Piano White
    2016 Roland TD-25K
    2015 Tama Starclassic B/B - Indigo Blue Sparkle

  17. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by kaosotis View Post
    When you need the only 2 monitors you have up front, you wear headphones or don't hear anything. That's what I was up against.

    It might be a lot less "rock and roll" but it's a heckuva lot better for your hearing.
    The reason that I went to in-ears was to control the volume a bit; saving my ears. Over ear headphones were not comfortable enough, and they made me sweat, so I tried out the in-ears. They were comfortable, and it controlled the volume so it protected my ears. They're not the wireless, but they work.
    Quoting gonefishin: Just have some bacon with ya when you go pick her up..........youre an instant chick magnet.





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  18. #18

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    Monitors when it comes to doing gigs, if the stage volume and the room you play in warrants it. Of course, if you play "unplugged" acoustic kind of gigs, usually you can hear the whole band fairly well even the band only has a couple of monitors out front and you're set up close to the amps, so long as the sound engineer knows what he's doing and your guitarist hasn't been selfish and cranked his amp to 10!

    At home, for personal practice I use headphones...trying to hear the music correctly above the sound of an acoustic kit is hard enough, but even when trying to hear it above a low volume electronic practice kit, it's a right royal pain in the butt to get right..... a lot of the time sounds like the snare, coming through a P.A. together with the music, the snare just covers so much of what I'm trying to hear and especially if I'm learning parts for a new song, plus trying to get everything timed right....it's like "ugh". So what I do is I get one of those Belkin five-way connector units, run a couple of leads from the headphone jack of the two Alesis brains and Roland Octopad on my main e-kit set up (I use the Octopad for both the snare and hi-hat units rather than run them through the Alesis rig, the Octopad is no fuss when it comes to getting a good signal for the rim-click sound on the Roland e-pad, but I love the Alesis sounds for the cymabls and other drums....plus I've "customised" an octoban set on the Octopad by tweaking around with some settings, so that gives me even more sound choices than the average e-kit set-up. I then run the lead of the Belkin connector into the input of a bass practice amp, which also has two CD-In connecter jacks, plug a RCA-to 1/8" lead for whatever the music source is, be it a laptop, CD player, MP3 player or whatever, and then connect my headphones into the amp. Hey presto, instant monitor unit for one e-drum kit, and it's totally independent from the P.A. that I run the two electronic kits that I use in my teaching room. Takes but a few minutes to connect it up if I need to do a quick practice session in my spare time.)

    Most of the monitors I've come across at gigs sound decent, but having a good sound guy who knows how to get the levels right is the icing on the cake. Usually I get along fine with sound engineers, when you've gigged for a while, you get to know who does a good job and who's a grumble-guts about it. Thank heavens I haven't come across that many, but on those multi-band bills, lol.....well, I try to humour them at least.
    Last edited by Drumbledore; 08-23-2012 at 10:23 PM.
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  19. #19

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    In ears all the way!!

    I use Shure SE425 (dual drivers) in-ear monitors with an Aviom A-16II personal monitor mixing system.

    I like to have complete control of my personal and band mix. I can fine tune all the levels to my liking and control how much ambient (stage) noise I want. I can tweak things for every song and every instrument on the fly or between songs. It's especially great when using back-tracks.

    If you got it, do yourself a favor and spend it. The Shure SE425's can be picked up for $300 +/- and the Aviom system can be anywhere from $500 to $800 +/- new but there are good deals on used ones.

    Wedges are slowly becoming a thing of the past. Even with the best monitor engineer and FOH engineer, the mix is never right. For me it's like trying to listen to a bunch of conversations in a loud, crowded room. No thanks!!
    Last edited by drumsetsnide; 08-24-2012 at 02:20 PM.
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  20. #20

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    I also prefer the in ear monitors. I use the Shure SE535's along with custom moulded buds that I had made for my ears. We use Presonus equipment and I can adjust all the levels from my I Pod using their QMix app. I don't have to tell the sound tech to turn this up, or that down. I can make all adjustments in my ears right from behind my kit.

    I will say that if you are going to use IEMs, to make sure you go with at least a dual driver system. This will allow you to really hear your bass player, and it will help you get a complete and full sound. As a drummer, I like to hear all the parts of the band and my SE535's (triple drivers) allow me to do just that. They ain't cheap. But they work great!

    The reason I prefer IEMs as opposed to wedge monitors is that we can reduce out total sound output, while still hearing everything that the band produces. The fact that I walk away at the end of night without my ears ringing is awesome as well. Actually, I appreciate that most of all.
    PDP MX Series Drums, Zildjian A Custom cymbals, Tama Simon Phillips Gladiator Signature snare, Roc-N-Soc throne.

  21. #21

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    IEM's if I can control the mix. Even if I have little control...I still prefer them.

    I don't mind a big wedge if I can run a good mix through them....but I don't like most small monitors.

    With IEM's...I can block out the ambient noise, and keep a quieter mix inside my ears, then I don't suffer from a ringing in-ear noise hangover when I go to bed.
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  22. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by drumsetsnide View Post
    In ears all the way!!

    I use Shure SE425 (dual drivers) in-ear monitors with an Aviom A-16II personal monitor mixing system.

    I like to have complete control of my personal and band mix. I can fine tune all the levels to my liking and control how much ambient (stage) noise I want. I can tweak things for every song and every instrument on the fly or between songs. It's especially great when using back-tracks.

    If you got it, do yourself a favor and spend it. The Shure SE425's can be picked up for $300 +/- and the Aviom system can be anywhere from $500 to $800 +/- new but there are good deals on used ones.

    Wedges are slowly becoming a thing of the past. Even with the best monitor engineer and FOH engineer, the mix is never right. For me it's like trying to listen to a bunch of conversations in a loud, crowded room. No thanks!!
    +1
    I'm a in-ear lover also
    Proud Yamaha Player

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  23. #23

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    In ears! i love em... i do sound for my band 90% of the time and the in ear mix rarely changes most of the time all i have to do is turn it on and most rooms we can get away with not dragging the wedges in.

  24. #24

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    I have used both but prefer a monitor. I like to hear and feel the band and the ambience of the venue. Headphones and in ears make me feel to isolated from my surroundings.
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  25. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by VIbes View Post
    I have used both but prefer a monitor. I like to hear and feel the band and the ambience of the venue. Headphones and in ears make me feel to isolated from my surroundings.
    Exactly how I feel.

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