in ear monitors - quality monitoring

The top of the line monitoring system when gigging must be in ear monitors. These tiny headphones are a great way to be completely sure you'll be able to hear yourself, as well as saving space onstage.

I would have loved these little earbuds when gigging. Comfort, quality and you can be certain that you'll hear what you're playing.

Bands need monitors on stage in order to hear themselves. Stage sound is separated from live sound in that way. You have the concert sound, or front of house sound; and then you have the stage or monitor sound.

You can have quite a few monitors on stage; depending on the size and number of performers. Sometimes every member needs a special monitor mix and sometimes performers can, or plain need to, share the same monitor mix.

IEMs - the ultimate monitoring experience

But the ultimate monitoring experience for performers is when they can use in ear monitors.

In ear monitors are basically ear buds that act as your personal monitoring system, sending your stage sound straight to your earbuds.

Like listening to an mp3 player while simultaneously playing the songs it's playing.

IEMs are run with a wireless connection. Meaning that your monitors are connected to a receiver, usually on your belt. This receiver is receiving a signal from the monitoring console, where a transmitter is transmitting whatever it is you want in your monitor mix.

A few things to watch out for when using IEMs.

Interference - Since they are wireless, make sure there aren't any radio frequencies interfering with the transmission and reception of the monitor mix. You don't want the monitor mix of the vocalist to drop out because of a weird interference.
Loudness - Since IEMs are basically earphones you must be careful of not exploding the performers ear canal with an incredibly loud signal. Making a performer deaf because you weren't careful enough with the monitor send might signal the end of your monitor mixing career.

Two recommended in ear monitor systems

Here below I have two In Ear Monitoring systems. These two systems are a great option for both the budget gigging musician that wants to get rid of less than ideal stage monitoring systems, as well as the professional musician willing to invest in a state of the art monitoring system.