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RickRyan.com
 
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Default Anybody up on wireless in-ear monitor systems?

I'm working some clubs in Nashville that have multiple bands, rotating
every 4 hours. They run from 10am-3am, 7 days per week. I work regular
shift, almost like a day job.

I want to use in-ear style monitoring but don't want to hassle with the
cost or constant setup/tear down of a standard in-ear system with
dedicated transmitter and receiver. I've been toying with using a
low-power FM transmitter (like for an ipod) and standard FM radios with
in-ear phones. It's working okay except the transmitter isn't strong
enough and I get some interference.

Can anyone recommend a good FM transmitter that might work in the
50-150 ft range without the interference? The idea being the
transmitter stays put and the rest of the bands are free to then start
bringing their own radio and ear buds. Everything's compatible
(hopefully).

Any thoughts?

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Scott Dorsey
 
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Default Anybody up on wireless in-ear monitor systems?

RickRyan.com wrote:
I'm working some clubs in Nashville that have multiple bands, rotating
every 4 hours. They run from 10am-3am, 7 days per week. I work regular
shift, almost like a day job.

I want to use in-ear style monitoring but don't want to hassle with the
cost or constant setup/tear down of a standard in-ear system with
dedicated transmitter and receiver. I've been toying with using a
low-power FM transmitter (like for an ipod) and standard FM radios with
in-ear phones. It's working okay except the transmitter isn't strong
enough and I get some interference.


Yes, this is the side effect of using the broadcast band, which you are
sharing with lots of other users with much higher power. And if you want
to stay legal, you can't put out much power yourself at all. You'll
actually do much better on AM, in part because you can get the power
levels up much higher and remain legal.

Can anyone recommend a good FM transmitter that might work in the
50-150 ft range without the interference? The idea being the
transmitter stays put and the rest of the bands are free to then start
bringing their own radio and ear buds. Everything's compatible
(hopefully).


You can buy IFB systems from guys like Vega which use the licensed
wireless mike channels. You can't use cheap Walkmen with them, but
they will do the job, the setup is very quick, and if you do the frequency
allocation right you won't have such interference issues.

You can also consider using assisted listening devices.

Whatever you do, make sure it employs proper limiters so you don't
damage anyone's hearing. Both the IFB receivers and the assisted
listening devices should do that.

If you absolutely HAVE to use the FM band, stick a safety limiter
in front of the transmitter. Put the transmitter into a lunchbox
so you can drop it on the stage, plug it into a return on the snake
and go. Keeping the transmitter on the stage radically reduces the
amount of power needed since you aren't fighting the inverse square
law so hard.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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RickRyan.com
 
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Default Anybody up on wireless in-ear monitor systems?

Very good point about the limiter. What I'm really after is some cheap
transmitter that can be put in place and left at this venue. I also
want something so that any of the other musicians can make use of it
without them having to come to me to borrow my receivers. I figured,
with FM, anybody can bring their walkman in with either their
custom-molded in-ears or some of the cheapies you get from the music
store (mine were $100) and it'll work. It sure is a lot better than
killing your ears with floor monitors and the sound's much better to
boot.

I'm looking to set this up at two different clubs where I work on a
regular basis. I found a unit that I ordered today
(http://mobileblackbox.com/content/view/31/54/) that has a 150+ ft
range and is less than a buck. BTW, I've been running my in-ear volume
really low so limiting hasn't been much of a concern so far. My ears
sure are better when I get home now.

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Scott Dorsey
 
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Default Anybody up on wireless in-ear monitor systems?

RickRyan.com wrote:
Very good point about the limiter. What I'm really after is some cheap
transmitter that can be put in place and left at this venue. I also
want something so that any of the other musicians can make use of it
without them having to come to me to borrow my receivers. I figured,
with FM, anybody can bring their walkman in with either their
custom-molded in-ears or some of the cheapies you get from the music
store (mine were $100) and it'll work. It sure is a lot better than
killing your ears with floor monitors and the sound's much better to
boot.


Problem is that the taper kids will discover it and start taping off
an FM receiver in the parking lot. I've already seen this going on
with VHF monitor feeds, but FM broadcast band makes it easier.

I'm looking to set this up at two different clubs where I work on a
regular basis. I found a unit that I ordered today
(http://mobileblackbox.com/content/view/31/54/) that has a 150+ ft
range and is less than a buck. BTW, I've been running my in-ear volume
really low so limiting hasn't been much of a concern so far. My ears
sure are better when I get home now.


I am skeptical how legal it is if it has such a range, or perhaps I am
skeptical of the range claims. Most of those devices use the Rohm BA1404
chip, which actually doesn't sound so bad but which has something like
10 mW output.

There are some boxes out there from guys like Panaxis which are patently
illegal for use in the US. Part of the problem, though, is that the law
is defined saying that you can radiate a certain field strength at the
end of your property line, not that you can have a particular field strength
or input power at the antenna. This makes it hard to know if you are
operating legally or not.

One thing I just thought of... disabling the stereo generator and going
mono is a BIG WIN with broadcast FM. Something like 26 dB more quieting
as I recall.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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