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Understanding IEM
I am not sure if this sort of thing exists. What I'd like is an IEM that I can use to reduce the volume in a practice room. I was hoping there was something I could run through my phone (wired) and control the room level.
I have hearing protection, tried more than a few but they impact the sound too much. Takes the fun out of playing.
Comments
I wonder if active noise cancelling headphones might work. They sure work for stuff like power tools.
You could get custom molded ear plugs from a place that specializes in it or a ear clinics. Those reduces all the frequency equally. It's gonna run you a couple hundred. I used to have some but they dried out over a decade.
Alternatively you could get some musician earplugs. That's what I used to wear when I went to concerts. Not as good as custom mold but way better that cheap regular construction ear plugs. Run you about 40$
I use a pair of Etymotic high fidelity earplugs to protect my ears at gigs. Just the cheap passive ones. They’ve been doing this for years and have a good name. https://etymotic.com/
So they will reduce all frequencies by a fixed amount? Or is there a level control? Is the sound picked up by something external or filtered by the device?
That sounds useful, but I'd really like something that (a) passes the exact sound outside my ears and (b) can be level controlled. I do have some musician's earplugs that were about $40 but they don't let sound through evenly so I really dislike them, actually, can't use them for jamming.
What I don't understand is how they work. Is there a microphone on the outside that passed a 1:1 signal through with a volume control in between? If that's the case any "Active Noise Cancelling Headphones" should be what I need.
Most of the ones I see talk about audio playback which sounds like normal headphones.
Not sure if ambeo headset would work… I got some for impromptu field recording, but they’re fairly versatile…
https://www.techradar.com/reviews/sennheiser-ambeo-smart-headset
You mentioned in ear monitors, so I was picturing a headphone mix delivered to the headphones, with active noise suppression of the outside ambient noise. Noise canceling headphones have active mics which pick up outside noise and generate a phase reversed copy that cancels out much of the outside noise. They’re effective for listening to music on airplanes, for instance. I haven’t heard of any that let you dial in how much outside noise you want to let through, but it’s also something I’ve never looked into. I just have a set that I won in a giveaway.
It sounds like you’re not looking to hear a headphone mix better, while protecting your ears from loud background sounds, as much as just reducing noise in a loud rehearsal space without muddying the sound though, right?
I was looking for ear plugs that reduce the sound level without changing the sound spectrum considerably. They do exist, you might need to try different models. Some manufacturers even show the frequency responses for different models.
As for IEM and headsets with ANC, I've found that ANC usually reduces bass dramatically and barely touches higher frequency levels so my way to handle it would be to use IEMs that properly "seal" the ear from outside noise and adjust the IEM level from the practice room's mixing desk, maybe over an unused AUX send or so.
Maybe you should do some research to find the best brand. I have a pair not sure where that I was very happy with.
To be honest I don't even understand what I am looking for. I know it needs wires or wireless (no latency), I know it needs to pass an unfiltered signal with level control. From what I've found IEM just means better fitting ear buds.
If there was an app that took the mic signal and passed it through to the headphones that would be ok I think. But I've tried plenty of apps and they either bug ridden, or are for hearing impairment and only allow increasing the level.
There are solutions for taking the output of a console to your wireless IEM but that's no use in a room with a drummer. I need to capture the sound of a room (drummer, guitar amps) and feed it to my ears at a lower level.
I use Loop earplugs for this, they are made for concerts so attenuate all frequencies by mainly the same amount:
https://www.loopearplugs.com/
Do you have IEM ? Is money a issue ? Do some research on the best musician earplugs or molded musician earplugs.
How you gonna get that signal to feed the IEM. A mixer feed, a in room microphone? Unless you have the whole band already in a mixer it's gonna be a major task to get the whole band kicked.
The I room mic is probably gonna sound like garbage.
I’m sure this problem isn’t anything that can’t be resolved with some duct tape. By careful attention to the number of layers you should be able to get the volume just where you need it repeatedly.
These look rad! How’s the sound quality? Let’s say, compared to AirPods. And they got a buncha different kinds with odd names; which ones did you get?
Exactly. How to get the signal feed. I thought I could place the phone on my belt connected to wired headphones but it would probably sound bad. It can't be worse than hearing protection though which just destroys the sound.
No IEM, although the earbuds I have keep a lot of external noise out so I don't know what the difference is. Money is always an issue. I have some musician earplugs, about 4 sets. They all suck frequencies out, rendering the useless. I haven't found anything like this that evenly reduces all frequencies.
I'm looking at these right now. I'm not really sure what they do. Are they purely for attenuation? Or are the capable of audio playback via bluetooth?
Just attenuation, I’d recommend the experience ones for music shows.
Thanks. I just ordered the Experience 2. Was tempted to order the Switch 2 set. To be honest I half wish I did as the Switch 2 "Experience" mode is -23db compared to -17 with the Experience 2 set. Seems the Experience 2 have slightly better quality for music though.