CAD GXLLIEM4 In-ear Monitors

[Pat Waara]

I had the good fortune to win a brand new CAD GXLLIEM4 in-ear monitor system. For those who don't know, it's a four channel in-ear wireless monitoring system. The thing is, I don't perform live anymore, let alone with a band. (Pre-Covid, I would do the occasional open-mic, but that's about it.) Does anyone have any creative ideas on how to use it in the studio, or should I just go ahead and sell it on Ebay?

 

Here's a link with more details. https://www.cadaudio.com/products/gxliem-series/gxliem4

[KuruPrionz]

They would be nice for tracking - no headphone cord and total freedom to move around as you wish.

[Mike Rivers]

That looks like a good score. Not much documentation on the web site and I couldn't really determine much from the web site. It might be useful in a studio. I assume that the inputs to the transmitter are for a stereo mix, not mono, so you'd be doing all the monitor mixing in the console/DAW. That's pretty conventional.

 

I don't know about anyone else, but when I'm wearing earphones in the studio, I want real earphones, not ear buds. Is phones output connector a standard mini TRS jack? Can it be used with conventional headphones? And what would you use the receiver's line output for? Getting rid of headphone cables and a possible in-studio headphone amplifier would be a nice bonus if they don't compromise the sound.

 

$500 for four channels of transmitter and receiver is really cheap, so there must be some compromises. I can't keep up with the FCC's frequency allocations - Is 900 MHz a legal band (and for how long) or is that the "free for all" band that may or may not be a problem, depending on where you are?

[Dr Mike Metlay]

In my experience, IEMs are pretty much like any other headphone with respect to the question of "how useful are they, actually, in doing studio work, before you have to switch to monitors?". They're really good for microscopic listening (when, for example, editing out unwanted artifacts or checking for things like codec noise etc), and with proper isolation they can be a great way to do a "leave me alone and let me listen" pass.

 

The criteria are the same for both. Are they comfortable? Do they help you concentrate on the audio without being obtrusive? Do they sound full, balanced, and relatively honest -- and does that perception translate accurately (or reasonably accurately) to what you hear on your speakers? If so, they're useful. If not, they're not.

 

Wireless makes things a little more tricky in terms of sound quality, as do "universal fit" IEMs. I use wired custom-fitted IEMs that were quite costly at the time, and have learned their sound to the point where I find the results I get with them to be quite reproducible. They're handy when I have to do serious work and I can't be situated with my studio monitoring system; they combine well with a high-rez D/A converter for portable use.

[KuruPrionz]

^^^ Pat is doing the solo act in the studio thing.^^

 

It becomes Artist vs Engineer for me and I assume for most of us. I always want the Artist to win, that's becoming more common. Tracking is certainly one battle.

 

In ears should be able to provide the beat, the tones and more or less the mix that one is tracking to, being wireless could make that less cumbersome for the Artist. You could click the Go button and walk over to the recording area without worrying about your headphone cable.

I'd probably listen to a mix in progress on them, just another reference point. I'd have to listen to some successful albums a few times with the in ears to get a sense of how good stuff sounds for comparison.

 

Yes to attending to details. My headphones ( I don't own any in ear stuff, yet) allow me to arrange drum tracks, edit out bleeps and blurbs and other useful things - any time night or day.

 

That's where I see them being most useful to me, tracking. This assumes they don't "bleed" out into the room much, don't want the mix creeping into the vocal or acoustic guitar parts!

[Mike Rivers]

In my experience, IEMs are pretty much like any other headphone with respect to the question of "how useful are they, actually, in doing studio work, before you have to switch to monitors?".

 

The system that Pat has looks to me to be directed toward stage monitoring rather than what a studio engineer would use when tracking or mixing. Of course IEMs are often used on stage for various reasons - high budget shows use high budget IEMs because of the visual aspect - Only Lady Gaga would look right on stage with a fancy gown and headphones. And then there are the more homey music setups like all-volunteer church youth bands with all-volunteer crew where the budget is short and the players already have their own earphones. Getting rid of the monitor speakers on stage is one of the best ways to solve monitoring and live mixing problems.

 

The tracking or mixing engineer in the control room usually only uses IEMs to check a mix unless the situation precludes using good monitor speakers. But musicians and singers playing in the studio almost always use headphones. Maybe it's traditional, maybe nobody ever thought about using IEMs, or maybe they asked but there weren't the proper adapters or jacks to connect anything but standard 1/4" plugs. But there are enough cables in a studio - mics, instruments, power for amplifiers, etc, so that giving the players a little more freedom of movement with a wireless hookup could be beneficial.

 

So will a $125 wireless channel inspire a recording artist to perform as well as a $125 set of headphones [or, for a fair comparison, a $300 headphone amplifier and four $50 headphones]? I don't think so. But audio gear is getting better than ever, so the local bar band might be tickled to have a system like this on for rehearsals and stage use.

 

But will Pat get useful mileage recording his music in his studio? I don't think so.

[Dr Mike Metlay]

You bring up a lot of good points, Mike. Pat, maybe this particular set of IEMs would be good to Marie Kondo on to someone else...

[Pat Waara]

Thanks for all the feedback. I think these monitors deserve to get used as intended--on a stage with a band. While I might be able to get some use out of them in my studio, I would much rather take whatever money I can get for them and apply it to an SSL UV8. That I would put to daily use versus the monitors which might get used sometimes. I'll try the local Craigslist first. If I don't get any takers locally, I'll put them up on eBay. I think they go for $500 new. I'll see if I get any takers at $400.

[KuruPrionz]

And that's that!

It's been an interesting thread, I tossed in the only thing I could think of.

I know I would prefer wireless headphones to in ear but I have neither at the moment.

 

And, I'd want a separate wireless system that I could plug different headphones into, unless it makes music sound the way my guitar used to sound with a wireless. That would get a hard pass.

That was pre-digital so I expect they sound pretty good by now.