In-Ear Monitors (Sound Tinny)

[Larry Ball]

I have researched the archives and can’t really find the reason for a tinny sound in “In-Ear Monitors versus a Bose Headset. The headset has all the depth in sound I want.

Now I realize that a mixer might be able to adjust the In-Ear to my liking. However why the difference between them without a mixer adjustment.

Would it be the components themselves making the difference. I have googled responses and found the all In-Ear are tinny sounding.. I just can’t imagine individuals settling for that sound quality.

[Scott Swartz]

I do a monthly gig with in ears, and when I first got them I found a huge difference in the tone between the foam and soft rubber ear tips. I have the Shure SE215 IEMs, and I found all of the foam tips with my ear shape were very tinny as you are describing. With my ear the soft rubber tips seal much better and since there is good bass response this way the tone is balanced and similar to over the ear headphones. I have another set of IEMs where I experienced the same thing, the fit is super critical.

[Mike Auman]

Larry, +1 on what Scott said. It also matters (1) what you are driving the headphones/in-ear monitors with, and (2) the input impedance of the headphones/in-ear monitors. Without doing a deep dive on impedance matching, an audio source that can drive headphones just fine might not drive in-ear-monitors (IEM) without distortion or a wonky frequency response. You might want to try a small headphone amp that's designed for IEM, the Behringer P1 and P2 are two examples that are low-cost. I use a Fiio A1, but it's no longer sold.

[Larry Ball]

I am using the KZ pro 10 ear pieces .. with the Xvive U4 wireless system..I will try Scott’s approach to see if that helps. We have a good quality mixer, which I haven’t tried them with at a gig yet. I was just using my small mackie 8 at home trying to get use to them.

[Bill Davis]

I use in ears most of the time. I have KZ's and Audio Technica buds. As long as you have at least dual drivers and a good seal, it wont sound tinny after EQing. I use these DIY custom molds for a very comfortable seal. Amazon has them and there are videos on YouTube as to how to install them.
Radians Custom Molded Earplugs

[Dave Grafe]

Headphones have larger radiating surfaces thus more low frequency output. You can get the lows from earbuds but the eq is radically different, especially if the buds do not seal the ear passage well.

[George Seymour]

Been there done that with the 215's from Shure. Never sounded good to me playing pedal steel.
The present band I'm with has moved towards amp less stage..( using the Quad Cortex for my "amp and effects")
Kind of dragged me kicking and screaming toward another use of in ear monitors..
This time decided to go big, with four driver, custom molded 64 Audio. Night and day..
My opinion you need to experience what the high end in ears monitor will deliver, and yes
monitor mix is obviously important, but in my opinion you get what you pay for in regards to
what is your sound quality. The downside is the cost associated with audiology molds and the in ears,
and that's why people are hesitant to go with the more expensive route..as was I. Aside from the cost
it's amazing the tone and sound quality the 64 Audio produce. Certainly my opinion.

[Paul Sutherland]

IEMs must seal to sound good. If they don't seal the first thing that goes is the low end response, and they sound tinny. That's the reason for custom molded IEMs.

[Michael Hartz]

The seal is everything with IEM’s. Custom molds obviously seal much better. I use Alclair custom molds, their prices are extremely reasonable compared to most other companies and their customer service is top notch. Plus, they are regularly having 30% off and such sales around Black Friday, Memorial Day, 4th July, and Labor Day. I use their Tour Triple driver model and it sounds EXCELLENT on steel.

[Larry Ball]

I ordered and received “Earbud Memory Foam Tips” for my IEM’s from a company called “SonicFoam”. The memory foam molds to your ear channel as custom ear pieces do and isolate outside interference. They appear to also have resolved the tinny sound by allowing the low’s to remain.

[Rex Blevins]

Future Sonics for my $ ! Call Marty Garcia at the factory in Pennsylvania, He is the owner !

[Tim Harr]

My IEM rig runs through an Xair mixer. It allows for EQ, compression, and reverb. Night and day difference to how I suspect you are using your IEM set up. Check it out... the compression in itself is a huge win.