Cheap wireless IEM system

Longtallronnie

Looking at giving these a go…

https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/SubZero-Voxlink-Portable-Wireless-In-Ear-Monitor-System/424C?origin=product-ads&gclid=CjwKCAjwq4imBhBQEiwA9Nx1Bq_8BIMvZcuyjg-j6lPB1MWoKfTtPP_gDpvt1stKz9GIuefsN_Zr_RoCl5gQAvD_BwE

or even cheaper…
https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEKATO-MS-1-Transmitter-Automatic-Performance-Receiver/dp/B0B9W5S4N8/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?adgrpid=121649263190&hvadid=606326713324&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9045052&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=12329760967996536729&hvtargid=kwd-308081699931&hydadcr=13648_2324197&keywords=wireless+in+ear+monitor&qid=1690486924&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1

I’m sure they won’t be as good as the top brands but I’m hoping they’ll be enough for what I need. 

I play solo acoustic gigs with a looper and sometimes struggle to keep in time when the punters are singing along loudly. 

I haven’t got room for a fold back monitor and I can see myself dragging half my gear across the stage with wires IEMs!

As long as the transmitter and receiver aren’t complete gash, I can upgrade the ear phones later. 

Whistler

Of your two links I have the second one, the Lekato system. It works for me but I have the two parts only 2-3 metres away from each other. I imagine distance will be its weak link.

Roland

Often with cheaper options of any product you lose quality of sound. My experience of cheap wireless IEMs is that they suddenly cut out for no apparent reason. Bar chiller, taxi radio, too many phones in the room etc. Last Saturday we played at a club where there were ten visible networks, plus at least one not visible. We had to use cables for all our guitars and microphones, and for an iPad link to the mixer. The only wireless devices which worked were two Sennheiser IEM sets.

Longtallronnie

Whistler said:

Of your two links I have the second one, the Lekato system. It works for me but I have the two parts only 2-3 metres away from each other. I imagine distance will be its weak link.

I don’t think I’d ever be more than a couple of metres from the transmitter. What’s the latency like? What earphones are you using with them? 

Longtallronnie

Roland said:

Often with cheaper options of any product you lose quality of sound. My experience of cheap wireless IEMs is that they suddenly cut out for no apparent reason. Bar chiller, taxi radio, too many phones in the room etc. Last Saturday we played at a club where there were ten visible networks, plus at least one not visible. We had to use cables for all our guitars and microphones, and for an iPad link to the mixer. The only wireless devices which worked were two Sennheiser IEM sets.

I’m not overly worried about sound quality, as long as it’s not distractingly shit. For context, I’m using a fairly cheap pair of HH Vector speakers, an Alesis mixer and a Faith acoustic so not not exactly high end gear. 

The only other consideration is frequency bands… the ones listed operate at 2.4ghz but I could go for this one that transmits at 864mhz - I’m not sure which would be less susceptible to interference. 

https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Wireless-In-Ear-Monitor-System-by-Gear4music/OUE?origin=product-ads&gclid=CjwKCAjwq4imBhBQEiwA9Nx1Btol33lPkHKfDU7VVn2IwABm0L4TyASGIf-FgZJkHSCdWxxqWK5X0xoCWJoQAvD_BwE

Whistler

Longtallronnie said:

Whistler said:

Of your two links I have the second one, the Lekato system. It works for me but I have the two parts only 2-3 metres away from each other. I imagine distance will be its weak link.

I don’t think I’d ever be more than a couple of metres from the transmitter. What’s the latency like? What earphones are you using with them? 

The latency I haven’t noticed. I see the specs say 12ms and generally 20ms is about the max before you can hear it as a delayed signal, so all seems well on that front.

As for earphones I use everyday JVC sports earbuds as they work fine for me at a fraction of the cost of the usual audio IEM earbuds.

The specs say the charge lasts for 5 hours. When the battery eventually starts having a shorter life, I need 3 hours and so I expect thst to be my first problem with these. In the meantime I am happy with them, their size, their weight, the functionality and so on.

Longtallronnie

Cheers for that @Whistler ;

Whistler

I could go for this one that transmits at 864mhz.

I believe that the 863-865MHz band now requires a licence to use it in the UK. With 5G and other demands there have been changes in the allocation of frequency bands in the last few years. Sticking with the publicly available and licence-free 2.4 and 5.8GHz would be the wisest choice.

shufflebeat

Whistler said:

I could go for this one that transmits at 864mhz.

I believe that the 863-865MHz band now requires a licence to use it in the UK.

That range is still licence free:

https://www.shure.com/en-GB/performance-production/louder/wireless-microphones-need-licence

…but congested.

If distance turns out to be an issue (I don’t think it will) then you can always drop the transmitter at your feet/pedalboard on the end of an XLR.

Other Lekato systems seem to work well. I have a mix of Wingo and Xvive systems which have been reliable with sensible positioning.

p90fool

Our two singers have been using a Chord IEM16 system on those frequencies for about six years in a wide variety of venues with zero problems. 
It costs a bit more than your examples but probably uses the same tech. 

Danny1969

Are you using a guitar lead, if so just use a 5 core cable for the guitar lead and use 3 cores to run your ears in stereo. No batteries, no radio interference, perfect sound quality and less than £50

shufflebeat

Danny1969 said:

Are you using a guitar lead, if so just use a 5 core cable for the guitar lead and use 3 cores to run your ears in stereo. No batteries, no radio interference, perfect sound quality and less than £50

I would have suggested incorporating a Behringer p2 headphone into the setup and going wired but the OP wanted wireless specifically so I assumed a wireless guitar connection.

I always carry a short multicore to minimise spaghetti poisoning. It’s made from a regular external wall box and blank front plate and has 6 input channels and two output, all XLR.

It would be simple to have one of those outputs on a TRS jack out of the headphone socket on the desk to a headphone socket on the m/c box (plug headphones straight in with extension) or via the Behr p2 in stereo or XLR from a send on the desk using a Behr p2 in mono.

Longtallronnie

I like the 5c cable idea as my guitar isn’t wireless but I think I’d still end up forgetting to take them out before running to the bar/toilet/gaggle of groupies lol. 

Danny1969

Longtallronnie said:

I like the 5c cable idea as my guitar isn’t wireless but I think I’d still end up forgetting to take them out before running to the bar/toilet/gaggle of groupies lol. 

Well unless you take the guitar to the toilet that's not possible

Your IEM's plug into the guitar cable ... you can't put down the guitar cable without unplugging the IEM's.

Like this cable here ...  on the left the cable plugs into your board or amp and that's the guitar sorted. The other connector accepts a stereo IEM feed from the desk or a headphone amp. Then on the right of the cable your IEM's plug into the little box near the end, just before the cable enters the guitar.
I don't have time to make any IEM cables for anyone at the moment but happy to tell exactly how to do it 

Longtallronnie

Wait, you DON’T take your guitar to the toilet?! 

Longtallronnie

I think the issue with that would be I have a pedalboard so the IEMs would be plugged into that cable, not the one going to my guitar. 

It is a cool idea though. 

p90fool

Longtallronnie said:

I like the 5c cable idea as my guitar isn’t wireless but I think I’d still end up forgetting to take them out before running to the bar/toilet/gaggle of groupies lol. 

Our singer handed me her IEM transmitter pack ten minutes before showtime once, saying "It's not working". It was also very wet, as she'd dropped it down the bog when she hoiked her dress up. 

I took the batteries out and chucked it in the airing cupboard when I got home and it's worked ever since.

TheBigDipper

Danny1969 said:

Longtallronnie said:

I like the 5c cable idea as my guitar isn’t wireless but I think I’d still end up forgetting to take them out before running to the bar/toilet/gaggle of groupies lol. 

Well unless you take the guitar to the toilet that's not possible

Your IEM's plug into the guitar cable ... you can't put down the guitar cable without unplugging the IEM's.

Like this cable here ...  on the left the cable plugs into your board or amp and that's the guitar sorted. The other connector accepts a stereo IEM feed from the desk or a headphone amp. Then on the right of the cable your IEM's plug into the little box near the end, just before the cable enters the guitar.
I don't have time to make any IEM cables for anyone at the moment but happy to tell exactly how to do it 

Pretty please. I've got a new friend who can solder properly - unlike me. 

Longtallronnie

Looks like I could get the Lekato and a set of kZ ZS10s for the same as the Sub Zero set from the link in the OP. 

The only advantage of the Sub Zero I see is that it has 20 channels which could be handy. 

Or maybe get the Sub Zero, make do with the included earphones for now and upgrade them later…

Snags

Longtallronnie said:

I’m sure they won’t be as good as the top brands but I’m hoping they’ll be enough for what I need. 

I play solo acoustic gigs with a looper and sometimes struggle to keep in time when the punters are singing along loudly. 

I haven’t got room for a fold back monitor and I can see myself dragging half my gear across the stage with wires IEMs!

As long as the transmitter and receiver aren’t complete gash, I can upgrade the ear phones later. 

I appreciate that this isn't answering the question asked (well, someone has to uphold tradition), but someting like the little Behringer B205D "personal monitor" can integrate into your mic stand (if you take your own mic stand).

Alternatively you can get a short independent stand and stuff it on that.

Longtallronnie

I have considered one of them and have used them in past bands. They’re handy little units but I fancy trying the in-ear route this time.