Floor wedges are loud, they bounce around the stage and they put sound straight back into the microphones. For a worship team that plays several services a week, they also mean singing over a lot of volume.
In-ear monitors, usually called IEMs, move the monitor mix from the floor into the player's ears. Each person can hear what they need and nothing else. They are not hard to run, but they are easy to set up badly. This guide explains how IEM mixes are made, what a beginner should build first, how personal mixing apps and boxes fit in and how to look after everyone's hearing.
Key takeaways
- IEMs replace floor wedges with earphones, give each musician their own mix and remove the main source of stage feedback.
- Monitor mixes come from auxiliary sends on your mixer. The number of aux sends limits the number of separate mixes, and a stereo mix uses two of them.
- A mix built for a large room sounds wrong in the ears. Build the monitor mix separately, and add an ambient microphone so players do not feel cut off from the congregation.
- Limiters are a last line of defence for hearing, not a plan. NIOSH's workplace guidance sets 85 dBA as an 8-hour average, and each 3 dB increase halves the time.
Why teams move to IEMs
Shure's guide for houses of worship lists the reasons.
- They replace floor wedges with earphones worn in the ear.
- Each person can choose what they hear, and control the volume and balance of the mixes, without changing what anyone else hears.
- Feedback drops. Feedback is caused by sound from loudspeakers leaking into live microphones. With no wedge pointing at the microphone, there is much less of it.
- Hearing and voice. Shure points to research on hearing loss in people constantly exposed to sound, and to the vocal strain of singing over high volume. Worship team members often serve in several services every week.
Shure's PSM300 manual also describes the practical result: lower volume on stage and more audio detail.
How a monitor mix is made
A monitor mix is a separate mix of your channels, sent out of an auxiliary output instead of the main speakers.
Aux sends set the number of mixes
Shure's guide to configuring a personal monitor system explains the limit. Monitor mixes are typically made from auxiliary sends on the front-of-house console or a dedicated monitor console. The number of aux sends available is the final limit on the number of mixes. Aux sends are also used for effects, so not all of them may be free.
Stereo costs more. A stereo mix needs two sends, so a mixer with four aux sends gives you two stereo mixes or four mono ones.
Start with fewer mixes than you think
Shure points out that an inexpensive setup uses two mixes, for instance one of vocals and one of instruments. Its PSM bodypacks have a MixMode control that lets the performer blend those two mixes themselves. Everyone hears both, and each person sets their own balance with the knob.
Make the sends pre-fader
One retailer's setup guide recommends pre-fader sends for monitor mixes. A pre-fader send is independent of the main faders, so if the engineer raises the house level, the performer's mix does not change. Post-fader sends follow the main fader.
Building a mix that works
Do not use the house mix
A mix for a large room sounds different in close-fitting earphones. The same guide describes it as congested, overly reverberant and heavy in the low mids. Build the monitor mix on its own:
- Reduce reverb on the monitor bus.
- Add gentle compression to smooth big swings.
- Roll off low-frequency build-up with a gentle high-pass filter.
- Bring the player's own voice or instrument up, so they can hear themselves clearly.
Begin with a base mix
Start with a simple mix of the whole band that is acceptable to everyone, then let each person adjust their own. Drummers often need something different. Shure notes a wired connection can be the better choice for a drummer, and that wired and wireless can be used together, for example a click track plus a mix of the service.
Add the room
Full isolation removes the connection to the room that players are used to. The fix is an ambient microphone.
- One setup guide recommends a small omnidirectional microphone at the front edge of the stage, blended in lightly.
- A church-technology writer suggests two microphones facing the congregation from the stage, routed as a stereo pair and panned hard left and right, and notes this is anecdotal advice that may not apply in every room.
Either way, the aim is the same: the singers can hear the congregation and feel part of the room.
Personal mixers and apps
A personal mixer lets each performer adjust their own mix without the engineer.
A hardware option: Behringer P16
If you use a Behringer X32 or a Midas M32, you can send 16 channels over a single Ultranet cable to P16 personal mixers. According to the X32 manual, you route sources on the routing screen's P16 tab. Sources can include a direct out, a mix bus, an aux output or the main mix, and for each you choose a tap point such as input, pre-EQ, pre-fader or post-fader. Musicians can then make their own mix of those stems.
Sweetwater's quickstart notes that the P16 must be connected to the port labelled Ultranet, not the Ethernet or AES50 ports. Behringer released a newer P16-HQ in late 2024, and operating it is very similar to the P16-M.
An app option: X32-Q and MX-Q
For musicians who want to use a phone or tablet, Behringer's X32-Q app on Android adds personal monitor mixing to the X32. According to its description:
- A musician can control the send levels from all 32 input channels, either individually or through four MCA faders that group inputs.
- There is no hard-coded limit to the number of users.
- It needs a wireless router or access point connected to the console.
On iPhone and iPad, the app is MX-Q, which works with X32, X AIR, M32 and M AIR mixers and requires the device and mixer to be on the same Wi-Fi network.
Other brands have their own apps, so check what your mixer supports.
Protecting hearing
Earphones put the sound very close to the ear. Treat volume as a safety issue.
- Know the reference. NIOSH, the U.S. workplace health agency, recommends 85 dBA averaged over 8 hours, with a 3 dB exchange rate. Every 3 dB increase halves the allowed time, so 100 dBA reaches the daily limit in 15 minutes. This is a workplace reference and not a guideline for leisure, but it shows how quickly time shrinks as level rises.
- Do not rely on the limiter. Most wireless belt-packs and personal mixers have an adjustable limiter. One writer's advice is to build mixes so that limiting is the last line of defence against bad habits, not the first.
- Start low. Begin with the volume down and bring it up, with the earphones in.
A first rollout for a worship team
- List the players and what each needs to hear.
- Count your aux sends and decide how many mixes you can make.
- Make the sends pre-fader.
- Build a base mix without house reverb, with a gentle high-pass filter.
- Add an ambient microphone.
- Start with one or two people, such as the worship leader and the drummer, before changing the whole stage.
- Rehearse, then adjust. Players will ask for changes, and that is a good sign.
How Planify can help
An IEM system is run by people who have to be there, and a worship team has many roles.
- Positions for each instrument. Create positions such as vocals, keys, guitar, drums and sound, with a coordinator for the department. Each position can have a minimum and a maximum number of people.
- Confirmation by tap. Players confirm or decline on WhatsApp, so you know before Sunday if the drummer is out.
- Cover from the same position. If someone declines, Planify can ask colleagues who cover that position.
- Monthly rota. The planner proposes assignments with attention to fairness and to unavailable periods.
- Open slots. If a position is not filled, you can send an open call to the team.
Which features you get depends on your plan.
Read next: media team scheduling: why sound, cameras and slides can't be swapped.
FAQ
What is an in-ear monitor mix?
It is a separate mix of your channels, usually sent from an auxiliary output of the mixer, that a musician hears through earphones instead of a floor wedge.
How many monitor mixes can my mixer make?
As many as it has free auxiliary sends. A stereo mix needs two sends, a mono mix needs one. Aux sends may also be used for effects.
Do in-ear monitors stop feedback?
They remove the stage wedge from the microphone's path, which Shure lists as a way to reduce feedback. You still need good microphone placement and a well-built system.
Is it safe to use in-ear monitors?
It can be, if you keep the level moderate. As a reference, NIOSH's workplace guideline is 85 dBA over 8 hours, and every 3 dB increase halves the time. Do not rely on the limiter alone.