When DJs use In-Ears!

[djpetermunch]

If you use a headphone attenuator, how can you check your levels? So you may preserve your own hearing while blowing out the hearing of everyone on the dancefloor?

In order for proper gain-staging don't you need to hear everything accurately as the people in front of the speakers do?

???

A headphone attenuator makes it easier to control the volume in In-Ears. If you plug IEMs into a DJM-800 you will typically have to adjust then volume knob from 0 - 3 (where 0 will be "no sound" and 3 will be extremely loud). With an attenuator you can use the volume knob with great precision.

As for the "proper gain-staging" - I am not sure what you mean. With In-Ears you do hear the music/mix/cue like if you had a monitor next to you - obviously not equal to the sound of a speaker monitor. As for using the monitor as a reference - you can still use the DJ monitor as "reference" for what the main PA is outputting. And you can obviously still pop out the IEMs, just as you would take regular cans away from the ears to check the overall sound levels and EQ on the floor.

I've been using IEMs for 8 years now. And there is no going back - it has def. helped lower my Tinnitus.

[thisisdjkaz]

Interesting concept. In your research into creating this device have you come across many performers that have damaged their ears due to unforseen spikes in their levels or them being to loud? I recently started using custom IEMs and I'm very aware that plugging into mixers, etc that I must reset the volume to 0 before plugging the IEMs in, among other things that may cause a damaging level to my ears.

[LanceBlaise]

I have been using IEMs for the past 8-9 years. I have never once had a problem where I damaged my ears. Before they go in my ears I turn the cue volume almost all the way down.

I don't see how any DJ who is at all experienced would need something like this. Maybe a novice or someone who picks up IEMs for the first time could benefit? Honestly I think it would only teach them bad habits on proper leveling etc. This really seems like a useless tool for someone who wants to DJ the right way and make sure levels are proper on all channels. I just don't ever remember thinking that I wish the level never went above 3 because then everything would just be so wonderful... seems like a stupid concept for a DJ.

Maybe this would be more practical for a singer? I don't really know thoough, I am sure you can figure out a way to market this to them, it doesn't seem to be a really big hit over here...

[LanceBlaise]

...there is no going back - it has def. helped lower my Tinnitus.

You actually have Tinnitus?

[djpetermunch]

You actually have Tinnitus?

Oh Yes, I've had Tinnitus for more than 16 years now. Ever since I acquired my Tinnitus, I've been wearing musician Earplugs. I wear them walking the streets of New York, taking the subway - and obviously whenever I either play or visit a club.

I started using IEMs around 8-9 years ago, to avoid evolving my tinnitus further. I found that using In-Ears helped protect my ears, which is why I continued using them. Over the course of the last 8-9 years I've had several accidents happening, some caused by me, some by co-DJs. Accidents happen - no matter how careful you are. Some of these accidents gave me added ringing in the ears for a couple of days... whereas some of them added additional frequencies to my Tinnitus (accidents adding frequencies happened at least twice over the course of the last 9 years).

These accidents could have been avoided with the PreservEar limiter, that's a fact. And since beginning to use it - I've avoided a couple of them. Sometimes it protects my hearing, sometimes my IEMs. But, most importantly it takes away the fear of pressing a wrong button when the lights are flashing, everything is dark and you are about to drop that first track. As padi_04 said - "If it makes you sleep better at night". I can nod yes to that... it makes me sleep better at night. I think anybody who've had trouble falling asleep due to heavy ringing in the ears would agree.

[djpetermunch]

Interesting concept. In your research into creating this device have you come across many performers that have damaged their ears due to unforseen spikes in their levels or them being to loud? I recently started using custom IEMs and I'm very aware that plugging into mixers, etc that I must reset the volume to 0 before plugging the IEMs in, among other things that may cause a damaging level to my ears.

Re. the first thing you ask. Unfortunately yes - Performers, DJs, musicians are just some of the many professions haunted by Tinnitus and hearing damage. AV professionals, security guards using walkie talkies... in general anybody who uses some kind of In-Ears system with a high powered device.

Welcome to the IEM world - I am glad that you are super careful with pluggin in the IEMs, but remember that it's when things get hectic that mistakes happen.

[Shishdisma]

I don't really understand why this exists. What the Hell is "cue spiking," and why would I buy an extra piece of hardware that just turns the mixer down for me? If you need to turn up the cue bus significantly, you're missing the point of IEMs... If at any point in time you're surprised by the level of your cue bus, or the level significantly changes over the course of a set, there's a different problem a $160 box can't solve.

[djpetermunch]

I don't really understand why this exists. What the Hell is "cue spiking," and why would I buy an extra piece of hardware that just turns the mixer down for me? If you need to turn up the cue bus significantly, you're missing the point of IEMs... If at any point in time you're surprised by the level of your cue bus, or the level significantly changes over the course of a set, there's a different problem a $160 box can't solve.

Do you have any experience with IEMs?

[Shishdisma]

Do you have any experience with IEMs?

Not personally, but I have multiple friends who swear by them, and have never complained about any such issues, or done anything but praise how they universally preserve hearing. Your product seems to suggest that IEMs can damage hearing in normal usage, a problem your product seeks to correct. This would almost completely invalidate the underlying value of IEMs, and seems to be a rather creative FUD position.

[djpetermunch]

Not personally, but I have multiple friends who swear by them, and have never complained about any such issues, or done anything but praise how they universally preserve hearing. Your product seems to suggest that IEMs can damage hearing in normal usage, a problem your product seeks to correct. This would almost completely invalidate the underlying value of IEMs, and seems to be a rather creative FUD position.

I don't see how an added security can invalidate the value of IEMs. Because your friends have never told you about sudden acoustic shocks or high level exposures that they have experienced, doesn't mean that they don't happen. I think anybody with normal headphones (cans) have experienced sudden loud exposures - so the phenomenon is not an IEM problem, but IEMs surely intensifies the problem due to the immersion in the ear canal. I think that whoever claims that they have NEVER experienced anything like that, is either OCD about their headphone usage or have never been DJing outside their safe "no-stress" bedrooms.

To suggest the use of fear tastics is far stretched. I would argue the risk of Tinnitus is a real problem for DJs, all this product does is lower that risk.