Hello! I was looking through the sidebar's list of recommended earphones, and after clicking through some of them, I've realized that I actually don't know if that's a list for me, a consumer looking for something to jack into my phone.
I've tried quickly looking for differences between IEMs and headphones, but didn't managed to reach a conclusion. I've vaguely familiar with the term "monitors", since I do help out from time with band shows, but I never actually dealt with audio equipment or audio setup (aside from carrying it to the stage). From what I assume based on what I've seen, monitors are the the speakers that play on stage, so the band can hear what they play. And IEMs are earbud versions of monitors that the band uses instead.
I've always assumed that they are basically headphones/earphones, just connected to some kind of transmitter, and calling them IEMs just makes it easier to find earbuds focused on audio quality, because the term is not as mass-marketed as earbuds are. But judging by the cable connector I've seen on some of the IEMs I've looked at, it's probably not a jack.
So, what are the differences? Is it a different tech all-together, or are they really just a higher quality earphones with better connector? Would looking for IEMs instead of earbuds make it easier to find better earbuds for regular use, or are they meant only for studios and I'll have a hard time even connecting them without aditionall equipment?
Thank you for any reply or explanation. I realize this question may seem pretty basic, and I hope it's not too out of place - I have almost zero experience with audio, but I did start recently DJing (where all I needed so far was to be able to connect RCA into a mixer) and helping out with setting up band shows, so I'm asking this question not because I'm shopping for earbuds, but because I'm honestly interested in learning something new about how different tech around music work and what's the common language around it.
Hey there! Here’s a quick rundown:
IEMs - stands for in ear monitors, typically these are not used for casual listening to music, they are meant as a replacement or augmentation to the traditional monitor wedges seen at the bottom front of a stage during live performances. They are typically wired headphones, plugged into a wireless receiver that a front of house or monitor mixing engineer can feed individual mixes to the different members of a band on stage (drummer may just want to hear a click track, singer might want to hear themselves, etc.) they aren’t the best sounding, unless you spend a ton of money, but they do usually have some level of noise dampening in them so that you can hear what you are doing on stage better than through a monitor wedge.
Headphones - pretty typical catchall term for speakers on your head - they range wildly in sound quality and use case, and as a casual listener you’d be much better suited to find a pair of headphones to use, rather than IEMs. Most manufacturers will have some kind of breakdown on their product pages for what their headphones are best suited for (casual listening/mixing/noise cancellation etc.)
Earphones - I have to admit I’m not super familiar with this term, though I’d imagine when it’s used, it’s being used to describe headphones that prioritize calling someone on a phone, rather than a music based application
I hope this helps!
Thank you! That's what I thought, I think I have a pretty clear picture now.
I didn't realize this, but it actually makes sense. I've kind of expected that they should be focused on audio quality, but I suppose that's not really important for IEMs, since you don't really need to have top-notch listening experience under those circumstances.
NO THAT'S NOT TRUE! IEMs have improved a lot, and you can get great sounding IEMs for very cheap nowadays! In the sidebar there is a tierlist made by the IEM reviewer crinacle, who also has a Youtube channel where he reviews stuff. You can find IEMs of great value at $200 or less and still sound great!