At our church, our worship leader is fixated on two things: a Bose L1 system and in ear monitors. I think I'm going to be asked to make it all work together...won't be the first time.

My issue is that I can't figure out the reason to use in ear monitors and a Bose L1 system at the same time???

That said, I've never used in ear monitors. So I don't know much about them.

You really don't need ear buds if you can hear exactly the same things the audience can hear, at the same level and quality, which is one of the wonderful aspects of the Bose and other vertical array sound systems. Ear buds are nothing other than tiny headphones that fit nicely into your ears. Some are wireless, and some are hard wired with a receiver worn on your belt or behind the ear. When I performed with a 5-piece country band, we had on stage monitors so we could place the monster, feedback prone speakers out in front of us and still hear what the guy standing next to you was playing or singing. With the newer mics and vertical array sound systems, this is no longer a problem.

Good luck,

Gary

IEMs are a blessing "IF" you have a sound tech running the system. It's great to hear just what you need in a mix, and not what the crowd hears, sometimes.
I've been so spoiled a few times with large show bands ... the stage volume is minuscule, and the FOH mix is fantastic. It's not for everyone, but houses of worship can be tricky to mix, so I see the point.

In-Ears are great if you have control. For me, I feel disconnected from the audience if I am only monitoring through IEMs. At church, I split my mic and keyboard signal... one set to the FOH and the other set to powered monitors. Currently we are using the Yamaha MSR-250 powered speaker on the floor. I run my sequences, keyboard sound and my voice. As long as I can hear me, I am good to lead worship.

My last gig was up against a wall... harder to hear myself but it worked. I had 2 Yamaha DXR10 speakers on poles in stereo. 85 seniors staring me down. My voice wasn't good because of a cold. I told stories about my life... had them sing along with a few of the tunes... no one complained that I was too loud. I connected from the beginning and they loved the performance. Lots of laughs! If I would be in IEMs... the result may be different.

I've been using IEMs for about 8 years now, if you are responsible for mixing then using IEMs is tough, it can be done but tough, I always have a sound engineer mixing, so I can concentrate on just playing.

I can't imagine the possible hearing loss I could have had without them, I use custom molded ES60 Westones, even at lower volumes, there is still hearing damage at the those volumes, its physics,

The other problem with IEMS is that you can hear all the mistakes, and you can't play off the room ambience so it takes allot to get used to them

Tx Frank.

A question. Part of the reason for going to a line array system is for the performers to hear each other and to be able to blend.

Where do in ear monitors fit in with being able to hear each other?

When you are wearing ear buds, 2 of them, you primarily hear what is coming out of the PA system, everything else is blocked just as if you were wearing ear plugs.

Good luck,

Gary

What I've done is set up an ambient mic, so I can get a direct feed, and then I blend the ambient signal, this way I can get that sound of live and direct