The idea of having sound directly delivered to our clients' ears and having each person control their own levels without affecting others on stage is brilliant. Through my company, Onyx Sound, we have provided IEMs for a number of years to our clients and have liked them for the most part. As a result of these good experiences, we purchased Sennheiser EW300 IEM G2s and EW300 IEM G3 systems.
We have also rented Shure PSM 200s, 400s and 600s. In-ear sound quality has greatly improved since the early days of wireless. The flexibility of changing frequencies is a wonderful feature as well. We heard exciting things about the Shure PSM 900 system and were anxious to try it out.
The Gear
The Personal Monitor System (PSM 900) is the latest high-end IEM product from Shure. The system we received for testing included a transmitter, receiver and SE425 dual driver earpieces. We have an older Shure ULX hand held microphone, and when we put the PSM P9T next to the 10-year-old receiver (both are half rack), they matched up like well-dressed brothers. Engineering considered appearances and came up with a simple and pleasing design.
Yes, we understand the interference problems inherent with putting transmitters and receivers next to each other in racks. We use a helical antenna for my wireless mic, so we haven't had any intrusion problems.
The Shure receiver has two LED lights: one shows power, the other is a blue RF light. There is an RF switch on the P9T transmitter. When the switch is off, the engineer is able to set a frequency for the user without interfering with units that are already receiving from their own transmitters. A quick look to see if the blue light is on will tell a user if the transmitter and receiver are synchronized, or if they've lost signal. When you have selected a frequency on the receiver/bodypack, you need to select that same frequency in the P9T and save it.
The Shure user manual is easy to follow: To find an open frequency, "1. press the scan button on the P9R. The display flashes sync now… 2. Align the Infrared windows on the bodypack and rack unit and press the sync button on the rack. The level LEDs flash and it displays sync success. 3. Turn the RF switch on. The blue RF LED illuminates on the bodypack to indicate that it is detecting the transmitter. The bodypack also displays the RF signal strength. IMPORTANT: Turn bodypack volume down before plugging in earphones."
MixMode is another wonderful feature. You can have two signals coming into a single receiver. In "Audio Settings," select MixMode, and from the mixing console, you can send the full band to input two of the transmitter and a solo mix to input one. The other part about MixMode is you can replicate a mix by looping from "Loop One" to input two of the next Shure P9T transmitter in the rack. This saves mixes coming out of the console.
The Gig
We used this feature mentioned above on our test gig – an outdoor event with multiple acts. We had no idea what to expect going in, but were told a singer/songwriter was headlining. Small gig = small rig. My consoles were two Mackie 1402s with a maximum of 11 inputs. Said songwriter showed up with a six-piece band, so we went to work. Six bands/groups performed that night, and the show extended for an hour after the original wrap-up time. The performers who used the PSM 900 system all told us that the sound was the cleanest, purest sound they had experienced with IEMs. We noticed that the hiss was gone from the Shure, whereas the other systems did have the hiss.
Back to the gig and MixMode. We had two wedges and two IEMs, one of which was a Sennheiser EW300 IEM G3. The bass player wanted to "feel" the mix out of the wedges, but he also wanted to hear his bass louder in his mix. So we put him on the PSM 900 system and used the MixMode, sending him the wedge mix as input two and used his bass mix as input one. We then looped input two into the Sennheiser G3 so the drummer could hear the wedge mix as well. The bass player loved the Shure. "I am purchasing one as soon as possible!" he said, adding that it was the cleanest, purest mix he'd ever had using IEM.
Shure engineering has considered the big issues and small details. The P9R receiver is metal and a bit heavier than some other brands. It is smaller than other units we have used, yet even people with large hands had no trouble using it. A drummer friend in Texas who is part of a "worship" band does miss the detents of the Sennheiser. He has to turn off his in-ears and listen to the sermon, then quickly get back on the drums to play again. He knows he needs 14 clicks of volume and can dial it in without looking at the receiver or having to adjust while he is using both hands on the drums. He has gone back to using the Sennheiser, even though there is a faint hiss that is not present in the Shure.
Can the PSM 900 take some abuse? Well, one gig was a magic act in a park. The magician loved the sound and flexibility. He and his lovely assistant crawled into boxes, cabinets and other things and were cut to pieces and stabbed, but they, and the PSM900 system survived in style.
Another Use for CueMode
Andy Bean (my able assistant) and I found a way to use the CueMode to monitor frequencies from a Sennheiser EW300 G3 on the Shure P9R (Douglas from Shure tech support helped us with this). This feature could be very useful for a monitor engineer who needs to listen to mixes from a number of receiver units. I don't know of a way to do this on the Sennheiser G3 without having to retune the frequency for each of the mixes on stage. Using the Shure CueMode, an engineer can tune the Shure P9T transmitter to a frequency of a G3 transmitter and then sync the P9R to that frequency and save the frequency in the CueMode. This can be done for each G3 transmitter frequency. When finished with this task, the P9T can be set back to the frequency that is needed for the engineer. The engineer can then look up the CueMode frequencies and monitor them individually. Another trick can be to repeat the Star performer's frequency in the CueMode after each band member so the engineer is only one frequency away from monitoring the Star.
Shure PSM 900
What It Is: Transmitter/receiver system for wireless IEMs
Who It's For: Anyone who needs IEMs. Tours especially need the system for monitoring many frequencies on stage (See "Another Use for CueMode," above).
Pros: MixMode, CueMode, solid construction and high quality sound.
Cons: The transmitter antenna falls down, and it is long and heavy without a way of tightening it up on the base; no detents on the on/off knob.
How Much: $1,330 to $1,650 street price, including the SE425 ear pieces.
