It was time.

Time to go with my own in-ear personal monitoring system.

I ordered the Shure P3TRA215CL system which includes the Shure SE215 earphones, rackmountable transmitter and the PR3A bodypack receiver. Built to a higher standard than the P3TR112GR, I expect to resolve a number of issues that I seem to be having when I am playing live. (You can read the differences about the two systems here.)

First and foremost, I am really having trouble hearing myself on stage and it seems to be getting worse as I age. I rarely play on a silent stage and, as a consequence, there are monitor level wars. It only takes one player to start with the “more me” and, before you know it, everyone else is getting louder.

With the Kemper system, I no longer have an amp in the room to wash the sound. I have to rely on a monitor wedge being at exactly the right angle as well as at a relatively high volume level to hear my parts clearly. If I am not in the exact sweet spot with the monitor, I can barely hear my instrument. Monitor wedges seem to have a far more focused and directional sound field.

Finally, I am playing constantly through headphones when I am practicing at home. I have become accustomed to hearing the sound in that format and it is a now bit odd hearing it through the air. I play more aggressively with less nuance when playing through a wedge because I cannot hear the finer details on stage.

The new system should arrive later this week.

I expect to enjoy the freedom of not being tied to a wedge and hopefully having the sound at a level that is appropriate for me without impacting other players on stage.