What Are In-Ear Monitors (IEMs)?

With the advent of portable music, a majority of people listen to music with headphones or earphones. Why not listen to your music the way it's meant to be heard? Higher fidelity audio can now be enjoyed on-the-go. While there is already a large market for high-end headphones and earphones, today I would like to recommend a type of headphone that I firmly believe are the best portable headphones: in-ear monitors.

In-ear monitors (often abbreviated to IEMs) are essentially like earphones, except they form a seal within your ear canal (do not confuse this with your inner ear). This seal helps reduce outside noises by approximately -20 through -28 dB. This is called noise isolation, and it is different from noise cancellation (which removes outside noises by utilizing frequency waves to annihilate the ambient waves coming from outside).

The result from this noise isolation? Better attenuation of details in music, as details usually drown out when you are listening with earphones and ambient noise is leaking in. Not only this, but you crank the volume much less than you normally would, since you can listen to your music at lower volumes.

IEMs provide a much more comfortable fit when used with foam tips. Better yet, they don't fall out of yours ears like regular earphones.

Image Source: djtechtools.com

However, the real advantage of in-ear monitors lie in their exceptional technology. IEMs often utilize 2 or 3 sound drivers to "separate" the sound frequencies between the lows (for bass), mids (midrange—for vocals), and highs. Secondly, the type of driver technology used is often Balanced Armature drivers (I go into detail about the difference between Balanced Armature drivers and Dynamic Drivers in my post here). By utilizing several sound drivers, audio quality tends to skyrocket. Your favorite band sounds like they are right there in the room playing with you. Vocals are pristine and clear. Bass is clean and without distortion. Highs shine without being drowned out by everything else.

Many IEMs utilize multiple drivers. The result is an increase in sound quality.

Image Source: shure.co.uk

The end result? You can actually appreciate the rawness of an electric guitar or the thumping beats in hip-hop songs. Sometimes, you realize that you haven't actually listened to your favorite band before this increase in audio quality.

Overall, there are three attributes about IEMs that make them stand out among other headphones:

1. Noise Isolation: This results in better attenuation to details in music and no need to crank up the volume to dangerous levels.
2. Sound Quality: Multiple drivers often result in a tremendous increase in sound quality. Since each speaker only focuses on one range of the spectrum (i.e., one speaker for mids, highs, and lows), distortion is very low while details are preserved. Many (not all) IEMs utilize multiple drivers.
3. Comfort and Fit: IEMs super soft foam tips can be used (such as Comply tips), which are compressed prior to insertion, and then expand in your ear. When they're done expanding, you can barely feel anything on.

You may be thinking "But I hate sticking things in my ears!". In that case, IEMs may be a good choice.

A majority of IEMs are compatible with foam tips—which are not only super soft, but also have fantastic seals compared to plastic tips. Foam tips can be compressed prior to insertion, and once they're in your ears they expand to fit the shape of your ear canal. Thus, IEMs with foam tips can be much more comfortable than earphones that irritate your ears or constantly fall out. One of the best manufacturers of these types of foam, Comply, offers multiple types of soft tips for a variety of IEMs.

Soft foam tips (such as Comply tips) offer superior comfort compared to earphones.

Image Source: noisyhotel.com

IEMs range in their audio quality and prices. Some of the most affordable IEMs start around $100—however, these IEMs are usually single balanced armature driver IEMs and do not offer a good balance between value and audio quality. Moving up towards higher fidelity IEMs usually results in 2 or 3 drivers being utilized. These IEMs range between $200-$400+ in price, depending on their configuration and brand. The important thing to note is that IEMs should be considered as an investment, as they do not usually fail from wire issues and driver failures. If they do, most IEM manufacturers offer a minimum of a 1-year warranty, with others offering 2-year warranties and higher.

With a variety of IEM manufacturers including Shure, Sennheiser, Westone, and EarSonics, it can be difficult to choose the right IEM for you. It is important to make sure that you know what type of sound signature you prefer (be sure to see my post on sound signatures here), as well as the type of music you listen to and enjoy. You can also consult the head-fi forums for more information regarding IEMs and which IEM is right for you.

If you do decide to purchase IEMs, enjoy the increased noise isolation, sound quality, and comfort. You may just rediscover details in music that you've never heard before!

Noise Isolation vs. Noise Cancelling

I've decided to start a "mini-series" of posts for my blog regarding audio and headphones/earphones and other audio gear (amplifiers, speakers, etc.). I think these posts will be beneficial to anyone looking to get the best sound quality out of their music! Personally, I have been upgrading quite a lot over the past few years, and reading a lot of audiophile information on forums like head-fi.org. I will try my best to help others with the information I've obtained over the years.

I'm sure many of us have heard of Noise Cancelling headphones by now. But do you truly know the difference between Noise Cancelling headphones and Noise Isolating headphones/earphones?

Noise Cancelling headphones work by "fighting sound with sound" by emitting opposing frequencies that cancel out external noise. Above, Sony MDR-NC60 headphones.
Source: sony.jp

Noise Cancelling headphones, quite simply, fight sound with sound. Since there is usually ambient noise external to the headphones that leaks into the music, Noise Cancelling headphones actively "remove" this unwanted sound by emitting frequencies that cancel out the opposing sound. The end result is that you hear your music without all that external noise from outside leaking in.

Noise Isolating headphones/earphones work a little bit differently. Noise Isolating headphones/earphones (more properly, IEMs or in-ear monitors) passively remove external noise without producing opposing frequencies. How they do this is quite simple: they create a seal in your ear or outer ear. For example, many "canal phones" that you insert deeper into your ear than you would iPod earbuds, are creating a seal in your ear that reduces external noise from anywhere between -20 dB and -47 dB. This prevents external noise from coming into your ears at all, thus eliminating the need to "fight sound with sound" as Noise Cancellation does.

Noise Isolating in-ear monitors (IEMs) work by passively reducing external noise by creating a seal in the ear canal. This eliminates the need to "fight sound with sound". Above, Shure SE535 in-ear monitors.
Source: fittechnica.com

So which form of technology is better? Frankly, Noise Isolating would get the vote from me. One of the main reasons is that Noise Isolating headphones/earphones do not introduce artifacts into the music as Noise Cancelling headphones/earphones do. Since Noise Cancelling headphones/earphones fight external sounds with opposing frequencies, they have a tendency to introduce artifacts into the music that were not originally there. Noise Isolating headphones/earphones do not fight sound with sound, so they never introduce any artifacts into the music.

Secondly, Noise Isolating headphones/earphones do not require any external electricity or power to work. Many Noise Cancelling headphones/earphones require a battery of some sort in order to run the Noise Cancelling feature. This requires charging or replacing batteries, something that Noise Isolating headphones/earphones do not require.

And finally, Noise Isolating headphones simply work better in my opinion. Since sound is never introduced to the ear in the first place (because of the seal), you don't have to fight sound with sound. It's akin to solving a problem before it happens. With Noise Cancelling headphones/earphones, the external noise already gets into your ear and music while it is simultaneously alleviated with opposing frequencies. There's no saying that one technology is better or worse than the other--it's just that Noise Isolating gets the vote from me in preserving good audio quality.