Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Corey Batorski on January 26, 2009 at 9:33am

I was doing a search this morning for in-ears and just wanted to resurrect this thread because Mike's original question was just what I was going to post. I'm currently using Ultimate Ears Triple-Fi pro IEM's...but they pop out more than they should (even changing out the buds to different sizes) and I think its time to make the switch to custom molds.

Any of you guys who were waiting get yours in? What are your impressions? (no pun intended)

I'm just curious if I would be downgrading from what I currently have to something like LiveWire... maybe I just need to try some for myself.

Thoughts?

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Permalink Reply by Wil Easterwood on January 26, 2009 at 9:41am

I have been using LiveWires for about a year now. For the price.. they are unbeatable! They have real flat response to them so its good to run them with an outboard eq. Come to think of it, I cant come up with one negative comment about them! You just have to hear them for yourself. Earl Neal(Toby K's monitor engineer and highly respected audio guy) and his wife run the office over in Mt. Juliet. Best $250 bucks I've spent in a while!! Hope this helps.

Wil

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Permalink Reply by Phil Naish on January 26, 2009 at 4:34pm

These are great in ear monitors and Earl and Kath are awesome to deal with. Mine sound great and have held up for over a year with no problems whatsoever. I highly recommend them and the company.

Phil

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Permalink Reply by Scott Metko on January 26, 2009 at 8:46pm

Hey Everyone,

I've had my Live Wires for a couple months. They do a great job cutting down on the live stage noise leaking in. After a 90 minute show, they're not exactly comfortable however, but that's due to the hard plastic design. They're not as comfy as the softer Westones, but they're not $700 either. So I would agree, 'for the money' they are well worth it. And yes, the husband/wife team out of Mt juliet do a great job on service.

Scott M

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Permalink Reply by J.Paul Brittain on January 31, 2009 at 12:39pm

I've had mine for a few months now and no complaints.
They sound warm and the seal keeps most of the bleed out (I don't like super tight seals).Earl and Katherine are very helpful and responsive.

They are considerably more comfortable now than when I got them (I guess the cartilage stretches a bit) but still only wear them for about 4 hours a time (and that's enough). I haven't done any recording or mixing since I got them and can't imagine wearing them for 5-6 during the day (for recording) then 3-4 hours a night (for live)....that's the only critical thing I can come up with.

Good stuff. Good people. Great value.

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Permalink Reply by Cece Disharoon on February 6, 2009 at 7:01pm

I have had my LiveWires for about 2 years now. I love them. I decided to get my LiveWires after talking to Earl at a gig. I am mainly a System Engineer and so spending $600 on custom molds did not make sense for me. But I needed molded ears for when I mixed in-ears. I was frustrated with it all because they weren't the only tools I needed to purchase. The price made a big difference for me, but I couldn't compromise quality. I needed to be able to mix with them and needed to trust them to not flavor the sound too much. You just can't tell an artist, "well, I don't hear it that way." The LiveWires fit this requirement perfectly. They are so great that I am surprised they haven't gone out of business yet.... I feel like my mold must have cost so much more than it did... how can they be making a profit? Earl and John Diles were great to work with. They got my impressions right away and started the process. Earl went out of his way to make everything convenient for me, including doing my impressions at his house. When I got them in the mail, they fit perfectly and sounded great. Even so, the guys were very attentive to make sure I was happy with my molds. I know they had some trouble with their providers at first. I have a few friends who got earlier models that did not pass the test of time. But LiveWires was very good about replacing and fixing any problems. Quality control is always challenging for a company... the audio world is plagued by poor quality control. But I think LiveWires has managed to balance quality and price. I did have my right ear blow up last year. Earl decided it was a quality issue and replaced it immediately. I was working CRS at the convention center and heard Earl "was in the building" in another room. I sent a message up to him about my right-mold being blown and he came down PERSONALLY to collect and send it off for repair.... free repair. I was very impressed. One other quality error is with my cable... which has survived 2 years of hard use... the left/right markings on the cable are on the wrong leads. It's a simple, silly mistake and it only took me one show to realize this fact and it hasn't bothered me since. I'm sure they would have replaced it if it were actually bothering me. As for the actual molds, they are comfortable enough for mixing in-ears. But they are hard molds, so they get a little uncomfortable if you are looking at 8 hours of mixing. This would be true for just about any hard mold... esp. if you need to take them in-and-out a lot. But it is better than trying to squish and resquish non-custom molds in. The fit is very good and seals up my ears. I chose the lovely red/blue molds because I hate those little red/blue dots. The person who thought a sound engineer would be able to see a dot in a dark theater was smoking something. I haven't had any trouble with my ears "popping out" but I also don't try to sing with them in. I like the sound of my molds, but they are also the only molded in-ears I have had. i like them better than the generic molds I have tried. I should also mention that I am addicted to my molds. I have a hard time putting in any other ears.. esp in airplanes. It is so bad that when I when for a 200km hike in Northern Spain in November, I brought my molds along... in a mini pelican...I didn't want to listen to my IPod any other way. The LiveWires were great. They survived that kind of trip with flying colors. The only problem I had was making my fellow hikers UNDERSTAND that I SERIOUSLY could NOT hear them when I had my ears in. If they wanted to talk to me, they had to get my attention first so that I could pop an ear out. This is a complete tangent from your question. I just wanted to emphasize how durable my molds have been and how much I like them. I have not regretted the money I spent on them at all. I am amazed that they were as cheap as they were.

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Permalink Reply by Corey Batorski on February 7, 2009 at 8:12am

Thank you! I appreciate the time and feedback!

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Warren on June 17, 2010 at 6:44pm

Yeah man, I use them and have for about 3 years. I got mine from the Mt Juliet office. The tour I was on bought them for the band and I love them. Best I ever used, and you cant beat the price.

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Gaines on June 22, 2010 at 11:42am

We just outfitted the whole band with Live Wires for our US tour this last year based on a recommendation from a respected friend and musician who swears by them, and on the price. We bought 6 sets. We were told that they would be ready before our tour started, but that day came and went. They finally arrived about 2 weeks into the tour... after we had gotten used to other brands and actually were using stage monitors too. The quality is good but for me the hard molds hurt like heck. I am used to a softer mold. Out of the 6 sets, only two of our band members liked them (guitar and keys). Others including myself, found them to be very harsh sounding... lots of mids and highs with little bottom end. As a bass player I found that I could not hear myself in the mix so I went back to my M Audio IE40 with a triple driver with the foamies. Our drummer went back to Shure E2's.

After reading all of the great reviews here I wanted to double check that I was not missing something so I pulled out the Live Wires to test them on my home entertainment system. I experienced the same thing as I did live. Bottom end was overtaken by harsh mids and highs. A-B'd them with the MAudio again and the IE40's won out.

For the price the Live Wires are not a bad buy especially for guitarists or vocals, but after my experience I would spend the extra $$ and go with something else. I would definately try to find a place where you could A-B them against a few other brands before blindly jumping in. Just my opinion of course.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Radcliffe on June 22, 2010 at 2:19pm

Thank you for the honest feedback based on experience.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Thom on June 22, 2010 at 6:19pm

Tim,

Contact Earl & I'm sure he'll work with you until you're happy.

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Gaines on June 23, 2010 at 8:03pm

Well, it's not that I am unhappy... rather, I am happier with a different brand. Certainly no offense to Earl. It's a great product at a great price point. I am just being objective, and I still own and will keep my Live Wires. Just stating my experience using them... that's all. Keep in mind we are a loud hard rock act, so what works well for certain types of styles may not work for all.

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