What were the first ever IEMs?

[Golden Monkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robojack /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well put, since the ER4 still smokes a good majority of IEMs out there, including most of the new ones.

Yup, did it right the first time, and others are STILL trying to better them, lol. I don't care how many armature drivers you can cram in there, the ER-4's still deliver the most "reference" sound I've found. Not the P, mind you, but the S...

 

[ClieOS]

I have double checked some fact and the story went like this:

Martin Garcia, who found Crystal-Taylor Sound (which sells pro-audio on-stage equipments) in the early 80s, is believe to be the first to develop a complete set of In-Ear Monitoring System (including the wireless system, mixer, and custom IEM) at around 1984. He was inspired by Todd Rundgren's comment on how he needs a set of headphone yet hates wearing them on-stage. He made the first set with denture adhesive and some earbud. Later he learn to use the same process of how hearing-aid was made by that time.

In order to focus on the IEM business, Gracia sold his share of the Crystal-Taylor Sound and formed Future Sonics at 1991 with his custom IEM experience (including his 'Ear Monitor' system). Future Sonics was focusing on OEM business and musician's custom as first. It was not till recently that they starts to develop universal IEM for the mass (Atrio M5 was developed around 04/05).

 

[nc8000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClieOS /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have double checked some fact and the story went like this: Martin Garcia, who found Crystal-Taylor Sound (which sells pro-audio on-stage equipments) in the early 80s, is believe to be the first to develop a complete set of In-Ear Monitoring System (including the wireless system, mixer, and custom IEM) at around 1984. He was inspired by Todd Rundgren's comment on how he needs a set of headphone yet hates wearing them on-stage. He made the first set with denture adhesive and some earbud. Later he learn to use the same process of how hearing-aid was made by that time. In order to focus on the IEM business, Gracia sold his share of the Crystal-Taylor Sound and formed Future Sonics at 1991 with his custom IEM experience (including his 'Ear Monitor' system). Future Sonics was focusing on OEM business and musician's custom as first. It was not till recently that they starts to develop universal IEM for the mass (Atrio M5 was developed around 04/05).

Before the M5 they had the EM3 that also was sold by Sennheiser as oem under the name IE3. Looked ugly and felt cheap in the plastic but was actually a very fun iem also build with a dynamic driver like the M5.

 

[green_avanti]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dublo7 /img/forum/go_quote.gif So IEMs are a relatively new thing out on the market, and I was wondering what the first IEMs ever released were? Who was the first company to really push them?

I don't know but the Ety ER4S should be the standard for all others, it was the first IEM to be considered for the 'top 10' headphones of all time I believe, and is still worthy of that consideration..

Kind regards

g_a

 

[Meyvn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dublo7 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Awesome, thanks for the info ClieOS. 10 years? I guess if they're not broken, they don't need fixing.

The K1000 was produced with (almost) no change for something like 17 years, and I still consider it the best I've ever heard (though I haven't heard the HE90 or the SR-Ω). For that matter, both of those phones are incredibly old, and people still consider THEM the best ever made as well.

Not to mention, the Klipschorn. I mean, continual production since like, what? 1930? If you want to make an argument for "speaker tech hasn't improved," that would be a strong one right there.

 

[Nestroit]

the most boring ones:

sennheiser CX 300

 

[chinesekiwi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nestroit /img/forum/go_quote.gif the most boring ones: sennheiser CX 300

Same here.

 

[Iceman2k]

I think you could differentiate between custom IEMs for musicians that were around in the later 80's and the first high-fidelity commercial IEMs, which were the ER-4. The ER-4 was first sold in 1991, which in 1992 was renamed the ER-4B (B for Binaural). A listening test performed at an AES meeting convinced us that the response needed a change to match the recording techniques used for typical stereo recordings, which created the ER-4S (S for Stereo), first sold in 1992. The ER-4P came several years later.

All the other manufacturers came to market years later.

 

[fhuang]

do you guys know how much was the er4(b) was when it first came out and how much was the er4s?

 

[Iceman2k]

The first ER-4 was $285, but if I remember correctly, when introduced the ER-4B and ER-4S went to $330. I'll have to double check the old data sheets to verify the dates when the price changed.