u/TommyKMusicNYC

We play a recurring gig at a very small restaurant/café (roughly 60 people max), and I’m looking for some opinions on adding a pair of really compact subs.

Our current PA is a pair of original QSC K10s. They actually handle the room surprisingly well, but we’re definitely missing some low end whenever we have electric bass or our drummer brings a Roland HandSonic. We don’t need club-level bass — just enough 50–100 Hz-ish reinforcement to give the bass/kick some actual weight and take some of that work off the K10s.

I already own two QSC KS112, but it’s honestly too large for this particular room. There’s basically no usable place for a center sub without taking up dance-floor space.

The weird part about our setup is that the K10s also have to sit behind the band. There isn’t room to put them out front, and we currently use them partially as our monitoring since we don’t have wedges and only have 2 IEMs mixes at this gig.

So what I’m thinking is:

K10 short speaker pole compact sub

on each side of the band.

That would actually take up less usable floor space than our current tripod stands while adding the little bit of low end we’re missing.

The three options I’ve been looking at are:

2x Rockville TITAN SLIM D8 — dual 8", very shallow cabinet, plywood, M20 pole mount. About $600/pair.

2x Rockville RBG10S V2 — single 10", much lighter and cheaper at roughly $420/pair.

2x Sound Town CARME-110SPW — single 10" folded-horn design, plywood, roughly $620/pair.

The TITAN SLIM D8 is the one I’m currently most interested in because that super-shallow form factor looks almost perfect for this room. With two of them we’d have four 8" drivers total, and we’re not looking for huge SPL — just clean bass reinforcement for an 80-person restaurant.

My main questions:

Has anyone actually used the TITAN SLIM D8? How does it perform in the real world?

Would two dual-8 subs be enough for electric bass + electronic kick in a room this size?

Would you choose the dual-8 Titans over a pair of small 10" subs for this application?

Any concerns about putting a K10 on a short pole above something this narrow?

Is there another very compact/shallow powered sub around $300–400 each that I should be looking at instead?

Again, this isn't replacing our larger PA/sub setup. This would basically be a dedicated tiny restaurant rig where portability and footprint are almost as important as output.

Would love to hear from anyone who's used these little subs in an actual live-band application rather than just DJ/background music.

I'm looking for advice from engineers and musicians who have experience with CIEMs in live performance environments.

My primary instruments are bouzouki, guitar, and laouto, and I perform in a Greek ensemble featuring vocals, violin, bass, drums, percussion, and keys. Monitoring is through an X32 Rack.

After demoing several universal IEMs, I found:

• FiR E12 – loved the bass and technical performance, wanted more mids • 64 Audio U4s – too much bass • Letshuoer planar – too little bass • Sennheiser IE series – good, but not memorable

The qualities I'm chasing are:

• Natural acoustic instrument timbre • Strong midrange detail • Controlled low end • Good instrument separation • Long-term comfort for 3–5 hour gigs

Current shortlist: • Ultimate Ears UE 18+ Pro • Alclair Spire • Tipsy TS-5 • Tipsy TS-9

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has mixed or performed with these models and how they translate for acoustic instruments versus more modern pop/rock monitoring applications.

Also curious about long-term support, fit consistency, and company reputation beyond just sound quality.

Looking for advice from people who actually use CIEMs on stage.

I'm a working musician in NYC and am finally ready to move into custom IEMs. My priorities are a little different than most audiophile discussions:

• Reliability • Fit • Isolation • Long-term support • Refit/remold policies • Consistent performance night after night

I play bouzouki, guitar, and laouto in a professional Greek band and monitor through an X32 Rack.

I recently demoed: • FiR E12 (favorite sound, but concerns about consistency) • 64 Audio U4s (too bass-heavy for me) • Sennheiser IE series • Letshuoer planar

Current shortlist: • Ultimate Ears UE 18+ Pro • Alclair Spire • Tipsy TS-5 • Tipsy TS-9

I'm less interested in "best sounding" and more interested in:

• Which company takes care of customers? • Which company has the best fit process? • Which company is most likely to still be supporting their products years from now? • Which CIEM would you trust for hundreds of gigs?

Would love to hear from touring musicians, monitor engineers, and anyone with long-term ownership experience.

Hey everyone,

I’m a live musician in NYC and I’m trying to narrow down which CIEMs make the most sense for me long term.

I play primarily:

• Bouzouki
• Guitar
• Laouto

in a live Greek band setting with drums, bass, vocals, violin, percussion, etc. I’m using an X32 Rack for monitoring and would mainly use these for stage performance rather than casual listening.

Yesterday I went to Audio46 and demoed a few universal IEMs:

• FiR Audio E12 → absolutely loved the deep rich bass and overall technical performance, but I felt the mids were slightly recessed
• 64 Audio U4s → way too much bass for me
• Letshuoer (planar, forgot exact model) → super clean but basically no bass impact
• Sennheiser IE series → solid, but didn’t wow me like the FiR

So I think I’m learning that I like:

• deep controlled bass
• strong separation/detail
• natural instrument timbre

BUT I still need enough midrange presence for acoustic string instruments and live monitoring.

I’m currently considering:

• FiR Audio
• Audio RiF XR4
• Sam Audio Sky 5D Pro
• maybe 64 Audio U6t / A6t

Budget is ideally around $600–$1500.

Main priorities:

• live stage monitoring
• isolation
• comfort for long gigs
• accurate mids for bouzouki/guitar
• not overly bassy or V-shaped

Would love recommendations from musicians or anyone who has experience with CIEMs for live instruments rather than just EDM/audiophile listening.

Thanks!