Carvin PM1000

Easy to set up and use. Changing channels requires a tiny plastic screwdriver thing that would be easy to lose.

Fidelity of sound is fine, but the white noise level is excessive. The transmitter noise is not too bad, but the hiss in the receivers is terrible - even with volume down all the way, the receiver electronics are just noisy. I also noticed some funny ringing noises as I moved around - possibly the receiver doesn't deal well with signal reflections. I sent it all back and bought Shure equipment at action off e-bay. Still had to pay appreciably more, but the difference is like night and day. The Koss earbuds are fine if you don't need isolation from ambient sound.

Probably okay. The belt clip on the receivers is plastic and very tight, so I'd be concerned about it breaking off, but I didn't have them long enough to find out.

Carvin is good to deal with.

Our band plays styles of music that range from moderate to pretty quiet levels -- nothing really screaming loud. I didn't feel that we could use this equipment because of the excessive hiss in the receivers.

Easy enough to get a good sound. You have a number of levels to keep track of though as the borad level, the PM1000 transmitter output level and the bodypack level all have to be set. Plenty of power in the bodypacks to blow your ears off. The manual is oK. Necessary for some setup ideas. Antennas are front mounted and come off for storage.
You can operate it in stereo or mono. 16 Channels.

We use the PM1000 as our in-ear monitor system. It is fed from the stereo mixer line outs from the mixer then into the PM1000 transmitter. It took a little getting used to an in-ear monitor system since we had all been using floor wedges for years. The original Koss ear buds are OK, but crap if you really want good sound. We use the Ethymotic ER6i in-ear monitors, with the Carvin PM1000 system. They improved the sound 500%. They are isolating while the Koss are not.
There is always a little white noise in the background, it is just the electronics. If it had a squelch adjustment on the bodypack receivers, you could eliminate that.

We have been using it for about 4 months now, practices and gigs and no problems. We use a power conditioner (from Art) to insure no surprises from the AC power. Th eonly problem we have had, was the stick-on tag inside the bodypack receiver, comes off. It has happened to three of the six receivers. A little silicone adhesive and it never happens again. We gig with a spare reveiver, but not a spare transmitter. We're not that rich....yet. The bodypacks use 9 volt batteries and we got Nickle Metal Hydride quick rechargeables and they work a full night without going dead. Buying 9 volts for each night would get real old. To select one of the 16 channels, there is a small screwdriver that comes with the bodypacks and you just turn the switch. There is no way to store the little screwdriver on or in the bodypack. I would imagine you could lose it.

I have dealt with a product problem and they jumped through hoops to please me. There is no doubt, Carvin wants you happy.

Overall, I would give it an 9.0, this because I had to purchase aftermarket ear-buds to get good isolation. Also I don't like the background noise. It is not annoying or anything unless you listen for it, then it becomes annoying. It doen not in any way affect the performance of the unit. We are all really glad we have done away with the floor wedges. That eliminated the power amp and all those heavy wedges. Ultimately we will go with a Sennheiser when we go pro, but until then, this unit works great. We have it set on channel 1 and it has really changed the way we view making music.
Good equipment, good company.

This unit was fairly easy to use right away. The 1/4"/XLR connectors made it a universal connection to any console. The channel selection was pretty easy, the only drawback is that you have to use a small screwdriver to select channels. This would be annoying in a gig setting where you're forced to change channels due to interference.

I tested them with a stereo lead out of my laptop. Right away I noticed a substantial amount of white noise before I sent signal through them. I played audio through the system and walked around my house. The unit would cut out depending on your position relative to the transmitter from time to time. It should be noted that I was 20 to 40 feet when I noticed that. With the playback the white noise sound was still noticeable and annoying. The noise gets reduced a little when switched from stereo to mono. I used it on a gig a day later and noticed strange distortions on the bass and my vocals in particular. Certain frequencies would break up while others were relatively clear. The aforementioned white noise was still a problem.

Used it twice. The unit functioned both times.

Even though I did'nt like this particular unit, Carvin was more than willing to refund my money. This is a newer product for Carvin and I hope research will lead to a new version which will correct certian problems related to the PM1000. Many of Carvins other products are outstanding, and for the price they cant be touched. I would buy from the company again

Pretty much set and forget. Connect your monitor send to the input of the transmitter and turn it on. Put the in-ear monitirs in your ears and connect it to the belt pack and turn it on, then it works! I didn't have to setup the channels or anything. It was setup to the same frequency from Carvin though I could change to 16 different UHF frequencies. I bought the transmitter and 5 belt packs for the band.

Slight white noise but not noticeable once music is playing. Sound is clear and strong. You will definitely hear yourself with these babies. I don't think I will ever goto floor monitor again. With in-ear monitors stage feedback is gone forever, thank you! No more hauling wedges and extra amps and cables. It probably saves 20 - 30 min on our setup and sound check time.

I've had the units for over a year and everything is working flawlessly. I haven't needed Carvin service.

One beltpack didn't seem to work as well as the others. I called Carvin and they sent me a new unit no questions asked. I had to pay shipping on the returned unit but they shipped me a new one at no charge. No complaints here!

Compared to the other in-ear systems you can't beat the price/performance of this unit. To get a comparable Shure or Senheiser would be 3 - 4 times more expensive and frankly not worth it. I would defintely recommend this unit.

As far as ease of use, this is a typical carvin machine. Manual is easy to read, and to the point. Basically plug it in an it works, very well I might add. I got good sound out of imediatley, even before EQing. The sound reminded me of a high dollar walkman.

I'm using it with a carvin mixer (pa1200r) with a mono setup. You hear some white noise when there is no signal but you don't notice it after the music fires up. Sound quality is good and the volume is sufficiant, that is for my use. If I'm going to do sound for a loud rock band, I think the stage volume may put this out of service. I do sound for church praise bands and acoustic groups (country, bluegrass).I can't imagine pumping a metal bandthru this thing, due to distortion, bass, and overall loud dynamics that rock music requires. It might work for just a vocal mix, what's cool about carvin is you get to try it out an if you don't like it, you can send it back. I'll admitt it , I'm a carvin freak, They offer alot of quality, and product for minimal $$$. Have to give it a 9 because it idn't break my ear drums, this unit should be louder.

I'm not taking monitor wegdes to a gig anymore. Again a 9 because even the religious metal heads would want the monitor wedges, due to volume deficit.

They answer their phone, and answer your questions. Be nice to them and they'll be nice to you.

After buying four recievers and the the transmitter (5 rec. total), and 9 volt batteries, I paid $900. If I lost the whole system I could not afford to replace it. Although I plan on buying more recievers later. This is feedback free monitor heaven. I like it. Single space rack mount, or set it on top of your PA head, you'll like it too. My only complaint is that it runs on a wall wart.