I have been using the XTL for over a year with Shure E5's and no equipment onstage at all, no monitors.. nothing!  I had set all my tones through my studio monitors first and then one night my new L6 Spidervalve head crapped out and I had the XTL as back up. I plugged it in and I had a few comments that it sounded better! Ever since I have been debating on going direct and never looking back and then finally I committed to it.

I run our PA while playing and between dealing with that and our lighting at every gig, the less trouble my rig is the better. So for me the XTL has been awesome and I'm about to take it to the next level with either the X3PRO or ELEVEN.  Recently I had to do a show where I had to bring my Line6 Spidervalve and to be honest it was clear to me that night, there is no way a bunch of stage bleed sounds better than a great direct signal controlled and aimed by a good PA. That is why Arena Rigs sound so good...The stage bleed is nowhere near the volume of those touring PA's. So at a concert your hearing mostly the sound straight from the PA and that is why it sounds way better than a bunch of 4x12's blasting straight out into a small club. IMO club bands can sound like touring acts with some common sense and a team effort. But as we all know most bands struggle with the "team" part of it.

In my bands if you are not willing to do in-ears and do whats best for the band your not going to be in the band.

All of my bands (3 of them) are moving to direct everything!  Drums, Guitars, Bass and vocal mics onstage and so far we all feel we have improved our sound,lighten our load and saved our ears. So I would say if your not moving this way then your not moving into the future.

We also have some key pieces of gear that help with this. 1. We use the Presonus StudioLive Board it gives me great control of the IEM mixes and  it keeps everyone happy that has been key.  For a few years we used a Beheringer Headphone amp $125.00 then we ran a stereo main mix feed into that and also the aux sends seperate to let people have the more me feature. I would recommend that idea if you want to get into IEM for cheap. $125+75 for the In-ears. You will need some reverb in the ears to make it seem more natural.

2. Good in-ears like the E4 or E5's make a big difference. You don't need the molds just use the Black Foam ear pieces and you will be fine.

The only other thing you need to know is that there are generally dead spots up close to the band because once people get even with your main PA speakers, they won't hear any of the bleed like they did before. What I do to counter it is to aim my PA main speakers in a bit so that the horns covers those spot better. Remember feedback is almost a non-issue cause it comes from the stage monitors most times and they will no longer be there,so moving the speakers inward won't likely cause feedback, but I 'd still be careful.

Let me know if you need more info, I would be happy to help you. Check out the videos here to see how much it helps the recordings we make. www.myspace.com/gotcrush

By the way, that's how good it sounds in our ears!! It's Awesome!!

Thanks!