Elite CoreEC-WBP-VC Wired Body Pack WITH Passive Volume Control

I originally bought some of these, as a cheaper alternative to the Behringer version. I figured with the lower cost and a brand name foreign to me I should expect it to be worse, but I was incorrect.My band ran two of these Elite packs and two Behringer packs over the course of two years, all new. One Behringer pack is falling apart and the other had the pot break off and fall inside the enclosure. All the packs (except for mine) are handed to the users then go right back into the case after use. All my Elite packs still look new.In the case of my personal pack, I don’t use it as often because I’m usually wireless, but when I hook it up, I handle it with zero care. My run is longer, so I’m usually throwing it with the pack to run the cable faster. I’ve had no issues with any of these packs. Even mine has minor scratches and no other signs of damage or quality loss.If you’re looking for a passive headphone pack, get this guy.

These units work great for passively monitoring line level stereo or mono signals. Most of the low ratings seem to be from people who expected these units to amplify the input signal which they will NOT do. The source of the signal (Mixer, headphone amp, line amp, etc) must produce a high enough volume level to drive the headsets or in-ear monitors with a proper level. The volume control on the Elite Core can adjust sounds to a comfortable listening level and, in fact, just attenuates overly high levels down.If you turn the volume knob all the way up it will pass the max volume coming in from the sound source... nothing more. If it's too low, it must be gained up at the mixer/headphone amp source.I often use them for on-air broadcast talent with audio originating from a mixer console Aux sent over fiber. The XLR analog line out signals from the fiber converter are enough to provide a good sound level to the listeners.These get transported in a zippered pouch thrown into a work bag and I have found them to be plenty durable.

I am using this with a Presonus headphone mixer, and a balanced XLRM to TRS cable. Seems to work fine, although there is definitely volume loss associated with extending the headphones (in my case, 25 feet). These really are a one-trick pony device, and for that they work pretty good. Time will tell if it holds up and works for IEMs, or if I'll need something better, or possibly a powered headphone amp (I'm hoping I won't). For drummers and keyboard players, there really is no reason to use expensive wireless IEMs, when you're not moving around on stage.

Before the actual review I need to clear a few things up with this item.Contrary to what everyone else seems to be saying about these, they ARE STEREO. It can function as a mono iem, but you will lose a little bit of signal in the left ear (which I'm sure many people noticed) because it's being fed the negative signal through the XLR cable. I understand where a lot of the confusion is from; first, Elite Core didn't do great job of describing this on here. Second, in almost every real world situation XLR cables (a.k.a. mic cables) are mono, but not always.Quick rundown on XLRs. XLRs have 3 pins, a positive signal, a negative signal, and a ground. On a microphone the mono signal is split in two and sent down two pins on the XLR instead of just one. They are also called balanced cable for this reason. This makes the signal stronger on the other side and Much less likely to get interference. That is the reason they are used. But because these cables have two completely separated wires running through them, with the right equipment (or adapters in my case) you can send a Left signal down one wire, and a Right going down the other.This unit was built to do this. It is meant to be used with a stereo 1/4inch to XLR cable (which is what the Pro Hex 10 & 18 cables are) with Elite Core's own personal monitoring system; which has a stereo 1/4inch jack as it's output. This unit is wired internal not to recombine the two signals inside but keep them separate as they reach you in ears making it have a left and a right side. If you look at the pictures I uploaded it might make a little more sense. Anyway, to the review.REVIEW:This little guy is fantastic. It sounds great. I can notice no major coloration of the sound using my standard in ears. If you don't have a headphone jack as your input for this or don't have two outputs on whatever you're using to run this in stereo, you're going to get a little loss of signal in your left side. If your mixer supports it you can flip the phase of the output and then it will be the right side that has a little less signal. While I wish they did add a feature that would enable this to be used perfectly as a mono and stereo iem, it makes sense since this was not meant to be used as a standalone device but with Elite Core's own monitoring system. This is a great unit and I would recommend it to anyone. If you're looking for a fully functioning Mono iem, look at Behringers P1 as it supports both stereo or mono signals. Behringer's PM1 is meant to be stereo same as this one.

I had a recording session with a few additional personal mixes needed for a large group (about 13 singers/musicians). I was thinking of using live monitors, but found these while searching for Behringer PM1s, which were new, but not yet available. Got three units 1 day before the session (thank you Amazon!) and plugged in without a chance to test the units. Very impressed. These units are best paired with In-Ear Monitors or Sound Isolating/Closed Back headphones. Even so, as a previous review mentioned, 3/4 volume should be plenty. I was able to customize each mix for each band member. Unbelievable savings here - for studio recording applications, does the same thing as wireless IEMs for a fraction of the price. I will be buying a few more to have on hand. I've had no issues with loose connections. The description says you have to use this with the Elite Core system, but I got great results coming straight off the AUX XLR-outs of my Behringer digital mixer.