What is the difference between In-Ear Monitors and Isolation Earphones?
There is no difference really. Both are designed to do two things: deliver sound (usually music) directly into the ear canal, and block external sounds from entering the ear canal. By reducing the amount of ambient noise that can get into your ears, these earphones let you hear your music at much lower volumes than you can with ordinary headphones or speakers. When an earphone is used as a monitor by a sound engineer in a studio or on stage by a performer, the device is referred to as an in-ear monitor. When that same earphone is used by an airplane passenger to listen to her music in the noisy cabin of the plane, it is called an isolation earphone.
