Ear Plugs

[sYlt]

Hey!
It's about time I get some ear plugs so I can protect my earing in environments like concerts, rock-out sessions, drumming etc.

But before I buy some random generic ear plugs, I wanted to ask the expertise if I should get something better? In this case, different plugs by different brands?

Will those ear plugs reduce the whole frequency line, just highs? just lows? Any suggestion would help!

PS: I've seen some spread information about this but it's hard to track since it was randomly talked about in several and different threads. I'm also not sure if this is the correct section to post.

Thanks in advance.

[CrowdAds]

[dfkt]

The ones you get in quality music stores are generally decent. They're usually tuned to dampen the damaging frequencies in a more linear way, but try to prevent the music from getting overly muffled sounding. For this reason, I wouldn't take any generic drugstore things.

Something like these would be good, and not too expensive. There's more info on those sites too:
http://www.alpinehearingprotection.c...icsafe_pro.htm
http://www.etymotic.com/hp/er20.html

[sYlt]

Thanks! I liked those Etymotic ear plugs but they seem a bit long:



The Alpine ones are a bit shorter.

I'll take a look at some music stores nearby and if I can't find anything good I'll order one of these.

[jupitreas]

I've used both and I prefer the Etymotics over the Alpines. The Alpine earplugs are actually more comfortable but the Etymotics sound better (ie. reduce sound in a way that does not muffle the original sound too much). I found it hard to enjoy concerts with the Alpines but with the Etymotics I never feel compelled to remove them from my ears. They do stick out a little bit and they are made from harder silicon than the Alpines but I'd still choose them due to their superior performance.

[sYlt]

Oh wow, thanks a lot for the valuable input! That clears out a lot between those.

[campdavid]

I have a pair of Hearos Hi-fi that I bought at the Guitar Center. Huge improvement in sound quality over foam earplugs.

[WalkGood]

Just thought I’d mention this wouldn’t be a hard thing to make from a pair of tips that you really like. Just make sure they fit nice and seal right (test with your IEMs), then cut a small piece of clear tubing (you can normally find these at local fish pet stores and finish by super gluing the tips on after you have the proper length.

Edit: come to think about it, super glue would be over kill, I think a silicone based glue would do the trick better and allow you to replace the tips at a later date if needed.

[Confispect]

^ Agreed i've even made my own tips (earplugs, torch, drill, anchor) I would suggest triple flange.

[jupitreas]

As much as I like DIY solutions, I'd still suggest you start with a commercial product. Companies like Etymotic and Alpine put a lot of research into the filters that they put in their earplugs and this is how they achieve a more balanced reduction in volume across the frequency spectrum. It would be difficult to achieve the same results with a DIY earplug.

[WalkGood]

Funny I’ve been using DIY solutions for concerts before those products ever existed, BTW foam in a pinch goes a long way for protection

[dfkt]

Use cigarette butts instead.

[Confispect]

^ What he said erasers, tire gauges, thimbles anything that you can stick in your ear. A spare thumb...

[sYlt]

Haha, this has taken a funny turn

I'll definitely try a commercial product first though. Perhaps in the future if I want to give it a try I might do it myself with some tips I have around.

Thanks again for the suggestions, especially these last two

[sideways]

I just skip the live concerts... It saves me a ton of money and having to look at drunk and disorderly's

http://www.amazon.com/Peltor-MT15H7F...ref=pd_cp_hi_2



Active hearing protection is the way to go. They will cancel out all the loud noises and amplify the quiet stuff. You can hear your foxhole buddy fart in a firefight. Good stuff.

[sYlt]

Lmao, that looks like the good stuff sideways! And only for 159$. Probably bigger than my head though... :P

[sYlt]

I just got the Etymotic ear plugs!
I've been trying them for 15 minutes now and I'm loving them, they fit perfectly in my small ears (Standart Fit), and they are comfortable, the sensation of them being there is very very low.

As for the sound attenuation, I find it near perfection: across all the spectrum it's very balanced, with a very small stronger side to the lows, but it doesn't muffle the sound at all! Highs and mids volume sound evenly reduced. I find them great for playing the drums and I hope I can say the same for concerts, which I'll try on the December 8. I'll leave my after concert impressions then!

Thanks again for the help!

[sYlt]

! So I'm back from the Smashing Pumpkins concert, needless to say it was an excellent show, and that I did have the chance to try the ear plugs I got, the Etymotic ones.

They performed really well and exceeded my expectations; it's not the perfect thing but it cancels the exact amount to still sound loud and clear without that piercing deafening volume found in most concerts. My ears didn't ring at all after the show, nor they felt 'damaged' in any way.

I don't think I can ever go to another concert without these or any other ear plugs at all!

Once again thanks for the help, I'm very happy with the purchase.

[JK98]

How flat is the frequency response of these musician's earplugs? If you wear them under a closed headphone, how is the sound quality? I am thinking about whether this could be feasible for extremely noisy environments.

[sYlt]

To my ears they are flat with a slightest increase in the bass area but nothing that sounds muffled, they are very clear imo.
I tried them under headphones but I couldn't since these tend to stick out a bit out of the ear, making it impossible to cover my hears with any headphones.