Earplugs

[ste_blue]

Hi guys,

I know its not very rock n roll but I was wondering if anyone here could shed some light on earplugs.

Im finding Im getting alot more ringing in my ears after band practice or gigs and I wouldn't mind investing in a set of good earplugs to keep my hearing intact.

Does anyone use earplugs regulary and could recommend a place to buy them?

Thanks,

Ste.

[Dazed&Confuzed]

I think earplugs are a great thing. there are many places to get them and many different styles. there are of course the disposible foam ones, which i think are pretty crap. Youd get these at a hardwear store. Then there are a rubber plastic type ones which are re-usibble and a decent. You can get these at a hardwearstore or maybe even a guitar store too. The last option is you can get custom made earplugs to fit your ears perfectly. Im not sure how much these cost or where to get it done but i know you can. A good place to look I'd bet for any type of earplugs is on ebay. (obviously they would not be used )
I found these, they could be good.
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Etymotic-Research-ER ... dZViewItem

[rccCrawler]

If the cheap, hardware store bought earplugs don't work for you, try isolation headphones.

I found that the ones from the hardware store did not work well, because although they attenuated the sound it was hard to get them fitted properly and so by the end of the night, I had had 'adjusted' one or both to the point that they were not functioning properly. This created even worse hearing problems than no hearing protection at all, it seemed, because the ears weren't 'balanced'.

Looking for a solution, I tried my drummers isolation headphones. You can get them at most places that sell drums, and they come in different db attenuation levels. They worked much better for me. You might look like a dork, but they fit comfortable, and easy to take on and off, and do not color the tone any more than the ones you stick in your ears. So overall they worked better for me.

I finally managed to get everyone to turn down to the point that I don't need it anymore, but I take them all the time in case the volume starts to get out of control.

[ste_blue]

Thanks for the replies.

I was browsing around the web and came across the ER-20 earplugs. Since they are pretty cheap I'll go for a set of those and see how they work out.

[LivewireBlanco]

Get you some of the ear plugs that don't cut down on a lot of db. I have some that are rubber and have a hole through them with some metal looking can in them. I can't find a good picture of them but they are great because they really cut down the sound evenly instead of just killing all the highs.

[BenjiJuanKenobi]

I tried the hi fidelity Hearos a couple of times. They sucked. They muffled everything.

Etymotic Research is probably the best way to go. Their web site is at http://www.etymotic.com/. I have the hf2 headset for my iPhone. They are really good. I might try the cheap ETY Plugs first. The Musicians Earplugs look even better. You can choose between 9, 15 and 25 dbs of reduction. The reduction is suppose to be even over the entire frequency range. These are molded to your ears.

Here is a really good article AND web site on hearing loss and protection. http://www.healthyhearing.com/hearing_l ... cle_id=832