Ear Protection thoughts:

symphx

symphx

Fractal Fanatic
Hi all, I have etymotics the blue, they muffle a bit too much. So I just got custom WEstone, made at audiologist, he gave me the 25 db filters, wow they reduce everything and I can still here but not really the way I want.

I play at home medium loud, but it does bother my ears. For mixing Id probably use nothing, but for jamming I try to get loud enough to avoid my friends Fletcher and Munson. Im going to try the 9db filters. Just wondering what you guys think, thanks.
 
Are you only playing at home? If so, just dial in at lower levels...

Also, FM effect is relative to loudness, so using filters is going to result in pretty much the same sound as just turning down.
 
symphx said:
Hi all, I have etymotics the blue, they muffle a bit too much. So I just got custom WEstone, made at audiologist, he gave me the 25 db filters, wow they reduce everything and I can still here but not really the way I want.

I play at home medium loud, but it does bother my ears. For mixing Id probably use nothing, but for jamming I try to get loud enough to avoid my friends Fletcher and Munson. Im going to try the 9db filters. Just wondering what you guys think, thanks.
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I have the Westone's too and the 9db filters.

I like em. I use them for live shows when I'm in the audience (and for hunting).

When I perform, I like it loud enough to get good guitar feedback / sustain but not loud enough to need ear plug.
 
I play just loud enough to bother my ears yet get a good sound. too low and I just dont hear or create the right tones. I dial in too much treble, then I turn it up for some rockin,and sounds are off, ie. usually too trebley/
 
Any type of hearing protection takes some getting used to. Been using earplugs for over 15 years now. (Currently using earasers). Beats ringing ears and tinnitus and the overall loss of hearing over time.
 
I went cheap and "generic" (not custom molded) with the Hearos High Fidelity models. They are up to 12dB of cut. IME they are great for preventing ringing and volume fatigue for me afterwards when practicing in a small room standing next to a hard hitting drummer on a strong acoustic set. And guitars/bass/vocals set to appropriate combat level.
 
Years back I bought a pair of nice ear plugs that came with a tiny carry case, wore them at a concert and they worked great.
Problem was after I used them I left them in my jacket and didn't use them until my next concert I attended. In the crowd I put them in my ears and instantly smelled something cheesy on my fingers,. Quickly took out the plugs and went to the washroom where I tried to clean my ears and hands with hot soapy water, tossed the ear plugs.
Moral of the story is you should clean/sterilize ear plugs after use and before storage for reuse. Now I just roll up some tissue or use disposable ear plugs, not the greatest solution but more hygenic.
 
I have a custom mold set of Sensaphonics. They are great and have interchangable filters. Other great part is if you transition to IEMS, ever, they can take that mold they used for your earplugs and create molds for commonly used IEMS like shure and more. They are based out of the great lakes region i think.
 
I've never used any earplugs that didn't seriously degrade the sound. Claims of flat response are advertising hype. Any plugs I've used that try to maintain flat response not only sound awful, but they do not attenuate nearly enough for me. At home, I keep my volume reasonable. At gigs, I use my Shure IEMs. At concerts, I shove in a pair of small foam plugs and let my brain adapt. I'm always glad I did the following morning.
 
unix-guy said:
I thought all of the filters are supposed to be flat, no?
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They're never flat. There's just no way a tiny earplug will be able to attenuate bass frequencies as much as it attenuates treble frequencies.
 
unix-guy said:
I thought all of the filters are supposed to be flat, no?
Click to expand...

No. I started out using the 15dB set then migrated to the 25dB set as my tinnitus grew worse. I went to great lengths to compensate for the non-linearity of the 15dB plugs and the 25dB are worse (they both make things sound dull). Now that I've put my tinnitus into perspective I only find a need to use the 9dB plugs on ocassion and they introduce the least colouration.

Terry.
 
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