I'am starting to loss my hearing in my left ear with tinnitus, my ears are getting pretty sensitive. My question is does anyone here use musicians earplugs? And if so are they worth the money? Load music for to many years

Link:1

Gary,

First of all, please take care of yourself! It may
be a good idea to see a Dr. to have your hearing
tested .. it's a fairly easy process.

I don't know your details, but I can tell you what
really helped me when I was playing in a band
with a heavy handed drummer and guitar player who
could not turn his amp any lower than "11" ..

I picked up a set of those personal in-ear monitors.

You can dial in or out a mix of any level.

Oddly enough, you could cut out enough stage sound
that it started to seem like there was no audience ..

Sometimes, I'd put one earbud in the ear that was
facing the stage noise, & leave the other open.

Are you working with "electric" players?

--Big

any earplug will cut the sound to where it;s safe

question is, can you stand to hear the music like that?

the problem is, what you hear is pretty dull and bassy - the trebly sounds get cut more than the lows

all the 'fancy' earplugs claim to cut the sound
in a more even way, so that it still sounds the same, just less of it


there are some $10 ones called "hearos" that are ok for that

i;d try those before getting the $300 custom made ones

they will work fine, and if you like it, then there you are

it;s something cheap to try first

though the cheapest is the vinyl ones with the 3 little rings
lots of brands

don;t try the foam rubber ones

they are really bad for cutting out the treble
but they will protect just fine

...
it;s like bike helmets
the more expensive they are, the less safe
expensive just means lighter and more vent holes
but holes mean something can poke through
...

wle.

I've bought I think NPR 33 Hearos and I only paid like 5 bucks at Walgreens. I highly recommend Hearos, whenever I play (played) my fiddle at home it's so loud (or at least I find it to be so lout) that I don't play it without them.

So yeah, try out Hearos to see before you do anything else.

Larry, they claim musicians earplugs you hear the highs and lows. they don't muffle the sound and still protect your ears. Before I fork out $200.00 just seeing if any musicians out there have tried these puppys out. The Brochure links give you more info. See link 1

And Nick yes I have had my ears checked out. Need some kind of earplugs to play or loss more of my hearing. You young musicians out there protect you ears. if you can. It might not look cool, but you will save your hearing. Not telling what to do, just what has happen to me.

Gary

I'am also considering ETY-Plugs. There kinda like some of the Hearos. If my insurance pays for them I may go all the way and be fitted with musicians earplugs.

That's because these LA-Binci accordions put a degree of wear on your ear to the point of exhaustion. We do need accordion mufflers instead of ear plugs. The neighbors will love you for fitting a pair of those, and you can still hear the phone ringing if they keep on complaining. But true, i use them when practicing in a closet; an occasional occasion, meant to please the wife. And dog - Nout

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Replying to:

I'am starting to loss my hearing in my left ear with tinnitus, my ears are getting pretty sensitive. My question is does anyone here use musicians earplugs? And if so are they worth the money? Load music for to many years

Link:1

Gary...Yes, I've used the custom musician's earplugs for about 8 years now. It's almost difficult for me to play a gig without them now. They give you the option of buying different level filters...I've got the 5, 10, and 15 db filters...So I can adjust them as needed. They keep eq pretty even...No discernable dip in the high end like you would normally get with cheaper models.

Just my two cents...Never posted on here before, figured this was a pretty good time.

Thanks for your first Post, Chris.

Seems to me that with my 6 piece band here in Australia, we have our mixing desk providing a FOH mix and a Monitors mix for drums, guitars, bass, keyboard, button and piano accordions, rubboard etc..

In medium to large venues I find that, without earplugs, the level on stage is quite acceptable and controllable..in fact at times I would like more coming back at me from the foldback with regard to instrumentation,,vocals are OK..
. The FOH sound, however loud, seems to just carry out into the venue and dissipate.

The problem I've experienced is in the small venues. We played a Festival gig is a small wine bar/ bistro..small dance floor...GREAT atmosphere,.. we had the place jumpin' and stacks of people, much to the Venue manager's delight.
However, the contained sound..foldback and reflected FOH set my ears ringing ..I only noticed it after the gig when we were loading the gear back into the vehicles.Ears still ringing the next day but fine now.

In fact, a good friend who went to an INXS concert many years ago and found herself in the ' mosh pit ' now has tinnitus directly related to that gig and needs 'white noise' at night now to allow her to sleep.

Think next time we have a small venue I'll have some plugs on hand.

Darryl .

I went to an audiologist and got custom-made Westones. I tried both 15db and 25db attenuators, but found that the 25db was too much, so I kept the 15db. It took some time to adjust to singing with them in, but playing with them in didn't require any adjustment at all. They cost about $150.

Welcome Chris, I myself have only posted half a dozen times but been around for awhile. And Ron that was my next question which ones? I was wondering if the 25db would be to much. I think I'am Leaning towards the 15db myself. Thanks for the info. I will check out the Westones also and make another appointment to see a ENT/audiologist. I may need a hearing aid in my left ear, they brought that up when I had a hearing test 6 months ago. But for the time being I hear ok.

If you already have mild/moderate hearing loss I would stay away from the 25's. I have a pair of the 15's and 9's and sometimes the 15's are almost too much for me unless I'm playing with a really loud band.

The only problem I have ever had with the Etymotic's is that the filter (9,15,25) can sometimes fall out if you pull it out of the ear canal the wrong way. I've never lost one of them but I have had to look like a madman to find it on the stage before anyone stepped on it.

John

John thats good to know, thanks for the heads up.

For the last pair that I had made, my audiologist had me open and close my mouth as if I were singing while the molds were being made since the shape of you ear canal chages slightly when you sing....It made for an overall tighter fit than the first pair that I had.

I also tried the 25's and found them to be too much. I normally use my 10 db's for normal volume level shows, the 15's for really loud venues, and the 5's for when I'm playing acoustically since the fiddle sits right below the left ear.

Another cool option is putting different attenuaters in different ears. There are times where I put a 10 in my right ear since that's where I normally position my amp and a 15 in my left since the drummer is on that side and he plays loud to say the least...

I got my first pair when I was 16. We found that I already had a dip in my high frequencies...Since then, I've been wearing the earplugs religiously, having my hearing tested yearly, and it hasn't gotten any worse....Definately a good investment...

Somebody told me that the protectors that cover the whole ear are the best when talking about real protection, because noise also comes through the bones (skull). But then you must have feedback from the PA system, otherwise you don't hear anything.

Problem is that it looks so silly....
therefore I only use them when mowing the grass. (lawn, not weed!)

Gus

Gus that makes sense, are you referring like to the musicians ear monitors? Nick mentioned them. Been looking at them also.