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.