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Hearing Loss and Ear Plugs

#702
Save up some cash and get the molded ones -- that is one purchase you will never regret. I love mine, and when all of my bandmates are complaining of ringing ears I'm like "Ringing? What Ringing?".. and the best part is you can still hear everything you need to hear. There is a little bit of low and high-end loss but not enough to cause a problem.
 
#703
Govier966 said:
Ive been playing in a band for 3 years and Im 14 luckily I have no hearing loss but my father had very bad hearing loss from all his music and had hearing aids by age 40. I've been motivated to acquire some hi-fi ear plugs because I can't afford molds and I have heard good things about them. are these any good?
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Wether you can afford customs or not, at least get the Hearos or the er-20 for $12 now. I use both the customs and the store bought ones.

Heres what I wrote in an earlier post.

I agree 200% with everything you said.

I bought 2 sets, one that acts like an IEM and covers the outside of the ear fully and one set that goes way in the ear and is almost invisible to anyone once its in my ear. I keep a -9db in one set and a -15db in the other so that if I need to change during the night I simply switch the earplugs.

I've had them for 2 years and they have saved my hearing and because my ears don't ring at the end of the night I can get to sleep faster and stay asleep longer after the gig. No more taking 3 hours to wind down after the gig.

I use Sensaphonics because the plugs are made out of soft silicon and I can chew gum and play at the same time and the seal never breaks.

I am the only person in my band that uses plugs, and at first the other members were against my using them, because they thought it would be difficult to communicate with me. But now they aren't even aware when I have them in. I use the customs at gigs and the Hearos or ER-20's (they are the same) at rehearsals and sound checks, because I can take them in and out at the drop of a hat.

I tried regular IEM's originally, but found that I turned them up so loud that they were beginning to damage my hearing. There was a study done at Vanderbilt University that showed people with IEM's tended to have them turned up to loud' because they were trying to get the same feeling that they had with floor wedges. When I ditched the IEM's and went to custom earplugs my playing got better and I could hear more than I could with the regular IEM's.

Here's a link to that study. The last paragraph is the most important [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I also use the off the shelf Hearos or ER-20's (they are the same) when I am out for the night or just need quick in and out protection. They cost $12 a pair or $1 a month over a year. Pay that money or keep asking other people to repeat themselves or bug your spouse or partner for the rest of your life.

Or customs at $180 will cost you $15 a month over a year. I don't know anyone who can't afford $15 a month.
 
#707
josbroek said:
http://cgi.benl.ebay.be/Etymotic-er...UK_MusicalInstr_Access_RL?hash=item3a53c62ee1
i just ordered these, they look really comfortable and high quality for someone with my budget :)
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I just got back from band rehearsal, we were auditioning new drummers. I have 2 pairs of customs, but I used these today because they go in and out very easily. Best value for the money, and they work great.

Good luck. I wish I had used them from the time I started playing 40 years ago.
 
#708
proud long time user of the custom molded. Im the only one in all my bands and I just don't get it. I use the 9db which means even on acoustic jazz stuff I can really get in with drummer and not be bothered by the CRACK and still be able to hear everything else that's going on. Then I can grab my electric and rock out in big club same filter no sweat. I also try and get my ears PROFESSIONALLY cleaned once a year. There are many horror stories of people piercing ear drums. My dr has this wet/vac thing that just feels so goooooooood. It's that itch you can't scratch! After, Im always amazed at how much brighter the sounds are.

If your a bass player.....you can just boil your strings 2 or 3 times and you will be very glad you did!
 
#709
I have a pair of custom molded 15's. Sometimes I only have them in about half way so I can hear what is going on around me better. I'm thinking about getting the 9's. I just don't know. Anyone tried both? What you think?

My tinitus has gotten noticeably worse lately. It sucks.
 
#710
The filters a cheap. Try the 9s it just may be what you need to keep the plugs IN your ears. They do little good unless they are COMPLETELY in your ear. To have them half out you might as well use tp. We play loud and my ears never ring with the 9s. I stand as close to the drummer as can too. A carpenter friend has started wearing his to work. He says he can still hear the stereo in the corner just fine, but all the hammer, air compressor, saw etc. noise is so much better he comes home less fatigued than ever. Still got bad tinitus though.

BTW, I started with the 15s too and found myself struggling to hear the details I needed. I forgot how much it was, but they sent a pair of all three filters for maybe $10. It was cheap.

I have the Entomytic Research but I wish I had know about the Sensaphonic! I have an extra set of molds but the are the liquid/powder mix not the silicon :( so I would have to go get more molds made! I bet that flexible silicon is nice though.
 
#712
::::BASSIST:::: said:
...without the audiologist/molding process? I have the ER-20's, but I want something that lets more volume in.
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Only the customs have 9, 15 & 25. The off the shelf kind only come in 20. The customs are worth the money. I am playing tonite and depending how loud the band is, I will adjust right before we go on. I usually use either the custom 15's or the stock 20's. Outside I tend to use the 9's. I have always found the 25's to much for me.

Go for the customs. At $180 it comes to $15 a month over a year. A small price to pay for the most important piece of equipment you have.

I've seen blind musicians, but never a deaf one.
 
#714
Sorry if this has been covered already but is anyone having luck with their ear plugs and singing? It seems as this is the reason I get frustrated at gigs and end up taking one or both out. My band mates have told me that my tone color, punch, and volume aren't the same when I've got them in. Apparently I go from a real attention getting asset to a washed out background voice.
Any thoughts? Would customs help with this? Do I have to go to IEMs?
 
#715
fishstix said:
Sorry if this has been covered already but is anyone having luck with their ear plugs and singing? It seems as this is the reason I get frustrated at gigs and end up taking one or both out. My band mates have told me that my tone color, punch, and volume aren't the same when I've got them in. Apparently I go from a real attention getting asset to a washed out background voice.
Any thoughts? Would customs help with this? Do I have to go to IEMs?
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Customs should help. You can still hear the highs, only at reduced volume.
 
#716
The investment in professionally molded hearing protection is money well spent. If you get a good set, you should still hear everything in proportion, but just at a reasonable volume. They are not that expensive and the protection for your hearing is priceless. Professionally molded ear plugs should be on the top of anyone's GAS list.
 
#717
A couple months ago I had 3 rehearsals with a classic rock band that was way too loud. To make matters worse, my right ear was just a few feet from a PA speaker on a stand. They never did listen to my polite suggestion to turn down so I quit. Unfortunately, I now suffer from mild tinnitus in my right ear. It is minor, but it's enough to scare me from doing further damage.

I am in 2 other bands and although they are not that loud, I decided to prevent any further damage and got fitted for custom made musician ear plugs (-15db). The hearing test showed that I had good hearing for my age (47), but my hearing had a sharp drop off at 8000 hz. The audiologist said the drop off was probably not due to the loud music and was likely neurological. There's nothing that can be done about that, but at least I should be fairly old by time that starts to become a factor.

I picked them up today and after trying them on in the office, I decided to wear them on the drive home. Even the drive was more pleasant...I used to have to turn the stereo up to drown out the road noise, but now the ear plugs rendered the road noise almost non-existant. It made me feel like I was in a luxury car!! :p

Just a short while ago I tested them playing my bass along to my home stereo at a loud volume and was very pleased with how well they worked. In fact, my cell phone rang in my pocket and I was able to hear it!! I am still a little annoyed at myself for not doing this earlier, but am glad I was smart enough to nip it in the bud. My tinnitus is mild and I want to ensure it doesn't get any worse.

I will never rehearse again without ear plugs and will also wear them cutting the grass, operating power tools, and even on longer trips in the car to reduce the road noise.
 
#718
6-stringer said:
What I have heared about the custom fitted earplugs is that they don't kill the sound, they just take it down a few notches.Is this correct? I am really concerned about my hearing. I play with a jam band, so I have to HEAR everything perfectly. The little foam ones make that impossibe. So right now, I'm not protecting my ears at all. Any info on custom plugs would be nice.
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I had some for riding my motorcycle (wind noise can leave your ears ringing) and the silicone plugs would keep the ringing away but you could still converse with fellow riders (when you stopped!) at normal voices. So they apparently just chop the really big pressure waves, not the more subtle ones. (Not sure of the physics behind that.) Not so with the foam plugs - they dampen everything.
 
#719
winston said:
Everybody has given great advice here. I've been using the cheapo foam plugs or wadded up paper when the volume gets hairy but I ought to look into some custom jobbies. Pete Townshend of The Who, one of the foremost hearing-impaired musicians around, has said that he believes his hearing loss was caused more by high-volume headphone usage than by the Who's (in)famously loud shows. Since you can't
wear earplugs with headphones, try to keep the volume down! Also, I seem to remember reading something about tinnitus being related to chronic strain of muscles in the head and neck, and improving with osteopathic or cranio-sacral therapy as well as other more holistic, hands-on approaches. I've also seen a pamphlet on various nutritional treatments for tinnitus. That's not to say we shouldn't protect our ears-but maybe there can are some effective alternative treatments out there. Anybody else heard about these?
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My ear-doctor told me the facial nerve and auditory nerve both lie side-by-side going through the portal hole in the skull to join the rest of the nervous system. One thing he checks for in folks with ear problems is if they habitually or compulsively clench their jaw muscles (like at night, all night), because the constant electrical impulses to the jaw through the facial nerve can excite the auditory nerve right beside it to give tinnitus and/or vertigo (my problem - caffine-stress induced!). Real tinnitus comes from damage to the cochlear nerve hair cells and they never heal. If ear problems came from playing bass (rather than from, say, stress), it's probably permanent.

Turns out posture is important, too - not because your mom thought so: "hunching over" eventually makes your neck loose its "arch," which is biomechanically fundamental to holding your head up w/o over-stressing your cervical disks. Years of over-stressed cervical disks gives you bulging disks and pinching the nerves, which can affect your fingers, neck, and face nerves (therefore, by the above, your auditory nerves). I think all bassists should learn to exercise their neck muscles properly.
 
#720
Don't wonder about your hearing status. If u r like me, I put off the "peripheral" medical visits for a long time.

One thing you can do for yourself is understand where you are quantitatively in your hearing profile.

Get in a quiet room at home, ideally use over the ear or in-ear headphones and take this excellent web-based hearing test.

What separates this test from most so-called hearing tests on the web is that this was created by PhD dudes in acoustics up in Nova Scotia and they have removed the major variable in home tests, namely they calibrate your headphones and computer set up for your "minimum discernible signal" before you go thru it.

There could still be some spectral shaping from your home system or earphones, so it's not a perfect lab sim, but it's as close as your gonna come without laying down bucks.

They were down for awhile doing a website upgrade but back and tweetin' again. Go learn if you have a hearing problem (I do, as illustrated in my signature...thankfully higher freq, I guess?) and take action to protect yourselves.

Remember the old joke. "I'll just do it til I need glasses" ? Many of you are there and don't know it acoustically.

Here is the link.... follow the instructions carefully, it is a little confusing. I recommend automatic testing vs manual.

http://www.digital-recordings.com/

You want to follow links to the WWW Hearing Test and/or WWW Tinnitus Test and follow selections for "professional test"...believe it's marked "limited time only" and has been for years.

Man, I'm deaf as a stump over 7 Khz.
 

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