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Hearing Loss and Ear Plugs

#304
If you care about your hearing get fitted for custom plugs. It is the best money you'll ever spend. It's difficult to explain to people just how foolish they'll feel when they have 200 dollars in their pocket and a bad case of tinnitus (which doesn't actually require that you've suffered any hearing loss) to accompany them for the rest of their lives. Search the net for info about Marshall*Chasin*Audiologist, author of 'Hear The Music – Hearing Loss Prevention for Musicians'.
 
#305
subsonic said:
If you care about your hearing get fitted for custom plugs. It is the best money you'll ever spend. It's difficult to explain to people just how foolish they'll feel when they have 200 dollars in their pocket and a bad case of tinnitus (which doesn't actually require that you've suffered any hearing loss) to accompany them for the rest of their lives. Search the net for info about Marshall*Chasin*Audiologist, author of 'Hear The Music – Hearing Loss Prevention for Musicians'.
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+1. I have custom fitted, and I believe it is the best $ I EVER spent. these are what I have.

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Just look up a local audiologist, and ask if they sell 'em. Mine cost about $120 about a year and half ago.

gg
 
#307
bizzaro said:
OK so I am considering getting custom molds. How much better are they than the er 20's. What is the advantage. It is hard to believe that the custom ones would be worth that much extra cash. Convince me!
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My experiance with the custom molds is that you really can't get more comfortable earplugs than the exact shape of your ear! (IMO) If you don't want to spend the $, try the er20's. Maybe I should have first, but I had slight ringing in my ears (which has since passed <phew>), got scared and went all out. (No regrets either!)

I've never tried the er 20's, but have used similiar types at my day job (by similiar, I mean that shape). They do protect your ears, but can get uncomfortable after awhile (for me). I've tried them at gigs, but always ended up taking them out after awhile. They got uncomfortable and sounded too muffled to me. And singing was very hard with them for me too. The custom molded (musicians earplugs) don't cut the high's as bad as the regular earplugs, and singing w/ them is alot more bearable for me because it doesn't sound all "in your head" like regular plugs and you can hear other singers better. Maybe the er 20's will work just like the custom molds do in that respect.

Let us know if you try them. And if you can, compare them to "regular" earplugs that you find at a drugstore. I'd personally be interested in that. For $12 or whatever, what do you have to lose? (besides your hearing :eek: )

As for me, my days of ringing ears after a gig, and the day after, are over. My earplugs are comfortable enough to wear for hours and hours. And I can sing with them in. My continued good hearing is way more valuable than the money I spent on my earplugs. :smug:

This is just my experiance. Hope it helps you some.

gg
 
#308
I have tried all three in the headline. I only use the foamys in a pinch. I used the Sonic IIs for quite a while till I found the ER 20's. They are soft as a babys behind, as it where, and never bother my ears, and I have tiny canals. With the Sonics I used the small molds and they still would hurt the ear canal after a while. Never with the ER's. They are great. I am wondering if the customs are an improvment in hearing. If the device is the same for the custom ones, I have a hard time believing sound can improve, and the ER 20's work great. So why go custom. What is the advantage. Anyone here gone from the 20's to the custom jobbies??
 
#309
bizzaro said:
I have tried all three in the headline. I only use the foamys in a pinch. I used the Sonic IIs for quite a while till I found the ER 20's. They are soft as a babys behind, as it where, and never bother my ears, and I have tiny canals. With the Sonics I used the small molds and they still would hurt the ear canal after a while. Never with the ER's. They are great. I am wondering if the customs are an improvment in hearing. If the device is the same for the custom ones, I have a hard time believing sound can improve, and the ER 20's work great. So why go custom. What is the advantage. Anyone here gone from the 20's to the custom jobbies??
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The only real advantage is the replaceable filters. I mostly use ER-15 filters but I just got ER-9 because for low stage volume situations the 15's are too much cut for me and I can't hear the monitor.
 
#310
I just bought a pair of the above mentioned plugs and I really like them. They are actually comfy in my ears and work awesome in allowing me to hear myself and reduce the harshness of the snare and cymbals.

What I also did to help me out some more was to keep the plug in the ear that was towards the drums in all the way and pulled out the other one a little. This is was great when we were trying to figure out some tunes that required a lot of starting/trying something new/restarting.

I'm glad I read this thread and I'm doing something to protect my hearing.

JB
 
#311
Hye guys,

I just wanted to let you know that I am getting out of the Earplug biz. I've sold very many, but I am no longer interested in stocking all the colors, etc. I have a bout 1/2 dozen left in either red and beige.

If you're interested in getting one of the few remaining pair, PM me and I'll let you know the special offer

Mike
 
#313
winston said:
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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I've used much of the advice in this article and it has helped, though the enzymes are expensive and take a long time to produce results. Also, in my case, when I stopped taking them the ringing returned, but it's worth it to have a little peace and quiet in my head so I've just reconciled myself to taking them for life
 
#314
I must say that I have read quite a few of these pages. I stopped playing on stage without ear protection about 5 years ago. I could not do it any more. My band uses in ear monitors also. I have used floor wedges in the last few years, but with ear plugs in, they sound crappy. I prefer my Shure E-1's with my moulded ear pieces and that is that. My ears and head thanks me every night when we finish playing.
 
#317
Musicians are told all the time that they are going to go deaf, especially rock musicians. And in many cases, they actually do. If I want to play bass in a loud band, what kind of headphones do you suggest I get? I want them to be comfortable and block out the right amount of noise. Not too much, not too little. Our drummer is loud. We play loud sometimes. I just want a low-priced pair of headphones that will be good in this situation. Help me out?
 
#320
Unless you want to go the custom ear protect route (your Dr can recommend a hearing specialist that can create a custom earplug).

However, if you go to home depot and look for hearing safety equipment, you'll find about 10 different styles. From the basic "foam plug" to (what I prefer) a rubber earplug which is on a cord (made by AO Safety). The benefit of going to HD, is that they provide ratings on their earplugs to the level of sound they protect by using examples (Vacuum cleaner, chainsaw, industrial... etc). Just wash it after each use and keep it in your gigbag/case. Or keep an ample supply of the disposable foam plug kind.
 

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