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Serious subject - I know of a guy that was told a few years back to stop playing bass & avoid gigs if he wants to keep what is left of his hearing. Another mate (a drummer) has tinitus & is half deaf in one ear (forget having a conversation with him in a busy pub)

I'm looking for some decent ear protectors, preferably some that can take the sting off my drummers symbols. Any suggestions?

I have seen a few that take the edge off certain frequencies which sounds ideal however, the prices vary wildly between £15 - £100 +. Obviously you can't put a price on your hearing but what you actually getting for the top end? Any of you guys have experience with these products?

cheers

Johno

You can get decent musicians' earplugs for £20. Don't pay any more in my opinion.

I wear them at practises when we're loud and going to see gigs but never onstage myself, I need to hear myself sing.

Normally we just play at a more sensible volume @ practise so the drummer is the only one who needs plugs.

I paid like £15 for these on Ebay and they do the job fine- don't suck out as much high end as the foam ones, and they come in a little pouch which is permanently on my keys so I've always got em to hand.

Don't wear them onstage though, too distracting- just when I'm watching other bands or practising loud.

i have alpine earplugs



about €20, they cut off the screechy highs, but lower frequencies sound very boomy when you have them in...
i only use them when i know i'm going to be in a noisy situation for a long time (when we have to play gigs for a few days, before and after the gig for bands playing before or after us, not during our set because then they're too irritating, sometimes during long rehearsals).
my hearing is damaged tho, but i don't want to be deaf by the time i turn forty or something.

Checkkit: http://www.freehearingtest.com/test.shtml

Actually, that one sucks. I found a good one a while back.

Doog wrote:
I paid like £15 for these on Ebay and they do the job fine- don't suck out as much high end as the foam ones, and they come in a little pouch which is permanently on my keys so I've always got em to hand.

Don't wear them onstage though, too distracting- just when I'm watching other bands or practising loud.

Gareth and I use very similar ones.

Etymotic ER20 cost you about 12 quid and are what Doog has there. I've had a pair since I got tinitus a few years ago. They give between 20 and 25db of drop across the frequencies fairly evenly and are well worth the money.

Going to get some this weekend,
these look good. Thanks for your input guys.

euan wrote:Etymotic ER20 cost you about 12 quid and are what Doog has there. I've had a pair since I got tinitus a few years ago. They give between 20 and 25db of drop across the frequencies fairly evenly and are well worth the money.

Yeah, that's the fellas. Couldn't remember the name.

No worries. I actually need to pick up a new pair, mine are pretty knackered and probably not as effective as they were, or not at least for the last band I saw who were running a pair of 100watt Sovtek MIG100s rather full bore. Iddddddddddddddddddddiots.

Yeah I have similar ones too.
Like you guys I don't wear them when playing a gig.

Mike wrote:

Doog wrote:
I paid like £15 for these on Ebay and they do the job fine- don't suck out as much high end as the foam ones, and they come in a little pouch which is permanently on my keys so I've always got em to hand.

Don't wear them onstage though, too distracting- just when I'm watching other bands or practising loud.

Gareth and I use very similar ones.

+1

i've been rehearsing and gigging with these for years. i'm still going deaf, though. just more slowly.

if i know im going to a show that is retardedly loud like lightning bolt or some sort of all day fest, i will bring a pair.

otherwise the PA's here in our little shithole bars in buffalo cant get loud enough to ring my ears anymore.


i figure i blew most of my hearing back in highschool listening to guns n roses and nirvana turned up to 10 with headphones on in studyhall

When I practice in a confined space I normally wear those big industrial ear defenders. They block out like most of the sound, but there's enough that comes through so you can hear what's going on. They're mainly useful because drummers just don't do quiet. Ever. And what's more when I use them the drum kit sounds fucking awesome anyway. Every hit is so defined, it kills most of the reverb so you get just the initial strikes. When you're playing the kit with ear defenders on, everything just sounds way cooler.

our guitarist was wearing those industrial ear defenders (huge headphones) at our last rehearsal, he wanted me to give them a try but i'd rather go deaf than looking like linkin' park's guitarist.. nah..just kidding... .. i am going deaf, i do notice that, and it's scary, but huge headphones like that are just not comfy.

I wear them all the time, but just cheap foam ones from Boots or something, they do the trick for me.

i have an old pair of Hear-os with the replaceable filters. they're super spiffy but i rarely have them with me in a loud situation. at concerts and stuff i don't bother, practices rarely, onstage never. i also use the cheap scrunch-up foam ones as i always have an unopened pack in the glovebox of my car, but i find myself giving them away a lot. my little cousin grace must have 4 pairs now, she tries to put them all in at once and then laughs her ass off to make them shoot out.

Malik wrote:And what's more when I use them the drum kit sounds fucking awesome anyway. Every hit is so defined, it kills most of the reverb so you get just the initial strikes. When you're playing the kit with ear defenders on, everything just sounds way cooler.

Yeah man, that's well good. Used to wear proper heavy duty gunshootin' ones when I played drums in the garage, sounded awesome. Then you take em off for a sec and its like UGH!

I use the same as it seems everyone. Have 'em in to practice. have 'em in to play. Have them to watch other bands. Sometimes I've been known to slip them in at a movie theater during some kind of Hollywood Blockbuster. (but that's really rare. We don't go to movies much)

Doesn't matter. I've already got tinnitus, so it's mostly to keep it from getting any worse. I can usually hear myself in my head well enough to sing. (I don't need to hear Cheryl. She's usually right on for the harmonies.)

I actually didn't use them last week when we played in the park for an outdoor screening of "Slaughterhouse Five". It was actually kind of painful standing next to the drums...