Off Topic Gigging with earplugs

[Tim O'Sullivan]

Hi there,

I have suffered from low level tinnitus for quite a few years now, and over the last couple of weeks its got really worse. Of course, I have only myself to blame as I pound my ears week after week with noisy gigs. Whilst I accept the damage is done, its possible it could fade a bit with time. However giving up what I love to rest my ears is out of the question, so I am now exploring my options with regard to ear plugs.

I have tried all the el-cheapo ones and they are terrible for the most part. They are uncomfortable, and just muffle the sound and remove all the top end. So with this in mind, I am having a fitting for these this week:

Advanced Communication Solutions - ER-15™ Custom Protectors

Several of my musician friends have them and think they are amazing. By all accounts they are flat response and super comfortable. However I don't know any guitarists that use them. Does anyone here have any experience? I think they are sold in the US as Ultimate Ears.

I look forward to hearing from you!

 

[paranoid70]

I use the 'cheapos' for ALL gigs and rehearsals. Yeah, they are a bit uncomfortable, but sound wise isn't as bad as you might think. (i.e. you get used to it).

 

[ProtoChicken]

I use the Ultimate Ear ear plugs Ultimate Ears Custom Ear Plugs - Custom Store - Ultimate Ears Earphones Headphones Personal Monitors

I'm not a big fan of anything in my ears, I never seem to fully get used to them even though they are custom molded, but I usually forget they are in after 15 minutes.

Interestingly I know that Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden swears by the cheap fluorescent orange earplugs you can buy anywhere and his hearing is still in good shape. Though if I recall he likes them because they muffle everything so he can really hear his head voice, but as a guitar player I think they would distort the sound too much for me to enjoy my tone live.

When I go to see shows I use the Etymotic Research ER20 High-Fidelity Earplugs that Amazon sells for $12.00. I've lost my custom ones too many times at shows so I stopped bringing them.

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

I use the Ultimate Ear ear plugs Ultimate Ears Custom Ear Plugs - Custom Store - Ultimate Ears Earphones Headphones Personal Monitors

I'm not a big fan of anything in my ears, I never seem to fully get used to them even though they are custom molded, but I usually forget they are in after 15 minutes.

Interestingly I know that Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden swears by the cheap fluorescent orange earplugs you can by anywhere and his hearing is still in good shape. Though if I recall he likes them because they muffle everything so he can really hear his head voice, but as a guitar player I think they would distort the sound too much for me to enjoy my tone live.

When I go to see shows I use the Etymotic Research ER20 High-Fidelity Earplugs that Amazon sells for $12.00. I've lost my custom ones too many times at shows so I stopped bringing them.

How do you find your tone is affected by the Ultimate Ears?

 

[beej]

Sorry to hear about the tinnitus, Tim. Earplugs are the best thing you can do.

I use the ones by Etymotic, very similar (Etymotic Research, Inc. - Musicians Earplugs). I have the ER15s.

They're super comfortable and very flat response. Weird to sing with them in, but you get used to that. FYI, I find the 15s a little too much attenuation for regular gigs (unless we're super loud). I'm going to get a set of the 9s which I think is more in my sweet spot.

 

[ProtoChicken]

How do you find your tone is affected by the Ultimate Ears?

I feel like I'm losing a bit of the top end but not nearly what you do with foam. Obviously you're going to lose a bit of frequency regardless when you put something in your ears. They are the best thing I have found though.

For me a lot of it's just getting over that mental hump of reminding myself that that my tone is fine, and I'm just hearing it differently with the plugs in. And in the end my ears don't ring after shows and I think I've stopped any hearing loss before it became a problem.

Give the Etymotic Research ER20 High-Fidelity Earplugs a shot though. They are cheap so if you hate them it's not a huge loss. They cut out more high end than the UE's but far less than foam and they have also served me really well at very loud shows, and though I don't use them when I'm playing I imagine I could live with them.

Edit: You could also maybe try those giant ear muff things Paul Gilbert wears. He's almost completely deaf in one ear now I believe and has to protect what's left of his hearing. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[DrKev]

I've used the Etymotic Research ER20s while gigging (sold in France as Acoufun Fidelity ER20). The frequency response is not flat (see here) but it's not as much of an issue as I thought it would be. In fact everything sounds clearer, if only because the attenuation avoids the horrible "mush" when the ears can't take anymore volume. I get hear the bass player a bit better, and the drummers cymbals and high hat don't overpower everything else. That I enjoy!

I do find that singing with them in takes quite a while to get used to (because you hear your voice so strongly "in your own head". (Hum and stick your fingers in your ears and you'll know what I mean). It takes a while to trust your singing pitch again and of course it changes your monitoring because the level of your voice is now so much stronger than everything else.

For the low price, they are a great buy.

 

[DaPatrooch]

You could go the Paul Gilbert way and wear giant headphones.

 

[mikeller]

I use (sometimes) the Westone Musicians Earplugs

They are each custom fitted by taking an impression of your ear and molded to your ear. They come with 9db, 15db & 25db attenuation filters. I purchased the 15db filters, but wish I had purchased the 9db because 15db is a little quieter than I would prefer

Great stuff otherwise, designed for musicians by musicians.

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

I use (sometimes) the Westone Musicians Earplugs

They are each custom fitted by taking an impression of your ear and molded to your ear. They come with 9db, 15db & 25db attenuation filters. I purchased the 15db filters, but wish I had purchased the 9db because 15db is a little quieter than I would prefer

Great stuff otherwise, designed for musicians by musicians.

The ones I am getting come in 9db, 15db or 25db too.

The good thing about the ones I am getting you can pop out the filters and change the attenuation if you find they are too little or too much. I am going to try the 15db ones first and see how I got from there

 

[JasonT]

Somewhere along the way, I noticed some tinnitus, but my hearing tested ok. To avoid any further problems, I got fitted for the Westone ear plugs. I have the 15db filters and they worked for me when I was gigging. The band subsequently decided to go with in-ear monitors, which I happened to enjoy using. I know some people don't like IEMs, but they worked for me. YMMV. I still wear the ear plugs when I go to concerts. They have done wonders to save my ears from additional damage.

 

[edrod]

I am sorry to tell you this but if you damage the your hair cells in your ears, they will never recover. Ears are sensitive and it's a good idea to start taking care of them.

As far as ear plugs, I use these and they work great. I can still hear but I don't feel my ears getting destroyed.

Hearos High Fidelity Ear Filters and more Hearing Protection at GuitarCenter.com.

 

[bkrumme]

I use something similar to the ACS plugs. They even have the same model name...perhaps a partnership?

Etymotic Research, Inc. - Musicians Earplugs

I got turned on to these by my audiologist.

 

[mikeller]

The ones I am getting come in 9db, 15db or 25db too.

The good thing about the ones I am getting you can pop out the filters and change the attenuation if you find they are too little or too much. I am going to try the 15db ones first and see how I got from there

Tim - the only thing I notice about 15db reduction is that I wish I could hear a little more - I feel like I am listening to myself and the band from behind a glass window. Everything is indeed even attenuated (ie, it is NOT muffled), it just almost too quiet...

I can also change the filters to a 9db, they are expensive however, I believe another $80 or so...

Good luck, please let us know how this all works out for you

 

[Astrofreq]

I so rarely get to crank it anymore that I welcome the ringing. Makes me feel young again.

 

[73h Nils]

Paul Gilbert wears Gun Mufflers DaPatrooch has a point; you could try that?

 

[Astrofreq]

BTW, when I do use plugs, I take those little white cylindrical ones and cut off about 40% of them. It leaves enough to cut out the high end and not completely ruin the tone. I've been doing that for years, especially at concerts.

 

[jrsteele2003]

don't in ear monitors work the same as earplugs besides giving you a monitor mix? better stated, don't they cut out noise from around you to where you only hear whats coming through the earphones? i could be wrong, i never use in ears

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

Paul Gilbert wears Gun Mufflers DaPatrooch has a point; you could try that?

I think it would be cool! Surely, Paul uses in ear monitors under them?

 

[Pablo]

I think it would be cool! Surely, Paul uses in ear monitors under them?

When I saw him, the headphones were not plugged in to anything, so I would venture to guess no.
I use comparable custom molded earplugs to what you show in your original thread. These were a VERY good investment for me and I really enjoy playing with them - it's much easier to discern and seperate the instruments than it is without plugs... I'd never gig without them!

Cheers

Eske