# Hearing Protection



## stmenzel (Mar 1, 2013)

I'm assuming that a good majority of you guys can relate to my problem here. I've been playing guitar for about 10 years now and it's definitely taken its toll on my hearing. I usually use a Pair of Heros High-Fidelity plugs but my dog decided to chew them up because she's such a sweetheart. I was originally going to buy another pair but I wanted to see if there was anything that you guys recommended that be better. I don't want to really spend more than $25 but I know theres some good ones out there in that price range.


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## Pedantic (Mar 1, 2013)

Honestly you should get the best earbuds you can you only get one set of ears so you might as well protect them. Go the to the audiologist and get some custom molded earplugs they are great!


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## sage (Mar 1, 2013)

$25? I recommend these. I use 'em and they work well enough. They attenuate fairly evenly and don't smash the highs as much as my old Hearos did. 

Vater Earplugs | Musician&#39;s Friend


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## sear (Mar 2, 2013)

ER-20s are great low-cost earplugs. Not as good as custom-made ones but they have almost no effect on what you're hearing (they attenuate low-end a bit more than high-end), they're comfortable, well made, etc. I don't play live at all so I don't really need them, but for listening to live music they are certainly a life-saver.


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## Winspear (Mar 2, 2013)

sear said:


> ER-20s are great low-cost earplugs. Not as good as custom-made ones but they have almost no effect on what you're hearing (they attenuate low-end a bit more than high-end), they're comfortable, well made, etc. I don't play live at all so I don't really need them, but for listening to live music they are certainly a life-saver.



+1

I had some ER20s that I recently replaced. The new ones seem to be a different brand and are a ton better? Absolutely amazing. The ones I got are "ACS" brand and come in a little black rubber case.


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## AxeHappy (Mar 2, 2013)

Right now I'm using SureFire EP3 Sonic Defenders. They are quite good. I would recommend them over anything by Hearos or the ER series.


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## stmenzel (Mar 2, 2013)

I found some Etymotic ER20's on Amazon for $13 a pair and figured I'd use those for now. They had good ratings and people seemed to like those better than the Heros stuff. I do eventually want to go out and get some good ones actually made for me but I'm on not only a musicians budget but a college budget as well so I'm about as broke as it gets at the moment haha. Keep the suggestions coming though because this is definitely something I need to look further into and I just have no idea where to start. There's nowhere I could really find that had any worthwhile suggestions or reviews that didn't seem to be coming from an insider form the company itself.


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## Ghost40 (Mar 5, 2013)

I use ER20s. I used Hearos for a while. I also use the ER20s when I shoot concerts.


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## eaeolian (Mar 5, 2013)

sear said:


> ER-20s are great low-cost earplugs. Not as good as custom-made ones but they have almost no effect on what you're hearing (they attenuate low-end a bit more than high-end), they're comfortable, well made, etc. I don't play live at all so I don't really need them, but for listening to live music they are certainly a life-saver.





I have custom earmolds for playing on stage, but I use ER-20s for everything else, and they're as good as you're going to get for the price.


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## eaeolian (Mar 5, 2013)

AxeHappy said:


> Right now I'm using SureFire EP3 Sonic Defenders. They are quite good. I would recommend them over anything by Hearos or the ER series.



Hmm. Those get great reviews. Might have to check them out...


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## AxeHappy (Mar 5, 2013)

They offer slightly better noise reduction than the Hearos or ER-20s, I find them more comfortable and they are mighty cheap. 

Plus you can pull the red part out if you want to ear better and it's not loud enough for you to need the -24db reduction.


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## Off_The_Heezay (Mar 5, 2013)

Another vote for the ER20s here, use them at practice whenever I manage to remember them haha. Could never wear them live though.


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## goldsteinat0r (Mar 5, 2013)

I've used a lot of different brands and those hearos are really good. I use the ones that reduce sound by 20db across the board and I can still hear the whole band/myself really well with very little (if any) loss of high end.

Custom molded works great unless you sing, because when you open your mouth the sound will creep in around the plug (because your ear opening changes shape along with your face)


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## InfinityCollision (Mar 5, 2013)

Etymotic products are fantastic. ER20s are dirt cheap and great quality, and they've got solid custom-fit products as well. I also use ER4s for my in-ear monitors, great sound quality and noise attenuation.


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## bigredmetfan (Mar 5, 2013)

Toilet paper (2ply) actually works really good, it takes a lot of the bass out and lowers the volume. Plus it's always around wherever you go whether at practice or at a show.


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## InfinityCollision (Mar 5, 2013)

Do you really want to put shit that's been in a public bathroom in your ears...? Proper earplugs are damn cheap and do a better job of attenuating sound without compromising sound quality; your ears deserve better than some 2-ply.


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## AxeHappy (Mar 5, 2013)

You're right but if you forgot your plugs or some such thing, the toilet paper is a HELL of a lot better than nothing!


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## knifefightintheor (Mar 9, 2013)

I recommend the custom molded, as well. Retains clarity far better than anything you'll buy in a store IMO


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## TheKindred (Mar 29, 2013)

ER20's or the Vaters. 

On the cheap, I would do the ER20s. I like the vaters cause you can adjust the attenuation level to taste.

As to the TP..... ... I would wager that any attenuation is perceived and probably not offering any actual protection (or a negligible amount).


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## Murmel (Mar 29, 2013)

For those of you who don't get how the TP works: You dampen it with some water, twist it and put it in your ear. It feels gross as hell, looks stupid, but it's better than nothing.

I've never used TP seriously, only tried it because my friend didn't bring his plugs and I had to see how it felt. My earplugs are like $5 at the pharmacy. Obviously I'm not going to get the best sound quality with them, but they do what they're supposed to do. It's also so easy for me to lose my plugs somewhere that I can't really justify buying a more expensive pair.


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## axxessdenied (Mar 30, 2013)

I use these: Etymotic Research, Inc. - Musicians Earplugs High-Fidelity Hearing Protection
They are amazing. I believe I opted for the ER-15 buttons. But, the nice thing is you can swap the buttons out in the molds for different ratings.


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## BillNephew (Mar 31, 2013)

I've been using my Hearo Hi-Fi plugs for about 8 months so far I've not had any hearing loss. I'm comfortable now to the point where I wear them anywhere I know it's going to be loud for sustained periods of time, such as practice, or the occasional "turn it up to 11" session in my basement. Even though they only cut 12db, it works fine for me.


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## UnderTheSign (Apr 7, 2013)

I used Alpine ones with different filter inserts until I lost them. They were great.


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