Earplugs

going to a noise gig in a couple weeks and I want to purchase my first pair of specially designed gig earplugs.

does anyone have any experience with these?

what is the best brand to get?

does it make the music sound shit as fuck?

Better get some this week actually.

It's all about the attenuation curve. The shit ones attenuate different frequencies differently - ie muffly shit.

the good ones have a curve that is almost flat - ie it makes the sound quieter without changing it.

when i have my fancy ones in i can still make out what people are saying to me. try that with the piece of shit foam ones.

i got these motherfuckers right here

thanks doctor pussy, but i think 12db is a good tradeoff between "just letting your ears get hammered" (way too many people do this) and "muffling shit too much to enjoy yourself"

i use these. they're really good, almost too good:

http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er20.html

takes everything down to around home listening volume.

I use audiorelief ER20's

http://www.audiorelief.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=31

Cheap as chips, and do the job. You can still hold a decent conversation with the person next to you if the noise gets boring

i got special ones, custome made, the ones pro musicians sometimes wears. its way more expensive (like 100£) but its really safe if you like extreme music (i saw Sunn o))) like five times on stage, front raw so...)

I use Audio Relief as well. You can get moulded ones also which are supposedly very good.

  On 11/11/2010 at 10:53 AM, feltcher said:

I use audiorelief ER20's

 

http://www.audiorelief.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=31

 

Cheap as chips, and do the job. You can still hold a decent conversation with the person next to you if the noise gets boring

y'know how it says "Apx lifetime: 6 months"?

will they last longer if you don't expose them to high noise levels often?

or do they just expire?

don't wear em. get the full experience

There's a generic no-name brand that looks a lot like the AudioReliefs that I've come across and use because its so cheap. It's not perfect, but much better than wearing the foamy plugs. Came in handy when I saw the swans last month.

Got some custom-moulded ones too, which are a life saver (though I've little need of them lately). Despite claims of a flat response, they still make everything sound distant and muddy. Don't expect them to simply 'turn the volume down a bit'.

Was right up close to the stage when I saw Dinosaur Jr last year. My ears were fluffy for the next couple days.

man up stop being a pussy

im out about 4-5 times a week, i had to grab some, i dont especially enjoy using them but the alternative is being completely deaf at 30. i was thinking about buyin some expensive ones actually, i just have crappy 8 quid ones, they arent too good.

i like nice soundsystems, fabric for example, bass and midrange that thwacks you in the stomach yet your ears dont actually take a beating atall.

  On 11/10/2010 at 8:58 PM, analogue wings said:

the good ones have a curve that is almost flat - ie it makes the sound quieter without changing it.

You've got it backwards. The ear plugs that are actually molded specifically for your ear [which start around $150] have a curve that mostly follows the Fletcher-Munson curve, but attenuates the overall volume. The end result is that everything is much more quiet, but you haven't sacrificed any frequencies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher%E2%80%93Munson_curves

I wear ear plugs in almost any loud setting. I even wear them at bars when the DJ is too loud. You'll never get back any hearing you've lost, so you might as well take care of your ears as well as you can. Your hearing naturally deteriorates as you get older, as well.

You can't regrow the cilia in your ears once they're gone.......but chickens can, oddly enough.

With that said, I actually own a shit pair of Hearos. I need to invest in a good pair.

  On 11/11/2010 at 5:49 PM, MildewOnRice said:

  On 11/11/2010 at 10:53 AM, feltcher said:

I use audiorelief ER20's

 

http://www.audiorelief.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=31

 

Cheap as chips, and do the job. You can still hold a decent conversation with the person next to you if the noise gets boring

 

y'know how it says "Apx lifetime: 6 months"?

will they last longer if you don't expose them to high noise levels often?

or do they just expire?

yeah they last ages. I usually lose them before they stop working.

Custom moulds are the next step.

Definitely get some ER-20s