Hey Steve,
How do you deal with being in a loud rock band, and being a recording engineer who also has to protect his ears? I know the obvious answer is earplugs, but I myself have both those positions, and I have used a range of earplugs to unsatisfactory ends. It helps considerably, but you still end up with ringing ears sometimes, which is never good. Plus, when playing live, when the stage volume can often be loud, albiet it may not as well, it is harder to feel the sound of the band and your instrument with ear plugs in. Any comment?

to protect your ear you need to use cheesy breads. put one in each ears. and send some to me, to.

You and your goddamn cheesy breads.

Hey watchyourhead,

There's a thread on the prevention of tinnitus that has a lot of good info. Most folks I know seem to be happy with the ones you get molded to fit in your ears by an ear specialist. Your health insurance may cover the fitting costs, but I believe they run about $150 a pair. They're costly, but are cheaper than new ears. They reduce the overall volume of things as opposed to muffling frequencies. My friend, O has a pair and he can use them indoors while playing acoustic and hear just fine.

hth.


Faiz

kerble wrote: Most folks I know seem to be happy with the ones you get molded to fit in your ears by an ear specialist.

I have these and I like them so maaach.
www.etymotic.com
Actually, I can't play in my band without them.

mtar

how much do these cost?

I put an approximate price in the thread above. Health insurance may cover the exam and fitting.




Faiz

I paid probably the equivalent of $240 in London for mine, but that's London for you. I would happily pay double that. These things are one of the best investments in your health you can ever make.
I urge everybody on this board involved in loud music to get some - I can't rave about the damn things enough. There is no loss of top end. It's like just turning the volume down a bit. You get used to them v. quickly, you take them everywhere, no-one can really see them in your ears.
I also have two sets of filters, one pair are -9db and one are -15db. I use the -9 set for going to 'normal level' shows, djing in booths and the like, and the -15 pair for being near really loud shit like behind a drum kit. This helps with fun. Since I got these a coupla years ago and use them in probably 19/20 loud situations, my low-level tinnitus and off-balance hearing has corrected itself. DO IT NOW.

johnnyshape wrote:I paid probably the equivalent of $240 in London for mine, but that's London for you. I would happily pay double that. These things are one of the best investments in your health you can ever make.
I urge everybody on this board involved in loud music to get some - I can't rave about the damn things enough. There is no loss of top end. It's like just turning the volume down a bit. You get used to them v. quickly, you take them everywhere, no-one can really see them in your ears.
I also have two sets of filters, one pair are -9db and one are -15db. I use the -9 set for going to 'normal level' shows, djing in booths and the like, and the -15 pair for being near really loud shit like behind a drum kit. This helps with fun. Since I got these a coupla years ago and use them in probably 19/20 loud situations, my low-level tinnitus and off-balance hearing has corrected itself. DO IT NOW.

the pads all depend on which brand you get. the etymotics have a choice of 10, 15 and 20 dB pads, each with their own frequency response (the 15s are the flattest).

Although they sound very good, I find them to be pretty far from flat, and they will seriously affect your perception of reflections. Even still, they sound fantastic compared to anything else, and like jonnyshape said, they are worth every penny.

have already posted re sensaphonics earplugs

but i highly recommend them

www.sensaphonics.com

the plugs are very soft, much softer than my old westones. very comfortable. they don't screw things up, either. i can actually stand to wear them pretty much all the time. i have the -15dB attenuators.

also, i love in-ear monitors. i sing better, i enjoy myself more, i don't lose my voice as easily, and my ears don't ring after the show. the only drawbacks are that they look dorky and it becomes a little tougher to hear the crowd if you have a complex mix fed into them. i just feed them my vocal, pretty much.

earplugs= damn good.
but during an interesting discussion i had with a freind recently, he pointed out that sound doesn't just enter through the ears; it enters through your face as well. so, yes; earplugs certainly help, but they are not the be-all and end all. not sticking your head up against the amp during the 'loud-feeback-noisy-section' is just as a good an idea.
short of casing your whole body in lead, though, earplugs are certainly the best plan.