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Related: if you enjoy live music, get a pair of custom-fit musician's earplugs. They cost $150 total, which is a lot of money for earplugs, but is not much at a

Related: if you enjoy live music, get a pair of custom-fit musician's earplugs. They cost $150 total, which is a lot of money for earplugs, but is not much at all for protecting my hearing. Also, that's not many concert tickets! I used a pair of these for years https://www.amazon.com/ETY-Plugs-Fidelity-Earplugs-Standard-Frost/dp/B0015WJQ7A/ https://www.amazon.com/ETY-Plugs-Fidelity-Earplugs-Standard-... But I actually have weirdly shaped ear canals. I got tired of fighting the plugs, so I got my custom ones: https://www.sensaphonics.com/products/erseriesplugs https://www.sensaphonics.com/products/erseriesplugs I've worn mine to see the Flaming Lips and to perform with several different professional symphonies. Highly recommended.

ohyoutravel 5y ago
Not a musician but earplugs help me sleep. I use the Amazon hearos now and they’re great, 30db reduction iirc, and wear them to concerts. I knew there were custom earphones, didn’t realize there were custom earplugs. The pressure of the hearos tend to give me ear pain sometimes. Curious on your take about sleeping nightly in these custom sensaphonic earplugs?
- cardy31 5y ago
  The musicians plugs I have sit pretty close to flush with my ear so you would like be able to sleep with them better than off the shelf stuff. I’d recommend going to an audiologist and inquiring about this scenario.
  - ohyoutravel 5y ago
    Thank you! Looking more closely the sensaphonics website has sleep earplugs additionally. From what I see the db reduction and profile are same, but the more expensive ones do more to even out the reduction across the audible range for better quality I guess. I am going to check with the audiologist in my area their site recommended tomorrow to see about getting ear molds taken.
- akvadrako 5y ago
  I've researched custom earplugs and you don't need them for sleeping. The point is more to have a flat frequency response. Nothing beats some 3M E-A-Rsoft FX.
  - m463 5y ago
    I have used the 3M superfit 33's for years and they are excellent.
- matthew-wegner 5y ago
  Mentioning because it took me a surprisingly long time to realize this, and maybe I'm not alone: With soft earplugs like hearos, you can adapt their comfort quite a lot with a pair of sharp scissors. Try shortening them a small amount, which is the easiest modification and might fix pressure when lying on your ears (sharper the scissors, the less they'll distort while trying to do something more precise)
- hgomersall 5y ago
  I've found deformable silicone earplugs avoid much of the pain. You can get a really good seal without going much info the ear canal. You do need to find a decent brand though. Decent is subjective; most formulations don't seem to adhere sufficiently well.
- endymi0n 5y ago
  There are sleep versions of customs as well. I originally got them for working at home with two kids in lockdown: the combo of Airpods Max, rain noise and custom earplugs is a godsend. For sleep they weren‘t quite as good as they were too hard for situations when I was laying on that ear. I got new ones from the same molds with the softest silicone they had and these are better. All in all, it was worth it for me. They clocked in at a third of my Airpods Max and while they don‘t make a big difference in sound to soft silicone, they are much less of a mess to remove and clean. I can pull them our in order to listen to someone and put them right back in.
cardy31 5y ago
To add to this, the cool thing about musician’s earplugs is they try to attenuate the sound in a way that roughly conforms to the equal loudness curve. It isn’t perfect (the highs are often still knocked down more than I would like) but in general they are way better than normal earplugs which basically just kill most of the mid to high range. If you want to make sure you get custom moulds done right, a local audiologist can do it for you. Walking out of a concert (or for me a gig - I used to play the drums professionally) popping out your plugs and having your head feel totally normal is such an amazing feeling! Highly recommend them even if you only go to a handful of loud venues in a year.
ashtonkem 5y ago
It always baffles me that concerts are allowed to get so loud. A few of my colleagues were complaining about their ears ringing after an AWS party, which is a strong indication they suffered some hearing damage! Also worth pointing out that if you’re doing really loud stuff, you need to refer to NRR rating, not db. It’s a more precise way of measuring hearing protection against loud noises.
- morcheeba 5y ago
  I went to a small show, and literally every single person there had earplugs.
- function_seven 5y ago
  > It always baffles me that concerts are allowed to get so loud. Same here, and for more than one reason. Yeah, damaging the hearing of your audience is bad. But I could almost forgive it if it made the sound better. Like, "okay yeah I just lost 2% of my hearing for this one show, but it was amazing." But that has never been my experience. When I was younger and going to shows (with no earplugs), not only was it painfully loud, but the sound was worse because of it. The frequencies muddled together. It was like my ears were clipping the sound or something. The bass was overwhelmed by the mid and treble ranges. There was this weird "swirling" sound like you'd hear from a low bitrate MP3. It just sounded like shit. Loud shit. I will never go to a concert again without earplugs. The one time I did forget them, I went to the bar, grabbed some cocktail napkins, twisted those up and stuffed those into my ear canals. Anything to avoid that assault on my hearing. Or what's left of it.
  - poloniculmov 5y ago
    Some bands, like Swans or Sunn O))) for example, use the volume to amplify the experience, but it works because they actually think about how it sounds for the crowd. Having the volume available, especially for the low-end makes everything more massive, even if you really need earplugs to be able to survive.
    - scns 5y ago
circlefavshape 5y ago
+1 to this I got mine a couple of years ago, and they sound amazing - possibly because all the audio engineers are wearing them too, so you're hearing what they're hearing
cjrp 5y ago
Same if you ride a motorcycle; I had a set made which reduced the harsh wind noise, but still let you hear the traffic around you. In fact it made it easier to hear cars, etc. Made motorway riding much more relaxing.
- nicbou 5y ago
  I had many issues with ear plugs. In the end, foam plugs beat everything else. The other ones touch the helmet liner, and amplify buffeting noises. A good windscreen and helmet are even more important. My current setup is quieter with no plugs and the visor up than my old setup with plugs and the visor down.
  - cjrp 5y ago
    These fitted ones are flush with my ear (actually slightly further in even), so not had that issue. Sometimes putting the helmet on knocked the plug and meant the seal wasn't quite right, but easily solved by putting it back in! Screen and helmet definitely make a big difference to buffeting though; funnily enough not always a bigger screen, just a different shape I found.

ohyoutravel 5y ago

Not a musician but earplugs help me sleep. I use the Amazon hearos now and they’re great, 30db reduction iirc, and wear them to concerts. I knew there were custom earphones, didn’t realize there were custom earplugs. The pressure of the hearos tend to give me ear pain sometimes. Curious on your take about sleeping nightly in these custom sensaphonic earplugs?

cardy31 5y ago
The musicians plugs I have sit pretty close to flush with my ear so you would like be able to sleep with them better than off the shelf stuff. I’d recommend going to an audiologist and inquiring about this scenario.
- ohyoutravel 5y ago
  Thank you! Looking more closely the sensaphonics website has sleep earplugs additionally. From what I see the db reduction and profile are same, but the more expensive ones do more to even out the reduction across the audible range for better quality I guess. I am going to check with the audiologist in my area their site recommended tomorrow to see about getting ear molds taken.
akvadrako 5y ago
I've researched custom earplugs and you don't need them for sleeping. The point is more to have a flat frequency response. Nothing beats some 3M E-A-Rsoft FX.
- m463 5y ago
  I have used the 3M superfit 33's for years and they are excellent.
matthew-wegner 5y ago
Mentioning because it took me a surprisingly long time to realize this, and maybe I'm not alone: With soft earplugs like hearos, you can adapt their comfort quite a lot with a pair of sharp scissors. Try shortening them a small amount, which is the easiest modification and might fix pressure when lying on your ears (sharper the scissors, the less they'll distort while trying to do something more precise)
hgomersall 5y ago
I've found deformable silicone earplugs avoid much of the pain. You can get a really good seal without going much info the ear canal. You do need to find a decent brand though. Decent is subjective; most formulations don't seem to adhere sufficiently well.
endymi0n 5y ago
There are sleep versions of customs as well. I originally got them for working at home with two kids in lockdown: the combo of Airpods Max, rain noise and custom earplugs is a godsend. For sleep they weren‘t quite as good as they were too hard for situations when I was laying on that ear. I got new ones from the same molds with the softest silicone they had and these are better. All in all, it was worth it for me. They clocked in at a third of my Airpods Max and while they don‘t make a big difference in sound to soft silicone, they are much less of a mess to remove and clean. I can pull them our in order to listen to someone and put them right back in.

cardy31 5y ago

To add to this, the cool thing about musician’s earplugs is they try to attenuate the sound in a way that roughly conforms to the equal loudness curve. It isn’t perfect (the highs are often still knocked down more than I would like) but in general they are way better than normal earplugs which basically just kill most of the mid to high range. If you want to make sure you get custom moulds done right, a local audiologist can do it for you. Walking out of a concert (or for me a gig - I used to play the drums professionally) popping out your plugs and having your head feel totally normal is such an amazing feeling! Highly recommend them even if you only go to a handful of loud venues in a year.

ashtonkem 5y ago

It always baffles me that concerts are allowed to get so loud. A few of my colleagues were complaining about their ears ringing after an AWS party, which is a strong indication they suffered some hearing damage! Also worth pointing out that if you’re doing really loud stuff, you need to refer to NRR rating, not db. It’s a more precise way of measuring hearing protection against loud noises.

morcheeba 5y ago
I went to a small show, and literally every single person there had earplugs.
function_seven 5y ago
> It always baffles me that concerts are allowed to get so loud. Same here, and for more than one reason. Yeah, damaging the hearing of your audience is bad. But I could almost forgive it if it made the sound better. Like, "okay yeah I just lost 2% of my hearing for this one show, but it was amazing." But that has never been my experience. When I was younger and going to shows (with no earplugs), not only was it painfully loud, but the sound was worse because of it. The frequencies muddled together. It was like my ears were clipping the sound or something. The bass was overwhelmed by the mid and treble ranges. There was this weird "swirling" sound like you'd hear from a low bitrate MP3. It just sounded like shit. Loud shit. I will never go to a concert again without earplugs. The one time I did forget them, I went to the bar, grabbed some cocktail napkins, twisted those up and stuffed those into my ear canals. Anything to avoid that assault on my hearing. Or what's left of it.
- poloniculmov 5y ago
  Some bands, like Swans or Sunn O))) for example, use the volume to amplify the experience, but it works because they actually think about how it sounds for the crowd. Having the volume available, especially for the low-end makes everything more massive, even if you really need earplugs to be able to survive.
  - scns 5y ago

circlefavshape 5y ago

+1 to this I got mine a couple of years ago, and they sound amazing - possibly because all the audio engineers are wearing them too, so you're hearing what they're hearing

cjrp 5y ago

Same if you ride a motorcycle; I had a set made which reduced the harsh wind noise, but still let you hear the traffic around you. In fact it made it easier to hear cars, etc. Made motorway riding much more relaxing.

nicbou 5y ago
I had many issues with ear plugs. In the end, foam plugs beat everything else. The other ones touch the helmet liner, and amplify buffeting noises. A good windscreen and helmet are even more important. My current setup is quieter with no plugs and the visor up than my old setup with plugs and the visor down.
- cjrp 5y ago
  These fitted ones are flush with my ear (actually slightly further in even), so not had that issue. Sometimes putting the helmet on knocked the plug and meant the seal wasn't quite right, but easily solved by putting it back in! Screen and helmet definitely make a big difference to buffeting though; funnily enough not always a bigger screen, just a different shape I found.