Black Label
Senior Member
Hi there - from years of abuse, I'm noticing that my hearing is definitely becoming a problem. I'm battling to hear certain frequencies and with ambient noise around and bad acoustics, I must look like a deer in your headlights.
Anyway, normally when I gig, I play with a set of Shure in ears which are not noise isolating but probably block out about 50 - 60% of the drum kit. I normally play through an Aviom A16 personal mixer with the normal channels (kit, bass, electric guitar, acoustic, keys, various vocal channels and click) where I can adjust the various mixes in my ears and I control the click track too. The problem that I find however, is that in order for me to clearly hear the click, I have to virtually turn it all the way up because of the noise bleeding from the drumkit - irrespective of the mix in my ears, the problem is the bleed through the in-ears. And no matter the sound I use for the click - turn that thing all the way up and you can feel your eyeballs rattle!
I think the loud click has over the years contributed as much if not more to my hearing issues than the years of playing without any hearing protection. So here's my thinking: to limit future damage, I need to invest in better earphones which will completely block out ambient noise and where the only sound that I can hear, will be from the mixer. That will allow me then to better control the sound and bring the click volume down substantially.
I, by far, prefer in ears as opposed to "cans" (headphones) but I do realise that I will probably have more success with cans than with in ears.
Please can you guys give me some advice as to what to look for - which brand, product etc can you personally recommend for complete sound isolation. Although money will aways be a factor, at this stage I am more concerned about being able to converse with my grand-kids one day than about saving a couple of coins now. Thanks in advance and have a great day!
Anyway, normally when I gig, I play with a set of Shure in ears which are not noise isolating but probably block out about 50 - 60% of the drum kit. I normally play through an Aviom A16 personal mixer with the normal channels (kit, bass, electric guitar, acoustic, keys, various vocal channels and click) where I can adjust the various mixes in my ears and I control the click track too. The problem that I find however, is that in order for me to clearly hear the click, I have to virtually turn it all the way up because of the noise bleeding from the drumkit - irrespective of the mix in my ears, the problem is the bleed through the in-ears. And no matter the sound I use for the click - turn that thing all the way up and you can feel your eyeballs rattle!
I think the loud click has over the years contributed as much if not more to my hearing issues than the years of playing without any hearing protection. So here's my thinking: to limit future damage, I need to invest in better earphones which will completely block out ambient noise and where the only sound that I can hear, will be from the mixer. That will allow me then to better control the sound and bring the click volume down substantially.
I, by far, prefer in ears as opposed to "cans" (headphones) but I do realise that I will probably have more success with cans than with in ears.
Please can you guys give me some advice as to what to look for - which brand, product etc can you personally recommend for complete sound isolation. Although money will aways be a factor, at this stage I am more concerned about being able to converse with my grand-kids one day than about saving a couple of coins now. Thanks in advance and have a great day!