I'm going deaf!! Some headphone advice please

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!
 
The Vic Firth headphones have tremendous isolation and are inexpensive. Try those. Also great to reduce the sound level during drum practice.
 
For me the Vic Firth headphones, while isolating, picked up a bizarre mid bass frequency that would cause me hearing fatigue. I’ve been using IEM with a pair of isolating cans over those. Nothing fancy, just the stuff you see at a construction site.
 
I would look for an audiologist for a hearing test and proper advice as to what you may or may not need.
 
The first and more important thing is to measure you ear loss, know the frequencies and have diagnosis. An ear loss may have more than one cause.
 
Since you’re used to IEM’s, check out etymotic. I’ve been using their earphones for years, they isolate probably better than anything else. The other great part is they sound excellent - I have the ER 4SR and they double as a good reference for checking out mixes.

Seeing a doctor is probably a good idea..
 
I'm hearing impaired and have been wearing hearing aids since i was 5 years old. I'm going to say this once. Get ye to an audiologist and get some hearing aids. With the digital ones they can tailor it exactly to your frequency loss. Also they can be programed to drop the volume level when you are around super loud sounds without loosing sound fidelity or clarity the way you do with ear plugs. You will never be able to use in ear headphones but you'll be able to use over the ear and many of the suggestions here are good.
 
I posted this on Facebook a year ago and it may help here. People with vision problems go to the eye doc, get a prescription, buy glasses and wear them right on the front of their faces, no big deal. But when we have hearing issues there is some stigma about having a visible hearing aid. OMG, you're a freak. Where does this social stigma come from. Eyeglasses make us look educated, suave, intelligent, etc and yet hearing aids make us look old and weird. Go figure. Go get your hearing checked.
 
I posted this on Facebook a year ago and it may help here. People with vision problems go to the eye doc, get a prescription, buy glasses and wear them right on the front of their faces, no big deal. But when we have hearing issues there is some stigma about having a visible hearing aid. OMG, you're a freak. Where does this social stigma come from. Eyeglasses make us look educated, suave, intelligent, etc and yet hearing aids make us look old and weird. Go figure. Go get your hearing checked.

I do not have the stealth hearing aids.(too small and they feed back more) mine are full sized molded to my ears but the majority of people don't notice till i point them out. Hearing aids aren't as noticeable as glasses. No idea what sort of stigma you've encountered but having worn them since the age of 5 I certainly didn't get any extra flack for them. Glasses i did get made fun of for, hearing aids not so much.
 
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.

Which model of Shure IEMs do you have? You can probably get some Comply foam tips for them that will block out more than 90% of the outside sound. I use the Shure SE215 IEMs and the Comply tips and they block outside sounds very well.
 
I do not have the stealth hearing aids.(too small and they feed back more) mine are full sized molded to my ears but the majority of people don't notice till i point them out. Hearing aids aren't as noticeable as glasses. No idea what sort of stigma you've encountered but having worn them since the age of 5 I certainly didn't get any extra flack for them. Glasses i did get made fun of for, hearing aids not so much.

It's on every commercial for hearing aids. "so small no one will know you are wearing them" "smaller than a pencil eraser, fits entirely in your ear."
 
Which model of Shure IEMs do you have? You can probably get some Comply foam tips for them that will block out more than 90% of the outside sound. I use the Shure SE215 IEMs and the Comply tips and they block outside sounds very well.

I use the SE215's and have no issues with them. I haven't tried the Comply tips, I will look at those when I get some new tips, and see if they're even better...
 
Hi there guys - thank you very much for all the input. My Shure's are also the the SE 215's - I have been playing around with the different tips and find the medium sized foam ones to work the best for me but I have not tried any of the non-stock tips which I should look into as well - are the Comply tips different to the ones that these come with new? I am definitely going to see an audiologist as well before I make a final call on the earphones.
 
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.

Most definitely! And however you solve the problem of which headphone you want to get, you definitely need to work on your click issues. Also, for the in-ear variety, you must get custom fitted.

The click should NOT need to be that loud. And the timing of the click should be no more frequent than quarter notes. You need to learn to trust your own timing, and if you hear the click you know you need to adjust things. If you don't hear it, you know you're right on it.

I gave up performing with a click decades ago and refuse to do so anymore. Either hire more musicians, rearrange the music, or use a damn drum machine.
 
We “naturally” lose our hearing with aging-presbycusis. So I have a triple whammy of surgical (from tumor removal), loud noise, and now age-related hearing loss. But I can still hear with aids- which I just bought/trial period some new ones, for $6,400 smackers, but damn the newer technology is worth it. More realistic sound, music sounds great, works great in crowded loud rooms (none I’ve tried have before), has a built in blue tooth so I can answer and talk on my cell phone through my aids with it 30 ft away/ Same to listen to TV. My left ear is worse but the input of this new aid is enough my brain translates it so I have biaural hearing again- so can determine direction (haven’t done that in 20 years) I was really just trying them to appease my wife who keeps complaining but Wow . Course it isn’t like glasses where you can be corrected to 20/20 it is just an aid- but I’m blown away with what I can hear again. My wife and daughters say I’ve come back from the dead. The only thorn is the 6 freaking grand which I’ve built and depleted a special fun fund about four times now ,that will never see it’s intended purpose apparently,that would cover over half it. So merry Christmas to me looks like- I. can hear the jingle bells.
 
I agree with Grunt - go to an audiologist and start there.

I also use the Shure SE215 and SE315 IEM's, and I don't think over time the products stopped working (they do block enough of the outside sound - although not as well as custom in-ear molds), as much as I think you've turned everything up so much over the years that your hearing is now damaged. And like brain cells, your hearing doesn't grow back - you just learn to live with your condition.

I wouldn't be surprised if your audiologist recommends getting fitted for custom in ear monitors - those can block up to 26dB of the outside sound - plenty to keep you from having to crank up the signal going to the monitors.

I remember reading a Peter Erskine blurb years ago when he talked about his in-ear rig: he smartly put a limiter between the in-coming signal and his in-ears - because the problem is that you could now go deaf if an errant signal got past the output of the console and went straight into your ears. Smart guy, that Mr. Erskine!

But if you're looking at headphones - I use the GK Ultraphones - which are basically Peltor shooting earphones fitted with the drivers from Sony MDR-7506 studio headphones. Best in the business (but well over $300 too). The Peltor shooter's muffs are designed to block at least 26 dB of outside sound, so you don't have to turn up your sound going into the headphones. I started using those over 15 years ago when one of my first mixer jobs was mixing a band from behind them - I couldn't hear what I was sending into the house because I wasn't in the house!
 
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Take a look at comply tips. I use the sport type and they isolate better than the ones that comes with the Shures.
 
Isolation is the key in keeping the volume manageable. Molded in-ears are far superior to the Shure etc that you buy in stores, however they'll cost $1000+.

I'd recommend starting with good isolation headphones. The Vic Firths isolate well, but they don't sound great (whaddya want for $70?) Same with the Extreme Isolation phones (around $125.) I've been using the GK Ultraphones for about 15 years, and they're fabulous. They're comparatively pricey at $230, but well worth it. Check them out at www.gk-music.com (GK is Gordy Knutson, drummer with Steve Miller and educator in the Minneapolis area.)

A note about any of those headphones and isolation, they have to fit against your head for a good seal. If you have a crew cut or are shaved, you're all set! :) But if you've got bushy hair that keeps the earcup away from your skull, you won't get a good seal, and the benefits will be diminished.

And a few points about headphones vs in-ears. The comfort level is much better with phones, you can more easily hear someone talking by lifting an earcup (as opposed to weaseling a mold out of your ear) and repairs or replacement are speedy and cheap. I always carried a 2nd pair of phones, although I never needed them.

Did I mention the $avings?

Bermuda
 
I'd try some IEMs with decent tips and see if that helps at all, I use a pair of MEE Audio M6 Pro IEMs with Comply Large foam tips and they work great. I tried the tips that came with them and my ear canals are too big so if I open my mouth or move a certain way I'd get a rush of sound coming in, the large Comply foam tips solved that problem.

MEE Audio M6 Pro IEMs ($39 on Amazon) http://a.co/aBayi4H

Comply Foam tips (enter the brand and model of earbuds you're using and it'll show you what products fit) http://www.complyfoam.com/

I use mine to play to a click in one ear with an earplug in the other ear and they work great.
 
Thanks so much for all the advice? At this stage the Comply tips appear to be a good option to try out first (along wit a visit to an audiologist) - there’s not too much available locally here in South Africa, but I’m leaving on a European holiday tomorrow so may find some Comply Tips over there. If not I may have to pay the $9 shipping to get them here. Wishing you all a blessed Christmas ?
 
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