Hearing protection?

I use Etymonics MC5's w/ the foam eartips (~-40db). More comfortable and better isolation than the old Vic Firth headphones, and only slightly more $.
 
I wear ear protection at my day work as it is a noisy environment, however, I never wear any ear protection at the drums, except headphones when practicing along music or in the recording studios.... (aheem! ...sorry, I didn't catch that, can you repeat it please?)
 
Yup those are it.. And they dropped $10 too... I can't say much either way about music quality... I only use them while drumming and I'm listening to a metronome at least 80% of the time...
 
I use some of these, Peltor H10A muffs - http://www.peltor.com/peltor.com/non_detail.cfm?prod_family=Muff H10&ind_prod_num=H10A001

H10A.jpg


They are AWESOME. They make everything sound huge and naturally compressed. Not boxy like cheaper earmuffs do, these are totally different. I think they have some kind of dual-shell design which is why they sound the way that they do. Also super comfortable. I can't recommend them enough, for a low price convenient option. See if a store will let you buy them and return them if you don't like them. I got mine from a specialised safety store.

For earplugs I use silicon gel plugs from the pharmacy. It's like a putty that you roll into a ball and stuff it in your ear. Very comfortable, and sounds much more natural than foam plugs. I have to buy a new box of them about every 6 months, but I would probably wreck or lose any proper 'musician' plugs in that time anyway.
 
I use some of these, Peltor H10A muffs - http://www.peltor.com/peltor.com/non_detail.cfm?prod_family=Muff H10&ind_prod_num=H10A001

H10A.jpg


They are AWESOME. They make everything sound huge and naturally compressed. Not boxy like cheaper earmuffs do, these are totally different. I think they have some kind of dual-shell design which is why they sound the way that they do. Also super comfortable. I can't recommend them enough, for a low price convenient option. See if a store will let you buy them and return them if you don't like them. I got mine from a specialised safety store.

For earplugs I use silicon gel plugs from the pharmacy. It's like a putty that you roll into a ball and stuff it in your ear. Very comfortable, and sounds much more natural than foam plugs. I have to buy a new box of them about every 6 months, but I would probably wreck or lose any proper 'musician' plugs in that time anyway.

I have these as well. They are the standard Peltor shooter's headphones, but GK Music turns them into the GK UltraPhone, which is retrofitted with Sony MDR-7506 headphone drivers. Imagine being able to listen to your favorite music at a nice comfortable not-too-loud level, while shooting a gun (or playing your drums) - these were a God-send to me ten years ago when I began mixing bands from behind the band (I had to hear what I was sending out in to house).

But for standard ear protection, I like the disposable foam ear plugs (the bright orange ones). However, since I sing so much with the band, I've been using either the Shure E2c in-ear monitor, or the newer Shure SE315's. With a mixer next to me, I can control how loud the signal is coming into my ears and keep it comfortable. Once you fill up your ear, sounds from the outside can't come in, forcing you turn up over them. That's the biggest thing with in-ear monitors.
 
I just use a standard pair of hearing protectors, suitable for firearms or noisy work environments. You can get these for $10. I don't think there's any reason to pay more for hearing protectors.

I usually do not wear any when I am with a band, just for practice.
 
Vic Firth SIH1 Isolation headphones. Great iso headphones, can still hear the kit and it sounds good, with the capability of hooking up to metronome/music/etc. And for only 58.99 absolutely awesome!
 
I never understand how in-earphones like the Etymotic Research and Shure have around 40dB isolation and the isolating headphones like Vic Firths have around 25dB. Also the custom molded in-earphones are around 25dB. I think it has to do with frequency but I dont understand how it works sitting behind a drumkit.
I assumed that a kit is around 120dB and that reducing it to 80dB instead of 100dB is better, but I know this to be false. My experience is that with the in-earphones 40dB I get sick from the noise when I play like normal (pretty hard with energy). The in-earphones 40dB with a cheap construction headphone 20dB over it works for me but I like to have some in-earphones that dont make me sick when hitting hard. Do you need a custom molded for that?
 
For the last 10+ years I have been using the Westone Custom Made ES49's plugs with the easy to pop in and out (but not fall out accidentally) Etymotic ER-15 Filter. The ER-15 provides a uniform flat 15 dB of sound reduction from 125 Hz through 8 kHz.

There are other filters available that block more or less sound. The 15's are the most appropriate for musicians.

Mine are clear in color and it's hard for anyone to see they are even in.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
For the last 10+ years I have been using the Westone Custom Made ES49's plugs with the easy to pop in and out (but not fall out accidentally) Etymotic ER-15 Filter. The ER-15 provides a uniform flat 15 dB of sound reduction from 125 Hz through 8 kHz.

There are other filters available that block more or less sound. The 15's are the most appropriate for musicians.

Mine are clear in color and it's hard for anyone to see they are even in.

Nice, wounder where can I get 'em....
 
Nice, wounder where can I get 'em....

Call some of your local hearing & speech centers. Several around here does. I think if you go to the Westone site, they have more info on that as well.

It's a fairly easy process, a little expensive but couldn't imagine using anything else.
 
Call some of your local hearing & speech centers. Several around here does. I think if you go to the Westone site, they have more info on that as well.

It's a fairly easy process, a little expensive but couldn't imagine using anything else.

Alright. Thanks for the reply!!!~
 
Vic Firth SIH1 Isolation headphones. Great iso headphones, can still hear the kit and it sounds good, with the capability of hooking up to metronome/music/etc. And for only 58.99 absolutely awesome!

That's what I use, but I think they're a bit too quiet. I can hear the bass guitar really well though so I kinda like that, but it's not a natural sound from the drums or guitars.
I've definitely gotten my 60 dollars out of it though. It's good for listening to music while playing acoustic drums, band practice in general, metronome practice, and I use it on my electric kit.

I've even used them when I mow and tractor work to listen to music
 
I just use my shure ear buds, hooked to the ph4w unit when im at rehearsal or live, or plugged into my ipod when learning tunes.
 
Back
Top