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If anything?
Damaged my ears as a kid with far too much clubbing and live music.
Trying desperately to hold on to what's left. 🙂
Use foam ear plugs these days, the standard cylindrical yellow foam ones from Boots usually.
Trouble is they block out a bit too much noise, 'specially the top end.
Any suggestions for ear protection I can use which will avoid further damage but still let me enjoy live music?
Thanks in advance.
dont stand beside the speakers?
sorry
I use a range of alcoholic beverages and maybe a toke or two on a spliff if there is one being passed round nearby..
and I completely avoid anywhere with a shit soundsystem
Have a look at the Hearos range.
Their "Extreme" are good for gigs, and come highly recommended but more in the "getting my work done and getting home with hearing intact" kind of way.
#Edit - they're also cheapish
kendo954 - Memberdont stand beside the speakers?
Pardon?
yunki - MemberI use a range of alcoholic beverages and maybe a toke or two on a spliff if there is one being passed round nearby..
🙂
[url= http://www.surefire.com/tactical-equipment/hearing-protection.html ]I really like these[/url]
Cheap, comfy and can be filtered or plugged to be totally silent.
Eh???
Just go to Barry Manilow gigs and take it nice and easy.
I have the same problem, together with recurrent tinnitus. I use Boots squishy silicon plugs, they come as a pack of three pairs, and some ACS plugs from the local guitar and drum shop. Different PA setups seem to need different filtering, so I take both sets to a gig, very often the support band has to use the headliners setup and is very unbalanced and boomy so I sometimes find I need plugs for the support but less so for the main act.
I have used a pair of these and have a similar pair of silicon ones somewhere, I find foam ones aren't any good for gigs these have the hole to let sound in, when I remember to wear them I'd go as far as to say the music sounds better with them in!
Standing away from the speaker isn't always an option - try The Wanch in HK where they insist on full on stadium gig levels of volume in a room that's probably 15ft by 15ft with most of that space taken up by the bar and the stage!
I wear my Sennheiser earphones, the ones with soft silicon ends that I use for the iPod.
At a couple of Swans gigs this year I had the earphone wires running up inside my T shirt with the in-ear ends poking out of the neck end and tactically deployed when it got super-loud, and removed when not needed.
Seemed to work pretty well and didn't spoil the sound too much.
Another Elacin user here, actually improve the sound in some places by removing some of the nasty frequencies. For less than £9, well worth trying.
Elacin ER 15 custom ear protection, comfortable very clear sound.
Elacin ER15 - although I got them more for playing gigs than going to them, but regardless they're brilliant...
Discretion. That way when I lose my hearing I'll know it was worthwhile.
Fender Touring Plugs for me, I'm usually playing rather than 'spectating' at any gig I'm at though. Aged 28 and I've had tinnitus for a year already 🙁
Bizarre that PAs have got so loud people are using ear defenders. Mind you, I do recall a Pink Floyd concert in 1971 where it felt as though my ears were bleeding. Great gig though. Led Zep were pretty high on the decibel scale too.
These days I'm mainly classical, but they can get a bit feisty too.
I use some like this:
[img] 
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3M E.A.R ones, the advantage over foam ones is that you can adjust how far in they are to give greater or lesser degree of attenuation.
The great thing about them is they're cheap, easily cleaned, and last forever.
There are better ones around, especially for musicians, made by Elacin, which have little filters in, but they're a lot more expensive, as others have said.
I keep meaning to get a pair, but the yellow ones work pretty well, so there's no great urgency.
[img] 
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http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elacin-ER20-Fidelity-Hearing-Protection/sim/B0013HJJZG/2
Elacin ones here too, from DOA back in the day [img] 
[/img]
and I completely avoid anywhere with a shit soundsystem
Nowt to do with the quality of the sound-system, it's down to the sound engineer and how he sets it up for the room and the band. Some venues are just shite anyway; the Scala in London is dreadful, wider than it is deep, and the sound just reflects straight back off the rear wall. I saw Maria McKee there, and she bitched about the dreadful sound all evening,
Conversely, St Bonaventures in Bristol is pretty unimpressive when you go in, just a 60's square-ish room attached to a Catholic church, but Stu, the regular sound guy there works miracles, and gets brilliant sound no matter who players there; had Ms McKee praising him and asking if anyone was recording the gig, the sound was so good.
He manages to do the same in other venues too, like the Bierkeller, which is just a cavern.
I still wear protection, I have tinnitus thanks to Phil Lynott, and I want to keep my hearing as it is, not make it worse.
Bizarre that PAs have got so loud people are using ear defenders.
As soon as someone is hitting a snare drum at reasonably close range then you need hearing protection.
Ear peace for cheap attenuated ones - You can actually hear speech a bit better.
You can get very fancy flat frequency ones (tested with internal mics) that will allow you to hear conversation very well while pa is going full tilt. Hunners o pounds and need moulded but probably well worth it.
Mines going despite being careful but is more age related/genetic
slowoldman - Member
Bizarre that PAs have got so loud people are using ear defenders. Mind you, I do recall a Pink Floyd concert in 1971 where it felt as though my ears were bleeding. Great gig though. Led Zep were pretty high on the decibel scale too.These days I'm mainly classical, but they can get a bit feisty too.
Got? My hearing was damaged around 1986, shortly before Phil Lynott died! If anything, PA systems nowadays are more powerful, but better controlled, so the sound is 'cleaner', especially in the top-end, which is what does the damage,
However, it's sustained noise, and I wear hearing protection at work as well, I've measured our folding machines at around 92dB, continuous, and that's pretty wearing.
A band like Blood Red Shoes, The Joy Formidable, or Dinosaur Jr aren't folk bands, and get pretty noisy in a confined space, better to take precautions.
Cheers everyone, much appreciated.
I use nuffin.
Saw Death Grips last year and I considered changing this policy. It literally hurt, expected blood to be issuing forth from my ears. Luckily their set only lasted 30 mins. (Awesome gig)
What? Who said that?
ACS ear plugs. Custom moulded so they fit properly. Different levels of protection via the internal filter so can be changed to suit. They are flat attenuated so basically just lop off volume whilst keeping a pretty much full spectrum of frequency.
[url= http://acscustom.com/uk/product-category/hearing-protection/ ]ACS HERE[/url]
I bought some -25dB ones on the back of a gig with my BiL band at a local festival. The tent they were in was getting complaints from residents 2 miles away about the volume. The meter on the desk was reading 105dB. They turned it down and it the sound quality improved markedly. Took another look and it was still at 100dB. That was a loud one.
I still wear protection, I have tinnitus thanks to Phil Lynott
Why did he bash you round the head with his bass ?
ER20s here - got tinnitus and hyperacusis so need protection.
Survived an overload DJ Shadow gig and several others.
Notably they coped with KoKo in London for several hours, where it is so ridiculously loud that your hair and trousers move about if you venture onto the dance floor and the speakers are so overdriven that they create their own bass overtones.
You might find [url= http://www.auritech.info/products/music/ ]Auritech[/url] earplugs worth a try. I use the work version and find them good; the filter in those for vocal frequencies seems to work vs normal Laser Lite foam plugs or similar, and they're comfy for extended wear. They're not super expensive either, unlike custom fitted ones with filters.
Edit-they do offer custom fit too though if you want
[IMG] 
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ymmv
when I remember, I use these:
http://www.drumwright.co.uk/store/accessories/ear-protection/product-doc-s-proplugs-medium427/
gigs with PA are bad enough. You should try being in a room barely bigger than a two car garage with a full band, sitting on top of aforementioned snare drum
Another ER20S user here, for playing and listening. Many years of going without has left me with pretty bad tinnitus. Gigs are much better with decent plugs.
Docs Proplugs. Very effective.
I used cigarette ends when I went to see Ted Nugent at Hammersmith Odeon, as there were rumours that people were emerging from his gigs with blood running from their ears. The sound was actually spot on.
I spent years riding motorbikes with no earplugs & it's only in recent years that it has become the norm to wear them.
I can remember being at the back of Glasgow Barrowlands watching Motorhead in 1988 (1916 Tour IIRC) feeling like my ears were going to burst whilst being simultaneously being pummeled in the chest.
I think I had tinnitus for about 4 days after that.
If I go to gigs these days foam earplugs every time.
Etymotic. They look pretty similar to those Elacin ones. They make everything sound crisper and clearer - the downside is if you're surrounded by idiots chatting through the gig, you can hear them very clearly over the music. You can also hear yourself singing along, if that's your kind of thing.
Flattened, then rolled-up strip of soft tissue paper. Keeps enough of the frequencies coming through to appreciate the gig, but reduces the volume to a comfortable level.
alpine party plugs. last gig i went to i forgot them - and regretted it. they make it quieter but no difference to the levels: unlike some foam plugs i've used in the past.
D28boy - Member
I still wear protection, I have tinnitus thanks to Phil Lynott
Why did he bash you round the head with his bass ?
I don't think you quite understand how you get tinnitus.
And Phil, rest his soul, was ten feet away while inflicting the damage. Serves me right for standing right in front of the PA stack while taking photos.
Which I must try to find one day and scan the negs.
.
I use musician's ear plugs which come with different inserts for different attenuations (10dB, 15dB, 20dB). I use the quietest inserts (20dB) for rock concerts.
CountZero - MemberI don't think you quite understand how you get tinnitus.
And Phil, rest his soul, was ten feet away while inflicting the damage. Serves me right for standing right in front of the PA stack while taking photos.
Which I must try to find one day and scan the negs.
Yes I do which is why I asked the question ....wouldn't have thought it was personally Phil's fault....more the P.A that he and his band were using. :D...Would love to see your pictures too as I'm a great fan of him.
Also use Etymotic ER-20s. When it's loud, you can hear things better with them in than without. When it's really loud and they're not enough then I leave.
Back when my band was gigging regularly in small venues, I had to stand next to our drummer's [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_cymbal ]china cymbal[/url] while he repeatedly and entusiastically thrashed it all night, I bought myself a pair of [url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alpine-MusicSafe-Filter-Plugs-Musicians/dp/B000VO8PR0 ]these[/url]. Took the edge off, while still being able to hear the rest of the band.
the downside is if you're surrounded by idiots chatting through the gig, you can hear them very clearly over the music
Back in the day most gigs were so loud that they precluded people 'chatting' - nowadays [realistic & justifiable] concerns over hearing damage etc along with advancements in PA systems mean that gigs have better sound reproduction at lower volumes ... unfortunately this means you are often subjected to the people that buy a ticket to see a band and proceed to spend the evening competing with the band on stage by discussing their intimate relationship problems close to 96db ! 🙁
Elacin ER20s here ... not much hearing remaining in the left ear so I'm keen to try and preserve it ... I blame Lemmy and bass bins you could actually sit in!
I use these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330604828068?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
You don't think they're working until you get out of the gig and realise that your ears aren't screaming (well, any more than normal anyway. Another one here with wrecked hearing from loud gigs and motorcycles).