Ear Plugs

[dougydoug]

What in your opinions are the best ear plugs to use while playing tuba if you use them.

[Tubaman2365]

My wife is an audiologist. She made me a set of Musician's Plugs. They are made by a company called Westone. The ear plugs have a few different filters that you can use depending on what you are looking for. Basically, the filter attenuates sounds at a certain decibel threshold. That's where the different filters come in. So they are not like basic hearing protection where you are just shoving something in your ear to attenuate all sound, these only kick in at a certain db range. I don't know the science of how they work. I'm sure if you search Westone musicians plugs you can get a mote in depth explanation.

The problem I'm sure most people have when wearing hearing protection is that you have trouble hearing your balance with an ensemble or something like that. I'm not going to say these sound just like when you have nothing at all. As good gigs says, they take some getting used to. But, I hear myself and the ensemble pretty well with them. Also, the fact that they are custom molded makes them more effective than the generic foam earplugs.

[smitwill1]

Have used the roll-up foam ones for years; especially helpful when sitting close to the snare drums/field drums in a band. If possible, it's more comfortable (feeling more in touch with the rest of the music) to use just one plug on the side directly facing the source of the loud sounds.

Lately I've tried the Alpine MusicSafe brand earplugs, which have inserts to modify the earplugs' performance. I like the white inserts--least noise reduction and "flattest" response to the different frequencies, in my opinion. Used them in a pit orchestra (small pit--I was practically sitting on the tympani) and really liked them. I suspect that had I been sitting near the snare drum I'd have wanted more noise reduction, but there are two more levels of noise reduction in the set of plugs I have.

Now, if I could only get my daughter to use earplugs while practicing drum set...

[nycbone]

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[ghmerrill]

This is partly a matter of noise suppression and partly a matter of comfort. Years ago when my wife and I were pretty heavily into riding motorcycles (including on racetracks), she had a pair made through our ENT guy and his associated audiologist. They're VERY comfortable for her and she continues to use them for various purposes even though we've given up the motorcycle/racing thing. I think they were around $250.

I've never felt the need for anything other than the foam ones (though some are definitely more comfortable than others). However, if I were going to wear them on a regular basis, I believe I'd spend the money on fitted ones. Then don't lose them .

[MartyNeilan]

http://www.etymotic.com/hp/er20.html" target="_blank

I never leave home without them.

[NotABaritone]

Those look promising ^. Very good reviews. I am not sure I am interpreting the shipping information correctly. Can someone help me out? (if not I will ask the company).

To ship to Canada, the only option is $40 expedited shipping. (which is crazy for a 12 dollar item). BUT underneath accepting the terms, it says:

"For International Orders Under $50
When ordering from the Etymotic web store (http://www.etymotic.com" target="_blank) an automatic UPS shipping fee is charged to your credit card.

International orders less than $50 are shipped via the U.S. Postal Service for $2.00. Once the order is processed through the Etymotic shopping cart, a refund for the difference will be applied to your credit card."

Does this mean the 2 dollars will be refunded, or the 40 will be refunded and you will only be charged 2? I am not the best at deciphering explanations like this haha.

[nycbone]

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[NCSUSousa]

Those look promising ^. Very good reviews. I am not sure I am interpreting the shipping information correctly. Can someone help me out? (if not I will ask the company).

Just buy them on Amazon.com. Simple Payment & Shipping.

[Rick F]

http://www.etymotic.com/hp/er20.html" target="_blank

I never leave home without them.

I use the ETY plugs whenever my wife and I go to the movies. The trailers and ads before the feature are always so loud that it really hurts my ears—and I'm losing some hearing too. I also purchased the string to keep them together and drape that around my neck.

[saktoons]

I have used Hearos High Fidelity and a few different brands of the foam plugs. I have not used the Etymotic, but I may give them a try. (We sit in front of the percussion at rehearsal, so ear plugs are a must.)

The foam ones, in my opinion, muffle everything to a point where I really couldn't hear the wind ensemble's timbre. i felt like I couldn't blend my sound with the ensemble's sound because I just couldn't hear the ensemble properly. And it seemed like all I could hear was my buzzing, not the actual horn's tone. I assume that is because the sound was coming through my jawbone and not the air.

I like the Hearos. They are comfortable and do not muffle the sound anywhere nearly as much as the foam plugs. I have found that minor adjustments in the placement of the Hearos allow more or less volume. One warning, however, is to be careful how far you insert the plugs. I had, apparently, inserted one of them a little too far into the ear canal. It wasn't painful or anything, but as I was playing, I was feeling really queasy and thought I'd have to leave rehearsal. But as soon as I removed the plug from the right ear, everything was fine.

[MikeW]

I have used several "economical" types of ear plugs, and my experience has been that anything that will defend me against our principal trumpet (a serious challenge) will also blot out the sound from my own bell; all I can hear is the sound of my own buzz, transmitted internally via mouth and eustachian tube to the inner ear, which makes it impossible for me to judge what kind of sound I'm putting out. It probably doesn't help that I have hearing deficits in both ears (cocktail party deafness). The only thing that works well is moving my chair about thirty feet from the offending trumpet, which reduces the noise below the pain threshhold. This deals with the practice room, but for actual stage performances I have to use the plugs, and just hope for the best. I got some plugs that were advertised as "musicians plugs" for about $40 a pair plus handling, but for me they were no better than the foam type.

[Chris Olka]

I've tried most all of them. From the $300+ custom molded types down to the foam plugs. The best I've found are these:
http://www.surefire.com/ep4-sonic-defenders-plus.html" target="_blank

You can adjust how much attenuation you get based on if the filters are plugged or un-plugged as well as how far in or out of your ears you place them. They come in various colors and work great for the shooting sports as well. I'm a firearms instructor as my other "job" and found these. Brought them to work and never looked back.

YMMV

Good luck,

[Tortuba]

I realize that this is an old thread, but I thought I'd give it a new life.
I'm a weekend warrior, pushing 65 years, playing in a couple of community concert bands. As a result of hearing loss and tinnitus, I've started to wear custom ear plugs while playing with the bands.
While talking to some older member of the bands, I've found that many have hearing loss and also suffer from tinnitus. On the other hand, younger members do not seem to be very aware or concerned about the possibility of hearing loss caused by big, noisy concert bands.
This has made me wonder if any community bands discuss hearing protection with their members or if they provide their members with foam ear plugs (free or low cost) as basic hearing protection.
I'd be interested in your experiences.
In the meantime...
Play Safe!
Wear Protection!

Keith, Toronto.

[ronr]

I have a set made by Micro Sonic. Custom fitted by an audiologist. Great plugs; they do wonders when listening to my kid's marching band. My hearing aids work pretty well too, although they're a pretty expensive alternative at $6K/set. Maybe if I'd used the plugs earlier in life...

[UDELBR]

Here's the thing about fitted earplugs though: tuba players move their jaws when they play, and this changes the shape of the auditory canal. Fitted plugs aren't flexible enough to match this change of shape in the ear canal, rendering them far less effective than when they were fitted.

[Donn]

Just do like Gene does, and create a new row for yourself (as in a band).

I'm sure going to have to do something of this nature, if my tuba is going to be of the bell front configuration. I need to hear better, not hear less. The bass drum wasn't right smack next to me, but more distance would help, and I suppose it would help if the head of the drum wasn't pointing right at me.

There have been times when I really needed earplugs, though. Like a tight seating arrangement a couple months back where my right ear ended up right beside the snare drum at about one foot distance. I have found it really hard to get normal foam plugs in my ear canals, but the left ear is the really impossible one, so in this case I could have made it work if I'd had one. I use plugs for long motorcycle trips, favorite brand is Hear-Os blue, but with as much pinching and rolling as I want, assistance from others, etc., the left one usually ends up resting against the ear canal at best.

[Bob Kolada]

I just use cheap range plugs, work fine for me. I was fitted for some custom plugs in the Army and still have them but I could never actually get them in.

[NCSUSousa]

Stem colors and tip colors are just decorative. The only thing to worry about is size.
They have 2 sizes available on the inexpensive plugs they sell thru amazon - 'standard' and 'large'.
I've also seen a modular plug from ETY that has a 3rd fit option using a foam surround instead of rubber, but I haven't checked that out enough to know if it's smaller than 'standard' or larger than 'large'. I have tried them enough to know the 'standard' is a tight fit for me.

in looking at the ETY•Plugs® High Fidelity Earplugs in amazon, i'm wondering what the different color stems mean? i guess i'm overlooking it on their website.

[Leland]

Here's the thing about fitted earplugs though: tuba players move their jaws when they play, and this changes the shape of the auditory canal. Fitted plugs aren't flexible enough to match this change of shape in the ear canal, rendering them far less effective than when they were fitted.

This is what I didn't like about the Westone earplugs we got in the Marines. We also were allotted a new set every three years because of possible changes in the ear canal's shape.

I've used Westone, Etymotics, foam, flanged solid rubber, and a brand called Earasers. My two favorites are Etymotics and Earasers, with a nod towards Earasers. They don't blot out the "s" sounds like foam or rubber, and they stay in place better than custom earplugs. I can't always hear what's coming out of my bell, but what I want to hear can get masked by other sounds anyway (and besides, if I overdo it, it's already too late; hopefully I've already spent enough time on my own learning how much effort is too much for the horn). But, I can hear my own pitch and articulations a lot better.

Earasers sells two strengths, and the ones with the red filter are stronger. If you're in an ensemble with a full marching percussion battery like I was, you'll need the red filters.