Audiophile grade hearing protection

I'm a big fan of the Ety ER20s. I always wear them at concerts since they attenuate the sound without muffling it. 

They also work well when I'm trying to listen to music in surroundings that are exceptionally loud. I've been known to slip ER20s under my Ultrasones to block out annoying voices. Works exceptionally well.

My post seems to have been construed as an advert, so my apologies. PM me if you have a question.

Go with the Ety's I have them and they're great.

What about UE, and i think JH makes hearing protection. Their custom

Weston makes custom hearing protection too.  I use the Ety ER-20 and I have walked out of some concerts because they were too loud even with the ER-20.  It would be nice to have customs with inserts for different levels of attenuation.

Doing a quick google search, Ety and Sensaphonics also make custom musician's ear plugs with interchangeable inserts.

There is a huge amount of difference in the performance of an industrial filter and a true music filter used with custom moulds. Music reproduction requires the attenuation response to be flat across all frequencies, whilst the attenuation of an industrial filter typically rises as frequency increases e.g. from 12dB to 28dB therefore giving poor music reproduction. Industrial filters are normally a resistive design being little more than a restricted tube or hole, whilst a music filter can have various types of membrane, chambers etc to provide a flat response then tuned to compensate for the ears natural resonance at approximately 2.5-2.7kHz, resulting in a flat attenuation response for the user.

Foam plugs certainly reduce the noise level very effectively but score a big 0 for music applications.

Numerous companies make custom mould hearing protection, the combination of the custom mould and the filter being the 'product', it's this product that is certified; objective testing of the protective performance. Like everything to do with music reproduction subjective testing can have different results. I should point out that 2 custom mould manufacturers could use the same filter but have differing performance, this is due to the canal design, shore hardness, fit and sealing in the ear canal.

Hope that helps and notice that no companies were hurt in the production of this reply

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I've owned and used ERxx custom-moulded earplugs for years; and they are a truly excellent investment.

I actually bought a pair of the Etymotic ER20 yesterday, just to try them, and think they are a cost-effective solution that you could call 'audiophile-grade' as far as earplugs go - the frequency balance when wearing the ER20 remained similar to what I would hear with my naked ear - but created an effect that was like turning down the volume on a radio - and was similar to the custom moulded ERxx plugs I use. I A/B'd the ER20 very briefly with my ER custom moulded plugs and found that the custom moulded plugs were far more comfortable and sounded more preferable to me.

I wouldn't listen to music from a stereo with either of those earplugs, but I've found and find the molded plugs indispensible, especially for attending concerts and performing music. I've never left home without my moulded plugs for years. 

FYI: with ERxx custom moulded earplugs, you can purchase different filters for different levels of noise attenuation. I've also noticed the ERxx plugs to be available via many hearing centres.

Here's some more info on the moulded plugs I describe - link

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stitch 

Ordered the large and normal fit. The large feel pretty good, better than the alpine plugs. The normal ones go in too deep, deep enough to poke something i dont want them to poke.

They are like that but you get use to them after a while. 

I'm pretty sure that they won't go in far enough to do damage, even if you push them in far enough that you can only get them out with tweezers.