A3rd.Zero
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2001
- Posts
- 216
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- 10
I just got my molded earplugs that accept the Etymotic musicians filters. I have been wearing them all day while cutting sound effects for a TV show on the CW. Early in the morning I set my monitors to the standard 82db for TV stuck in the plugs and brought the monitors up to around 105db. After some listening tests and extended wear this is what I found.
First I got my molds done at House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles. It was great, they had the impressions made in about 30min and I got the plugs about 20 days later. I went with sensephonics for the molds because a former employee said that they made the softest silicone of any of the companies. They were about $130, for the impressions, molds, and a set of filters (I got the 25db).
Sound:
Ok so we knew that they wouldn't sound like not having plugs in. Actually the quality of sound, or their response curve was really good. I listened to some of my test music that I know really well and I didn't find the sonics lacking at all. The thing that was noticeable however is that the music lost a great deal of dimensionality. All of a sudden the violin was not enveloping but rather coming in down a direct path. I think this is because the shape of my ear is bypassed and its just a transmission line right down the false canal of the earplug. This wasn't such a bad thing but it was noticeable. I don't however see any reason to listen to speakers with these plugs, and I think at live events there should be enough reflections, and sources that some of this effect will be canceled out.
Comfort:
I am used to wearing ety-6i's for 5 hour plane flights or while working in a wood shop all day so I know the feeling of plugs after wearing them all day. These plugs had nearly none of these effects. I left them in for about three hours and never once felt uncomfortable. They take a little while to figure out the insertion but they are a tighter fit then foams or the rubber ones while being much more comfortable.
While I haven't tried them at a live event yet I really like them. In fact I was a little disturbed at first that something was wrong because I could hear so clearly. Only after a check with the spl meter and subsequent removal of the plugs at 105db did I realize that they were in fact cutting a lot of sound out while leaving it clean and basically untouched.
I highly recommend these. I think that I'll have a greater tendency to use these than I did with the foams and for me my business is my ears, so I think it was a great investment. They sound better than I expected.
Milo
First I got my molds done at House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles. It was great, they had the impressions made in about 30min and I got the plugs about 20 days later. I went with sensephonics for the molds because a former employee said that they made the softest silicone of any of the companies. They were about $130, for the impressions, molds, and a set of filters (I got the 25db).
Sound:
Ok so we knew that they wouldn't sound like not having plugs in. Actually the quality of sound, or their response curve was really good. I listened to some of my test music that I know really well and I didn't find the sonics lacking at all. The thing that was noticeable however is that the music lost a great deal of dimensionality. All of a sudden the violin was not enveloping but rather coming in down a direct path. I think this is because the shape of my ear is bypassed and its just a transmission line right down the false canal of the earplug. This wasn't such a bad thing but it was noticeable. I don't however see any reason to listen to speakers with these plugs, and I think at live events there should be enough reflections, and sources that some of this effect will be canceled out.
Comfort:
I am used to wearing ety-6i's for 5 hour plane flights or while working in a wood shop all day so I know the feeling of plugs after wearing them all day. These plugs had nearly none of these effects. I left them in for about three hours and never once felt uncomfortable. They take a little while to figure out the insertion but they are a tighter fit then foams or the rubber ones while being much more comfortable.
While I haven't tried them at a live event yet I really like them. In fact I was a little disturbed at first that something was wrong because I could hear so clearly. Only after a check with the spl meter and subsequent removal of the plugs at 105db did I realize that they were in fact cutting a lot of sound out while leaving it clean and basically untouched.
I highly recommend these. I think that I'll have a greater tendency to use these than I did with the foams and for me my business is my ears, so I think it was a great investment. They sound better than I expected.
Milo
