musicians earplugs with headphones?

[ssingh0]

has anyone tried using musicians earplugs (ety 9/15/25) with open headphones?

sometimes it feels good to have the headphones blasting, but it's really bad for your ears. Would you get the same satisfaction/increased impact w/o damage if you used musicians earplugs?

 

[James63]

I often use ER-20 (I think that is what they are called) ear plugs and they stick out pretty far. So I do not know how you would put headphone over them unless you are using custom ear plugs. Anyway there is always a little treble drop off even with musician’s earplugs. I have used musician’s earplugs in my car with the stereo on to drowned out road noise. I took a lot of flack from my friends for that one. In the end the vibration gave me a headache so I stopped.........anyway I say do what ever floats your boat though.




and get canalphones

 

[ssingh0]

Quote:

"they stick out pretty far."

Quote:

Q Why are deep earmolds required for Musicians Earplugs? A Earmolds need to seal deeply in the bony portion of the ear canal or the wearer will hear a hollow or boomy sound in their own voice when speaking, singing or playing a brass or wind instrument. This unpleasant or distracting sound is called the occlusion effect. Deep earmolds (past the second bend of the ear canal) will eliminate this problem. Q Is there a non-custom high fidelity earplug? A Yes. ER•20 High Fidelity Earplugs are ready-fit earplugs that preserve sound quality while reducing sound levels approximately 20 dB at all frequencies. ER•20s reduce harmful sound without distorting speech and music.

I think if you get the custom molds (9/15/25), they don't stick out at all. at least that's what the brochure shows.


(+ as the 1st answer shows, I don't think you'll get the headache with a custom mold "past second bend")

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssingh0 has anyone tried using musicians earplugs (ety 9/15/25) with open headphones? sometimes it feels good to have the headphones blasting, but it's really bad for your ears. Would you get the same satisfaction/increased impact w/o damage if you used musicians earplugs?

Short answer: no. Why would you do that? They haven't invented the perfect earplug yet, so any of them will colour the sound somewhat.

 

[Knee Deep In Epoxy]

So I'm a newbie to this audiophile bizzzness.... And I know this is very old thread but I feel like I just discovered magic and wanted to check if other had tried the same.... Lo and behold, yes...

Here's my 2 cents... But first health warnings:

1) I have no idea if what I've tried and described below is in anyway dangerous to ears or other bodily health. Any medical experts out there feel free to chime in

2) I would say be careful not to push the headphones too hard to and blow out the drivers. I'm using a BTR5 for this (my first and only DAC Amp... so far), so I assume it's not capable of damaging my headphones... Experienced audiophiles feel free to chime in too!


So...I recently developed Tinnitus (probably from playing headphones too loudly but not 100% sure). In a panic I started looking for solutions and found Flare Audio Calmer Plugs which apparently has helped some people with Tinnitus. So far it hasn't worked for me on that front, but they do dampen higher frequencies and over time I do feel less stress overall when wearing them (but you have to give it time to really notice the effect). As far as headphones go, they soften any siblance and harsh sounds so you can drive your headphones harder and push out the bass.

This morning I took it a big step further... ETY plugs ER.20XS under my headphones.... Wow... This may turn me into a bass head! I've always preferred neutral clear sound signatures up to this point (like etymotic IEMs and Sennheisers headphones)

It seems counter intuitive to put on earplugs and then turn up the volume on headphones but the benefits is not so much in the sound, but in the feeling. I cranked everything up to maximum on high gain balanced output from my Fiio BTR5 wth the ETYplugs in.... suddenly I'm getting around 85-90% of the highs... It feels less airy but the detail is in still there... But it's more than made up for in (what I think is called) bass extension or sub-bass.... Basically the bass vibrates from your head all way down to your chest without ever sounding painful on your ear-drum... You just have to be able to get comfortable with the earplugs. I just happened to try this first on a pair of Marshall Major III's but am now trying it on Focal Elegias ... Definitely extractiing the bass like never before.

I've never tried any beyerdynamics but from all the complaints about the Tesla trebles I can imagine that this trick would make those kinds of headphones sound much more enjoyable and really get the best out of them.