Decent earplugs advice.

[dave74200]

I currently use Alpine earplugs to keep the volume down at rehearsals and gigs but was wondering what better ones there are on the market. For me, they take out lots of frequencies so I hear myself too loudly. That may be the only way it can be but I thought I'd ask. I'd like to hear everything but quieter if at all possible!!

[Skybone]

ACS Custom. Not cheap, but bloody good. I put off getting some for years, after having sworn by the Christmas tree type ones (Etymotic ER-20's), but decided to finally take the plunge and get some moulded ones. They're simply head & shoulders above the other "off the shelf" ones. Initially went for the 20dB filters, found them a bit too effective, so got some 17dB filters, which are perfect.

 

Tried some Alpines, I found them fiddly and didn't sit in my ears very well.

 

ACS Custom Earplugs

[Lozz196]

ACS seconded. I use the PRO17s, as they give the most neutral sound. It’s pretty much like turning the volume of the whole (very loud) band to a manageable level, no specific frequency bias.

Edited 16 hours ago by Lozz196

[chris_b]

I've been using ACS for approx 18 years, PRO17's, PRO20's and a set of PRO26's, for one particular guitarist!!

 

I wouldn’t gig without them.

[Dood]

I posted this elsewhere, but this site offers a (non-scientific) but very useful sound guide for each of the ear plugs reviewed, volume normalised. I found this very useful as I was able to pick up some cheap generic plugs that offered better speech intelligibility versus some that I have that seem to be more bass heavy. I have another set here that are really peaky around 2Khz, which is really fatiguing, so making sure I didn;t end up with another simialr set mean this site was invaluable. 

 

I have to say, these would be only short term use as all generics hurt my ears afetr a while and rarely sound as good as a set of moulded Pro plugs. Mine are 64 Audio, but I do have a set of the "Help For Musician's" moulded plugs by ACS through the Musician's Union too - highly recommended for busy professional bassists.

 

https://www.hearadvisor.com/earplug-rankings

 

https://www.helpmusicians.org.uk/get-support/physical-health/protect-your-hearing

[pete.young]

I have a set of custom moulded ones which came from Specsavers. They take an impression and then either send it off to one of their partners to make the plugs, or you can send the impressions to your vendor of choice. The advantae of this is there are Specsavers hearing shops in most high streets so you don' t have to travel far to get the impressions done.