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Damage comes from everyday life - hammering on a piece of steel, working the angle grinder. (Oh, do use eye protection.) I have mostly used ear protection when shooting, those wax plugs the army handed out surely did not help much (damage does not only happen through the ear canal), but the idea was good. Now, I even protect my ears while hunting. In my case, apart from DIY, motorcycling. Not loud music or such follies. I mostly cruised at below 90 km/h, but the wind noise did get to me. Earplugs would have helped, as would a good helmet.

At least these days I have constant singing in my ears....

    Used my set of Fit-4-All Music at garage day today... And I have to say I'm impressed. I had no ringing or discomfort during or after the jam. They were as comfortable as can be expected and did an amazing job of preserving guitar frequencies so I could still hear myself. It's also perfectly possible to hold a conversation with them in so I didn't even take them out between songs.

    My only complaint is that they made singing significantly harder. I really battled to pick my voice out of the mix, even with the vocals turned right up, so I pushed a lot harder than I needed to and my pitching was probably a bit wonky. Don't know if there is any way around this short of in ear monitors.

    Still, great product, I would definitely recommend.

    I picked up a pair of these:

    https://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/vater-earplugs

    from Mars Music Cresta on friday before garage days. They were a bit more expensive than the NoiseClippers (R475 vs R260), but I grabbed them because there was no chance of me getting a pair of the NoiseClippers in time. I was fairly happy with the sound, but then again, I don't really have much to compare them too. They come with a ~ 20dB and a ~30dB filter, and I had the 20's in. No ringing in my ears afterwards so I'm happy

    14 days later

    No brainer. Use em. An use em on my motorcycles too

      a year later

      Right-o it's been around a year and it's time to BuMp the conversation. Why? Becasue we may have a few new peeps around (maybe?)...and musicians don't listen 😆

      Actually I came across this recently and it's REALLY interesting - I havn't delved into they how's and why's of tinnitus - worth a couple watches

      Mostly annoyingly...I cannot find my frikking earplugs! They're somewhere safe, sadly safe from me....! And I'm itching for a jam, but no plug's = no jams. Boo!

      a month later

      Just an update...i have now fairly severe loss of hearing at certain frequencies almost certainly as a result of listening/playing loud and motorcycling. I have some in ear aids now to help me in the world.

      And , funny enough, with the wearing of masks my hearing has "worsened" and i have come to realise that i probably subconciously lip read without realising it.

      Dont be like me, wear plugs. Simple.

      IceCreamMan i have come to realise that i probably subconciously lip read without realising it.

      Interesting! I've been struggling to understand some peeps masked up - likely I'm also doing a bit of lip reading...

        10 days later

        I find people struggle to hear my mumbles through a mask.. 🙄

        • V8 likes this.
        3 months later

        A new year, a new reminder. Wear them plugs.

        Another really sneaky source of ear damagers that has become a reality for me is the whole silent recording and silent jamming phenomenon. Ie.. typically through DAW whilst wearing headphones. I dont do this often, normally whilst doing challenges and wotnot, but a few times i did take the cans off and noticed some ringing. Keep those volumes respectable folks and give your ears a break.

        I imagine those horrid cellphone in ear jobbies are the worst.

        Stay safe

        • V8 likes this.
        • V8 replied to this.

          guidothepimmp I imagine those horrid cellphone in ear jobbies are the worst.

          I spent a lifetime blowing my brains out with ear-in's. (Sony walkmans/discmans), They are bad. Even if my cell phone warns me whenever I crank the vol about 60% 😁

          Timely reminder!

              4 months later

              Last weekend I was invited to a band rehearsal, they wanted to checkout my bagpipe, so we jammed a little.

              Especially the drums in that little makeshift rehearsal room was stunning loud 😃 I have never stood next to a drum kit before when someone is playing.

              I was glad to have a pair of ear plugs in my bagpipe box (Alpine PartyPlug). Otherwise I guess my head would have burst after 20 minutes 😃

              Impressive how these ear plugs filter out the devastating loud noise but you can still talk with others without shouting ^^

              When I practice bagpipe at home I use a standard gaming headset.

              Meticus so we jammed a little.

              I'm so jealous, havn't jammed in ages. 😢

              But I still know where my earplugs are 😁 Yeah man, real drums with cymbals (particularly the china & crash) and distorted guitars (+ wah pedals) are real ear killers.

                  Lately I've seen an increase (?) in my tinnitus, which I suffer from since young. Someone mentioned earplugs but how do you factor earplugs in and still hear everything that going on around you. Have a bit of hearing loss in one ear so that was always a factor. Have been thinking of using in-ear monitors as well but what about volume spikes? How do you protect yourself against that?

                  • V8 replied to this.

                    I guess I'm half-lucky in that I started wearing earplugs for rehearsing or performing at a relatively early age (my mid-20s), but by that time a lot of damage had already been done. First, I used those industrial plugs that look like Christmas trees, but they blocked out all but the loudest noise and were very uncomfortable to wear for extended periods. Then, a fellow band member had some earplugs custom made from Noise-Ban, and at the time that could be done through medical aid, so I had a pair fitted too (Noise-ban Elites). Best decision ever. The perfect blend between protection, comfort and the remarkable feat of somehow completely eliminating potential damage while not attenuating so much that you can't follow a spoken conversation. I can't recommend these things enough. I've been using the same pair for more than 15 years now.

                    Funkadelic1 Someone mentioned earplugs but how do you factor earplugs in and still hear everything that going on around you

                    The cheaper industrial plugs ()Bluetone mentions below) arn't great for hearing higher frequencies - that's where the fancier plugs come in. If you go through the whole thread ()there's a couple more threads) you can check the whole discussion.

                    You can find plugs that work for music - I think vocalists suffer the most, I found it weird singing with plugs in,

                    V8 Alternatively a some friends are using Thunderplugs and I've not heard any complaints (pun intended). But oddly, I can't find a local stockist, The Gear Junkie did have - i'll update if I can find them. They were reasonably priced (around R200/set)

                    V8 Heard back from the fellows at noiseclipper...

                    A set of Variphone Fit-4-All's are going to set you back the princely sum of R264.50 (vat inc)...imho, a complete bargain! Impressed how it's fairly much the same price in euros as rands.

                    Or get some custom fitted at Protect-a-ear or those Noise-ban's Bluetone mentioned are stocked at Ear Institute

                    You'll molds of your ears taken and then they'll get sent to pretoria, and plugs sent back. Magic! Last I asked, it was around R1k-ish for a set.

                    They can mold a set around in-ears too.

                    But if the sound guy wants to drop a evil through the mix...there's not much you can do. Maybe beat them silly for not using a limiter.

                    Had a gig where the drummers ear was bleeding (no plugs, head next to a monitor) after the guitarist kicked in a boost pedal, but it's level was way above what he soundchecked, spiked through the PA. Eish. I was wearing plugs and I knew all about it too.

                    P.s. Prices ARE out of date, likely things are 20-30% more. Last I checked Thunderplugs were around R280 locally.

                          So funny - my singing (rubbish as it is) is improved by earplugs because I can hear the voice in my head so much better so I know if I'm near the correct note or not. 😆 Vive la difference. Also, kudos for this thread. I am exasperated by indifference to hearing damage/loss. Once it's gone, it's gone...

                          • V8 likes this.
                          • V8 replied to this.

                            Bluetone I can hear the voice in my head so much better so I know if I'm near the correct note or not.

                            Hehe, I always think of when I have a head cold kinda vibe. I can't stand my voice in recordings so the less I hear of it the better 😝

                            Bluetone . Also, kudos for this thread. I am exasperated by indifference to hearing damage/loss.

                            Thanks man, I've been bleating on about it for a while (+/-15yrs) so eventually I thought it would be a community service to annually talk about it. Either to intro noobs to the info (and even the concept) and what they can do about it AND as a reminder to others to keep on using em.

                                3 months later

                                Just had my annual audiologist appointment. Woot woot.. no deterioration noted. Happy days for my ears.
                                My earplugs are a staple. On my keys and they go everywhere with me

                                5 months later