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!
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.
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?
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...
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.
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
Anyone tried these earplugs?
https://bikegear.co.za/product/nonoise-work-ear-plugs/
https://bikegear.co.za/product/nonoise-ear-plugs-for-sleep/
Edit: Actually reading the thread it seems there are better options aimed at musicians.
RodneyVikens there are better options aimed at musicians.
Yeah, but literally ANYTHING is better than nothing - if that's all you can find locally, use em.
I was at a gig last month, forgot the plugs at home - felt like a dumbass right at the back of the venue, with my fingers in my ears for 2 hours while the bands rocked out.
I've been using these https://variphone.com/en/hearing-protection-music/fit-4-all-music
Very nice... although its pretty hard to sing with them in.
Yup, I also use the Variphone plugs per link above. Never tried those biking ones
I don't know why I've never just bought an extension cable for my noise cancelling headphones to use as monitors. And now that I have monitors, I don't use them xD I also need an extension cable for those.
Is it a no brainer to just use headphones when the functionality is available or am I not considering all the facts?
Dont know if I am getting the question. If I hear you right, you could simply use headphones as a proxy for monitors, but what are you trying to achieve? Is this simply jamming via PC? Or are you recording etc as well? My limited view is that the quality of sound is better via monitors, for my setup anyways, amd i also find using headphones leads to ear fatigue quicker in my case. That said, i do like the option of juggling between the two. Especially with mixing.
If simply listening to music, i use the monitors exclusively.
guidothepimmp Monitors as in a replacement for earplugs for jam sessions etc.
Oh right. If the headphones can reduce DB, then by all means. I dont know that they can though like plugs. The Variphones reduce DB by some 15 to 20 DB which is quite significant. If its just for monitoring, what you suggest makes sense to do
guidothepimmp Might be worth some investigating the reduction in DB's then.
I generally struggle with plugs.
Spambot reminded me it be time for the annual earplug reminder!
I was at a jam yesterday and had a cheep pair of silicon plugs (no idea where my nicer ones are) - the only thing I could play was drums with any sense of 'monitoring' - the cheep plugs killed the guitar & bass for me. Though the stage was tiny and I could not place any of the amps to fire into my ears (the amp stands didn't kickback). A decent set of 'musician' 'plugs would have helped a lot.
I see there's a new audiologist down the road from me that's apparently a variphone stockist - I wonder how much the variphone music-4-all plugs cost now. They're 17Euro's, but in SA? We'll find out!
And its earplug reminder post time again. This time for 2024
