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Zorand It seems that Thundercloud Music stock these for R220.00/set:
https://thundercloudmusic.co.za/products/thunderplug-earplugs-tp1

Nice find, thanks!

Zorand I carried on with loud music and shooting without any protection for years

OMG...on the range w/o plugs? Sheesh, that hurts just thinking about it.

Zorand Thank you for this discussion/reminder and I hope younger people take note.

Likely they won't - though, if old farts (like me) bang on about it enough and makes it easy to find a decent set, we might save a eardrum or two. ?

          Oh yes, I was so stupid. I really hope the younger generation listen.
          "Always use ear protection - and sunscreen!"
          Old fart No.2

          • V8 likes this.
          16 days later

          I came up old school and for years we never wore ear plugs. The louder one's Marshall, the better the tone. The result.....my ears are screwed. And yes....cymbals will kill your ears. Why is it that when a guitar player goes over to the drummer and jumps up on the riser to pull some stage moves .......and you shove your head over the rack toms ......that's when drummers will always start smashing on the damned crash cymbals?

          Anyway....my tinnitus is off the charts. It drives me crazy sometimes. Left ear sounds like a machine shop all the time...and hurts sometimes too. Between that and several gunshots in close proximity to my head, plus military training....they never handed out hearing pro at the firing range back then. So my tinnitus and general hearing loss is bad. And any kind of Sativa makes it infinitely worse.

          Don't let it happen to you. The hearing loss. The sativa....more power to ya! And hearing damage will screw you even when listening on headphones.......gets the tinnitus screaming again. So that goes out the window.

          Even now I can't stand plugs in my ears when I'm playing though. I gotta try going back to my Hearo's or something better. The foam one's work well for attenuation but unfortunately they kill all the frequencies I need to hear. But like I rehearsed Saturday and my ears are going off deluxe, even now. I put some of those rough foam one's in but ended up pulling them 1/2 way out and even then it was like I had a dish rag stuffed down my ear canals. I prefer the smooth foam one's as far as feel but usually just use them in a pinch at work when it gets loud.

          I have a pair of molded ear plugs for shooting that are custom fit to my ears but they kill almost everything.

          Yeah....try avoid hearing damage. It's a real miserable bitch. You might think you are okay and when you are younger you (seemingly) bounce back quicker initially and it might go away. But next thing....if you keep exposing yourself to unnaturally loud noise......it will nail you.

          Take care of yourself.

          4 days later

          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...

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                                  • V8 replied to this.