Had the moulds done for a pair of ER-15 earplugs about a month ago and they turned up today.

Did anyone else find it took a little while to get used to putting them in and how they feel? The left one seemed reasonably ok but the right one doesn't go in as far and is a bit uncomfortable - looking at them side-by side the canal on the right hand one is noticeably longer.

I'm kinda hoping they haven't just made it a bit too big, would have thought it's unlikely though seeing that they had moulds of my ears to work from.

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Stu Cox |

Your ears are different sizes and shapes, therefore the moulds will be different for each one.

I had been wearing foam plugs for some time before I got my ER-15s, so not as difficult getting used to them really.
Very soon, you will forget you are wearing them- until you take them out!

Try a little tiny bit of moisturiser in your ear- not much at all- which will soften it slightly and make it easier for you to get in and get used to.

Hmm it's going in ok, although it still sticks out past the tragus (while the one in the other ear neatly tucks behind it) and puts a lot of pressure on my ear drum when it's in.

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Stu Cox |

Go to your ear doctor that did the moulds for you..

He might say it's normal for them to feel off at the beginning.

I know my right one sticks out a little more than my left one which is a bit annoying visually but comfort-wise i'm all good.

I have forgotten in the past that i have had them in.. It's great when you keep them in all night, then towards the main part of the night you take em out and my god is it loud! Hard to put them back in there as you get caught up in the moment but wait till you test them out in a club.

Steve

WTF? - Sorry can someone please explain the whole earplugs thing. In 10 years of clubbing I never met anyone with earplugs in a club (apart from some club workers) until recent months. I went clubbing about 3 weeks ago and a friend I met there couldn't hear what I was saying over the music......until he removed his earplugs.

I don't mean to come across condescending but unless your working in the environment on a professional basis (lighting enineer, bouncer, barman, etc.) why the hell do you need earplugs?

You are going clubbing. It's meant to be loud. For a few hours of you life. That's part of the point. It all seems very strange to me.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a sound engineer by trade. I like my hearing and want to protect it, but I can't help thinking how precious/metrosexual you have to be to go clubbing with earplugs.

It's like entering a mountain bike race with stabilisers on your bike, just in case you fall off. When you go swimming. you could drown right? but you don't take your armbands? Shit I could go on with other bad analogies, someone please explain.

quote:

Originally posted by n3lly It's great when you keep them in all night, then towards the main part of the night you take em out and my god is it loud! Hard to put them back in there as you get caught up in the moment but wait till you test them out in a club. Steve

sorry to be blunt, but that's really fucking stupid. ears don't like sudden changes in sound pressure like that at all. you should take them off once your in a quieter place (outside the club)-

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Originally posted by DJ RANN WTF? - Sorry can someone please explain the whole earplugs thing. In 10 years of clubbing I never met anyone with earplugs in a club (apart from some club workers) until recent months. I went clubbing about 3 weeks ago and a friend I met there couldn't hear what I was saying over the music......until he removed his earplugs. I don't mean to come across condescending but unless your working in the environment on a professional basis (lighting enineer, bouncer, barman, etc.) why the hell do you need earplugs? You are going clubbing. It's meant to be loud. For a few hours of you life. That's part of the point. It all seems very strange to me. Don't get me wrong. I'm a sound engineer by trade. I like my hearing and want to protect it, but I can't help thinking how precious/metrosexual you have to be to go clubbing with earplugs. It's like entering a mountain bike race with stabilisers on your bike, just in case you fall off. When you go swimming. you could drown right? but you don't take your armbands? Shit I could go on with other bad analogies, someone please explain.

the more you expose your ears to loud noises, the more damage they suffer, which means more chance of hearing loss, tinnitus etc.

good earplugs don't take away anything from the sound as they filter all frequencies evenly, but you still feel the loud music, so it's not the same as turning the speakers down.

hearing loss can't really be fixed and i know i'd kill myself if i were deaf (pretty much the only situation where i'd consider it) and i already have mild tinnitus and sensitivity to loud high pitched noises from clubbing, so i'll try to make sure it won't get worse in the future by using earplugs, because it really is stupid not to wear them.

dunno if any of this made any sense to you, but it does to me at least and that's why i wear earplugs.

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Originally posted by skip sorry to be blunt, but that's really fucking stupid. ears don't like sudden changes in sound pressure like that at all. you should take them off once your in a quieter place (outside the club)-

No problem at all.

Do you even know what we're talking about.

If you walk into a club. You're effectively doing the exact same thing as taking out these ear plugs out throughout a night.

These earplugs don't block sound, they reduce it by 9,15,30db depending on the filter you have in them.

So it's not like my poor ears are going from 40db to 110db.

Until you try them, i'd hold back from commenting on the experience as it really is something you have to try before you can judge how good it is for you.

End of the day, of course it's not good for your ears taking them out.

But... i know that joe bloggs aka. skip's ears will be WAY worse off than mine after he's been listening to the music without custom made ear plugs for over 4+ hours.

I'm not sure if you quite get what kind of ear plugs we're talking about.

Last edited by n3lly on Jul-24-2008 at 20:48

quote:

Originally posted by skip the more you expose your ears to loud noises, the more damage they suffer, which means more chance of hearing loss, tinnitus etc. good earplugs don't take away anything from the sound as they filter all frequencies evenly, but you still feel the loud music, so it's not the same as turning the speakers down. hearing loss can't really be fixed and i know i'd kill myself if i were deaf (pretty much the only situation where i'd consider it) and i already have mild tinnitus and sensitivity to loud high pitched noises from clubbing, so i'll try to make sure it won't get worse in the future by using earplugs, because it really is stupid not to wear them. dunno if any of this made any sense to you, but it does to me at least and that's why i wear earplugs.

So obviously you do know what we're talking about.

I'm confused as to how you think taking them out throughout the night for a spell of 20-30 min is THAT bad then?

quote:

Originally posted by DJ RANN WTF? - Sorry can someone please explain the whole earplugs thing. In 10 years of clubbing I never met anyone with earplugs in a club (apart from some club workers) until recent months. I went clubbing about 3 weeks ago and a friend I met there couldn't hear what I was saying over the music......until he removed his earplugs. I don't mean to come across condescending but unless your working in the environment on a professional basis (lighting enineer, bouncer, barman, etc.) why the hell do you need earplugs? You are going clubbing. It's meant to be loud. For a few hours of you life. That's part of the point. It all seems very strange to me. Don't get me wrong. I'm a sound engineer by trade. I like my hearing and want to protect it, but I can't help thinking how precious/metrosexual you have to be to go clubbing with earplugs. It's like entering a mountain bike race with stabilisers on your bike, just in case you fall off. When you go swimming. you could drown right? but you don't take your armbands? Shit I could go on with other bad analogies, someone please explain.

I've actually already got permanent hearing damage (not too severe) and a chart to prove it lol, I'd hope to get another decade or so before I give up clubbing so thought I'd invest in not cutting that short.

I'm pretty sure it's actually DJing rather than clubbing which has done the damage so far - if you're in a booth behind a 10k+ rig, you need often to crank your headphones right up to hear what you're doing, particularly if the volume of the monitors is fixed (which has been the case at a few gigs I've played). I'm still yet to test them myself, but I know people who have said you can DJ with these earplugs so it seemed like a logical step.

I have actually seen quite a few people wearing them in clubs over here, but you're right it's not that common - I'm not sure yet if I'd take them on a normal night out clubbing, but people have said it can make it a different experience as you can hear everything so much more clearly so I might try it at some point. I would be a bit worried about taking them out and leaving them somewhere if I was pissed though, they're quite an expensive thing to lose on a drunken night out!

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Stu Cox |

quote:

Originally posted by n3lly So obviously you do know what we're talking about. I'm confused as to how you think taking them out throughout the night for a spell of 20-30 min is THAT bad then?

because ears don't like the sudden change from lets say 70 to 95 dB at all (if we assume that he music in the club is 95 dB and your earplugs filter 25 dB). sudden changes is something the ears don't like and taking the plugs out will make a sudden change of 25 dB (in this case). your ears aren't used to the high level of noise and thus hearing damage will occur more easily.

when you walk into the club it's not the same thing as you hear the music getting louder and louder as you walk near the dance floor where the speakers are, so your ears get better accustomed to the sound level, compared the the situation where you take the plugs of in the dance floor and the huge change comes in a second.

i'm no ear doctor. this is all based on what i've read and believe to be true. i've got no scientific data to back this up (as i can't be bothered to search for it), but common sense kinda backs this up imo too as you can easily notice that sudden loud noises hurt your ears more compared to upping the volume slowly the the same level as the sudden loud noise was at.

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quote:

Originally posted by Stu Cox I've actually already got permanent hearing damage (not too severe) and a chart to prove it lol, I'd hope to get another decade or so before I give up clubbing so thought I'd invest in not cutting that short. I'm pretty sure it's actually DJing rather than clubbing which has done the damage so far - if you're in a booth behind a 10k+ rig, you need often to crank your headphones right up to hear what you're doing, particularly if the volume of the monitors is fixed (which has been the case at a few gigs I've played). I'm still yet to test them myself, but I know people who have said you can DJ with these earplugs so it seemed like a logical step. I have actually seen quite a few people wearing them in clubs over here, but you're right it's not that common - I'm not sure yet if I'd take them on a normal night out clubbing, but people have said it can make it a different experience as you can hear everything so much more clearly so I might try it at some point. I would be a bit worried about taking them out and leaving them somewhere if I was pissed though, they're quite an expensive thing to lose on a drunken night out!

Good explanation, and fair enough. I understand if a DJ does, it just surprised me when I heard that clubbers were doing it. I think the most dangerous thing for your ears is not soundsystems themselves (even though they won't help) but headphones that are too loud - SPL's behave differently and are much more dangerous in enclosed spaces such as full enclosure headphones. I'm not sure about the DJing logic of getting earplugs so you can monitor form the headphones with the volume jacked right up.