Ear Plugs - For Listening, not Playing

[Lozz196]

Last night my band played and the volume in the venue was such that my ears still feel blocked today. 
 

I have earplugs for playing  with my deafening classic rock band which doesn’t gig (ACS ones) but from now on I’m taking a cheap pair to any gig I attend, whether I’m playing or not.
 

It was only a small venue so I wouldn’t have thought it would be so loud - lesson learned, hopefully in time.

[velvetkevorkian]

Yep, I take plugs to anywhere there's going to be a PA or a drum kit.

[BlueMoon]

Yep….I do the same.

 

I have - among others - a set from Alpine where you can insert different coloured filters to achieve the desired degree of attenuation. IIRC, they can reduce 10, 15 and 20 db.

 

I’ve tried loads……but you only get one set of ears!

[MichaelDean]

I've got some on my keys that then go everywhere with me. They came in a little cylinder with a keyring on it. 

[Oopsdabassist]

3 minutes ago, MichaelDean said:

I've got some on my keys that then go everywhere with me. They came in a little cylinder with a keyring on it. 

Yup me too, they also have the colour coded attenuators

[SubsonicSimpleton]

On 26/08/2023 at 12:54, Lozz196 said:

Last night my band played and the volume in the venue was such that my ears still feel blocked today. 
 

I have earplugs for playing  with my deafening classic rock band which doesn’t gig (ACS ones) but from now on I’m taking a cheap pair to any gig I attend, whether I’m playing or not.
 

It was only a small venue so I wouldn’t have thought it would be so loud - lesson learned, hopefully in time.

Why take cheap ones if you have proper custom molded ACS ones?

 

Hearing varies a lot from one person to another so YMMV, I only have the strongest filters that I could get at the time (26db IIRC), but don't find that they compromise the enjoyment of gigs that are not crazy loud - I'm pretty sure you could get a less severe filter than the ones you use in your band if you felt you needed less attenuation. I've used various foam and silicon chrismas tree plugs in the past, and would only go there if I'd forgotten my ACS.

[Lozz196]

1 hour ago, SubsonicSimpleton said:

Why take cheap ones if you have proper custom molded ACS ones?

More than a large slice of paranoia over dropping & losing them. I`m fairly sure I`d manage to look after the cheapies well enough but that well known law would mean I`d drop & lose the ACS ones. 

[SubsonicSimpleton]

6 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

More than a large slice of paranoia over dropping & losing them. I`m fairly sure I`d manage to look after the cheapies well enough but that well known law would mean I`d drop & lose the ACS ones. 

Just leave them in all evening and only take them out once you have left the venue - my personal experience is that this isn't a problem even if you want to have a chat at the bar and there is a quieter period between bands.

 

Once they warm up they tend to form a pretty good seal and they won't randomly fall out, if you are in the habit of popping them in/out every few minutes at rehearsal, try leaving them in the entire time and see what happens.