PaulWarning Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 the problem I've got is I wear hearing aids, taking them out makes things muffled, use ear plugs and it's even worse, I have to take them out to understand what people are saying to me, I tried the ACS's but it was a pain getting them in and out, I just use generic ones now, wedge the one next to the drummer right in and adjust the other one as required, at least my tinnitus hasn't got any worse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 6 minutes ago, PaulWarning said: I tried the ACS's but it was a pain getting them in and out I had a new pair from ACS a few years ago - I stepped up to, IIRC, the two-driver one from the single drivers, and they were very uncomfortable getting them in and out, and wearing them. I contacted ACS, they double-checked, and they'd given me someone else's moulds. They were brilliant about it, and rushed me out the right moulds with their (at the time) top 5-drivers in... My Gran had a volume control on her hearing aids, which she used to devastating social effect when she needed to...if she reached for her ears while you were talking, you'd be in the doghouse later... 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 My ACS just pop in. The trick is to screw ‘em in, not push. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borntohang Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 Just as a heads up, don't equate wearing hearing protection with total invulnerability. I have been wearing plugs diligently since I was 18: gigs, clubs, loud pubs, even the theatre at times. I wear triple flanges with 20dB filters and custom mould IEMs for the stage. Unfortunately I'm still suffering from tinnitus in both ears which has increased a lot in the last year. A quick trip around the ACS noise exposure calculator tells me that ACS Pro 20s take your exposure at 112dB to just 2 hours, which isn't a lot when you consider soundcheck, a show, and possibly watching other acts. I know that's a very rough guide, that your exposure is probably not going to be at 112dB for the full evening, and that it's possible that I'm just genetically disposed to hearing damage as both my parents wear hearing aids now, but just something to consider. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 I always get the cord with my ACS plugs. Makes them easy to find when hanging around my neck. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 (edited) 18 hours ago, Skinnyman said: Another vote for ACS. I’ve used their custom ear plugs for years. I got their in-ear buds a couple of years ago. I use them with a behringer personal headphone amp and they fit directly into the custom ear plugs I had made about 9 years ago (they replace the filters). A comfortable and custom in-ear monitor for quite reasonable money. Have you got a link for the in-ear buds? Edited July 31 by TimR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinnyman Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 2 hours ago, TimR said: Have you got a link for the in-ear buds? I got these https://acscustom.com/uk/products/universal-fit-iem/pro-fit/ Take off the generic ear buds and the drivers fit where the filters go in the custom ear plugs… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 On 30/07/2024 at 15:39, Tradfusion said: Before anyone suggests in-ears 99% of my gigs are in pub bands, rough and ready, PA is generally a couple of speakers on poles and possibly a wedge monitor, all backline is personal amps and there's usually a full kit of drums, none of the bands use in-ear monitors or play amp-less... any feedback much appreciated 🙂 Dave The nature of your gigs is no different to mine or indeed most amateur musos playing. I always IEM up. None of the band (I recently resigned from) did, but their ears are their problem, not mine. Plugging the transmitter into the output on the mixer is no more difficult than plugging my wedge monitor into the same output, and in tight pub gigs it freed up valuable floor space. It's also less crap to lug from car to venue. The bottom line is any non-IEM solution loud enough to be useful risks cumulative hearing damage. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 This is not aimed at the OP or anyone who has responded. I bang on about this every time this topic comes up. I wish someone had in the early 80s when I was laying the foundations of my hearing problems. You can experiment with systems which are not moulded. But why bother? I would sell all my basses and associated kit if I could buy new ears. I cannot. If £150 is more than you can afford, then that is fair enough. But if it is remotely affordable, or you have to save up for a few months then do it. Get them with a lanyard in them. Get them in a lurid colour so that when you drop them you can find them. If you really want to treat yourself then get some of their sleeping ones at the same time. Complete game changers. But do not skimp on your ears. Ever. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Downunderwonder Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 8 hours ago, Len_derby said: Thank you! I need to find out, now, if the current filters are compatible with the plugs I had made in 2005. Ear cartilage keeps growing so you could find a new set needed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimR Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 2 hours ago, Skinnyman said: I got these https://acscustom.com/uk/products/universal-fit-iem/pro-fit/ Take off the generic ear buds and the drivers fit where the filters go in the custom ear plugs… Thanks. I can see how the ACS Custom 17s are first and then experiment with in-ears later if I need to. Sounds great. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinnyman Posted July 31 Share Posted July 31 14 minutes ago, TimR said: Thanks. I can see how the ACS Custom 17s are first and then experiment with in-ears later if I need to. Sounds great. Exactly what I did - even though I’ve now stopped gigging, I still use them as in-ear headphones with my hi-res music player. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acebassmusic Posted August 1 Share Posted August 1 3 hours ago, Downunderwonder said: Ear cartilage keeps growing so you could find a new set needed. Yep, I placed my new Pro17s next to my old ones and could see the difference (especially in the left one). I knew they changed over time but didnt realise by how much 😮 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markbunney Posted August 1 Share Posted August 1 49 minutes ago, Acebassmusic said: Yep, I placed my new Pro17s next to my old ones and could see the difference (especially in the left one). I knew they changed over time but didnt realise by how much 😮 I got two sets 4 years apart and the newer pair seemed twice the size of the old pair! I did query it with ACS but they said my ears had just changed shape! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike257 Posted August 1 Share Posted August 1 On 31/07/2024 at 12:22, Len_derby said: Thank you! I need to find out, now, if the current filters are compatible with the plugs I had made in 2005. Any audiologist or custom IEM/earplug manufacturer will advise that because your ears continue to grow throughout your life, after 4/5 years your fit won't be sealing properly and you'll need new ones. If they're 19 years old, I'd definitely look at getting a fresh pair! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 Sorry Mike, but you are not dealing with facts here. 2005 cannot possibly be 19 years ago. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diskwave Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 On 30/07/2024 at 22:42, chris_b said: I have tinnitus and we are at the stage where the wife regularly says, "Do we really need the TV that loud!" Ears are weird huh. Im the opposite. Tinnitus but my ears have become increasingly more sensitive over the years... I have to have the TV turned right down almost.. Screaming kids and crashing cymbals will see me hiding under the stairs...its all pretty annoying. Have to say tho the purple heavy duty plugs are the only things that work for me now and Ive tried those fitted ones too...but not good enough. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
attackbass Posted August 2 Share Posted August 2 I had some ACS ones through the MU scheme a few years ago. I no longer use them as (I think due to a lot of hand sanitiser during covid) they started to discolour so didn't fancy putting them in my ears, and also they have a shelf life of a certain amount of years before supposedly they stop fitting your ear shape correctly.. Anyway, went without ear plugs for a couple of years and touring and now recently started using them again. I first tried a set called earasers that were really good, slight reduction in high end but not muffled and sounded clear. Annoyingly I lost them at a festival this summer in a rush to pack down and get home so went for some called Earos that I really like, don't think they attenuate the high end too much, sound clear and are comfortable. Think they're £32 and just as good from memory as the ACS for me at least. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 23 hours ago, diskwave said: Ears are weird huh. Im the opposite. Tinnitus but my ears have become increasingly more sensitive over the years... I have to have the TV turned right down almost.. Screaming kids and crashing cymbals will see me hiding under the stairs...its all pretty annoying. Have to say tho the purple heavy duty plugs are the only things that work for me now and Ive tried those fitted ones too...but not good enough. I'm the same, I can always tell when the TV is even just a couple of points above "normal". "Loud" environments make me cringe and try to avoid them like the plague. I was once laughed at for taking earplugs to an acoustic gig (though there was a PA there). Resisted getting some ACS Custom plugs for years, but now I have, I'd be reluctant to go back (though I do have spare ER20s). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 It took one extremely loud gig with a punk band I was playing in for me to wise up that I needed to protect my ears. I bought some of these layered latex things (no idea of the manufacturer, but they're flexible/one size fits all, and are of a multi-cup design with an air channel)...the most important things for me were the cutting out of the overall volume hitting my eardrums and more importantly wiping out the high frequency stuff entirely (cymbals, snare, guitar solos), which is the stuff that does the damage. They cost me about £50. My wife was horrified at the cost, but despite my exposure to so much damaging levels of volume, my ears are in remarkably good shape, no discernable frequency loss (or if this is a measure of what's actually hitting my ears, I have zero requirement for ramping up the volume on hi-fi/TV for instance). Ultimately, any protection is better than nothing. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 (edited) It’s funny that although I’m forever asking people to repeat themselves but louder so I can hear them in general whenever I go anywhere where there’s a TV radio on its far too loud for me. Also inevitable is that although if I’m in a restaurant the people I’m speaking to mumble like secret agents in the Cold War passing state secrets I can understand everything people on tables 20 feet away are saying. Edited August 3 by Lozz196 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 1 hour ago, Lozz196 said: It’s funny that although I’m forever asking people to repeat themselves but louder so I can hear them in general whenever I go anywhere where there’s a TV radio on its far too loud for me. Also inevitable is that although if I’m in a restaurant the people I’m speaking to mumble like secret agents in the Cold War passing state secrets I can understand everything people on tables 20 feet away are saying. I think there's a point here. Yesterday we're in the back garden, music going and I hear someone knocking on the front door. My wife is, 'How did you hear that?' Maybe we're just receptive to noises that buck normality. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolo Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 3 hours ago, NancyJohnson said: more importantly wiping out the high frequency stuff entirely (cymbals, snare, guitar solos), which is the stuff that does the damage. I'm sorry but that's incorrect. High energy spikes cause damage, prolonged exposure to fatigue from sound pressure does at lease the same if not more. Kick drum is as bad as cymbals, the sub boom at gigs and festivals is an absolute hearing wrecker. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StingRayBoy42 Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 +1 for ACS - Best £150 I've ever spent. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 Interesting. Susceptibility to noise induced hearing loss depends on the stregnth of you auditory reflex [stiffeng up of the muscles inside the ear in redponse to loud noises] do vaties between individuals. Also exposure to 15 minutes of loud but not damaging sound has a protective effdct against potentially damaging sounds for up to 24 hours. So regardless of other precautions, having fairly loud music on in the car on the way to a gig may be a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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