Hearing Protection

[Artie_Fufkin]

I thought this might fit under Production, Hardware & Technical. Cuz u need good ears to produce, right?

Anyways, I went to a show the other night and used a pair of Winchester Red-E-Fit Foam Earplugs that I got from walmart a while ago. On the back it shows "Attenuation Data" and it shows from 125-8000 Hz different amounts of attenuation. I was wondering if they help with the sub bass? Or could they cause my ear canal to have a resonant frequency so it would boost anything in that lower range? It seems like when I use shooting headphones when I play drums that it can make my bass drum sound heavier. Could those have a resonant frequency that is boosting the perceived volume of my kick drum? And are there are solutions for reducing just the sub frequencies? I'm finding that I personally don't like the levels and find it harder to focus on the other(less samey) parts of the music. Sine waves are cool, but there's only so much you can do with them.

[lowpass]

I would say that because it is filtering everything but the lowest of bass sounds, it can make these seem more prominent.

There are solutions that go down a fair way but theres only so much you can do with blocking out bass, even the pricier options will only go down to 100hz or so.

[nitz]

Get better plugs... I have got a pair of ER15's, best investment ever, never looked back.

[Manic Harmonic]

At my orientation for school, the creator of etymotic came and spoke and gave everyone free hearing tests. I have a problem with my sinuses that makes me have to pop my ears all the time and she offered to help me for free! They mold the earplugs to your ears for flat frequency response... they were 160 bucks though. I'm sure they are worth the money.

[Ldizzy]

i have severe tinnitus...

when i first noticed it idecided id buy some protection

they do earplugs that follow a calculated curve and attenuate evenly spectrumwise, u might want to see an ear doctor for that

it works.

[safeandsound]

Excellent post and observation I have also noticed the same phenomena and I also attributed this
to a resonant cavity. It tends to happen with plugs and also in some closed back headphones.

When I have used plugs I often did not fully insert them which seemed to stop the bass issue somewhat yet still
provide decent mid and tops attenuation.

The problem with the real LF is it is vibrating your ear without the need of entering your ear canal, there is
sufficient energy to vibrate your entire head directly in some high SPL environments. I have in fact started to completely
avoid putting my self in high SPL fields altogether. My career is paramount and I a hear pretty damn good and I am not messing that up
for anything. I always keep well back from the stage at festivals.

Everyone should look after their hearing with gusto, nothing is more important when it comes to
listening, nothing.

This is unscientific but I have heard that, Vit E, Vit C, Gingko Biloba and the antioxidants in red wine are all
good for preservation of hearing faculty. Look into it yourself and see what you make of it.

[Ldizzy]

i wish they had a cure for tinitus

[jrisreal]

i have severe tinnitus...

I just looked that up and man that really sucks, I feel bad. So what does it do to your hearing, like makes it difficult to hear certain frequencies?

[Ldizzy]

fatigue mostly...

hard for me to distinguish sounds from one another too...

i swear i had one of the most awesome ear back then.. i can tune a guitar without a tuner still but its harder... i have to concentrate.

i had to find ways to compensate, so i did the golden ear program, that way my brain is better... but id give a limb for my hearing back... literally...

i just hear a constant bleep, the same one u hear when ur outside of the club. always. so yes it must shade certain frequencies...

[Ldizzy]

+ i can feel im getting more and more deaf each year.

[Ldizzy]

Reso has tinnitus as well from what i recall.

EDIT : and phil collins haha

[jrisreal]

Both ears or one? And prayers buddy, your in them.

[Ldizzy]

wow thx. both ears but not the exact same noise.

turn down the volume when u listen to music is all i can say to the young generation. i just turned 24 and my ears are like 40

[jrisreal]

Well if its any help I have the ears of a 25-year-old at age 15.

[Electric_Head]

I`m 32, I`ve had tinnitus for 7 years now.
I also have pressure issues because of sinus.
I still DJ but no where near to as much as before.
It just got too load.
Plus when you have to turn up your phones to hear over the system, it`s not a good thing.
Waaaay too loud.
Now I produce in shorter stints at lower volume.
Higher frequencies are more of an issue for me during build-ups n what not.
Everything just starts to sound like noisy snow, after the issue I have to equalize my ears.
Once I equalize, I get a weird snow like popping and then it releases.

It all sucks in short.

[Artie_Fufkin]

The problem with the real LF is it is vibrating your ear without the need of entering your ear canal, there is
sufficient energy to vibrate your entire head directly in some high SPL environments. I have in fact started to completely
avoid putting my self in high SPL fields altogether. My career is paramount and I a hear pretty damn good and I am not messing that up
for anything. I always keep well back from the stage at festivals.

I figured as much. The past two shows I've been to it's been way too low heavy for my tastes. I saw 311/Sublime with Rome and you could feel the bass from far away in the parking lot! I kept moving around on the lawn trying to find the best spot(farthest away ) for the sound. About halfway down the lawn towards the stage the guitar and vocals got scratchy sounding too. For both bands the bass guitar was too overpowering in the low end.
And I saw Skrillex (remembered the ear plugs) and it wasn't nearly as bad but it just seems like the sub always overpowers the mix. It's hard for me to enjoy the midrange cack if I can't hear the midrange

Edit: I think I have a tiny bit of tinnitus as well. I only notice it if it's really quiet and I'm trying to hear the tiniest bit of sound or if I have the shooting range headphones on(I've started to wear them when vacuuming ). I want to get a meter to take with me everywhere to see what exactly is 85dB (the threshold of hearing damage).

[Ldizzy]

^how it starts really.

[Mysius]

http://www.microtransponder.com/

This is the closest thay have got for a cure for tinnitus though they are still at the testing stage. Had it for a few years now. The thing with tinnitus is that its not just affected by listening volumes etc mine is quite loud when I'm tired, stressed but when I was on holiday in Egypt a couple of weeks ago, sunbathing and relaxing i could hardly here anything at all, even at night. It is kind of scary at first but you get used to it. Just use plugs where possible.

[Ldizzy]

http://www.microtransponder.com/

This is the closest thay have got for a cure for tinnitus though they are still at the testing stage. Had it for a few years now. The thing with tinnitus is that its not just affected by listening volumes etc mine is quite loud when I'm tired, stressed but when I was on holiday in Egypt a couple of weeks ago, sunbathing and relaxing i could hardly here anything at all, even at night. It is kind of scary at first but you get used to it. Just use plugs where possible.

please tell me more about it. any downsides. whats the coverage if it ruins ur hearing !??!!?! how did u get it!?

im serious.

[Mysius]

Think you misread. I meant I have had tinnitus for a few years. That cure is still in the testing stage, I think they are still trying to fund it. It acts like a sort of shock so it reprograms what the brain is hearing. We get the ringing as the little hairs inside our ears have been damaged (you probs know this) so the brain transmits it as a sound. This supposedly resets that and stops the ringing. I would be all over it as well if it becomes available. No idea on the specific details as yet though.