NAMM 2018 Eargasm Ear Plugs Preview

Aloha!

This morning I spent some time with Ryan, the founder of Eargasm ear plugs, and he was able to fill me in on how these ear plugs are a step beyond the usual foam slugs that people cram in their ears . This product filters sound to provide up to 16dB of sound reduction, while still delivering a balanced and enjoyable listening experience. I cannot wait to try them out in the drum hall here at NAMM 2018!

Please see the attached video to hear more about the Eargasm products, and for more information, please go to eargasmearplugs.com for more info.

Mahalo!

NAMM 2017: Etymotic Music Pro 9-15 Earplugs Review

Aloha!

Smart people in the music business understand that their hearing is a blessing (and their livelihood), and that prolonged exposure to loud sounds will degrade or destroy this finite resource. But, many earplugs wreck the tonal qualities of music, leaving a dead mess that is pretty much unlistenable. So, some musicians and concertgoers eschew earplugs and kill their hearing, replacing it with tinnitus -- which is a really crummy trade-off. Trust me on this. There is a viable solution to this problem, and it is the Music Pro 9-15 Earplugs from Etymotic Research Inc.

Etymotic is located in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, which is near Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. They have been around since 1983, making earphones, earplugs, in-ear monitors, and hearing protection for musicians, firearms enthusiasts, and tradesmen; there is even a line of products designed for children. I met up with Etymotic’s National Sales Manager, Andrew, at NAMM 2017 and he patiently went through the features of the Music Pro 9-15 earplugs. I came away very impressed!

The Music Pro plugs are a huge step beyond whatever silicone or foam rubber things you are cramming into your ears right now. These are adaptive noise-reduction units that automatically adjust to changing sound levels. They have an amazingly natural sound, and only provide protection when needed. And they adapt to sounds incredibly quickly, so that a cymbal crash or pyrotechnic discharge will be muffled right away.

There are two levels of protection that are available at the flip of a switch: 9-dB or 15-dB. At lower sound pressure levels it almost seems like the plugs are not doing much, but as sound approaches unsafe levels, the earplugs will gradually provide 9- or 15-dB sound reduction. As an added bonus, on the 9-dB setting, there is actually a 6-dB gain for soft sounds, which might make eavesdropping on whispered office conversations a little easier. This boost begins to taper off above 70dB, which is where sound levels begin to be attenuated in either mode.

The Music Pro earplugs are lightweight and after selecting eartips that fit my gigantic ear canals, they fit very comfortably. The NAMM environment is fairly terrible from a sound standpoint, which made it an awesome environment to try them out. Indeed, they let in enough sound so that I did not feel like I was missing out on anything, while cutting out painful sounds from the nearby drums and cymbals. And, I was able to converse with Andrew without any difficulty. Etymotic passed the test!

In the Music Pro earplugs box, you will receive a pair of MP•9-15 earplugs, a selection of ACCU•Fit eartips, a flexible neck cord, a filter tool and ACCU•filters, a cleaning tool, batteries (#10), a user’s manual, and a case. Always use the case, as these things are kind of expensive and you do not want to lose or damage them.

Now, these earplugs are electronic, so they run on #10 hearing aid batteries, which you can find at pretty much any drugstore or supermarket. If you are ready to complain about the price of batteries, try buying these same batteries for your really expensive hearing aids for the rest of your life. This can be your future if you do not take care of you hearing…

Etymotic Music Pro 9-15 earplugs cost $299, so they are not cheap, but they are worth every penny as they are an amazing product that could allow you to enjoy your favorite live music at levels are more enjoyable and less destructive. How much is your hearing worth? For more details or to order a set of your own, head on over to www.etymotic.com

Mahalo!

DUBS Acoustic Filters Review

Hello!

After 30+ years of attending rock shows, I have given up on the macho idea of toughing out ultra-high volume concerts and having my ears ring for days afterwards, so I always use ear plugs. Unfortunately, while reducing the volume they also make the sound quality terrible, which kind of kills a lot of the joy of seeing a band live. So, I was excited when I got a piece of new technology from the folks at Doppler Labs at the 2015 NAMM show – the DUBS Acoustic Filters.

Doppler Labs is a fairly new company (established in 2013) from Southern California, and they introduced DUBS Acoustic Filters late last year. They have caught on, and are available from major retailers like Amazon, Guitar Center and Best Buy, as well as directly through the company at www.getdubs.com

For starters, DUBS do not look like the dorky foam plugs that stick out the sides of your heads like Frankenstein’s jump-starting bolts. They are small and black, with four different accent colors available. They look like modern technology, so you will not be embarrassed to wear them at a show. Also, since they do not stick out very far they will not catch on your motorcycle helmet. Bikes can be pretty loud, you know.

They fit well and seal the ear canal completely and are one-size-fits-all; they are advertised at fitting most adults over the age of 16. I have worn them for a few shows and plane flights and they are comfortable to wear for hours on end, with no undo pressure inside the ear. They do come with a kind of cheap hard plastic case, which does a god job of keeping them in one place and prevents them from getting filled with fuzz from your pocket.

They are made up of 17 different parts, with some amazing technology thrown into the mix – they are not the usual foam cylinders that probably cost less than a penny to make. DUBS are made of high strength plastics, stainless steel, polymer foams and silicones, and they certainly seem to be durable enough for the long run.

DUBS work differently than conventional ear plugs as they do not try to muffle all of the sounds that are arriving at your ears. Instead, their aim is to reduce specific frequencies through dynamic attenuation via a combination of high and low pass filters. The sound passes through chambers that are filled with open-cell foam, as well as different sized orifices to cut volume levels of selected frequencies while still trying to maintain the same balance as the source sound, at least as it is heard by the human ear.

The Doppler Labs audio engineers got things pretty close to right, particularly when you consider that a passive device is being used to cut 12dB out of ridiculously loud source sounds. They are fabulous for airplane travel, reducing the background roar to a manageable level while still allowing conversations to be heard. On a recent cross-country flight I found that I was able to better concentrate on a project I was working on, and I did not feel as fatigued as I normally would at the end of the trip.

At last weekends rock concert I attended, the volume levels were painful in the 1000-seat theatre, and the DUBS prevented hearing loss that would have surely occurred. They were mostly well balanced, with some loss of the upper mids and highs that made the vocals hard to pick out of the mix at times. I pulled them out for a bit and the vocals popped back to the front of the mix again. I do not know if I could get away with mixing a really loud live show with these things in, but they definitely made this concert a more enjoyable experience. I would use them again in a heartbeat.

DUBS Acoustic Filters are a really good product, and are a godsend if you are exposed to high-volume environments. They are not terribly cheap, coming in at $25 a pair, but how much is your hearing worth? You really should give them a try, and please let me know what you think!

Mahalo