Custom Earplugs w/ use under HD-25

[Chelan]

SlvrDragon50: I saw that page on the website, but have no idea how you got that number or how to read the charts. Any easy way of explaining that info? Does Attenuation Mean stand for about how many dB sound is reduced at that certain frequency? So it would be a varied reduction rate depending on the frequency? That's what seems confusing to me if that's the case.

[mostapha]

I'm going to preface this by saying that I'm not an audiologist. I'm just a guy who can read experimental reports and cares about his ears. But, I was on a first name basis with Audiologists and ENT specialists before, and my last ENT said I had the best ears of anyone my age he'd ever tested.

A few of the details in the image jump out at me as "wrong", and they keep getting worse the more I study it.

I think everything will sound a little off. It'll be harder to understand lyrics, and the 2 areas they point out (as "reduced occlusion" and "preserved high freq") are kind of wrong. The lower-freqeuncy section would make thigns sound overly bassy, and the preserved highs are high enough that they won't make a huge difference unless you've taken care of your ears up 'till now. That cloud in the infographic starts at D#7...4 octaves and a minor third up from middle C. So, you're talking about preserving details of percussive attacks and the overtones that makes one synth/instrument/voice sound different from another. That's important, but most people's hearing is damaged enought that they can't hear above about A8 (15k) by the time they're in their 20s anyway. So, it's only mildly preserving the highest octave or two that you can hear.

I have data that shows I'm in the minority of people my age who could even discriminate that in their tests (my hearing goes up to about 19k, which floored my audiologist).

The biggest difference between their earplugs and no earplugs is from like 1500 to 4000 Hz....so, a lot of the detail in voices, synths, and percussion. You'll hear the music, but the nuances will be removed.



The whole thing seems geared towards trying to convince people who know just a little about ears to draw the wrong conclusions.

SlvrDragon50: I saw that page on the website, but have no idea how you got that number or how to read the charts. Any easy way of explaining that info? Does Attenuation Mean stand for about how many dB sound is reduced at that certain frequency? So it would be a varied reduction rate depending on the frequency? That's what seems confusing to me if that's the case.

Yes, basically. But it's nowhere near 19dB overall noise reduction (measured by NRR or "Noise Reduction Rating").

On the page he linked, the paper (imbeded below) is scrollable, and shows the calculations. It also explains them if you feel like reading it, but the important part is on page 3 where is says "NRR = -5dB".

The reason it's that low is because the things basically don't filter out bass or mids....there's no significant deflection until around 600Hz, which is about the 2nd D above middle c (D4 on any MIDI keyboard or piano or whatever). The way you measure it is basically to measure the area between the blue curve and the white one on the image using some halfway-advanced math that most people have no reason to ever know.

Now....about that curve....

The most different those earplugs make is around 2.5k, which tends to be where the definition in voices is....also a lot of snare/hat/clap-y sounds. So, it'll probably hurt less and might feel less fatiguing. But, I'm not actually convnced they'll protect your ears at all in a loud club or near the stage at a festival.

For reference....I'm fairly picky about my ears, and I use -16dB NRR musicians plugs in clubs. At festivals when I'm close enough to the stage, I've traded them out for -33dB NRR foam earplugs before....and I actually use foam earplugs correctly...pulling my ear to open the canal and pre-rolling them so they expand and fill my ears...they go in far enough that you don't see them sticking out when you look at me head-on. So I actually get -33ish out of them, unlike the people who only kinda place them in their ears.

Based on that data, I wouldn't even try these in a club if they were free. It really looks like all they do is make things less annoying without actually protecting you and making it sound like crap. Looking at the manual and their data from that paper, it looks like they'd sound about like turning the hi-mid EQ on a xone:92 or xone:62 down to about 9 or 10 o'clock.

In other words...if you have Traktor, switch to the xone EQ model, then...literally....turn your monitors/headphones up to where the volume is just barely not uncomfortable and turn your hi-mid EQ down to -17 (if it shows values) or about 9:30. That's probably pretty close to what they sound like.

[SlvrDragon50]

Yup. I wouldn't use them. The NRR is too low for a club IMO.

It'd be okay for a festival maybe with the open space setup, but I've never been anywhere near close to the front at a festival.