Ear Plug Superstore - Official Blog

Better Hearing: What Is Bone Conduction?

Did you know: not all sound you hear comes in through your ear canals! It's true - and one of the major factors in sound transmission for human hearing lies well below the surface. Like this customer who tried out Walker's Raptor, one key to effective hearing is actually bone conduction. Take a look:

Love it. I have only one ear that hears. The other ear has inner parts but that's all. This bone conducting hearing aid allows me to hear stereo for the first time. I can hear what direction sound comes for the first time ever and they work great with earplugs in my industrial work environment. I'll be buying another pair for backup.

How can bone conduction help you hear better? Simple: it can bypass many of the structures of the ear, channeling sound into and through your skull, and the inner-ear components therein.

Here's how it works.

To take it back to science class for a second - we know sound is energy that travels as a vibration. This vibration carries differently through different states of matter. Sound in the air is audible for a few feet, as the molecules of air are very spread out and moving chaotically; vibration doesn't transfer cleanly from one air molecule to the next, so a lot of the sound's energy is lost. Compare this to sound underwater: the water molecules are much closer together than air molecules, so the sound vibration transfers more easily from one molecule to the next. The result is that the sound vibrations are maintained so well in water, that whales can communicate and hear each other across miles of ocean distance. So we know that sound can travel through different states of matter - gasses like the air, and fluids like the ocean. Following this logic, solid objects also transfer sound more effectively than the air does -

And that's where your bones come in.

A good portion of the sound that reaches our inner ears and gets translated into signals our brain can understand actually comes through our bones. This is called bone transmission, and it can be an unexpectedly effective way to transfer sound. If you've ever tried to sleep with a neighbor listening to loud music, and you've found it impossible to escape the pounding bass no matter what you tried, you've experienced bone transmission. After passing through your neighbor's walls, that deep bass sound then transfers through the air, and then through your very bones - so it doesn't matter if you put your hands over your ears or wear fantastic ear plugs, you're still hearing the music. Through your bones. Via bone conduction. Which is a little creepy, and sometimes inconvenient - but we can also make bone conduction work for us.

Walker's Raptor is a bone conduction headset that can amplify ambient sound or let you listen to music. What does "bone conduction headset" mean? Well, first, the headset doesn't have normal earpieces. In fact, it doesn't go into your ear canals at all. Instead, the audio sits approximately over your temples. Instead of the sound entering through your ear canals, it travels through the bones of your skull, reaching your inner ear without going through your outer ear at all. It's a little like sending the sound straight to your brain. In fact, bone conduction bypasses your ear canal so completely that you can wear a bone conduction headset for music listening at the same time you wear ear plugs for hearing protection.

Obviously, bone conduction like the Raptor offers isn't going to be the solution for everyone with a partial hearing loss. But for some folks, like the customer who wrote in above, bone conduction is a way to listen to music and other audio in a way you simply cannot experience with any other type of headset. And if you're in that latter category, you should really consider giving it a try.

And for anyone who needs headphones but cannot tolerate having earpieces in their ears, bone conduction is a smart solution.

If you'd like to try bone conduction for yourself, you can check out the Raptor from Walker's Game Ear right here.

And until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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Challenger Custom Earphones for Motorcycle Riders: A Perfect Pair

Any motorcycle rider will tell you - it's not the engine noise that gets to you, it's the wind noise. Few solutions are better for blocking it out than custom-molded earpieces, and for many folks, the ability to listen to music is just as critical as fighting the unwanted noise. When you get it right? You stick with it - like this customer who's been using our Challenger Custom Earphones for over twenty years:

Challenger for Motorcycles

This is my 3rd pair within the last 20 years, which states my satisfaction with this product. For me, these are very comfortable. They stay sealed even when talking or eating. The audio, with single drivers, is quite good for me. I get wind noise over my bike fairing, my lawnmower is a loud diesel. I set my volume with a dead engine, and rarely need to make a volume increase. These have proven to be very durable, as to the wires being snagged or sharply pulled. I'm very content.

Pros: Quality product, w/ good service if needed.
Cons: I don't have any complaints.

People always tell us: when they find exactly the right earplug, earbud, or earphone to fit their unique ears, they keey coming back, year after year. And for a lot of folks, our Challenger Custom Molded Isolation Earphones fit the bill (and their ear canals) exactly.

Challenger Custom Earphones for Motorcycle Riders

Challenger Custom Molded Isolation Earphones are our own creation, in collaboration with professional custom earpiece molding labs, and one we're proud of. Over the years, we've learned a lot about what folks want in an in-ear headphone: a fully-custom fit for comfort and security, great-quality sound for high-fidelity listening, and durability to stand up to years of on-the-go wear and use. You can get most of these features from some of the highest-end products available, like Westone's famous pro custom earphones. People love them! But those get pricey fast.

For folks who just want good-quality music while riding their motorcycles, we wanted to create a solution that brought all the custom-fitted quality - but without the big brand price tag.

These are the result.

While Challenger Custom Earphones work great for a variety of uses and applications, they're an especially smart choice for motorcycle riders. For starters, the Challenger Model MH's low-profile design fits flawlessly under any helmet - unlike non-custom earbuds that can stick out and get snagged. The custom fit ensures the earpieces won't move or fall out, so you don't have to worry about your headphones on rough roads.

Challenger Earphones' sound quality is excellent: a combination of noise blocking (thanks to a full ear canal + a good acoustic seal) keeps unwanted background noise out, while the high-fidelity drivers deliver premium sound quality. The ~25dB of noise isolation on its own is enough to kill the wind while leaving alarms, sirens, and other critical sounds audible, so even when you're between albums or podcasts, you can enjoy more peace while you ride.

Challenger Motorcycle Earphones come in a huge variety of colors and styles

Of course, our Challenger motorcycle earphones are packed with additional features that are less specific to motorcycle riders, but still of interest here. The model option is an easy one: choose MH for "motorcycle helmet" and the low-profile fit we designed especially for motorcycle riders. For drivers, make your choice of single drivers (customer-reviewed as rich and robust) or upgrade to dual drivers for an audiophile experience. Add a braker vent if you'd like clearer hearing with adaptive defense against noise: as engine noise, wind noise, traffic noise, and other sounds around you increase, so does the amount of hearing protection you get. And an in-line mic turns a set of Challenger earphones into a fully-functional hands-free headset for call and talk.

Of course, you can also add colors, glow in the dark, glitter, or swirls to make your custom-fitted Challenger earphones truly customized to suit both your needs and your personal style.

If you start using Challengers for frequent motorcycle rides, you may eventually find that they get damaged; they're durable, but nothing lasts forever. The 6-month manufacturer's warranty has your back, and later on, we offer a unique Challenger Custom Earphones Repair Service, so you can fix the problem for a fraction of the cost of a new pair if they break years after the warranty has expired. And then those repairs are then backed with another 90-day warranty, for real peace of mind. These aren't another pair of cheap earbuds you'll throw away or wear out in a couple of months.

As this customer found - Challengers are in it for the long haul.

Check out Challenger Earphones for Motorcycle Riders here.

And until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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Westone Custom Series AC20 Earphone Review - A Drummer's Perspective

No matter how much we can tell you about Westone AC20 Earphones, actual customer reviews from professional musicians are always going to tell you more than we could. I'd like to share this recent Westone Custom Series AC20 In-Ear Monitor Earphones Review from a customer:

High Quality at an Affordable Price with Sufficient Bass for Performing

I've been using AC20s for 5 years now and they are still holding up well. I'm a drummer who occasionally sings. My preferred monitor mix for many years (before IEMs) was essentially a house mix with a little extra kick. I can get the same vibe using the AC20s in a smaller space, where I get a little reinforcement of low end off of my drums themselves. I usually ask for the kick through the drum wedge(s) to get the low sub-bass for a bigger show in a large space or outdoors. These wouldn't be my first choice for critical listening or bass heavy music, but I hear everyone one stage very clearly and I get enough low end to get the feel of a groove (and that's using a Beta 81A in my kick which focuses more on attack than sub-bass). If you want a quality set of earphones for live performances (even if you a re a drummer or bass player), this should be adequate if you keep your expectations realistic.

Pros:

• Have lasted 5 years and still going strong
• Build quality is great
• Sound clarity is very good
• Ample low end for performance

Cons:

• Sub-bass is lacking

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Based on input from customers, we can say that the AC20 is well-built and provides great value and solid performance at its price point - $379.99 at the time of this writing. There are a handful of cheaper models, but the AC20 is really an excellent workhorse monitor for a professional musician looking to step up to a "real," reliable in-ear monitor earphone.

You don't have to take it from us - according to our customers, the Westone AC20 should perform satisfactorily for most musicians. Its subpar sub-bass means potential buyers should temper their expectations; these won't please demanding audiophiles or musicians who need excellent bass, but most performers should find the AC20 to be a reliable choice for a pro-level in-ear monitor, at a very reasonable price.

For more demanding audiophiles looking for a top-tier product, better solutions are, of course, available. Some of the high-end Westone in-ear monitor earphones offer far more powerful bass - the Westone W60, for instance, features two dedicated bass drivers for a phenomenally-enhanced low-end. But with a current price of $999.99, incredibly faithful, powerful six-driver monitors like the W60 are only likely to be a reasonable choice for serious performers to whom heavy bass and stunning clarity is absolutely critical.

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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Custom Earphones for Small Ears?

Q.I'm looking into getting some custom molds for my ears, but there are a lot to choose from, so I just need some suggestions. My ears are small and different so it's very hard to find earphones for me. The only ones that have worked are the flat head type earphones, but no one really carries them, even in wireless. I currently am using airpods, but I have to use a silicone grip and switch the left airpod to the right ear and the other way around. They don't stay in my ear much, especially when I start moving around. So I'm thinking it could help to get different type of wireless earphones that will fit and also be comfortable. Thank you.

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A.First off, you're on the right track: custom molded earphones are going to be the right solution for you. Let's look at the options.

Before you pop for the expensive custom molds for your earphones, you might want to try our EZ Form mold kit, which might solve your issues for a fraction of the price. This kit lets you convert your existing earphones into custom earpieces, in the comfort of your own home. If you've never tried custom ear molds before, and price is a factor for you (isn't it for all of us, especially right now?), this would be the place to start.

The next step up would be Decibullz DIY Custom Moldable True Wireless Bluetooth Earphones. These are still do-it-yourself, not professionally custom molded, but everything you need comes in one product, including the wireless earphones themselves. These DIY earphone kits let you make your own custom molds with a unique thermoset material that you heat up with warm water. The process is quick and clean, and you can try molding and re-molding each custom earpiece until it fits your ears very comfortably; this is all easily doable yourself, at home. These earphones are wireless and use Bluetooth 5.0 for audio streaming; as far as custom earphones go, they're also pretty affordable.

Both of these DIY options are solid, and may give you what you need.

That said, a professional custom earphone product will offer you a lot of advantages - especially when it comes to moving around. There is no better fit than a professional custom-molded fit, and custom earphones made in a pro lab are sure to stay in while you walk, run, and move. They're also extremely comfortable, durable, and offer a perfect fit even for folks with smaller ears, or with ears that have differently-shaped ear canals. (It's actually not at all uncommon for a person's ear canals to be different sizes and shapes!) Custom earphones are ideal for this, and they will fit better and last longer - and usually sound better - than universal fit earphones with custom molds. But they are also more expensive.

My best suggestion here is our Challenger custom earphones, which are now available in a wireless version that should be exactly what you need. Challengers are popular, and we have sold a ton of these over the years to satisfied customers. They sound good, fit well, and won’t break the bank. As far as full-custom wireless earphones go, these are solid, reliable, and as affordable as professional custom earphones can get.

But if you want professional level sound quality, you won’t go wrong with InEarz or Westone custom earphones. Absolutely all of these will do what you need them to in terms of fit and comfort; note that most are wired models, however, to prioritize audio quality over convenience. There are quite a few of these high-quality custom earphones to pick from, and what you'll want to go with depends on how important audio quality is to you personally, and what your budget is. To help you choose, start by understanding that the biggest factor with most of these pro custom earphones is the number of drivers - the tiny speakers inside each earphone that produce sound. More drivers means better sound, as a general rule. Most noticeably, having more drivers gives you stronger bass - but I can tell you that generally speaking, beyond 4 drivers, the difference is not meaningful to most people. At 4 drivers, the sound is superb: two are dedicated to bass, one to mids, and one to highs, for extraordinary music reproduction. While some high-end audiophile earphones offer more drivers, unless you are sourcing some unusually high qualify music, your sound will be limited by the quality of the audio signal and the source media, so you will not be able to tell the difference in sound with more than 4 drivers. (This information will actually help you choose from any of our Professional Custom-Molded Earphones, not just Westone or InEarz!)

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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Perfect-Fit Custom Molds for Isolation Earphones - Review

I'd like to share this recent Perfect-Fit Custom Molds for Isolation Earphones Review from a customer:

Hi – just wanted to give you guys the highest possible rating. The plugs fit perfectly into my ears and the fit of the plugs to my BeatsX bluetooth earbuds is also perfect. For those reading this who are potential purchasers, I bought the "Perfect-Fit CEPM Model Custom Ear Molds for In-Ear Monitors and Isolation Earphones (One Pair)." (The product ID is: lplcustmoldspr00-999)

The only question I had in choosing from the various options was whether to choose full coverage plugs vs the "Canal Only" plugs. I chose the full coverage because that is what I've always used. The Company says that Canal Only plugs achieve the same sound isolation and I have no reason to question that. But, the full coverage does provide wind protection for at least some of the outer ear. And, the molds are fitted to the BeatsX housing such that most of the housing is covered; this reduces the amount such that the plugs don't stick out from the ear much further than when just using the earbuds. In fact, I never noticed any difference until (for this review) I looked in a mirror after having put a plug in one ear and an earbud in the other. It looks to me that the plug sticks out somewhere between 1/16" and 1/8". You’d never notice it unless you were trying to make a measurement.

I use them on my motorcycle and, since I'm retired, I ride a lot. And, I never wear a helmet. (yes, I know-STUPID) But anyway, the road noise inside a helmet is much less than the no-helmet noise. This is an even stronger testament to the EarPlugStore product. Most of my no-helmet road noise is drastically reduced but I can still hear everything I need to hear. The noise from cars passing or car horns is literally about the same as what you would hear in a good car.

Finally, some advice: You need really good ear impressions to get really good ear plugs. The Ear Plug Store offers a DIY kit or you can get the impressions from your local professional audiologist.

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This reviewer is absolutely correct: getting good ear impressions really is critical to getting well-fitted custom ear plugs. This customer had a good experience getting impressions done with a local audiologist - but where and how doesn't matter nearly so much as getting really well-made, accurate ear impressions. Once you have a good set of impressions made, getting a set of custom-molded earpieces for your existing earphones is a snap.

It takes a little effort to get professional custom earmolds made. But when you wear your in-ear earphones as part of your favorite hobby or activity, like this reviewer does, the comfort and quality that comes from having a true custom fit will be well worth the investment.

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing (and please wear your helmet, too!)

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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Hearos F4 Series Ear Plug Review - A Life-Hack from a Customer

A customer recently sent in this helpful part-review part-lifehack for the Hearos F4 Series 7421 Ear Plug, and it's well worth a read:

 

Excellent Product! I use them as earphone tips, not as plugs - see below.

As another reviewer mentioned, they are partly hollow down the middle of the shaft. I removed the white plug from the outer end, unfolded a paper clip and shoved the inch or so long wire in to test how deep the hollow center is - and it goes to within about 1/16 inch from the inner most domed small end. I then removed the paper clip.

I wanted some 3 flange tips for my Etymotic and Westone earphones, so, I cut off the end smallest blue dome (this reveals the center shaft hole), and then cut away one section of the outer shaft, leaving enough shaft to grab them. They fit very tight on both earphones. I did not cut the 1/8 inch section off the outer shaft for the Etymotics because I needed more to grab onto to get them out.

The center shaft hole is small but it does not affect the sound quality - perhaps a tiny bit of attenuation only. The 2 middle shaft rings and big outer dome "ring" make a soft, comfortable 3-ring seal. The outer dome is big and squeezes and seals the entrance to my tall oval ear canals, and the inner 2 rings are much smaller to seal my rapidly smaller inner canal area. They are short, so, they don't push on the sensitive bend-2 area. (The photos make the product look way too long. The parts that count are not too long as above).

Hearos F4 Series reusable ear plugs - not yet altered

It's incredible how customers have found so many ways to use ear plugs over the years. Making your own better, more comfortable ear tips for various earphones isn't a new one, but this is the first time I've heard of someone using Hearos F4 reusable earplugs to do it. Note that, just as the reviewer points out, you will not get much (if any) practical noise-blocking when you re-purpose an ear plug like this. In fact, anything that alters an ear plug in any way - such as cutting it down to a shorter length - can seriously reduce the noise reduction that plug can provide. Still, using ear plugs to create earpieces for headphones and other devices is one of our favorite hacks... just remember that the benefit here is the comfort and fit, not the hearing protection.

You can get Hearos F4 Series Ear Plugs right here, if you're interested.

Also, if you're not in a DIY mood, it's worth noting that we do have a pretty robust selection of premade replacement tips for both Westone and Etymotic earphones, if you'd just like to buy triple-flange tips (for pretty close to the same price).

And until next time, be safe and do the right thing.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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What are the Best Ear Plugs for Working Out at the Gym?

Going to the gym can be hard. Even when you arrive feeling focused, chattering strangers and unpleasant background music can quickly strain your patience. Fortunately, ear plugs are a great way to find a little peace while you work out.

So first thing's first: active or passive? By that I mean, do you want to listen to your own music/podcast/book (active protection), or do you just want to escape from the ambient noise (passive protection)?

First, the active solution: listening to your own sound, while blocking out ambient noise. In a way, gaining the ability to listen to your own sound source is easier than trying not to hear anything at all, because once you put your Isolation Earphones in, the combination of ear plug tips and your own music will easily mask the ambient noise. For those who have never used them, Isolation Earphones inject music directly into your ears using tiny little speakers (called drivers), while the ear plug style earpieces fill the ears, blocking out external sound.

Our top Isolation Earphone picks for exercising would be PlugFones or ISOtunes, both of which offer wired and Bluetooth versions to choose from. All of these earphones will transform your experience at the gym, and the prices are not bad, ranging from around $30 up to $90, depending on the model you choose. These two brands offer particularly powerful noise isolation/sound blocking. Their sound quality is pretty good, but if you are looking for high fidelity audio, you're going to have to pay quite a bit more: consider other Universal Fit Isolation Earphones.

But what if you just want silence?

You're not alone. A lot of people just want it to be quiet. One customer described her ideal goal as "artificial deafness." Unfortunately, that is nearly impossible to achieve, even with the very best ear plugs. The more sound you block, the more acute your hearing becomes, so about the best you can hope for is to reduce the sounds you hear to a whisper. Now, for most people that is sufficient - even desirable, in fact - because if an alarm goes off, you still want to hear that!

But maybe you are not most people. Maybe you really don't want to listen to anything, and yet still want to completely get rid of the gym's annoying music. Good news: you can easily achieve this by using isolation earphones and playing a masking sound such as white noise through your earphones. The masking sound will drown out the irritating music and chatter. After just a few minutes, your mind will actually begin to ignore the white noise, leaving you in blissful peace and quiet.

But what about regular ear plugs...?

So now we get to the passive solution: plain old ear plugs. No batteries, no frills, just noise blocking. Well, to be clear, you'll still have the closest thing to "silence" using isolation earphones to listen to white noise. But while ear plugs might not give you perfect quiet, they can certainly reduce the ambient noise - and they also cost much less than isolation earphones!

Our top suggestion would be to try a reusable earplug.

The most economical choices are going to be found in our industrial reusable earplugs category, since these are made to be used by large numbers of workers in big facilities. They last for months and cost less than a dollar per pair. You usually can't get these in quantities smaller than a box of 100 pairs, but Ear Plug Superstore is delighted to break bulk for you - so you can grab just a pair or two to try out. We even offer a handy Reusable Industrial Ear Plug Trial Pack that will let you try out a bunch of different products to find your favorites.

Many consumer brands of reusable ear plugs are also available, but they tend to be far more expensive than the industrial variety. Of these, it is worth noting that Musician's Ear Plugs may be a good solution for some people; these ear plugs do not block noise so much as simply turn down the volume. If you just want to take the edge off of the ambient sound, these are a good option to consider.

Finally, what I would not recommend are Foam Ear Plugs. They block out more noise than the industrial plugs, but they are prone to getting soaked with sweat during workouts. You can only use them once or twice, quickly making them more expensive than the reusables (which are impervious to water.) In fact, reusable ear plugs may be washed and safely reused for months, making your workouts more peaceful for a long time to come.

Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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ISOtunes Pro - Wireless Earphones Review 2018

Not all wireless noise-isolating earphones are created equal, and the Wood Whisperer's review from earlier this year does an excellent job of exploring how the ISOtunes Pro stacks up against three other big competitors. Four popular bluetooth earbuds - ISOtunes Pro, Shure SE215, Soundpeats Q30, and Jaybird X3 - were graded on fit and comfort, noise reduction, sound quality, and other miscellaneous factors.

The Wood Whisperer immediately points out that, for any earphones, it's always important to roll down your foam ear tips before you insert them. This is the same thing you would do with foam ear plugs. The Whisperer's demo of how to compress the ear tips and hold them in place in the ear canal while they expand is very helpful. Foam tips almost always provide the most protection from outside noise, but they only work right if they're inserted correctly. This is true of all in-ear earphones and earbuds. Kudos for teaching people this, Whisperer!

Now to the ratings. In terms of fit and comfort, the ISOtunes Pro had a fair performance; the foam tips fit well, but the bendable wires that help keep the earphones in place perplexed the reviewer a bit. In the audio quality category, the reviewer was looking for good sound quality with a present but balanced bass; here, ISOtunes Pro took an unimpressive 3rd place. Still, in a competition against audio industry giants like Shure, that isn't half bad.

When it came to blocking ambient sound, the reviewer gave ISOtunes Pro a 3rd-place spot again. However, the Wood Whisperer also purchased some additional third-party Comply foam eartips (which are outstanding, by the way) to improve the fit and sound isolation of some of the other earphones before assigning the ratings. If we're going to be sticklers here, the ISOtunes Pro deserves credit for already coming with high-quality foam ear tips right out of the box.

But regardless, ISOtunes Pro is the only OSHA-compliant earphone in the lineup.

This is important: just because earphones are described as "sound isolating," that doesn't mean they can actually protect your hearing. Only earphones/ear tips with an official NRR (Noise Reduction Rating) can be safely relied on to protect your ears from dangerously loud noise. (With European products, also look for an SNR.) This explains why the other noise-isolating earphones on the list aren't approved for OSHA work environments. So for workers in high-noise environments, ISOtunes Pro is the clear winner.

Watch the wireless earphone review and decide for yourself!

Note: We are not affiliated with the Wood Whisperer, we just really liked this helpful review and wanted to share it with you.

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.
Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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Challenger Custom Molded Earphones - Letters from You

I bought a pair of challenger custom molded plugs somewhere in the early 2000's around 04 or 05 and all I can say is thanks! Thank you for making such a high quality product they have been with me for thousands of miles hundreds of road trips and many many airline trips.
They still look and sound like the day I opened the package!

Martin R.
Argyle Texas

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Thanks for writing, Martin! What a great picture. This makes us wish we could hit the open road ourselves.

One of the best things about Challenger full-custom earphones is that they fit so comfortably underneath a helmet. It looks like you're all set.

Stay awesome, Martin.

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.
Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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Letters From You: Bass & Drums are KILLING ME

Hello,

I'm a guitar player in the Praise & Worship band at my church and we use the AVIOM monitor system. I’m currently using a set of Shure SL2 earbuds with Comply foam pieces on the buds, but the bass & drums are STILL KILLING ME. What do you recommend for me to use so I can cut out majority of the bass and drums and can adjust them in my earbuds so that the level is not causing my freaking ears to ring & ache every time I play? Help!

Thanks,
Darrell

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Darrell,

Well, first, have you turned the bass line all the way off in your feed? If not, start there... my guess is you did this of course, but had to ask.

To get better isolation than you have with the SL2 + comply foam tips, moving to a set of Challengers would be your best bet. I suggest these, rather than a more expensive set of IEMs because the IEMs are made of acrylic, which is not especially good at noise blocking, while the Challengers are made of silicone, which is much better. Since these will not have the solid plastic stem (which I think is mainly responsible for funneling the ambient drums and bass into your canals) you should experience a reduction in unwanted ambient noise of as much as 50% related to what you now suffer.

I would also add that hearing damage is a cumulative phenomenon. You can stand the loud for a short time, but the longer you are exposed during any 24 hour period, the worse will be the effects. If you are practicing with the same setup, you might want to try wearing a set of ear muffs over your monitors during practice to reduce the cumulative dose of noise you are getting. Maybe you could even wear them during services, but that could be a little dicey, I understand…might not look right to the powers or the people. I would suggest a nice subtle black set of low profile muffs like these or these.

By the way, your congregation may be suffering right along with you, so maybe you could convince the powers that be to turn it down a little? Or failing that, provide ear plugs to the members who choose to use them. We have some nice neutral beige ear plugs they are sure to like. They are just $.12 a pair.

Thanks for writing, Darrell!

Until next time, be safe and do the right thing.
Tom Bergman, Vice President
Ear Plug Superstore

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