For those that use earplugs at shows

deadendp

I had the foam ones at the Cincy show. I ended up keeping one in and ditching one. After one Mayhem Fest, I bought decent earplugs. Didn't need them for Chris Cornell or Modest Mouse, but did need them for the opening band for MM. I like what I have and just keep them in my purse so I have them when I need them.

lolobugg

Earasers. Check them out. Great

what dreams

Suziemay said:

what dreams said:

I tried earplugs only once at the DC Tres Mts. Show a couple years ago. I was with a musician friend who insisted I wear them. Three songs in, I pulled them out. I just felt too much inside my own head in a room full of people, distracted by the muffled sounds. I guess I'll try again. Maybe.

You definitely should. Did you use the foam ones or something else? I tried foam ones and quickly ditched those too.

Yeah, they were the foam ones. I'll have to check out all the varieties before April. I just don't know anything about them.

Suziemay

what dreams said:

Suziemay said:

what dreams said:

I tried earplugs only once at the DC Tres Mts. Show a couple years ago. I was with a musician friend who insisted I wear them. Three songs in, I pulled them out. I just felt too much inside my own head in a room full of people, distracted by the muffled sounds. I guess I'll try again. Maybe.

You definitely should. Did you use the foam ones or something else? I tried foam ones and quickly ditched those too.

Yeah, they were the foam ones. I'll have to check out all the varieties before April. I just don't know anything about them.

I didn't either Then I saw some posts on here where people kept pointing to Etymotics and they were only $10 (at the time), so I tried those and have stuck to them ever since! Very pleased with them, and I use them at most shows.

These are the ones I use, I think they come in different sizes: http://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Research-ETY-Plugs-Protection-Earplugs/dp/B0044DEESS/ref=sr_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1457924072&sr=8-4&keywords=etymotics

Sprunkn7

I know these are for flying but they work the best for me. I have about 5 pair and use them all the time. Music sounds actually better, more clear. Plus they don't hurt my ears which was a huge problem with all the other ones.

http://www.pharmapacks.com/products.php?product=Flents-FLITEMATE-Pressure-Reducing-Ear-Plugs-1-Pair&gclid=CPyk3c-vw8sCFdcYgQodUjUIwg#.VuhbT53D-zc

pjalive21

according to Blabbermouth.com the band is giving away earplugs for free at shows, which the comment section went nuts on insulting the band

PJ_Soul

what dreams said:

I tried earplugs only once at the DC Tres Mts. Show a couple years ago. I was with a musician friend who insisted I wear them. Three songs in, I pulled them out. I just felt too much inside my own head in a room full of people, distracted by the muffled sounds. I guess I'll try again. Maybe.

I'm totally with you on that, and I have tried a few different kinds. I know the dangers, but I really really hate that auditory feeling of being separated from the crowd like that, and I hate that muffled sound thing too (not to mention that I can kind of hear or more feel my own insides, lol. Like my breathing, swallowing, etc. Earplugs make my whole body feel kind of muffled. Very unpleasant. I need to work harder on sucking it up and dealing with it though.

derbydave

As a person dealing with bad tinnitus...
I would beg you to do ANYTHING you can to protect your hearing!!
While earplugs may be uncomfortable and make it more difficult for you to enjoy yourself at a show, having a constant ringing in your ears is NOT fun at all!!
We didn't really even think about protecting our ears when I was growing up.
I'm so grateful that Pearl Jam is making these earplugs available to the fans attending their concerts...and I truly wish I had done more to protect my ears when I was younger!!

Suziemay

PJ_Soul said:

what dreams said:

I tried earplugs only once at the DC Tres Mts. Show a couple years ago. I was with a musician friend who insisted I wear them. Three songs in, I pulled them out. I just felt too much inside my own head in a room full of people, distracted by the muffled sounds. I guess I'll try again. Maybe.

I'm totally with you on that, and I have tried a few different kinds. I know the dangers, but I really really hate that auditory feeling of being separated from the crowd like that, and I hate that muffled sound thing too (not to mention that I can kind of hear or more feel my own insides, lol. Like my breathing, swallowing, etc. Earplugs make my whole body feel kind of muffled. Very unpleasant. I need to work harder on sucking it up and dealing with it though.

I don't feel like I'm sucking it up when I wear earplugs, I actually enjoy the shows more, especially the loud ones. I didn't have to wear them for most of the Chris Cornell solo shows, but wear them pretty much to every show I go to. There are earplugs out there that will work for you!

PJ_Soul

Suziemay said:

PJ_Soul said:

what dreams said:

I tried earplugs only once at the DC Tres Mts. Show a couple years ago. I was with a musician friend who insisted I wear them. Three songs in, I pulled them out. I just felt too much inside my own head in a room full of people, distracted by the muffled sounds. I guess I'll try again. Maybe.

I'm totally with you on that, and I have tried a few different kinds. I know the dangers, but I really really hate that auditory feeling of being separated from the crowd like that, and I hate that muffled sound thing too (not to mention that I can kind of hear or more feel my own insides, lol. Like my breathing, swallowing, etc. Earplugs make my whole body feel kind of muffled. Very unpleasant. I need to work harder on sucking it up and dealing with it though.

I don't feel like I'm sucking it up when I wear earplugs, I actually enjoy the shows more, especially the loud ones. I didn't have to wear them for most of the Chris Cornell solo shows, but wear them pretty much to every show I go to. There are earplugs out there that will work for you!

I really don't think it has anything to do with which earplugs I use. The basic issue is that I don't want anything plugging my ear or muffling/reducing sound. Pretty hard to get around those things when it comes to earplugs! But yeah, I need to try harder to deal with how much I hate having my ears plugged.

deadendp

derbydave said:

As a person dealing with bad tinnitus...
I would beg you to do ANYTHING you can to protect your hearing!!
While earplugs may be uncomfortable and make it more difficult for you to enjoy yourself at a show, having a constant ringing in your ears is NOT fun at all!!
We didn't really even think about protecting our ears when I was growing up.
I'm so grateful that Pearl Jam is making these earplugs available to the fans attending their concerts...and I truly wish I had done more to protect my ears when I was younger!!

Huh? I can't hear you beyond all this fricking ringing!

Starting my kiddo out with earplugs in the beginning. Making sure she doesn't end up like me.

Sprunkn7

Again, try the Flent flying ones. They are soft silicone and have a small hole to let some more sound in. They don't hurt, they don't make everything all muffled. They will help!

If you really want to save hearing for the future get music ear plugs made. Any audiologist can do it.

YoungJam35

Suziemay said:

what dreams said:

Suziemay said:

what dreams said:

I tried earplugs only once at the DC Tres Mts. Show a couple years ago. I was with a musician friend who insisted I wear them. Three songs in, I pulled them out. I just felt too much inside my own head in a room full of people, distracted by the muffled sounds. I guess I'll try again. Maybe.

You definitely should. Did you use the foam ones or something else? I tried foam ones and quickly ditched those too.

Yeah, they were the foam ones. I'll have to check out all the varieties before April. I just don't know anything about them.

I didn't either Then I saw some posts on here where people kept pointing to Etymotics and they were only $10 (at the time), so I tried those and have stuck to them ever since! Very pleased with them, and I use them at most shows.

These are the ones I use, I think they come in different sizes: http://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Research-ETY-Plugs-Protection-Earplugs/dp/B0044DEESS/ref=sr_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1457924072&sr=8-4&keywords=etymotics

Based on reading this thread I recently picked up a pair of these. Used them for RNDM and the Who in the past week and they worked great. I used to use the foam ones, and liked these quite a bit more. They fit well and didn't muffle the sound as much as the foam ones do.

More Cowbell

For those that have said they don't like the feeling, how they sound, etc., you will adapt. I use them at every show now and don't even notice them. I forgot to bring them to one show, and the loudness actually hurt my ears, I was so accustom to using ear plugs. I've used the Ety plugs for awhile and felt they did a great job on noise reduction, while maintaining sound clarity. The photo of the free plugs that PJ is handing out this tour look very similar to the Ety plugs. I recently switched to Ear Peace which are more comfortable with slightly better noise reduction, while still maintaining sound clarity. I may try the Earasers that others have mentioned on this upcoming tour. I also suffer from tinnitus that I don't want to get worse. Recently had a full scale hearing exam which surprisingly showed no hearing loss. So ear plugs are a no brainer, IMO.

lolobugg

More Cowbell said:

For those that have said they don't like the feeling, how they sound, etc., you will adapt. I use them at every show now and don't even notice them. I forgot to bring them to one show, and the loudness actually hurt my ears, I was so accustom to using ear plugs. I've used the Ety plugs for awhile and felt they did a great job on noise reduction, while maintaining sound clarity. The photo of the free plugs that PJ is handing out this tour look very similar to the Ety plugs. I recently switched to Ear Peace which are more comfortable with slightly better noise reduction, while still maintaining sound clarity. I may try the Earasers that others have mentioned on this upcoming tour. I also suffer from tinnitus that I don't want to get worse. Recently had a full scale hearing exam which surprisingly showed no hearing loss. So ear plugs are a no brainer, IMO.

Earasers are the way to go if you just want to lower volume without losing the clarity.
Tried them out at a club show last week and was very pleased.
a little more pricey than some others out there but most musicians who use them prefer them over everything but actually molds. you can pick them up at Guitar Center. and according to the posts on Amazon, the company has amazing customer service and money back guarantee. you can't beat that nowadays. I did A LOT of research into this over the last few months.