Etymotic MusicPro - High-Fidelity Electronic Musician Earplugs with Active Hearing Protection - Includes Multiple Eartips for Universal Fit

I am an aging rocker that provides vocals and guitar for a rock band playing small gigs. I am often right next to the drummer and close to the speakers. My hearing has suffered marked noise damage in the mid range over the last 40 odd years of playing, resulting in bad tinnitus and pain when exposed to loud noises. I have tried many types of passive earplugs, but these all result in muffled sound, cutting out the midrange, and making it very hard to hear clearly what is going on - everything just gets drowned out by the bass that doesn't get well attenuated. I find it difficult to hear pitch under those conditions, and wander out of key, never a good thing for a singer! Moreover, I thought I was going to have to quit playing because of the continuous ringing in my ears... Then I discovered these. As other reviewers have remarked, they do seem to cut bass quite a bit more than mid range - whether that is a hearing perception or reality I don't know (the makers claim the response is flat). But for me that is extra bass reduction is perfect, possibly because it balances my own midrange hearing loss. Not only do these protectors drop the overall volume, they cut out the booming bass, and allow me to clearly hear my guitar and thus accurately hear pitch and sing in tune. Now, as a vocalist, these devices do take some getting used to. The effect of putting anything in your ears is to increase the coupling of your own voice into your ears (hence singers famously often stick their fingers in their ears to hear themselves more clearly). As everything else is reduced in volume, at first, you get the feeling you are singing far too loud. At lower volumes, in your head, you can even drown out the instruments you are hearing with your own voice, while in reality being too quiet. So when I first used these at practice, I almost gave up. I had problems gauging how loud I was singing relative to the instruments etc. But after a while, I found I 'recalibrated', and now I've got a good idea of how loud I am. At lower volumes, here the 9dB switch is useful, because it actually gives the sound a 6dB lift, and that compensates for the perceived increased volume of your own voice. As things get louder I switch to the -15dB setting. So it does take a few hours of practice and training and getting used to, before you feel comfortable, but the result is a whole lot better gigging experience, and much reduced ringing in my ears the days after. One thing to note about these is that, like any earplug, you have to have a good seal. I use the baffle type earpiece and wet the seal (lick your finger and rub on it!). Test the fit/seal first with no batteries. With no batteries, they act like passive earplugs (unlike noise reduction earbuds for instance, which go transparent when the batteries are dead), so you can test the seal and practice getting it right. When you have got the fit sorted, put the batteries in, and then you're good to go. Of course, at low volumes they don't attenuate, so its hard to know at first if the seal is right, but as soon as it gets loud, you will know if they are sealing. I use these for about 4-5 hours a week, and the batteries last about three weeks, opening the battery door when not in use. But the batteries are cheap (by a 60 pack) so frequent replacement is not a big deal.

The short version: Music Pro works great for reducing sound in noisy environments to safe hearing levels without sacrificing sound quality. They work best when used with Sensaphonics custom molded tips that are super comfortable and seal out ambient sound.I purchased the MusicPro for use around loud music in clubs. After six months of use, I would recommend them to anyone who wants to preserve their hearing or who has sensitive ears. They work as advertised reducing the sound level while not affecting the quality of the sound too much.The default 15db reduction works great for very loud venues like clubs, rock concerts or even people yelling across the table a noisy restaurant. The 9db option works a bit like a hearing-aid giving you a subtle 'sound boost' in quieter venues such as classical concerts or lectures. Its great for listening to a violin solo punctuated by too-loud drums and brass.Etymotic provides many ear tips to try but I found that the gliders were only somewhat comfortable while the other tips did not fit me well or provide adequate sound isolation. The provided tips are good enough to try out the Music Pro before investing in custom molded ear tips.I recently purchased custom molded tips from Sensaphonics ($150 for two) which greatly improved my overall satisfaction with the Music Pro. The custom molds fit me perfectly, are comfortable to insert and work well with the Music Pro. The custom molds block virtually all outside sounds so that you get the benefit of the full advertised sound reduction. Whereas with the included tips I would suffer some tinnitus after attending a loud event, the custom molded tips have yet to fail me. The custom mold slips off easily to allow access to the battery door.Sensaphonic recommends that you get your ears molded with one of their approved 'Golden Ear' audiologists for good reason. I ended up with about 8 silicone impressions of my ears after visiting two local audiologists (about $30/ear in my area). I would recommend that if using a local audiologist that they contact Sensaphonics for instructions prior to making the molds.Sensaphonics guarantees comfort and fit and they stand by their product. I needed two adjustments to get a perfect mold for my right ear. They are friendly and professional so they knew exactly how to adjust the molds without asking me re-visit the audiologist.I wholeheartedly recommend Etymotic Music Pro specially when used with custom molds from Sensaphonics.Batteries are cheap and last for days inserted into the Music Pro, and weeks when removed. The batteries are typical zinc air types and can be purchased at any pharmacy or club store that sells hearing aid batteries.

Maybe these work great for some people, but they did not work well for me. I play the tenor sax. They cut the volume of my instrument - but not the volume of other instruments around me. It was very distorted and confusing, so I pulled them out after the first number and went back to my regular ear plugs.Then I discovered that these are NOT RETURNABLE!!! If you have any doubts, do not order them!

I think these are well built, but very uncomfortable to wear (for me anyway, but I may have smaller than normal ear canals). The door for the battery is pretty small and fiddly as well. Another thing you should be aware of is that the batteries only last a week or two after they have been unsealed—whether you use the earplugs or not. You're looking at about a buck per battery.I wore these during a jam session. Aside from being so uncomfortable that I could only wear them for about 30 minutes, the sound was good. I returned these and purchased some Etymotic Research ER20 ETY-Plugs (guess I should have done that in the first place. They were much more comfortable and seemed to work just about as well. I will definitely buy more of those.