Etymotic Research ER20 High-Fidelity Earplugs (Concerts, Musicians, Airplanes, Motorcycles, Sensitivity and Universal Hearing Protection) - Large, Clear Stem w/ White Tip

Introduction: When I first entered college, I discovered that the dorm is often a loud place. There are students talking in the hallways, doors shutting everywhere, and often bass from a distant party. For the first few weeks, I wasn't getting very much studying done and sleep since I was used to quietness. I decided to order these ear plugs. Included with the package: The plugs came with a small carrying case and a string with little plugs on each end for securing the plugs around the neck. What the earplugs do and when they are useful (in my experience): These plugs work great. They block out most of the noise but still allow you to hear what is going on since they seem to just lower the sound level. By that I mean that distinct words from the conversation outside became lowered so it felt like I was in a relatively quiet coffee shop and conversations were not distracting me as I was sleeping or studying. Music and other sounds became lowered so I could barely hear them. If I could hear them, the sounds had to be pretty loud (which they are sometimes in college.) That being said, I could still hear sounds from any alarms or anyone calling for me. The bottom line is that these ear plugs work great if you want to hear what is going on, but at the same time just want to hear less of it. These plugs are best for studying or when you need to perform a task but still be aware. They work decently for sleeping. The biggest drawback is that the transparent cylinder part sticks out of the ear so you can't sleep on your side. You can also still hear what is going on so if you need perfect quietness, these plugs are not be enough. These plugs work well with any activity near loud objects (machinery, instruments, etc.) If someone calls for you, you can clearly hear them through all the noise! These plugs do not work for things as loud as firearms so do not attempt to use these as my ears were ringing after firing a 9mm. (The best way to see if these plugs work for what you're doing is to get a pair and try them out.) Maintenance and how to use them: The life of these ear plugs is exactly one year. The flanges started to tear on mine after one year of use. To clean them, you just have to use warm water and soap and then leave it out to dry. To insert them, you have to pull back the earlobe toward the back of the head and then insert the plug until the last flange seals the ear canal. Overall, the use is pretty simple. Conclusion: If you just want to lower the volume in your life for a while, just get these. Make sure you find the right size for your ear! I'm a male college student that's toward the big side and the white, large ones fit well. If you want perfect quietness or protection from extremely loud environments, get something more effective.

Initial impression is good. I have only worn them for about 2 hours in an office. My first day with them happens to be the Monday after a burst pipe over the weekend flooded part of the office, leading to there being several high output(noise) blowers running all day. These plugs mask sound exactly as expected. Not -flat- attenuation. Clearly more sound suppression at higher frequencies, but not enough that I cannot hear speech clearly. I can also still hear the clickity clack of my keyboard. Sound levels while wearing are reduced but not muffled, as described. Cant wait to try them at a show/concert. The reason I got them was a due to a bit of a tinnitus scare. I was at a local club... 3rd of 4rth band went on with an absurd number of amps and extra speaker stacks. Loudest music I have ever heard. I had a very light ring in my ears for a week :o Its fading now, and just about gone. Hearing seems to be back to normal. (And back to very very low levels of background tinnitus). I dont go to shows often. I was not prepared, did not have plugs with me. Again, never experienced anything as loud as this. I also find myself working in large data centers. According to me phone sound-meter app, the noise in one of our current data-centers is 100-105 db steady depending on where you are standing. I will update my review if they do not impress me next time I am in the data-center. Foam plugs work fine, but need to be pulled out anytime you want to talk to someone, unless they are really shouting. Edit: 2014-03-30 They work very well. Got to use these in our loudish datacenter for a few hours straight. Worked perfect. Could hear details of peoples voices, could hear everything very clearly, just significantly quieter. My ears are not calibrated to attest to wether it was 10 or 20 or whatever db of attenuation. It was quiet enough that when I took them off my ears had adjusted to the quiet that my hearing felt super-sensitive/clearer than usual for the next 20 minutes. It was the same effect that I had when I went to the doctors with a bad cold and they told me I had wax buildup in my ears. They flushed my ears out. Felt like I had super-human hearing for about a month. lol.

These earplugs provide good protection and do work as described. Music still sounds quite natural. It is not muffled like when using foam plugs. I wear them to concerts and am able to hear the bands clearly. I also use them when performing music with a drummer. I find it easier to hear what's going on around me when wearing these, as they bring drums and amplified instruments down to a safer level. I was unsure if these would fit me. I believe that I have smaller ear canals. These fit me well and have a great seal. The manufacture states that this size (large) should fit most. Pros: -Reasonably priced -Reusable: These can be cleaned, but be careful not to get them wet. I use a damp paper towel to clean the flanged eartips. -Helps protect your hearing and maintain fairly natural sound in live music situations -Comes with a nice carry/storage case. Time will tell durable the case is. Cons: -The clear tip sticks out pretty far when I'm wearing these. Even though they are clear, people will notice you are wearing them. -They may be difficult to insert and remove if you aren't used to wearing earplugs properly. They need to be inserted fairly deep in the ear canal to provide good protection. My pair included instructions explaining this.

These little friends here do what they are supposed to do. They filter noisy levels of sound, and the quality of sound isn't reduced. You can hear what other people say in loud environments. I find these plugs usable in clubs, venues, concerts, or noisy places that can cause ear damage from the high levels of sound that can reach you. Just beware about colors and sizes. I dont know this well, and i would like it to be specified in the product information, but i think that colors are related to the size of the plugs. I bought these white pair of plugs and i think that they are large size, still they fit me well. To put them well just make sure to follow the instructions that come with them, believe me that they will make easier to put them, and they will fit better and filter better. They dont slip nor fall off your ears, so you can be sure that you can talk, walk, run, jump, dance, bla bla bla. You sure will hear your voice funny, just like when you put your fingers inside your ears. Now, for Djs i found these to be great. as it will help you take care of you ears. With huge headphones and with moderate care, you can put your headphones, while wearing the plugs. That I found great because they will protect your ears really well, and you can still hear the music with great quality. Even if these cant be used with your headphones, try then the surefire, because they don't have the little stick outside your ear, and can be used with headphones. I compared them with another plugs, and so far these can filter great the noise and still get nice quality of music and voice from other people. Will buy another pair in a different color :D

so i've become really whinny about my hearing in the last few years, and as much as i feel like no smoking in a public building is a great thing to impose on people i feel like music that permanently damages your hearing should possibly be outlawed as well. now that's kind of extreme. i love loud music, but lately i feel like clubs are just pushing the limits on how loud it should really be. when it literally hurts my ears and my friends are actually yelling 1 inch away from my ears and i can still barely hear them.. i think they could turn it down just a little? but! there is hope.. i started wearing earplugs at loud places several years ago, but hate that it muffles the sound so much.. sure you can still hear it well enough and it sounds ok .. still i have craved more expensive earplugs that would filter out harmful stuff and just turn the noise down! and these really do that pretty well! when i first tried them i wasn't sure if i had them in right because i could still hear the music clearly. but then taking them out you can tell.. and i love it! i've never tried really expensive earplugs so i'm sure there's something better out there... but these are awesome for the $$ ! USE THEM!! you will never look back at those annoying orange plugs again!!! peace out ugly muffle plugs! i love the little case they come with too! SAVE YOUR HEARING!!! YOU WILL BE GLAD LATER!! USE EARPLUGS!! it's the cool thing to do! i feel smarter than everyone not wearing them because i care about the future of my ears and hope to hear good loud music for many more years! think about it!

I am a professional musician (percussion/drums) who regularly plays a wide range of gigs from Symphony orchestras to music theatre, and from jazz to rock shows. I ordered the larger size earplugs and they fit quite well, needing only a little adjustment (angle) to get a snug fit. (As a reference for others trying to pick the correct size of ear plug, I have a slightly larger ear canal and I tend to use the larger molds for in-ear monitors and sound cancelling ear plugs.) I usually hate performing while wearing earplugs. Most of the cheap/disposable earplugs block out too much sound for a musician; in a performance/rehearsal situation this makes it very difficult to play your best. Overplaying becomes an issue and it is easy to feel detached from the other musicians. This is not the case with "Etymotic Research ER20 ETYPlug" ear plugs. These earplugs block out enough of the damaging frequencies to protect my hearing but not so much that I can't hear the other musicians/vocalists clearly. I also use them while teaching my college applied music lessons and I can hear my voice and the student clearly. Of course, no earplug will ever sound as good as your natural ears but these are pretty darn good! If I'm attending an extremely loud concert I will most likely still use earplugs that block out more dB. However, in playing situations, where I need to clearly hear what's going on around me, these are the plugs I will use. These earplugs will save your hearing while allowing you to still perform at your best with minimal distraction due to your hearing being muffled. These are the next best thing to custom molded earplugs. Spend a little extra cash on these plugs instead of the disposable ones. You'll notice a huge difference and your ears will be thankful!

When I bought this I was hoping it will do what it says. Basically it promises to attenuate sound uniformly over the frequency range of 20 to 20KHz. The specs seem to say that too here:[...] But if you look closely, there still is a huge difference in attenuation at (say) 200 Hz compared to 5000 Hz. The insert in the actual product is not shown anywhere on the website. That insert clearly shows there is around a 12 dB difference. Now if you know sound levels, a 10dB difference amounts to doubling of percieved levels of sound. So as a result, you get severe muffling of higher frequencies. The bass notes can be heard at a comfortable level. But all the high frequencies are highly subdued. This effect is very similar to foam earplugs I have tried at concerts. Concerts don't sound good with these plugs. Granted, they do work better than foam earplugs (which I think are unusable) but they sure don't live up to their promise. Also, they are rated at 12dB. Not the 20 dB they seem to promise on their website. I will look for other stuff; maybe their custom molded ones will have better performance?

I have gone to many concerts and always used the same old foam 32 Db earplugs, which I use for other activities like working with power equipment and shooting. Although these foam earplugs are comfortable and they lower the sound decibels to prevent your ears from ringing, they are not ideal for listening to music because they muffle the sound. I attended one concert where I tried to listen without any earplugs and that turned out to be a mistake; my ears were ringing for weeks. I finally decided I must do some research to find a better option for listening to concerts. The other two alternatives of no earplugs or the foam earplugs that muffle the clarity of the sound just weren't working. That's when I came across these Etymotic ER High-Fidelity earplugs. There are other H-Fi earplugs on the market, but based off the reviews and the information on the Etymotic website I decided to choose these. Since receiving the earplugs I have only tired them once, but was very happy with the results. In December I went to a Metallica concert and used these earplugs for the first time. The sound clarity was much better than previous Metallica concerts I had attended when I used the standard foam 32db earplugs that always muffled the sound. When the concert ended and I removed the Etymotic earplugs I was please that I had zero ringing in my ears. This was compared to a few of my friends, who chose not to wear earplugs and were complaining that their ears were ringing. The only downside I can see with the Etymotic earplugs is that they do not fit in your ear like a standard earplug. Regular earplugs tuck into my ear and most people may not even know that I am even wearing earplugs; these Etymotic plugs have a stem which sticks out of your ear a little and may look a little funny. It is not too bad though especially when you get the clear stem model. But I figure who cares what they look like, at the end of the day as long as they perform their main function of protecting my ears and allowing me to hear the music clearly, than I am happy. I have told my brother and some friends that they should purchase these earplugs for concerts but they are reluctant, I don't know if it is because of the price compared to foam earplugs or they are just worried that they won't look "cool" wearing any type of earplug. As for me I am just happy that I will protect my hearing and won't have to worry about my ears ringing anymore, while still enjoying the concert without the muffled sound. Other than having custom molded earplugs made for you, these earplugs are probably some of the best you can find for listening to live music. I will continue to wear these for all my future concerts.