Build your own hi-fi ear defenders
spectrum.ieee.org
spectrum.ieee.org
After 22 years in military aviation and a couple of autoimmune disorders, I literally cannot wear in-ear anything without pain, ruptured skin, and balance issues.
A pair of headphones like this is my only option. I'm sure I'm an edge case, but there are plenty of other people for whom a solution like this is more viable than anything in their ear canal.
I’m a professional musician and audio engineer and for years I’ve been using custom earplugs that I acquired through a visit to an audiologist. They took an impression of my ear canals and within a week provided molded custom-fit plugs. These plugs provide passive attenuation spec’ed to my preference (-15dB, -20dB, -30dB, etc) and they do so in a way that attenuates evenly across the frequency spectrum, rather than over-attenuate the high frequencies like foam earplugs do, so that you don’t experience muffled sound. They’re comfy and work flawlessly. I’ve never taken them out due to discomfort.
My use case is that there is a lot of dangerous noise in the third world and I want to protect my ears when running.
Westone is the major brand if you want your audiologist to do the whole thing.
Vibes: https://www.discovervibes.com/new-products/vibes-high-fideli...
Etymotic seems to have the best triple flange ear tips I've found, but the earphones themselves are fragile and easy to break. Shure has good in-ear monitors, but their triple flange ear tips are too hard, and hurt. But the Etymoic eartips will fit on the Shure IEMs.
But none of those are noise cancelling, and none of those are wireless. So, for the purpose of blocking out sound at night while trying to sleep, none of that helps.
Flat frequency response in plugs is nonsense, because due to factors like the Fletcher-Munson curves, there is no correct profile.
Foam plugs attenuating more of the high end means that you hear a lot of bass: and in one way that is subjectively pleasing, because due to Fletcher-Munson, the unattenuated loud sound sounds bass-heavy. Thus some of that aspect of the sound is preserved.
People who are cork sniffers about flat frequency responses should be going to Bach concerts, not rock concerts.
I heard Chick Corea's Electric Band (with Gambale on guitar at that time) via foam plugs. They sounded fine. I heard every note clearly from every instrument.
Most people don't give a shit about flat response. Just about every time I've ever rented a car, I had to correct the stereo from cranked treble and bass, reduced middle, back to all zero.
No two speaker systems sound alike in the first place.
So you do care about it after all?
For live music, there is no reference for correctness. The raw thing is so loud, it hurts. Nobody is engineering it for listening at moderate volume in an ideal listening space!
Now speaking of recorded music, even though there is a "correct" approach to reproducing it so that you hear more or less what the recording guys (I don't want to use the term "engineer" because often they are not) intended.
However, what those guys intended is often arbitrary. They took captures from some sources and tweaked them. The whole hi fi paradigm is predicated on the idea that the recording/mastering guys are high priests who get to exercise their taste, and the lowly consumer must obligingly reproduce what they put out.
This isn't so at a concert. If it sounds to me like some guitar dickhead's amp stack is putting out too much crap above 6 kHz (because he's standing out of its way, hearing it from the side or whatever), and my foam plugs make it smooth like it should, that makes me the "engineer" of my own experience of the event.
Don't be dismissive of audio engineers and mixers making records. I don't think you realize how much care and consideration goes into crafting an album. These choices are far from arbitrary for those who are working at the top of their craft.
Additionally, don't make the mistake of conflating people who are "hi-fi" enthusiasts with the people actually making the records. They are not always aligned in their goals.
You also seem to have the mistaken idea that mastering engineers are trying to impose their taste onto a record. You know which mastering engineers try to shoehorn their taste into a record? The ones who don't get hired a second time.
I am a mastering engineer. By the time that a record reaches our studio the creative decisions have already been made by the artist, the producer, and the mixer. Our goal at this stage is to function as midwife to the artist and present their music in the best possible light, which sometimes means doing as little as possible, so as not the get in the way of what's been delivered to us. Our role is to hear the record as objectively as possible and then give it a final level of polish/balance so that the artist's intentions shine through and translate on as many different playback situations as possible.
Finally, if a guitarist's amp is putting out too much 6kHz at a rock show, then it is the live sound engineer's responsibility to fix it, either through EQ or through communicating with the guitarist to adjust their amp settings.
Regardless of "flat response" talk, I have been very happy using the same pair of $30 Dubs ear plugs for almost 15 years. I have foam earplugs for when I need things to be as quiet as possible but I hate them so much for a few reasons:
1. With extended use, for whatever reason, cause my ear canals to feel raw and itchy.
2. They are a PITA to get in and have them stay in and sometimes to get them out
3. They are disposable which is a waste
Coincidentally, I literally just bought a pair of Loops ear plugs today as my Dubs are finally falling apart. I liked my Dubs for multiple reasons:
1. They are super comfortable - I forget I have them in
2. They are reusable
3. They look interesting in the ear which is a great conversation starter at concerts/clubs/festivals - "are you wearing earbuds?" "No they are musicians earplugs. They basically just lower the volume while preserving the sound" "Oh cool!" "Yea if you like music, don't forget to protect your ears!"
That's not really enough if you're going down from 110 or more.
Yes, Fletcher-Munson effects can change our perception of frequency response. But that doesn't mean that we should tolerate additional negative effects. That's like saying that we shouldn't stop the cook from using too much salt in our dish because the chicken is already dry. Clearly it's preferable to have chicken that is ONLY dry, rather than chicken that is both dry AND over-salted.
Don't be so dismissive about people seeking a good audio experience. If you're at a concert there's a lot of factors that are out of the audience's control, but good earplugs are low hanging fruit if such things are important to them.
And if you're the musician on stage cranking an amp, using cheap ear plugs is going to create a disconnect between what you hear and what your audience will hear. If you have to dial in more top-end to compensate for the dulling effect of the plugs for your amp to sound "right", then your "right" sounding amp setting will be perceived as harsh for the people in the audience who aren't wearing plugs.
Finally, if you're at a rock concert (with a sound engineer mixing the band) the engineer will be hearing the concert at the same volume as you. They will already be balancing the band's sound in a way that compensates for the effects of the Fletcher Munson effect that you're concerned about.
I had full impressions done with custom in-ear monitors and I've never been happier. Makes plane flights absolutely tolerable too.
In-ear monitors vs sleeved (like eytomtic slip-ons) are much better practically day to day as the wires exit flush with the bottom of your earlobes (needed for getting helmets on and off) which means beanies, sleeping on a plane etc you can rest the side of your head on something without wires/end of the monitor.
Around $700NZD / $300USD done here in NZ.
thankfully none of my other cars need more than a plain helmet.
Do your monitors make equalizing pressure better or worse than without? Or is the tolerable just about the noise levels?
Do you know how much of a difference single dual or triple drivers make?
the diy part was not a small part.
For anyone in the UK check out the musicians hearing health scheme. They provide the plugs at greatly reduced cost, and I can't speak highly enough of them.
https://www.musicianshearingservices.co.uk/what-we-do/musici...
Less perfect for noisy restaurants as eating will make your ears to wiggle a bit, causing some shifting sounds if you are wearing plugs. But great again for noisy public transport and flights. I always keep them in a small pouch in my pocket.
Traffic, neighbors, construction - there's always something going on in a big city. Even having a detached house in the suburbs is not guarantee of a quiet night. Sleep interruption due to noise can have disproportionate impact later in life [0].
I had some ideas about a 'room within a room' spanning just the bed, and I couldn't find a good source of materials. Best bet would be to fill the whole thing with concrete and hope it's acoustically isolated from the building itself.
[0] - https://sleepreviewmag.com/sleep-health/sleep-whole-body/bra...
https://www.earjobs.com.au/collections/custom-moulded-ear-pl...
They’re not as good as etymotics but a lot comfier.
It's a common mistake to think that room treatment and room isolation are the same thing. But they're two different problems that require two different approaches to solve.
Next level would be adding noise insulation to the walls and the like, but that's a bigger time/money/effort investment.
Moving to the suburbs or the countryside is an option, but won't be a panacea; you'll have different sounds, sound travels further, houses won't be built with city noise in mind, and they're likely to be older so less well insulated to begin with.
Anyway, passive noise insulation first, I wouldn't use earbuds or anything covering / plugging the ears, and things like white or pink noise generators are a last ditch effort (they will put constant sound pressure on your ears instead of silence, idk if that's harmful but it's something to keep in mind)
Yes, she has a CPAP, but she never uses it because she can't find masks that don't make her feel like she's trapped and choking.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008MCTOPU
310-1101 - they are cylindrical. I used to get the similar 310-1008 but I can't find them anymore.
Other earplugs would want to expand too much and make my ears sore, or would have the wrong material and sort of adhere to my ear canal, or be comfortable but not quiet.
Also 33dB NRR, but they work much better for me.
I think hearing devices, mostly hearing aids, are due for some major innovation in the next <5 years. There is so much software related stuff for audio currently happening that can massively benefit hearing aid users. Its one of the markets Im most excited to see change, as my dad has profound hearing loss and relies on hearing aids.
If I ever have funding/support, its absolutely what I would love to work on
As a downside of this approach in comparison to earbuds, I suppose you will lack the 3D sound functionality provided by your earlobes.
e.g., https://www.amazon.com/Etymotic-High-Fidelity-Earplugs-Stand...
Also this form factor doesn’t attenuate all frequencies evenly, which can make listening to music less enjoyable.
Source: rode motorcycle daily and had to use earplugs cause of how loud it was, spit lube allowed easy snug fit off deep ear plugs
This is completely stupid, and here is why. If you're playing loud rock and I'm in your audience, I'm wearing ordinary foam plugs.
Please wear the same damn things that I'm wearing, and set up your sound accordingly.