Ear protection. P GIlberts 'headphones'

[thornag]

Hello everyone,

Im looking for some ear protection for myself.

Was thinking about good ear plugs but then I've seen several videos of paul Gilbert wearing a headphones similar to these that rowad workers would wear.

Anyone tried stuff like that? Does it work?

I would personally prefer the headphnes instead of putting something into my ear

Do you know any makes, models?

[noob_pwn]

I think the ones gilbo uses are actually monitoring headphones?
ive tried those construction type ones and you dont get any clarity at all, cant distinguish anything.
I've found hearo's are the way to go.

[Big Job]

Hey man,

I dont know about guitar related 'ear muffs' but I made a sort of version when I play the drums. I took my sisters big headphones that you plug into a stereo and I put tissue paper inside the ear cones. I can now pound the drums and not hurt my hearing! However I got to say that its a little difficult to lock in with the kick drum, I simply can't hear it when I have them on! So I sometimes sort of wear on on my left ear so 'my' ear drum doesn't break from hitting the snare, but I can still distinguish everyting else okay.

However I have heard very good things about the professional ear plugs that you can purchace....

Chris

[Homebake]

gilbert also gets the mix in his headphones as well as the protection.

[guitarnoize]

Why not try some Etymotics, they're cheap enough that you don't have to use them again if you don't like them:

http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er20.aspx
http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/erme.aspx

sorry just realised the 2nd link is for the expensive ones, check the first link $12 a pair.

[kotornut]

Actually you know whats funny? When I saw them in Nagoya last month he wasn't wearing them. He just had in regular in-ear monitors. I was disapointed because, you know, it's like when Metallica cut their hair, it's par tof his image.

[chaos731]

The headphones that PG wears are actually headphones.
They're called Direct Sound EX-29's, and they are "extreme isolation" headphones. They allow the wearer to monitor their signal at a predetermined line/mixer/microphone/front of house controlled level, while blocking out the vast majority of the actual sound from the source (e.g. amp, monitor, etc), and still making the audience's ears bleed.

I have a pair of them myself; maybe the best $100.00 I've ever spent on something like that. They do a remarkable job blocking out external sound, and they're high quality enough to be used for referencing purposes while recording (not that I'm an expert or anything...just speaking from my own experience with them). Anyway, truly great headphones that offer a high degree of controlled hearing protection.

Here's where I got mine:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EX29/

[thornag]

Originally Posted by chaos731

The headphones that PG wears are actually headphones.
They're called Direct Sound EX-29's, and they are "extreme isolation" headphones. They allow the wearer to monitor their signal at a predetermined line/mixer/microphone/front of house controlled level, while blocking out the vast majority of the actual sound from the source (e.g. amp, monitor, etc), and still making the audience's ears bleed.

I have a pair of them myself; maybe the best $100.00 I've ever spent on something like that. They do a remarkable job blocking out external sound, and they're high quality enough to be used for referencing purposes while recording (not that I'm an expert or anything...just speaking from my own experience with them). Anyway, truly great headphones that offer a high degree of controlled hearing protection.

Here's where I got mine:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/EX29/

$100 sounds good to me, I just want to know how extreme this is. In a rehearsal situation will I hear anything? Its rather hard to get the mix to the headphones in the rehearsal room

[chaos731]

In a rehearsal situation with a full band? I don't know...I would imagine they would attenuate all that external noise pretty well. If you're literally standing inside your drummer's kick, then no...probably useless.

That said, they really do block out a huge amount of external sound, and then you can adjust the mix level at the console, so you can plainly hear what's going on without deafening yourself. They really are a good bargain, and they look pretty groovy, too.

[wilch]

Originally Posted by thornag

$100 sounds good to me, I just want to know how extreme this is. In a rehearsal situation will I hear anything? Its rather hard to get the mix to the headphones in the rehearsal room

I think you'll find that if you don't have any of the mix going to these isolation headphones things will sound like those $2 rubber squishy earplugs, no high frequencies, and extremely muffled.

Those Etymotic ER20's actually retain quite alot of the high frequency range. I have a pair of these myself. When you pop them in it's basically like you've turned the volume down on everything without losing the high frequency's. Not muffled at all.

[thornag]

Originally Posted by wilch

I think you'll find that if you don't have any of the mix going to these isolation headphones things will sound like those $2 rubber squishy earplugs, no high frequencies, and extremely muffled.

Those Etymotic ER20's actually retain quite alot of the high frequency range. I have a pair of these myself. When you pop them in it's basically like you've turned the volume down on everything without losing the high frequency's. Not muffled at all.

Yep looks like something I'm looking for, as a lead guitar I'm not really keen on cutting my highs

Thought something headphones shaped would be bit more handy than ear plugs.

Will try these ER20's you've mentioned and see how it goes.

[Draco]

I've been using these for quite a while now and they work great - still lets you hear the band, just at a lower volume.

http://hearos.com/earplugs/products-00211.html

[wilch]

They're just like the Etymotics! Cool!