So I’m not in a band and not doing any gigs, but I’m always thinking about the future. Plus I’m going to a concert in a couple of months, my partner already has tinnitus from a concert and I want to protect us both.
Hearos are tempting because of the price, they have generally good reviews and in an old thread here Josh even said he keeps a pair around. I’m looking at the “high fidelity” model which they claim is -20dB / NRR 12 reduction.
Earasers have a -26dB / NRR 13 model, and the reviews for them seem a little better on average. I assume they cost 4x as much for a reason, but both brands seem to have their fans.
Has anyone here used both and have an opinion on which is better? Are the Hearos adequate enough for someone who might only need them a few times per year, or are the Earasers worth the investment?
Edit: I ended up buying something totally different, the Etymotic Research ER20XS. I left a small review below, click here to jump to it.
Haven’t used either, but I’ve used these Loops at concerts for the last 4 years. They work great (and I have noise sensitivity). I’ll even pull them out in noisy rooms/meetings and can still understand what’s being said. Plus, there are several models with different reductions.
If you go with one of the two you asked about, I’m curious which you end up preferring.
I’ve been using my airpod pros at concerts all summer. I read an article a few months ago suggesting they were one of the better options for hearing protection for musicians.
I like Hearos. They are the only thing I’ve tried, but they seem to work well. If you feel like they are cutting too much sound you can always pull them out a little bit. I’ve used them at a couple concerts.
So instead of any of these, I ended up buying the Etymotic Research ER20XS.
I made the choice largely because the comparisons on HearAdvisor put them as one of the best low-cost choices.
It’ll be a while before I can give them a proper concert test. But I cranked up my stereo as loud as I could stand it, and put the earplugs in. Then I cranked up the music even louder.
I went into the next room to tell my partner they seem to be working well enough. I thought I was speaking at a perfectly acceptable volume, but he didn’t even realize I was talking. When I took them out, I realized I had the volume up almost painfully loud without even realizing it.
The experience of wearing them is weird for me, someone who’s never used this sort of earplug before. I’m not used to this fidelity, I’m used to the type that muffle everything. Because of that, I didn’t “feel” like was listening through earplugs at all. In fact at first when I put them in without any loud noises around, I could still have a conversation with my partner at normal volume, which made me worry I got a total dud.
But from my little experiment, clearly they do work. I could have comfortably relaxed on the couch and listened to that music at a volume that would have anyone without hearing protection clamping their hands over their ears.
I can’t speak to how comfortable they are to wear for hours since I had them in for less than 10 minutes, but the experience of putting them in and removing them was just fine, and they felt fine in my ears.
I’m sure the others would also be fine choices, but these ones seem great.
