[Semaphor]

> I wear musician's earplugs when playing in bands.

As a musician, you possibly have custom ones, but for anyone else who’s not an audiophile, you can get decent ones that mostly preserve the sound while lowering the volume for around $15-20. A godsend for concerts.

[analog31]

I actually just use the Etymotic ER20's. I'd rather have cheaper ones that I can afford to lose, and also have a pair in each instrument case.

[analog31]

I'm past the edit window here, but have a couple more thoughts. First, I'm just a jazz player, so my gigs can get loud, but not screaming stooopid loud. Second, I am almost always amplified on stage, meaning that the most delicate subtleties of optimal tone quality are lost anyway.

Many of the rock players are moving to in-ear monitors, which block everything but replace it with your monitor mix, received via wireless.

On the other hand, some band mates, and my kids, play classical. Their needs are a lot more critical in terms of perceiving their tone quality. A benefit of the fitted plugs is that you can get the capsules with less attenuation, which means you're still safe in something like a classical ensemble, but without losing too much.

[QuantumGood]

Under $20, nice: https://www.etymotic.com/product/etyplugs-high-fidelity-earp...

[blendo]

Yes, +1 for etymotic. I’ve used them for years.

[euroderf]

> A godsend for concerts.

Maybe necessary for movie theatres too. Contemporary volume levels are abusive (imo).

[SketchySeaBeast]

Are they ever. I watched Alien Romulus in Imax, I'm not doing that again, it was painfully loud. I am an avid concert goer and I wear earplugs every time - Romulus without earplugs was by far the loudest thing I've been exposed to this year.

[SketchySeaBeast]

And, if you can't afford those, just get some orange foam ones - they have excellent protection, often greater than the audiophile ones, and, let's be honest, that bar or arena you're going to wasn't built with sound quality in mind.

[tim333]

Personally, also at the very cheap end, I like wax ones partly because you can vary the noise blocking as needed - put them in loosely or squish them in.

[Semaphor]

I mean, if you go to a concert and don’t really care about the music, sure. The sound will suck, far worse than just a venue’s subpar sound system.

[spopejoy]

Depends on the music. Metal shows are pretty much designed for treble-killing earplugs these days.

[Semaphor]

I guess that depends on the metal show, because I wholeheartedly disagree. But except kanonenfieber currently, I like little that is close to mainstream.

[spopejoy]

Haha, I'm the opposite, if I _don't_ have to wear earplugs I'm suspicious