Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
#1
Posted to rec.audio.pro
|
|||
|
|||
Earplugs
Hi,
so, some customers are asking for earplugs at a live event. (sometimes including children) As sound engineer, I feel it is my duty to do what I can and provide them when requested. What devices work well at reasonable cost? (I am in the UK, which is no longer part of Europe, unfortunately) Cheers, Gareth. |
#2
Posted to rec.audio.pro
|
|||
|
|||
Earplugs
Gareth Magennis wrote:
so, some customers are asking for earplugs at a live event. (sometimes including children) As sound engineer, I feel it is my duty to do what I can and provide them when requested. You get two choices, the cylindrical foam ones and the bullet-shaped foam ones. I think the bullet-shaped ones are better but some people disagree so I keep a bag of each. Both of them have 20dB or so reduction and aren't really very flat, but are flat enough. I get both kinds from Grainger, a big industrial supplier, and they are a few pennies each. I think the EAR brand is what they last had. You could try earplug-store.co.uk, but whatever you do, don't forget to bill the customer for them! Never pass up an opportunity to bill the customer! You can get much higher quality earplugs, but they won't be pennies each and you won't want to give them out. But if you're mixing at high levels you might consider getting some custom-molded Etymotic ones. I would not be able to survive steel bands without them. I don't know about smaller ones for children. That might be a good plan too. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#3
Posted to rec.audio.pro
|
|||
|
|||
Earplugs
On 30/03/2017 11:57 a.m., Scott Dorsey wrote:
Gareth Magennis wrote: so, some customers are asking for earplugs at a live event. (sometimes including children) As sound engineer, I feel it is my duty to do what I can and provide them when requested. You get two choices, the cylindrical foam ones and the bullet-shaped foam ones. I think the bullet-shaped ones are better but some people disagree so I keep a bag of each. Both of them have 20dB or so reduction and aren't really very flat, but are flat enough. I get both kinds from Grainger, a big industrial supplier, and they are a few pennies each. I think the EAR brand is what they last had. You could try earplug-store.co.uk, but whatever you do, don't forget to bill the customer for them! Never pass up an opportunity to bill the customer! You can get much higher quality earplugs, but they won't be pennies each and you won't want to give them out. But if you're mixing at high levels you might consider getting some custom-molded Etymotic ones. I would not be able to survive steel bands without them. I don't know about smaller ones for children. That might be a good plan too. --scott The Etymotic type custom-moulded ones are great (with a range of value attenuation 'capsules' available), but a pain to get in-and-out frequently, even with KY. I often use (for myself) the EAR ones with the the silicone flanges that come with a little black container' - much more covenient for frequent in-and-out. But for giving out, the simple foam ones for sure. But if people had a clue they'd bring their own to such an event. However NEVER use a screwed up bus ticket even in an emergency. I needled to go to the doc to get one removed after a distressingly loud pub gig I went to unprepared once ;-0 geoff |
#4
Posted to rec.audio.pro
|
|||
|
|||
Earplugs
gareth magennis wrote: "Hi,
so, some customers are asking for earplugs at a live event. (sometimes including children) As sound engineer, I feel it is my duty to do what I can and provide them when requested. What devices work well at reasonable cost? (I am in the UK, which is no longer part of Europe, unfortunately) Cheers, Gareth. " Ear plugs do not address the root cause of the problem: The show is TOO LOUD. As the engineer, you should explain to your clients(the promoters, the organization hosting the event, the band itself, etc.) in a tactful way that the sound is too loud for some of the paying customers. If, THEY, in the first place, cannot grasp the concept of 'reasonably loud' for a given event, then it is up to you to take appropriate measures. The clients may not have asked it to be at a certain volume; they simply don't get what is reasonable and what is not. If they do ask you to really 'crank it up' ahead of time, or keep asking you to make louder during show, then it is your duty to explain the consequences: that customers are complaining and are starting to demand ear plugs or other protection. The need to wear ear plugs at an event where the volume can be controlled indicates something is wrong. This is not Nascar, or an indoor monster truck event or airshow, where the engines cannot simply be turned down. It is a concert or musical where the sound is controllable. |
#5
Posted to rec.audio.pro
|
|||
|
|||
Earplugs
On Wednesday, March 29, 2017 at 6:36:41 PM UTC-4, gareth magennis wrote:
Hi, so, some customers are asking for earplugs at a live event. (sometimes including children) As sound engineer, I feel it is my duty to do what I can and provide them when requested. What devices work well at reasonable cost? (I am in the UK, which is no longer part of Europe, unfortunately) Cheers, Gareth. I bought a cheap pair, maybe $10 (USD), Wal-Mart, JVC, "Gummy". Sounds good to my ears. Jack |
#6
Posted to rec.audio.pro
|
|||
|
|||
Earplugs
On Thursday, March 30, 2017 at 11:20:08 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Wednesday, March 29, 2017 at 6:36:41 PM UTC-4, gareth magennis wrote: Hi, so, some customers are asking for earplugs at a live event. (sometimes including children) As sound engineer, I feel it is my duty to do what I can and provide them when requested. Interesting and I agree, I tend to wear earplugs because the mids and highs are too loud, sometimes painfully loud, but the bass is fine. So the plugs work well because they attenuate the mids and highs and leave the bass alone. I would not mind if the mix was adjusted to keep the bass very loud but cut down the mids and highs. The promoters might accept that, I'm pretty sure the audience would. Then w could listen without the ear plugs. |
#8
Posted to rec.audio.pro
|
|||
|
|||
Earplugs
On 31/03/2017 7:50 AM, Don Pearce wrote:
But what do you do when the years move on and some correction is needed? Here's a pair of self-administered audiograms, from 2001 and three days ago. I've actually won a bit of bass, but the top end is vanishing fast. http://www.soundthoughts.co.uk/look/audiogram.png These were taken with a nice pair of Stax phones, so they should be pretty reliable. On the recent one you can see a masking peak at 4kHz caused by tinnitus. I take it that it is upside-down to the usual sense ? geoff |
#9
Posted to rec.audio.pro
|
|||
|
|||
Earplugs
On Fri, 31 Mar 2017 08:10:03 +1300, geoff
wrote: On 31/03/2017 7:50 AM, Don Pearce wrote: But what do you do when the years move on and some correction is needed? Here's a pair of self-administered audiograms, from 2001 and three days ago. I've actually won a bit of bass, but the top end is vanishing fast. http://www.soundthoughts.co.uk/look/audiogram.png These were taken with a nice pair of Stax phones, so they should be pretty reliable. On the recent one you can see a masking peak at 4kHz caused by tinnitus. I take it that it is upside-down to the usual sense ? No, that's a normal threshold curve. That is how loud sounds have to be for me to just barely detect them. d --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus |
#10
Posted to rec.audio.pro
|
|||
|
|||
Earplugs
Don Pearce wrote:
But what do you do when the years move on and some correction is needed? Here's a pair of self-administered audiograms, from 2001 and three days ago. I've actually won a bit of bass, but the top end is vanishing fast. http://www.soundthoughts.co.uk/look/audiogram.png What you do is you spend time listening to live sounds, so you know what live sounds should sound like _through your ears_ and you can mix things to sound like that. These were taken with a nice pair of Stax phones, so they should be pretty reliable. On the recent one you can see a masking peak at 4kHz caused by tinnitus. I wouldn't trust anything above 4kc made with any standard headphones, because tiny changes in headphone placement can make enormous differences in the measurement. If the measurements were made with swept sines you'd be able to see the comb filtering effects from the headphones, but since they are made only with a few discrete tones, where those tones fall on the comb makes a huge difference in accuracy. The audiologists will use headphones designed for careful positioning which gives you accuracy up to 8kc. Beyond that... you just have to use your ears... --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#11
Posted to rec.audio.pro
|
|||
|
|||
Earplugs
On 30 Mar 2017 17:01:32 -0400, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
Don Pearce wrote: But what do you do when the years move on and some correction is needed? Here's a pair of self-administered audiograms, from 2001 and three days ago. I've actually won a bit of bass, but the top end is vanishing fast. http://www.soundthoughts.co.uk/look/audiogram.png What you do is you spend time listening to live sounds, so you know what live sounds should sound like _through your ears_ and you can mix things to sound like that. These were taken with a nice pair of Stax phones, so they should be pretty reliable. On the recent one you can see a masking peak at 4kHz caused by tinnitus. I wouldn't trust anything above 4kc made with any standard headphones, because tiny changes in headphone placement can make enormous differences in the measurement. If the measurements were made with swept sines you'd be able to see the comb filtering effects from the headphones, but since they are made only with a few discrete tones, where those tones fall on the comb makes a huge difference in accuracy. The audiologists will use headphones designed for careful positioning which gives you accuracy up to 8kc. Beyond that... you just have to use your ears... --scott Tada! The measurements were not actually made with discrete tones, but narrowband noise - at 10kHz it was about 100Hz wide. I was aware of the problem with tones, and I've done my best to counter it. Here, the spectrum of the 5k tone http://www.soundthoughts.co.uk/look/5ktone.png So no, maybe not audiology-accurate, but I totally believe the loss above 5kHz. d --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus |
#12
Posted to rec.audio.pro
|
|||
|
|||
Earplugs
|
#13
Posted to rec.audio.pro
|
|||
|
|||
Earplugs
On Thursday, March 30, 2017 at 3:14:52 PM UTC-4, geoff wrote:
On 31/03/2017 4:20 AM, wrote: I bought a cheap pair, maybe $10 (USD), Wal-Mart, JVC, "Gummy". Sounds good to my ears. So ineffective at 3000 cycles then. In the band which is most painful.... Yes, relatively good ones can be not expensive. geoff My plan is to induce tinnitus in every person on earth, then I will excel! Jack |
Reply |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
where to get musician's earplugs in san francisco | Pro Audio | |||
Earplugs | Pro Audio | |||
Effective earplugs | Car Audio | |||
Suggestion for good noise cancellation earplugs | Audio Opinions |