"Todd H." wrote:
Earplugs are not so much about flatness, because if it is some
6 dB above the resultant elevated threshold ... a recent
follow up of mine in a similar thread in alt.audio.pro.live-sound
No doubt the ear and brain do compensate for some coloration
...but let me ask if you've ever tried to perform music with
20-30dB of foam reduction stuffed in your ears?
No. Please go find the post referred to, if it is not in your local
newsreader archive, then you can find it on the web at:
http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&...40mail.tele.dk
And then compared to doing the same with a custom molded ear plug?
In the unlikely event that I should ever need to play electical guitar
and do it on a simms watts amp or whatever other large sonic implement
as may be relevant, then I would most certainly use full length yellow
EAR's, and possibly shooters ear muffs on top and then go crank the darn
thing to get it to really "sound" ... O;-) ... read on please, more on
this below.
Or played with a drummer who stuffs
his head with a foam plug and then hits harder than he would otherwise
just because he doesn't think his cymbals are "projecting"-- much to
the pain of his bandmates?
The problem here is that the drummer already has the threshold curve
described by the attenuation curve printed on the box of standard yellow
EAR's. A skilled operator of any tool *knows* by the feel of the tool in
the hand.
I can assure you there's a difference, and there is such
a thing as having too much earplug in.
Of course there is such a thing. Back when the yellow EAR's appeared on
the market I was asked to test them in the printing house I worked in
because I was the one guy to always use the bilsom fiberglass wadding,
and they sucked in comparison, I got dizzy from the over attenuation and
rejected them because being dizzy on a printing press is potentially
unsafe.
Also at concerts, the fiberglass wadding was way superior and easy to
adjust for the desired attenuation and yes, some 15 dB is the right
amount and it did prevent experiencing short duration tinnitus and that
feeling of being numbed.
I'm also about the only one I know of to have used it without ending up
with years and years of cronic ear irritation because of glassfibers
that had penetrated the skin of the ear canal due to improper deployment
(not folding and rolling it as indicated on the package). It was a truly
and remarkably insane idea to come up with such a product.
For instance, I sure as heck don't want a sound engineer
wearing plugs (especialy any sort of foam plug!) while
they're adjusting a mix.
I have again and again posted my suggestion of matching the yellow EAR's
to the earcanal and situation with a pair of scissors, including the
caveats on so doing, such as voiding the promised performance and the
benefit of removing the membrane on the inside end: better ability to
handle the natural humidity in the ear canal. I have also again and
again posted my advice on inserting the plugs well ahead of the time of
need so as to allow the brain a one hour adjustment time.
That's a recipe for harsh eq
Are you hiring idiots? - a *sound* engineer does not deploy an upper
midrange or a treble control in boost mode with any of the mics you are
likely to find on a stage except in the unlikely case of a MD 201 that
can do with a 4 dB treble boost to match unlinear condensers in sound.
Back in the old days I noticed that the better the setups deployed by
CSR the less eq were used on the mixers. But yes, someone not being
aware of the detection modifications will get things wrong.
and too loud a mix.
The real problem, and let us go grab that one, is that most people have
pre-existing hearing damage when getting to the stage of hearing safety
wisdom and thus have to use ear protection with reduced protection to be
able to function.
But yes, this could happen, the too loud mix will however be a
consequence of being used to the total feel of too loud a mix and the
feeling of pain in the ears may be required by some. Iggy Pop reportedly
insisted that the monitor mix should physically hurt when in Copenhagen
way longtime ago.
Non-discering ears, or those just going to listen to a concert
may be happy with foam plugs,
Does it ever strike anyone as odd to have performers wearing earplugs
playing music mixed by people wearing earplugs for audiences wearing
earplugs .....?
but folks are kidding themselves if they claim they're sonically
superior to properly molded/fitted custom earplugs.
They are most certainly not. I agree fully and unreservedly. As for
actual use of non-ideal ear protection surely any skilled person will
know what the properties of that protection is and allow for them.
Simply keeping the fingers away from the eq portion of the channel strip
is a simple way of not goofing sonically, another is to not mix a
triangle by ear ... knew your setup, know your meters, know that you can
trust your meters.
And using the classic yellow EAR, probably modified as often suggested
with caveats about reduced attetuation and certainly inserted a full
hour prior to being needed, for mixing is a last resort kinda option,
but it comes across as more of an option than using the filters from
cigarettes, something I know one guy did use back in the very old days.
Bilsom has a conical yellow plug that is also usable but somewhat
uncomfortable because the entire "business end" is sealed and there is a
green attempt to copy the EAR plug, that one does not use the strange
semi-rigid foam and relies on being impregnated with a waxy substance,
and thus it is not washable.
Best Regards,
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | Todd H
\ / | http://www.toddh.net/
X Promoting good netiquette | http://triplethreatband.com/
/ \ http://www.toddh.net/netiquette/ | "4 lines suffice."
There are many things that we do not disagree on Todd.
Kind regards
Peter Larsen
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