ETYMOTIC RESEARCH ER20BP High Fidelity Ear Plugs ( Clear )
by ETYMOTIC RESEARCH
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of ETYMOTIC RESEARCH ER20BP High Fidelity Ear Plugs ( Clear )
Customer Review: Excellent Quality Sound, but a lower NR than expected
Summary: 5 Stars
These earplugs are designed to provide good quality sound at reduced volume. It does not provide as much noise reduction as lower quality foam or disposal ear plugs. In many situations, this is worth the sacrifice.
These earplugs are nearly identical to the Noise Isolation Earphones made by Etymotic (ER-6i).
When using the earplugs, your perception of sound will be "normal", but quieter. That means voices sound natural, music sounds clear, and noises are identifiable. Unlike lower earplugs, there's no distortion or "muffling" of sound. As another reviewer said, you can think of it as "turning the volume down on the outside world".
These are great to use in situations where you need to hear, but want to reduce sound to safe levels. Some areas I've used them (and found noticable improvement over cheap-o plugs):
* Concerts and music
* Comedy Clubs (when near the loud speaker)
* Airplanes (talking to people, flight attendant)
* Indoor or outdoor work (like when they're doing construction)
Some places where the extra cost may not be worth it:
* Yard work (sound quality is irrelevant, need more noise reduction)
* Extremely loud environments (tarmacs, operating heavy machinery, etc)
* Sleeping (they stick out)
One major issue with these earplugs is size: they are *not* for everyone. These are designed to fit snuggly in the ears. They can be painful or not fit for people with very large or very small ear canals.
Customer Review: Ditch that yellow foam crap.
Summary: 4 Stars
These are certainly not top notch professionally fitted earplugs. But, they truly are worlds better than those disposable foam plugs that make you feel like you've got a head cold and can't hear anything anyone is saying to you.
While not perfect, these filter sound much more naturally. At a rock concert, I can wear these without feeling like I'm missing alot of the sound. Many frequencies are still fairly loud and I can still hear vocals, guitars, etc.. not just bass and a thumping kick drum. With foam pads, I typically took them out between sets at a show so I could talk to my friends comfortably. But with these, I often just leave them in. I can typically hear my regular conversations just fine.
Another recollection is plane travel. I'll often wear these when I fly to avoid the ear ringing that often occurs after all that engine noise. If I'm wearing these when a stewardess comes by to offer me a drink, I hear her when she gets my attention and once again am able to make the transaction without feeling like I'm talking to the other side of quiet bubble.
Oh...I've also found the fit to be quite good and secure.
This is getting wordy.
Anyway, I highly recommend these to anyone who wants something better than yellow foam, but isn't quite ready to invest in professionaly fitted earplugs.
Customer Review: Helps to keep me sane
Summary: 5 Stars
After getting SSHL, I am completely deaf in my left ear. My single-sided deafness basically means that I can't differentiate and distinguish sounds, so if, for example, I'm at somewhere like Starbucks, where you have multiple conversations, a loud BGM, coffee beans being ground, and expresso machines whishing, all those sounds come at me at the same volume, which leads to sensory overload. That's where these earplugs are great, as they cut down a lot of the noise, but don't completely block it out, so I can get some peace and quiet. It's like turning down the volume. The best use I've found for them though is at the movie theater. If it's an action movie with a lot of loud explosions (not good for the hearing I have left), I can use these earplugs and they take the edge off, but I can still hear what the characters are saying. These earplugs seem to get rid of all that distracting noise. So they get 5 stars. I was going to take a star off, because it is really hard to clean these i.e. get ear wax off them, and it looks kind of gross pulling out a yellow colored ear plug. For that reason, I've ordered another pair, one for "good" so to speak! Bottom line: buy them and even if you don't have hearing loss, protect your hearing at all costs.Customer Review: A little long for helmets...
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought these for use on my motorcycle where I want to cut down the noise but not completely cut it out.
For that purpose these plugs are great, they fit very well, they dampen all sound but still keep you aware of your surroundings.
The problem is that they extend a little too far out of the ear because of this putting a helmet on or off is actually painful as the padding of the helmet catches on the plugs and pushes them in.
Once you get the helmet on they are unobtrusive and I'm only reminded that they're there if I turn my head at high speed which shifts the helmet a little putting slight pressure on the plug.
What really worries me is that due to the length of the plug, in a crash they may actually do some damage to the ear by getting forced in by the helmet.
These are great at bringing sound to a manageable level, but they are just too long for use in helmets.
Oh and tip can be extremely hard to grip and pull out if it gets wet, which it will from sweat if you're riding in the summer.
Customer Review: Outstanding for musicians
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a drummer who has been playing for a long time and I've always been searching for the perfect earplugs for playing gigs. Most off-the-shelf plugs kill the high end and cut out far too much sound. Most of the specialty plugs are way too expensive. My search has ended with these Etymotics, which I've now been using regularly for about 2 years.
Two things make them perfect for me: First, they offer a gradual reduction in external sound rather than an extreme muffling. Second, the reduction is very well balanced across the frequency spectrum. You still get pretty clear high end and low end, just that the volume is reduced. In fact, that's the best way to describe them... they simply turn the volume down on the outside world, while maintaining excellent clarity. This is a must for me as a singing drummer. They're also very comfortable.
One drawback: they stick out a little bit, so they can look a little dorky. I'd suggest buying the clears rather than the colored ones.