[CAUT] Hearing Protection

[Porritt, David]

I've had my current ER-15's for at least 10 years.  I had my audiologist
make the impression and have the plugs made.  The bad part about those
is that the soft material they use reacts with the wax in your ears, and
they shrink.  Within 6-months the plugs become too small to stay in well
to say nothing of protecting your hearing.  I had him send the
impressions to a hearing aid company that made them out of clear
plastic.  These are not soft like the ER ones but they don't react with
the wax and change size.  I've had these for 7 - 8 years and use them
for every piano I tune.  I was afraid the hard ones might not be as
comfortable, but they're fine.  When you think about it, people who wear
hearing aids have to have them in their ears all day and they don't want
to replace them twice a year.

dp

David M. Porritt
dporritt@smu.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of
Conrad Hoffsommer
Sent: Friday, October 28, 2005 4:13 AM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Hearing Protection

At 00:20 10/28/2005, you wrote:
>I'm looking at two brands of earplugs for hearing
>protection: E.A.R. inc.  and Etymotic.  Both have ER-
>25 and maybe ER-15 filtered plugs that are custom
>moldable to fit.  Etymotic has a do it yourself mold
>kit; and E.A.R. sends you to an audiologist type to
>get the impression done for some $.  Etymotic plugs
>are 152.00 with free molding kit while E.A.R plugs are
>130.00 plus but maybe about $35 that will have to be
>paid to someone to get the impressions done.
>
>I have been using some Etymotic ER-20 (not custom)
>that I bought at the convention (cheap ones).  They do
>pretty well but quite a few pianos still bother me
>while tuning the higher octaves.
>
>I'm interested in your experiences with either of
>these brands or others and what level of filter you
>have found to be good.
>
>Thanks,
>Bob Hull


I recently got an audiogram and the ER-15 custom molded plugs. The ER-15

has the flattest attenuation curve available from that company, and has
the 
dual advantage of not only being enough to afford sufficient protection,

but not too much to preclude tuning of the top octave where the piano is

getting weaker. I've had my ER-15's for 8 years now.

I AM sold on aural protection. I've been using  _something_ for over 30 
years, and my hearing now is within the margin of error with my
audiogram 
from 1989.
;-}



Conrad Hoffsommer

Early to rise: early to bed;
Makes a man healthy, and socially dead.


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