It's a JOY to hear everybody discussing their experiments with different kinds of earplugs! Ten years ago, when I started selling earplugs and trying to convince other piano technicians to wear earplugs while tuning, one of the responders on this very thread told me that I would never be able to get members of the PTG to see the importance of protecting their hearing! My personal experiences with hundreds of kinds of earplugs, and with different wearers has convinced me that the refrain of the National Hearing Conservation Association; "The best earplug is the one they will wear"! is so very true. Also, I have found that different plugs are good for different purposes. Different protection devices are good for different hearing audiograms. I tried the Sensgard and found that the high frequency noise caused by the device itself made it terribly annoying to me. Regarding Robin Stevens' post (below): While I was in audiology classes at Portland State University, we learned how to make impressions during our lab classes. We were only permitted to make impressions (even with the lab clinician, who was an audiologist, supervising us) during the hours an ENT office would be open. Diane Hofstetter [pianotech] Hearing protection Robin Stevens pianobee at bigpond.com wrote: You must have missed the show on TV called Hospital emergency, or something like that, where a "do it yourself" ear plug fitter got the mould in and they would not come out ;-( after a very painful procedure the doctor finally got them out. Morel of the story....Get them fitted by a proper technician! I have used proper ear plugs for two years now and it was the best money I have ever spent. You buy expensive tools, why settle for makeshift el cheapo ear plugs. Robin Stevens ARPT South Australia
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