Hearing protection - best gear, recommendations, etc.

I have the GK Ultraphones. I found the Vic Firth cans didn't isolate enough and didn't sound as good.
I have grown used to not hearing my drums 'in my face' and in full hi-fi. I wear in-ear protection a lot, which is expensive.
What people fail to focus on is their hearing health. You don't want tinnitus (I have it) and you don't want major hearing loss, perhaps leading to lip reading and mishearing in later life. People focus on $20 protection solutions instead.
 
I have 3M Worktunes connect
I use them day to day at work hours at a time and they are robust. They keep the sound out and the music in and a comfortable to wear for hours. They have Bluetooth with a battery that lasts a couple of days. The latency is high so the BT is no good for videos/monitoring. They have a 3.5mm mini jack too. They work well behind the kit with dramatic noise reduction and the BT works well for metronome/guide tune from a phone. Recommend

Also Howard Leight QB2HYG semi-aural banded earplugs.

These are good for band practices where you need to take them out regularly to hear conversation. You can wear them round your neck so they don't get lost. Have used in a 20 strong samba band and they offered enough protection. Recommend
 
Out of Round said:
Hi, I own the Vic Firth 'phones. I like them a lot. The main complaint is that they are uncomfortable and squeeze the head like a vise. I have gotten used to this, though.
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The Vic Firth headphones might be the most uncomfortable headphones I've ever used. I wish I could have tried them on before I bought a pair.

My next pair were Direct Sound ex-25's. They're more comfortable, but I still don't love wearing them for long periods of time.

I've since moved on to in-ear monitors and I'm never looking back.
 
I’ve tried both plugs and over-ear muffs, and honestly, a combo of both can work really well if you’re around loud stuff a lot (like drums or gigs). The Vic Firths are solid, especially if you still want to hear a bit of detail.
 
On the expensive side( wouldn’t have bought myself) but my daughters bought me Bluetooth noise cancelling headphones from Apple. Great sound for listening to music , playing along to music through the Bluetooth or just playing with no music and the noise cancelling on
 
I recommend the Alesis DRP100

Pros:
They are very flat headphones (translation they will NOT sound like Beats of SkullCandy with lots of bass) in fact they will seem too be much more middle happy. Because of that, they can be used as monitoring headphones because they will not color the sound which is what you would want for those kinds of headphones.
They are quite comfortable for long sessions but like any over ear, you will get sweaty if you don't turn a fan on you while playing.
They are NOT earmuffs, they do isolate a good bit but not to the point where you won't hear your drums.
They are capable of a LOT of volume so you would need to exercise care there too.
The price is right so even if you don't end up liking them for drumming , you could still use them for other purposes.

Cons:
Alesis made a bad batch of those some years ago where the left ear would stop working. A simple soldering the cable inside the cup fixed that issue but because of that they still have bad reviews. I never had issues with mine and I bought them around that time. They since have corrected the issue.

They are not any of the big known headphone brands (Sennheiser, AKG, Sony) so purists shun them before giving them a try. (Stupid purists).
 
From this thread about earplugs: I've heard good things about Earasers, and I have a pair from Vater (I'm sure they buy them from an OEM and have them branded) that work well, but my favorite is Pro Plugs from Doc's, https://www.proplugs.com/p-103-docs-proplugs-vented-clear-wo-leash.aspx . Comfy, they don't get weird when you sweat nor stick out, and fairly cheap for the great job they do. They will turn mildly yellow/orange over time (Wax? Sweat? Skin oil? Time? Combination?), but nobody can tell it when they're in your ears.
 
Another reason to go with GK Ultraphones is that they can be repaired. I had a pair for about 20 years and the cable went bad. I sent it in and Gordy not only repaired the cable, he cleaned the drivers (slight corrosion from sweat) and replaced the cracking earmuffs. Great communication about it all, too. Not expensive either.
 
Over50drumguy said:
On the expensive side( wouldn’t have bought myself) but my daughters bought me Bluetooth noise cancelling headphones from Apple. Great sound for listening to music , playing along to music through the Bluetooth or just playing with no music and the noise cancelling on
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The problem with hi-fi headphones, specifically in ear types, is that the hearing protection relies on your absolute rigorous attention to fit.
I would never play drums with commercial headphones or in ears. The temptation is to adjust them so the music is loud enough, but your drums still sound nice. With something like the GK Ultraphones or professional in-ear defenders, the strength of protection is on the box and there is nothing you can do to limit the protection.
The other problem with off the shelf items is that you don't know you are damaging your hearing until it's too late.
 
For now, if you happen to have some ear-cans you use for target practicing or other loud activities (mowing, etc.), start with those.
 
Chris Whitten said:
The problem with hi-fi headphones, specifically in ear types, is that the hearing protection relies on your absolute rigorous attention to fit.
I would never play drums with commercial headphones or in ears. The temptation is to adjust them so the music is loud enough, but your drums still sound nice. With something like the GK Ultraphones or professional in-ear defenders, the strength of protection is on the box and there is nothing you can do to limit the protection.
The other problem with off the shelf items is that you don't know you are damaging your hearing until it's too late.
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These are over ears Chris . But I see what you’re saying I think is that people will have the music too loud to get a good mix of the outside drum noise ?
I’ve not had to crank up the music in the phones on these to get a comfortable good sounding mix with the outside drum volume . The noise cancelling on them without music played through them is great. They have outside noise cancelling.
Im definitely far from close to an expert on hearing protection but other than playing when younger I’ve been using decent hearing protect and no issues so far . But they were just to block noise and not for a good ( to me) playing experience until the daughters gifted me these current ones .
When I was younger I never used any . As I got older I started using them at concerts and then while playing kit again back in 2018.
I used foam plugs but they would fall out . Then gun range type over ears but they would inevitably fall off . I started using the current ones because my daughters gifted them to me for Father’s Day after hearing music through one of theirs and ( for me ) worked well for for just playing with the noise cancelling and for playing to music through them .
What’s another non bank breaking option though to play to music with either music coming through the phones or externally where I can hear my playing and music together?
I do also occasionally play with music coming from speakers while wearing good gun range over ears but but I either can’t always hear the music good enough or my playing or both.
I’m definitely not up on audio stuff and hearing protection that allows a good listening and playing experience.
Any explanations on how this all works, gear and what to do for optimal listening, hearing, and playing experience is welcome and appreciated . Thanks 👍🏼
 
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Chris Whitten said:
I have the GK Ultraphones. I found the Vic Firth cans didn't isolate enough and didn't sound as good.
I have grown used to not hearing my drums 'in my face' and in full hi-fi. I wear in-ear protection a lot, which is expensive.
What people fail to focus on is their hearing health. You don't want tinnitus (I have it) and you don't want major hearing loss, perhaps leading to lip reading and mishearing in later life. People focus on $20 protection solutions instead.
Click to expand...
IMO the problem is that a lot of people who get good sounding in ears have the tendency to turn them way up, often to damaging levels thus defeating the purpose of protection.
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that in ears or regular headphones should sound bad to prevent this, what I am saying is that every individual is responsible for their own health and also to understand the headphones and peripherals they are using in order to use them effectively.
A lot of digital mixers including the ultra cheap Behringer X Air 18 allow you to create individual mixes for every musician where each one can be tailored to their taste. Hence why that mixer is a popular choice for an in ear rig.
Using a mixer in that fashion leaves you no excuse as of why you are turning your individual volume too high.
If you use headphones like the Alesis DRP 100, the isolation provided (with the headphones NOT connected, just used as ear muffs) is good enough to really hit the drums Eloy Casagrande style and not worry about damaging your hearing, (they don't completely prevent you from hearing your drums they just block enough).
Now with the headphones connected, you really don't need to turn up to completely eliminate the acoustic sound from your drums and just be able to hear your mix (with better sounding processed drums and every other instrument as loud or light as YOU want it). You can even connect to the mixer with your phone and dial your monitor mix yourself.
Yes I know spending $500 for a mixer plus the in ears and something to connect both starts to get expensive, but when you realize that hearing aids are over $400 sometimes then it doesn't sound that bad.
 
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