OUTSTANDLY Comfortable "Protective Listening"

CPB,
Good review. I have been looking for something like this since I got my new Air Pro.

-- Chip -- Manchester, Connecticut "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

Barry, you saved me some money and maximized domestic harmony here (have though about Work Tunes). It might stop my wife from coming out to tone down the driving rhythms emanating from the shop.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

These are good, but I still prefer Sens Gard

-- making sawdust....

Mott,

I like Sens Gard too, but I don’t know of a version that allows electronic listening. On airport ramps, I use SG’s or EAR foam plugs, as a taxiing jet can make a wood shop sound like a library.

-- - Please help keep Lumberjocks an enjoyable escape by refusing to participate in political discussions. Simply spit out the bait and ignore the thread...

I have been meaning to review mine for a long time, I’ll now just comment on yours. I wanted good sound and protection, and these are the best I have seen so far. They are expensive, but sound quality is great and they are very good at sound attenuation. I use the cones which are 35db, the foam is better, but I thought it would be a problem in a wood shop. I have to be careful, I cannot hear some of my equipment running with them on.

http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er4.aspx

Marco,

$300? You aren’t kidding they’re expensive. <g> On the other hand, my hearing is important to me enough that I spent $900+ on an active noise canceling flight headset.

Be aware that a 24 NRR does not mean 24 db. Interestingly enough, Etymotic does not provide an EPA NRR.

The packaging from the Blockades states these attenuation specs:
125 – 35.2 dB
250 – 35.9
500 – 37.5
1k – 35.4
2k – 33.8
3.15k – 38.6
4k – 36.4
6.3k – 40
8k – 43 dB

Somehow, this all adds up to an EPA NRR of 24.

Have you tried a set of the $40 versions and compared them? It would be interesting… I’m sure yours have insane sound quality, as they’re built to mixing reference standards. I’d wonder if my IPod can actually put out reference quality sound? I wish those were available back when I was a working sound mixer, especially at the stage monitor desk, as they look extremely comfortable.
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-- - Please help keep Lumberjocks an enjoyable escape by refusing to participate in political discussions. Simply spit out the bait and ignore the thread...

I read your review right after you posted it. I have been thinking about getting something more effective than the standard ear buds that came with my MP3 player for a while and your review spurred me to action. I did my usual net research and found enough about several products to satisfy myself that these were the way to go so I ordered a pair.

Thanks for the help.
Joe

-- JMP

I’ve been playing music professionally for some years, I have some experience with recording. I can say the Etymotic are great quality. The reason I got them, is they seemed to have the best protection when I bought them 3 years ago. I had trouble with one tip breaking, (my fault) and they fixed at no charge.

Guess we can call them the Lie-Nielsen of ear bud manufacturers!

Just a follow up for anyone that is interested. I recieved my Blockade earbuds this morning and used them all day while working in the shop. Amazing is all I can say. A product that really delivers and a price I can afford. One minor concern is longevity in the shop environment. These are very lightweight and although the production appears to be of excellent quality, the materials don’t appear to be very rugged. That said, these were a real find. Thanks for the review.

-- JMP