Dave Lockwood goes undercover with Elacin's ER15 custom-moulded, unobtrusive musician's earplugs.

At one time, hearing conservation was almost a taboo subject amongst those involved in live performance, with bands and PA rig operators seeming almost proud to embrace the creed 'if it's too loud, you're too old'. These days, however, a rather more responsible attitude prevails, with a far more widespread understanding of the real risks involved in regular and prolonged exposure to excessively high sound pressure levels. The use of in-ear monitoring systems by an ever increasing number of high profile artists has further helped to highlight the issue of hearing health. For whilst their primary motivation is usually improved foldback and FOH sound, coupled with greater stage mobility, a reduction in ear fatigue and post-gig tinnitus is a widely reported, beneficial side effect!

What many performers require, however, is simply an unobtrusive (big industrial ear defenders don't do much for your image on stage!) means of lowering the volume they are exposed to down to safer levels, without noticeably affecting the quality of the sound that they are hearing. Over the years, a number of products have been offered to musicians for hearing protection, ranging from simple foam 'ear plugs', which have an audible effect somewhat akin to putting your fingers in your ears, through to mechanically-valved ear pieces designed to remain fully open until the sound exceeds a threshold level sufficient to automatically trigger closing of the valve. The major problem with all these devices, however, is that they do not attenuate all parts of the frequency spectrum with the same efficiency — high frequencies are always blocked more easily than low frequencies, resulting in an unnaturally dull sound.

PLUG IT IN

The Elacin ER15 and ER25 Musicians' Earplugs, however, now available in this country from Elcea UK, at last offer the chance of hearing conservation combined with normal sound perception. The system utilises a special filter diaphragm, developed by Etymotic Research in the US, which is mounted in a custom-moulded, soft silicone earpiece to ensure a good seal against the outside world. This requires accurate impressions to be taken.

An authorised fitter injects a special silicon-based material into each ear, almost up to the ear drum, which is simply left to set for about five minutes. The process, performed for me by Elcea UK Managing Director and leading audiologist Andrew Schiach FSHAA MRSH, is not at all uncomfortable, but does require that your ears are completely free of wax, to avoid inaccuracies in the impression. The moulds made from the impressions are then drilled out to allow the small circular filters to be fitted. The filters can be removed, when necessary, to facilitate cleaning of the moulds, and eventually replacement of the filters due to damage or fatigue.

The thin diaphragm itself is entirely passive and acts rather like a tiny speaker cone, passing on the sound it receives, but at a reduced level due to its controlled compliance — somewhere between 10 and 15dB lower for the ER15 version, and between 20 and 25dB for ER25s. This may not seem like all that much of a reduction, compared to some heavy-duty industrial ear defenders, but in practice, 10 to 15dB is precisely the right sort of amount to conserve hearing, whilst still maintaining enough of a sense of normal hearing to be viable for musical performance.

"The verdict? Absolute bliss!"

A key element of the Elcea system is that the combination of the diaphragm and the physical properties of the earmould shape and material actually produces a frequency response which broadly mimics the natural resonant frequency of the ear. We all have a substantial (in excess of 10dB) peak somewhere between 2 and 4kHz, but as this is the only way we have ever heard the world, logically enough, it is what sounds normal to us!

The moulds are obviously unique to each ear, so identification of the correct side is facilitated by the incorporation of a small red dot into the right plug and a blue one for the left, which is fine most of the time, but not good in low light. I would prefer a raised dot on one side that you could feel in the dark. Insertion is easily mastered — you know when they are in properly as they won't go any further but don't feel like they might fall out — and this can be aided, if necessary, by the use of the supplied ear-friendly lubricant.

The verdict? Absolute bliss! Being custom-moulded, the fit is perfect and you can almost forget that you are wearing them, not just because they are remarkably comfortable, but because everything still sounds so normal, simply not so loud. This is actually quite a shock at first — you, not unnaturally, expect things to sound different simply because you've got something substantial stuck in your ear!

EAR, EAR

I tested mine initially in rehearsal with a small band and was struck not just by the increased comfort of hearing everything at a reduced level, but also by the greater clarity that this seemed to impart to the sound. I found it much easier to hear individual instruments within an overall balance, making my actual monitor balance much less critical than normal. Fatigue at the end of a lengthy rehearsal was also undoubtedly reduced.

On stage, the effect was equally beneficial, with none of the the sense of alienation and separation from what was going on that I had anticipated. Whilst I certainly don't choose to wear them for every type of gig I do, there are some situations (loud drummer, highly reflective, low-ceilinged room) where I can be certain in advance that, by the end of the night, I would regret not having worn them.

"... a godsend..."

Noise induced hearing loss, however, is a direct function of both sound level and exposure time, and current thinking suggests that, among musicians, more damage is sustained by hours of rehearsal than during the usually, less frequent periods of performance. So, if you feel that you are at risk of suffering some kind of hearing damage as a result of your musical activities, but either you (or the other members of the band) can't handle the thought of appearing on stage using ear protection, however unobtrusive, then you can still significantly reduce your risk of damage by using a pair of ER15s just during rehearsals.

In reality, the sound is not entirely neutral — there is a drop off at somewhere around 10kHz and above — but what remains is more than sufficient to convince you that you are hearing a 'normal' amount of HF, in anything other than an all-acoustic context (where you probably wouldn't be wearing them anyway).

Now that I have them, I really do wonder what I did without them — they are a godsend on aircraft, and I even sometimes use them on long journeys in the car. If the price seems too high, you've probably never met a musician suffering from permanent, incurable tinnitus (the ringing in your ears after a loud gig that has normally gone away by the next morning). As a musician, engineer, and producer myself, my hearing is probably my most important asset, yet only now do I feel properly equipped for the life I lead. If you are in a loud band, or you practice an acoustic instrument for several hours a day, get some!

Elacin ER15 Musicians' Earplugs £141 inc VAT.

Elcea UK, (Contact Details).