<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2769" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: = Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=rol= e_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV>It's interesting that Bob brought this up right now. I was just about t= o send out a e-mail to ask about the comfort of these things. For several mont= hs now I've been bothered by loud noises, not only tuning the upper register of= piano, but also loud crowd noise, and the organ at church. I sit in the back= row of our choir loft, which is right in front of the pipe organ. It drives me crazy. I leave for the postlude, especially when the organist plays somethin= g loud and fast, which he usually does. He's great player, and I can't ask him= to tone it down, because when I've been down in the sanctuary, the sound is jus= t right. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I went to the University Speech and Heari= ng Center, and got a hearing check up. My hearing is fine, except it drops off = a little in the high register, which is normal for someone my age (60). But th= e audiologist said I did have tenuitis (sp) So I got a pair of custom made ear= plugs. It only cost $100. Compared to what some of you are paying, I guess I= got a pretty good deal</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But what I was going to ask is, how long does it take to get used to th= ese things? They don't hurt, but it is irritating to have them in my e= ar. I also found that there are several positions to put them in. If I put them = in all the way, I can't hear the subtleties of unisons or intervals. So I have = to put them in only half way. I also found that if I put in just my right ear, = and leave the left one out, I can hear better. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Any of you have this experience?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Wim </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 10/28/2005 12:21:15 AM Central Standard Time, hullfam5@yahoo.com writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><= FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size= =2>I'm looking at two brands of earplugs for hearing<BR>protection: E.A.R. inc.&n= bsp; and Etymotic.  Both have ER-<BR>25 and maybe ER-15 filtered plugs tha= t are custom<BR>moldable to fit.  Etymotic has a do it yourself mold<BR>kit; and E.A.R. sends you to an audiologist type to<BR>get the impression done for some $.  Etymotic plugs<BR>are 152.00 with free molding kit while E.A.R plugs are<BR>130.00 plus but maybe about $35 that = will have to be<BR>paid to someone to get the impressions done. <BR><BR>I have = been using some Etymotic ER-20 (not custom)<BR>that I bought at the convention (cheap ones).  They do<BR>pretty well but quite a few pianos still bo= ther me<BR>while tuning the higher octaves.<BR><BR>I'm interested in your experiences with either of<BR>these brands or others and what level of fil= ter you<BR>have found to be good. <BR><BR>Thanks, <BR>Bob Hull<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>