Customer Reviews

Hearos Earplugs High Fidelity Series with Free Case, 1-Pair

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have used these earplugs for over 2 years and have purchased a set for my wife and close friend. As a senior citizen, almost, my ears have become very sensitive to loud or disturbing noises. I play poker on a weekly basis in casinos which have a high amount of agitating ambient noise from the excessively loud overhead speaker announcements and adjacent slot machine chaos. These earplugs attenuate the noise level to one that can be tolerated for hours on end, sometimes 8 to 10 hours on the tables, and yet, unlike the foam earplugs, I can understand the conversations at the table. Before finding these plugs, my ears would ring for hours after leaving the buildings. Now, upon removal outside, I have no negative side effects from all of the noise and have my full range of hearing capabilities.
The plugs do take a little practice to get to fit comfortably, especially for someone not used to using earplugs. The plastic insertion cone is layered to give three levels of sound reduction. This affects both the level of the seal from the outside sounds along with the depth of insertion.
I always remember to take these plugs to live concerts. It allows me to enjoy nearly the full range of musical tones without getting a headache from the excessively loud volumes.
Highly recommended.

My wife and I really like live music and we've been able to see some great live acts in the last few years (James Brown, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Billy Joel, etc.). Even some of the more mellow acts we've seen have been really loud. These ear plugs are great. You still get to hear the highs and lows of the music, but without the dangerous noise levels. I highly recommend them.

As a clinically-diagnosed ADHD adult, I often have difficulty maintaining focus in a busy, high-tech work environment. Blocking distracting conversations with continuous, soothing music is part of the fix. This is where Hearos High Fidelity ear plugs come in very handy.

I frequently use these Hearos in conjunction with my full-size, over-the-ear Vic Firth Isolation Headphones (the black ones that play music, not the blue ones that simply block sound). The combo works in much the same the way Dolby noise reduction does. I play my MP3 player (or other signal source) 12 decibels louder than normal and the Hearos High Fidelity ear plugs then attenuate 12 decibels...leaving me with the same music and much less background noise. It's worth a try if you're so inclined.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Hearos High Fidelity plugs did not fit my ears right out of the box. I used a single-edged razor blade to carefully remove the first (smallest) section of each soft rubber eartip. Now they fit my ears well and are comfortable enough for long-term wearing.

Bottom line: five stars.

These simple yet amazingly expensive ear plugs fall short of their miraculous claims. THey don't just reduce volume. They unfortunately muffle sounds significantly, making speech unclear and music much less enjoyable.

Recently I was listening to a song in which the lyric was "A day without you is like a year without rain" and I heard "A day without you is like a year of gout pain".

That may actually have been an even more convincingly passionate proclamation of love but you don't want that kind of distortion. Still, there are few choices, and these ear plugs are at least much better than solid foam ear plugs that blunt and muffle everything really badly.

The normal size Hearoes ear plugs are way too large for my ear canals. I am 5 ft. 8 and rather small-boned so this isn't surprising. But the ones marketed "for smaller ears" are also a bit too big, impossible to fully insert and hardly bearable for an hour. The "Baby Blue" model of Etymotics ear plugs are extremely similar but either a tiny bit smaller or a bit softer so they work better for me. They are also cheaper (on Amazon anyhow). Etymotic Research ER20 High-Fidelity Earplugs (Baby Blue with Clear Stem)

I play in a signed metal band and I don't know what I would do without my hearo high fidelitys.
They make it so I can hear my self and my band members on stage or in practice without destroying my hearing.
Everything sounds very close to the same as without them in, just less loud.
They are the most useful thing after your insturment that any musician can have.

I have custom earplugs that were made for me and these work better. Mind you, that's because the person who took the mold of my ear did it wrong. These end up being more comfortable for live shows. Now, custom earplugs could probably get you a better reduction in volume while still being accurate, but I find these work just fine at concerts. The only problem is that I feel they should practically come with some lube, as putting them in your ears can be very uncomfortable. Once you get them in there though, it isn't so bad. If you aren't listening to or engineering music, I'd probably recommend their disposable ones instead, simply because they are a little more comfortable. I also like the free case that comes with it. It's shaped efficiently and I find it easy to store in my pocket.

I have medium sized ear canals, and these are a bit painful to use. I would go with Hearos Earplugs High Fidelity Series for Comfortable Long Term Use with Free Case, 1 Package unless you actually do have larger ear canals. In any case, these are amazing for live music. As everyone else says, they really do just turn down the volume without muffling everything like cheap foam earplugs. Just make sure you actually use the case they give you, because you'll probably lose them otherwise.

I've purchased at least 6 different types of ear plugs to deal with tinnitus. Wearing ear plugs helps keep my tinnitus from flaring up too badly (but it never goes away). Hearos High Fidelity ear plugs (clear hard plastic stem with flexible white elastomer rubber tip) do a good job of filtering out loud noises while still allowing things to sound somewhat normal. And their neutral colors help them to be unobtrusive. I've worn them to several concerts and am glad to have had them. I've found that pushing them in all the way gives the most sound reduction, but if I only need a little protection, I can twist them and pull them out ever so slightly to get a good balance between protection, comfort and audio quality. If you're looking for earplugs to wear to concerts, then I'd recommend that you consider these. But there are a few caveats . . .

My two complaints are that they are the slightest bit uncomfortable and sometimes they take a few adjustments to their position to get them to work properly. This is because the hard center stem limits the amount of deformation of the outer flexible tip. Hearos sells a similar product that's made entirely of blue flexible material (not the foam ones). The all-blue rubber Hearos ear plugs have a flexible center stem and are my favorite ear plugs. They're easy to insert/remove, conform easily to my ears, block out the most sound of any non-foam ear plug I've tried, and are the most comfortable ear plugs I've ever tried. I almost always carry a pair of the blue flexible rubber Hearos ear plugs in my pockets.

If you have small ear canals, then I'd recommend against the Hearos High Fidelity ear plugs. If you're on the large size, then they might work great for you.

These earplugs seem to be something of a gold standard amongst musicians and they are fairly good earplugs. I don't, however, feel they are really the best for music use and they're quite expensive for what they are on top of that. I used these for years just assuming they were the best and they're really not. For one, they are not all that natural sounding despite claims. The highs are cut way more than the lows. This can actually be nice for musicians depending on what you need to hear in the mix but for watching shows it doesn't really work. I find myself always pulling one out so I can hear what the music really sounds like for a few minutes. Plus, in really loud situations, they are not enough noise reduction. For shows at most clubs, they are probably fine but if you find yourself standing in front of a cranked full stack for a set, your ears will still be ringing at the end of the day. If you go to enough extremes, eventually no earplug is enough for complete protection but there are other earplugs available that sound better, have better noise reduction and are cheaper. Check out Skull Screws by the same brand.

I highly recommend protecting your hearing if you go to or play shows a lot. Using toilet paper or cheap foam plugs works, but then you don't get to hear music the way it was intended. These Hearos work great except the white ones are HUGE and not only hurt after a while, but start tickling the inside if your ear and it is just super distracting especially in the middle of playing a show. Spend the extra few dollars and get the black ones - designed for comfortable long term use. They're totally worth it and way cheaper than a hearing aid down the line!