The best earplugs for musicians

5 Apr 2022

Music: it moves you, entertains you and connects. As a musician, you know this better than anyone. Music also means sound, and oftentimes (too) much sound. Treat your ears well – they are your most important instrument! How do you make sure you enjoy the experience of music, without having to compromise on sound quality?

Filter

Especially as a musician, you’ll want to hear as many nuances in music and that requires an earplug with a proper attenuation filter. For the best sound quality we have our Premium ‘flat’ filters. These filters attenuate the sound equally over all frequencies, it’s like turning down the volume button.

Attenuation

Filters are available in different strengths. With Premium filters, you have the choice between 10, 15, 20 or 25 dB, depending on how much sound you are exposed to. There can be large differences between instruments and where you are located in a room or band/orchestra. Drummers produce a lot more sound than for instance a violinist. Here you can find a handy overview of different instruments and their respective sound levels.

Soorten gehoorbescherming

If you’re looking to try them out first or if you’ll be using hearing protection occasionally, universal earplugs may be the right fit for you. If you use earplugs regularly or if you’re looking for an upgrade to your universal earplugs, custom made earplugs are the best solution. Both the universal Premium Music earplugs as well as the custom made earplugs have a flat filter keeping the sound quality the best it can be.

The upsides of custom made hearing protection are an optimal fit (and with that a great seal and protection), a longer lifespan (4-5 years), more than 20 colour options and different filter strengths.

Pluggerz Premium Uni-Fit Pluggerz Premium Custom-Fit

Material

If you choose universal earplugs, you’ll get antiallergic silicone earplugs. When you choose custom made, there’s acrylic or silicone material available.

Pros acrylic Pros silicone
  • Durability
  • Easy to clean
  • More hygienic
  • Feels cooler
  • Softer material
  • More colour options
  • Filters are easy to remove before cleaning
  • Less vibrations

Generally, we advise getting acrylic earplugs. The material is more hygienic, easier to clean and usually more durable. However, there are some exceptions, for instance earplugs for violinists, singers and wind instruments. Musicians who use their head or mouth to play an instrument will experience more vibrations. Silicone material keeps a large amount of these vibrations from traveling through to the head. This is a big plus for musicians, since other sounds (coming from other musicians in an orchestra or music in general) will not get drowned out by these vibrations.

Seal

No matter which hearing protector you choose, having a good seal is the most important for the attenuation qualities of the hearing protection. If there’s any leakage in the earplug, the effectiveness will easily drop with 6 to 10 dB. This is why an annual seal test is heavily advised!

Written by: Wendy