Ear Plugs at events.. (minimising harm to your hearing)

Some of you may have noticed that Juiced will be handing out individually packaged ear plugs at our event to minimise the risk of hearing loss.. remembering of course, people should be sensible with their hearing and not expose themselves to excessively loud music for too long (ie. standing next to the speakers at an event).

We've invested in some NNR 29dba ear plugs, so they should cut roughly around 1/4th the loudness from the PA out providing people with less chance of 'ringing ears' at the end of the night.. (a sign of hearing damage).

1)Do you think they should be free - would you use them if they were?
2)Does the colour matter?
3)Do you think considering how easy it is to damage our hearing, that this is a good industry standard and should be done at all future events?
4)Do you ever worry your hearing may be affected permanently if you don't make a change now to minimise risk?

and finally..

5)How many of you have had your parents recommend you wear ear plugs at events?

fully recommend earplugs - in 10 years time you'll be thankful that you did!

Personally, I wont use them. And yes i might get hearing damage, but hey, its my own choice.
However im still not as bad as some of those idiots who think its cool 2 stand in front of the biggest speaker stack in the whole place for the night *shakes head*

There is one thing i have never understood however:
If wearing earplugs becomes a trend (ie to the level where promoters are even giving away free plugs) doesnt it just make more sense to turn the music down?

Not that i want you to, i jst find that confusing

Oh sorry, and to answer the questions
1)Do you think they should be free - would you use them if they were? They should be available, not that id use them
2)Does the colour matter? Umm no, not unless ur out jst out to look cool. however some that glow under lights could be pretty cool
3)Do you think considering how easy it is to damage our hearing, that this is a good industry standard and should be done at all future events? Try it, and see how it works first
4)Do you ever worry your hearing may be affected permanently if you don't make a change now to minimise risk? I dont worry, if it happens it happens. However i dont do stupid things to amplify the damage (above post)

and finally..

5)How many of you have had your parents recommend you wear ear plugs at events? Nope- however they always recommend that i turn the subs in my car down, so thats kinda the same?

Hope that helped

To answer your question Matt about why Promoters don't just turn the PA down:

The people at the back can't hear the music at the front due to the laws of physics. Therefore for the people (all 700 of them at the back) they need it to be turned up, at the sacrifice of the 300 people at the front.

However, in saying that - why did you buy subs in the first place? The answer is simple.. So that you could feel the music.

The only issue is that in order to turn the music up to a level where you can feel the music, and the adrenaline that loud live music creates, you need a loud PA. The only issue is that its at the cost of your hearing.. therefore, people invented the ear plug.

Makes sense?

Well...

1)if they are available i would definitely use them,

2)Colour does not matter, thou green is cool

3)fuk yer, there will be lots of thankyous in 10-20 years time from all the 30 year olds that arent deaf because all their friends who were to "cool" for ear plugs are trying to tell them that "the silence is golden.

4)Yup, im already going deaf.. its scary, im hoping that by the time my hearing gets really bad they'll have real flash hearing aids.

5) haha yup my grandma too

Hope that helps

Ahh of course, it seems so clear to me now, thnks.
And your right, i subscribe to the school of thought where i want to feel the music, if it isnt loud, its not worth listening to! (mind you volume is no substitute for sound quality, which many people seem to forget)

I would never sacrafice quality for loudness.

That's why I've got Infinity Montiors.

Its all about the quality.

Quality for sure - some gigs have been so loud I have had to go home...

Now thats lame.

I dont wear ear plugs as i socialize a lot when out so if its too loud I dont hang around for long.

Big gigs its diff though. Im there to usually have a big night out so ear plugs are suitable.

I would be thrilled to see free earplugs being given out! As audio engineering is a future career for me my ears are almost the most important things on my body and i really do have a concern with looking after them.

Im already wearing ear plugs at raves and they really do do a great job, i have a massive collection of them from my recent aeroplane flight haha.

i think colour is important, and the more discreet the better. As sensible and wise as it is, i still feel like a real loser walkin round with two big yellow bits of sponge stickin out my ears.

Lol!

Yeah dude, agree!

A couple of demo sets of the ear plugs we're providing for free at Juiced turned up today..

Verdict: They're so awesome - they truly cut a significant range of dangerous frequencies out.. it lets you really feel the music and be right up the front without any issues!

I'm really proud to be providing these free at Juiced!

PS. Spot the person worried they'd be shit ear plugs.. hahaha *relief*