Earplugs are fussy things. But usually as long as they're not 'corks'(the old yellow foam cylinders)you should be fine.

Least with Howard Light it's Greens<Pinks<Oranges. Greens should be more than enough and are 'softer' if you've got a smaller ear canal. All of them work well.

You have to ensure you're putting them in correctly. Read the box. Roll the plug in your fingers, reach your other arm over you head to grab the top of the opposite ear, gently pull on the top of your ear, and insert the plug. You should feel & hear it expand forming a seal.

You can reuse foam ones a couple of times(can even get them corded), but be very, very wary of infections. And always put the same earplug back in the same ear(thus you don't spread anything).

Thank you!

I've tried just about every musician earplug on the market, including custom molded electric ones. For any amount of money, the best results I've had were with https://www.earasers.net/products/earasers. If I were to re-purchase these, I would consider the EU rated ones, which have a few extra DBs of protection.

If you aren't singing or don't need to hear your own voice as well, you can also get away with cheaper percussion earplugs like these: https://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/vater-earplugs

I would say these are both good enough for the casual musicians / audience members. I would only upgrade back to electric ones if I were buying actual in ear monitors, but I doubt any of my bands will get to that point.

If you've got some money, get custom molded earplugs made for sleeping. Places selling hearing aids sell them. They spray some foam in your ear to take the print, and you get the custom plugs in the mail a few weeks later. €140 is a lot for earplugs but it's amazing that they just slot into place in your ear, they're easy to pull out, and they're so small you don't feel them wether you're lying on them or wear headphones over them.

Plus you can adjust the sound absorption in some models and get specific decibel reduction out of the gate and overall it will be higher than foam.

Expensive but also helpful for in person concerts.

I recommend etymotic research ones. They cut frequencies more uniformly. The typical foam ones are slightly better at noise reduction, but they make everything sound incredibly muffled. I haven't had issues with any particular brand of foam ones though, if just cutting out noise is your goal.

The best would be custom molded earplugs, but those are fairly expensive.

I'm glad you recommended them because if you hadn't, I would have. Like you said they're particularly useful for preserving your hearing at live music venues without muddling the audio. As someone who didn't have hearing protection and attended some really loud venues, the hearing damage I have is a real pain the backside. There's a deep notch in the middle of my hearing range so going to a pub means I hear shuffling of feet and clinking of glasses better than I hear people talking to me even though they're closer and louder. Similarly cranking up the audio on a conference line means getting a painful spike of noise from join/leave beeps when the levels are right to hear speakers clearly.

Can't recommend that people wear hearing protection enough in general and at least for me etymotic make for a pleasant experience.

You could try using Equalizer APO and making a reverse of your notch for PC audio.

I just get basic CSV silicone earplugs. Nothing special, but they work surprisingly well and only cost $10.

Foam earplugs are supposed to me more effective, but apparently harder to wear and sometimes less comfortable.

I’ve been extremely satisfied with Happy Ears. They are tiny and unobtrusive, and very comfortable.

I love the Etymotic Research ER20

I also think they make the best earbuds on the market as well.

How easy are they to put in? Also are you meant to clean them from time to time?

As easy as any other ear plug; yes, you can and should clean them with a mild soap and water every so often.

The amazing thing about them is that they let you go to a live concert and hear all the music properly, without pain.

Disclosure: I don't get "loud live concerts" really.

But your last sentence makes me wonder WTH is going on. Why would so many people want this experience?

It's a complex answer, but I'll see what I can do to simplify it.

First, humans associate louder sound levels with higher quality, up to a point. Frequencies which can't be heard at lower levels become audible at higher levels.

Second, human ears adapt to a reasonably large range of sounds.

Third, sound levels decay with distance, which is why in ear phones use tiny amounts of power (a few milliwatts) and speaker systems for arena concerts can use megawatts. They also decay unevenly by frequency.

A classical Western concert with a full orchestra, unamplified, often has peak levels around 90 dB in the first few rows of seating. An amplified rock concert is trying to provide body-stirring levels of sound for people a hundred meters or more away from the stage.

That's the technical why. The personal why? Loud music literally moves you. It's not something I want every day, but it's fun on occasion.

While I understand the other parts it is your last sentence that explains it really. People will go to great lengths for a moving/fun experience.

Thank you.

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