Whats the best and cheapest way to play to music without damaging your ears

Every now and then I'd like to warm up to a song when I start practicing but what I've been doing is playing the mp3 on my computer and listening through headphones. The only way I can play along is when the volume is loud enough to hear over the drums and its hurting my ears. Is there any other ways of doing this without spending alot of money on speakers, PAs or electronic kit and not hurt my ears using headphones?
 
The only way that I know of with an acoustic kit is to go the expensive route.
Mic the kit through a mixer then through expensive noise reduction headphones. Then mix the song in that you are playing to.
Sorry, I don't know of any cheaper way.

Playing with plastic brushes, i.e., Blastick's will be one way to play an acoustic kit at lower volumes to allow your phones to be lowered.
 
Or just get a pair of headphones that are closed back designed and fit over, not on top of your ears. These headphones come in a variety of different levels of attenuation to help cut out the ambient sound (drums) from fully entering you ear canals. Two of my favorites in the mid price area are the Sennheiser 280's or the Audio technica M50's. The M50's are a bit more expensive, but in my opinion have a flatter smoother frequency response. Using headphones with a greater degree of ambient isolation will cause you to be able to lower the headphone's level to a point where it will do a lot less damage to your hearing. When things start to hurt, it's time to find alternate methods like what you're doing here.

Good luck and remember, hearing damage is not reversible.

Dennis
 
get some skullcandy ink'd earbuds
there about £15

although the break from usual wear and tear pretty quickly

if you just use them for drumming they are ridiculously nice for the price

i have my ipod on at about half volume if not less when i use them


but be warned, if you use them for normal use, and keep them in your pocket etc, they will break quickly
 
Or just get a pair of headphones that are closed back designed and fit over, not on top of your ears. These headphones come in a variety of different levels of attenuation to help cut out the ambient sound (drums) from fully entering you ear canals. Two of my favorites in the mid price area are the Sennheiser 280's or the Audio technica M50's. The M50's are a bit more expensive, but in my opinion have a flatter smoother frequency response. Using headphones with a greater degree of ambient isolation will cause you to be able to lower the headphone's level to a point where it will do a lot less damage to your hearing. When things start to hurt, it's time to find alternate methods like what you're doing here.

Good luck and remember, hearing damage is not reversible.

Dennis

I have the M50's and it does a great job at reducing the volume of the drums. Matter of fact I always have to make sure the music isnt too high because then I cant really hear my drumming.
 
You could go the headphone route, but I've found that in-ears are equal in price and are great for plain earplugs, playing with music, and playing at gigs. Shure makes a great set of in-ears starting at $99 that are made for musicians and aren't cheap earbuds that fall out of your ears all the time. Looks pretty stylish too.
 
These are the ones I use:

http://www.amazon.com/Vic-Firth-Stereo-Isolation-Headphones/dp/B0002F519I

They reduce the volume of your drums a lot so they are the same volume as the music. I plug them into my iPod or a metronome every time I practice. The sound quality is good, I'm sure there are high-end sound-canceling headphones with higher-fidelity sound but they sound good to me, and they're not that expensive for good quality headphones. I've had mine for over 3 years with no problems.
 
1. Foam earplugs
2. Earmuff headphones over the foam earplugs

...both reduce the amount of volume you hear in your ear canal, but don't save you from bone conduction hearing loss. Even though it sounds like you're protected well when using this method, still take it easy on the volume...
 
These are the ones I use:

http://www.amazon.com/Vic-Firth-Stereo-Isolation-Headphones/dp/B0002F519I

They reduce the volume of your drums a lot so they are the same volume as the music. I plug them into my iPod or a metronome every time I practice. The sound quality is good, I'm sure there are high-end sound-canceling headphones with higher-fidelity sound but they sound good to me, and they're not that expensive for good quality headphones. I've had mine for over 3 years with no problems.

Yup! I think those are the ones. Good price and every review I've read has been a good one, and it's Vic Firth how can you ever go wrong with Vic Firth!
 
Lot's of folks covering the cheap or reasonable angles, but the subject says both cheap and best. Of course, there is no "cheap and best" in one package, but here is an example of best:

For monitors, I like these custom fitted jobs from Westone. They are rated for a roughly 30db reduction, but I find that number to be conservative. Then I throw a pair of these phones on top.

Anything better than that combo would probably involve a lead helmut.
 
I had the Vic Firths but didnt like them for many reasons. I changed to Etyomics 6i's (cost about $15-20 more than the VF's), and I love them... err I did until my cats chewed up the cords while I was away over the weekend :(

With the Etyomics I could reduce the volume by about 40-50% and everything sounded better. They're more comfortable, and have a straight cord (I hate coiled cords).
 
I had the Vic Firths but didnt like them for many reasons. I changed to Etyomics 6i's (cost about $15-20 more than the VF's), and I love them... err I did until my cats chewed up the cords while I was away over the weekend :(

With the Etyomics I could reduce the volume by about 40-50% and everything sounded better. They're more comfortable, and have a straight cord (I hate coiled cords).

I've tried headphones similar looking to those and I remember them constantly slipping out of my ears...that was really annoying! How do these feel?

Lot's of folks covering the cheap or reasonable angles, but the subject says both cheap and best. Of course, there is no "cheap and best" in one package, but here is an example of best:

For monitors, I like these custom fitted jobs from Westone. They are rated for a roughly 30db reduction, but I find that number to be conservative. Then I throw a pair of these phones on top.

Anything better than that combo would probably involve a lead helmut.

Yeah, I don't have that kind of money to drop. I wish I did but no.
 
I've tried headphones similar looking to those and I remember them constantly slipping out of my ears...that was really annoying! How do these feel?

yea i have the same problem with most earbuds, like the ipod ones... So I was hesitant to get the 6i's. But they come with a bunch of different, interchangable earbuds, different sizes and styles, and you can order even more of different sizes. I found the medium foam buds work best for me and are the most comfortable. Extras and replacements are relatively cheap ($14 for a 5 pack).

I like them so much... I just ordered my second pair... damn kittens :(
 
A $20 pair of hearing protection ear muffs from Home Depot over a $15 pair of skull candy earbuds.

I find these two items work very well when used together. The muffs are rated something like 20 db reduction. My guess is that the skull candies are another 10 to 15 db on top of that. All in all your looking at about 30-35 db reduction which is about what you get from foam plugs.

You won't turn the volume up on your MP3 player past 3 or 4 (out of 10) otherwise you won't be able to hear your drums.
 
A big point being made here about in-ears. If the volume is turned up to where you can't hear your drums at all, than they are too loud and possibly doing more damage to your ears than if you just didn't have them to begin with.

Upper level sets of IEM's come with a spike attenuator that prevents getting spiked with ultra loud volumes by accident. If you don't have that, be careful. Nothing like funelling 100+dB directly to your ear drums....

IEM's are a perfect alternative to wedges and box monitors that need to be blaring in order to get above your playing. The set up and procurment costs might exceed the budget a little, but it's defintely an improvement worth saving for. What you'd really be saving is your hearing...which there is no rebate for.
 
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