ER20XS ETY Earplugs - Large Size, Clear - High-Fidelity Hearing Protection - Up to 20 dB Sound Reduction - Reusable - Includes Neck Cord & Carrying Case

I got the standard fit ER20XS, which fit very well. I wore these ear plugs for a 4-day hard rock music festival. The sound quality was very good. The plugs are fairly nondescript when you have them in. Nothing flashy, just effective. No lying in bed with ringing ears. They stay in and aren't painful. I actually wore the Etymotic plugs all 4 days, which for me is really saying something! I was impressed. I'll definitely be using these for the upcoming summer concerts. Once I learned how to take them in and out of my ears, I found it easy to pop them in when approaching a stage versus having them out while walking around or listening from the back. At one point the little storage box popped open without me knowing and I lost the cord, which I wasn't using anyway. Make sure you snap that container all the way shut. I have tried other foam earplugs at concerts before and found they distort the sound and block too much of the music. I always ended up abandoning them. No such disappointment with the Etymotic ear plugs. I definitely recommend these.

So these do work. They lower the volume as opposed to blocking the sound (like a foam earplug would). However, at least for me, you do lose the feeling of the music. You lose a lot of highs. Mids sound fine, maybe a tad muddled. Bass sounds fine too. But losing the highs definitely takes away from the soul of the music. Now, with that being said, it is MUCH better than foam ear plugs. It *IS* like turning down the volume, but it's also like switching from your expensive home audio system to a portable bluetooth speaker. The genre of music DOES matter. For anything with instruments I almost never wear these. I'd rather hear the full body of music. But for EDM these things are LIFE SAVERS. Er, ear savers, I guess. EDM is more about the lows and mids and less about the highs, so these earplugs don't ruin the sound as much. I was just a few rows away from the stage during a Bassnectar show, so I was close to some gnarly loud speakers. Not only were my ears very well protected, but everything still sounded great. My friends had to retreat to the back because their ears were hurting so much, but I was able to stay up front. Later in the year I purchased "EarPeace HD Concert Ear Plugs - High Fidelity Hearing Protection for Music Festivals, DJs & Musicians (Standard, Red Case)" (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076VTXWBP/). In comparison the EarPeace was much more comfortable. The Etymotics start to dig into your ear and become uncomfortable after a while. The EarPeaces fit much more softly in your ear. However, the Etymotics had far superior sound quality than the EarPeaces. The EarPeaces sounded much more muddied than the Etys. Granted, I only tried the mid-grade sound dampening filter of the EarPeaces (they came with three filters, most dampening, some dampening, least dampening). Next time I will try the least to see how they compare to the Etys. Now back to the Etys. I never tried the foam plugs. The carrying case sucks, it's difficult to use and open. Also, don't get caught up on having a lanyard. With both the Etys and the EarPeaces neither plug would simply fall out of your ear without coercion. And when you take out the plugs and use the lanyard to rest them on your shoulders, it honestly feels like the lanyard could fall off me at any moment. The EarPeaces didn't come with a lanyard, which had me worried. But when using them in the field I realized I didn't need it and I was better off putting them directly back into their case anyway. (Which, btw, EarPeace has the superior case). So yes, the Etymotics do work. They don't work great, although they work better than EarPeace. They aren't very comfortable, however, I've found that you can't rely on someone else's definition of comfort. Everyone's ear canal is shaped different.

Having done the orange Mack's earplugs thing for concerts before, I really wanted to avoid the generic in-ear foam plugs (or any over-ear headphones) for going to live concerts. Regular plugs muffle EVERYTHING to the point that the music I've paid to hear sounds like the Swedish Chef screaming into a pillow. I settled on these Etymotic plugs based on a single recommendation after having posted a request for recs on Reddit. The stipulations were: 1) They had to be in-ear. The reasoning being over-ear protection is very bulky for anything that actually protects well enough to use. I'm old enough where I don't care what anyone says about how "uncool" I am wearing ear protection. 2) They had to include a non-flange option. My wife cannot use flanged ear plugs due to numerous ear piercings on different spots of her ears. For the same reason, she cannot wear over-ear pro as in #1. I was pretty sure she'd be stuck with regular foam plugs until I found these. I did see a "moldable" plastic ear plug set exists from another manufacturer, but I read extensively that they are very uncomfortable to wear after only an hour or two. 3) They couldn't cost an arm and a leg to buy without knowing how they'd function. Each set of these plugs was $25 at the time of my purchase, so they weren't about to break the bank for a "risk" purchase based on a lone recommendation. Overall: yeah, these are definitely a winner. The flanged tips were comfortable for me. The foam tips were comfortable for my wife. We were both pretty happy with the total volume reduction (no ear pain/ringing at the end of the concert) and exceedingly pleased with the limited distortion to the music/vocals. There definitely is SOME distortion, but, compared to standard foam plugs, these are definitely high-fidelity. We're looking into professional custom-made plugs for both of us, but I'll definitely return for more of these if the custom plugs don't happen and if/when my current set of these wears out.

First off, I am rating these with the foam ear tips that are available. I highly recommend that you buy those too if you buy these earplugs. The flange ear tips are not as effective at reducing noise as the foam ones. I have used these ear plugs for almost 20 years for various occasions. These are really good for use at rock concerts. You can reduce the volume to a fairly safe level and still hear the music without too much dulling of the sound . Truthfully, I think rock concerts sound better with these because you can really hear the music. Best part is no ringing of the ears after. That should be the main reason why you would want to have these. I can imagine many other needs for earplugs like this where you want very good fidelity and to protect your ears. The price of these and the foam ear tips are so worth your money to protect your ears. That investment will last many, many, many years of use. I still have and use the pair I bought almost 20 years ago. The most recent pair I bought and reviewing was for a friend who was using regular foam earplugs at a concert we recently attended. After seeing that, I felt obligated to give them a pair of these (with the foam tips :-) ) so he can protect his ears and hear future concerts better and safely. I fully recommend these ([broken record playing ] with the foam ear tips).

I use these every day at my machining job. Cuts out all the air gun noises, and high pitched squeals from the machine, but allows me to listen to music and hold a conversation in a way regular earplugs don’t. I have Etymotic IEMs so the fit is nothing new to me. Deep insertion, but that’s part of the design of them.

Works fairly well for volume reduction. I didn't like it for 2 reasons: after wearing them for a while, my ears hurt. the case is bulky and also insecure. Pops open and that's how I lost my earplugs.

I got these as I go to lots of shows and my hearing is suffering for it. I read quite a bit about ear "filters", and decided to give them a shot with these. Overall, I would say they are good but not great. I wore them for the opening act of a show I went to the other day, and they definitely sound a lot better than ear plugs. I could hear more clearly than with plugs, and could do conversation and such without issue. However, when the bands were on I was losing a lot on the low end. For something described as "just turning the volume down", it didn't live up to that hype. It's definitely uneven sound, and you're getting a lot more of the high end through so things sound dry (but not tinny). They also fit snuggly. They go in really deep, so I was a little worried about the string getting yanked in the mosh pit, so I took it off. However, they hold really well in place (rare for my ears), so there was not much risk of them getting jostled out and lost forever underfoot. Overall, I'm going to keep this product and use it during opening acts and in generally loud environments. Ultimately they DO do what I hoped of them, which was cut down on the input. However, for moments I really want to enjoy or partake in, they are coming right out. Thankfully they have a little case that comes with them to make that easy. I'm glad I got these, but I think when it's time to replace them I might shop other brands and see if there is a difference, or if this is just as good as it gets and my hoping for more is unreasonable. We'll find out!

Fantastic! I bought these to wear at a recent rock concert at a small, loud venue. I knew the crowd was going to be exuberant and I wanted to be in it so I was worried that the regular ER20 with the long stem might pose a problem, so I went with these low-profile versions instead. They worked beautifully. Was the music as sharp and clear as if I hadn't worn earplugs? No. HOWEVER: Were my ears hurting and ringing by the end of the night? No. Could I hear everything well enough to still feel like I was hearing them loud and live, including guitar and soft vocals? Yes. Could I still hear people around me? Yes. Did they stay in my ears comfortably through all three bands' sets during which I was in the pit the whole time getting shoved around, jumping up and down, singing, sweating, and having a blast? Yes. Yes. Yes. I bought the universal fit package because I have a hard time wearing ear buds and so I was unsure of the fit if I only got the standard and I only had a few days before the concert. When they arrived, I put the standard fit in to see how they were and to get used to them before the show. They did seem to go in a little far and I could feel the stems but, given other reviews, I thought maybe it was just something to get used to. After about a half hour of wearing them, they actually hurt more and I took them out, swapped out the standard tips for the large tips, reinserted them and they did not hurt at all. I did not bother to remove the tabs either because they do aid in the removal of the earplugs. With the angle these plugs sit in my ears, I could swivel the tab around so it didn't just stick straight out. Everyone's ears are a little different though so I can't say if this would work for anyone else. (Though I also bought a pair of these in just the standard size for my sister who was also going to the same show and she swiveled the tabs around too to keep them more out of the way.) The low profile earplugs were nice too in that I wasn't worried about an elbow to the ear knocking the plug further in or completely out. I highly recommend these earplugs to anyone attending concerts, especially if you know you're going to want to be part of the main floor/pit crowd.