I love live music but after one particularly loud gig (NME Tour 2006) I was left with a ringing in my ears for nearly 2 months, I was only 18 at the time I realised I wasn’t invincible and was actually at risk of damaging my hearing for good. Etymotic, meaning true to the ear, have been researching hearing and protecting hearing since 1983 and have created the High-Fidelity Earplugs with the aim of protecting hearing in loud situations. I have tried wearing cheap earplugs at gigs so I can still go and jump around at the front but the sound is always muffled and distorted, the ER 20 High-Fidelity Earplug aim to simply reduce the sound level without losing the quality.

I found that you didn’t lose much of the high tones and could hear vocals clearly, I’m not technical enough to know for sure how much it reduced the sounds by but a rough estimate would be half. The earplugs come with two sets of plugs, neck cord and a handy case, which took me far too long to work out how to open (just squeeze the ends together). They are small enough to be discrete with a good seal around the plugs which can make it a bit fiddly to change the plugs over but at least you know their secure. Inserting them and removing them is simple and they are really comfortable to wear, for the price these are good value for money that perform well, allowing you to protect your hearing without having to sacrifice the sound. RRP $12.95

4.6 out of 5

Buy now

Pros

Comfortable to wear

Comes with neck cord, two plugs and case

Reduces noise level without greatly compromising the sound

Good value for money

Cons

The case is a little fiddly