Etymotic Research® Pair of Filters for Musicians' EarplugsTM (Clear) (9db Attenuation, CLEAR)

They're good, but FAR over-priced, but the only game in town, it seems. I'm a musician that does mostly legit stuff, so I'm not on stage with volume turned up to 500db. But I am often in a situation with 100db. I also like to use the plugs in loud restaurants as they reduce the ambient noise so I can better hear conversations. I started with the -25db filters and they were way too strong. They're for rock musicians and folks that go to ear-shattering concerts. I dropped down to-15db. Better. A little strong for playing (trumpet) but a good medium for the loud restaurant. While I could hear myself better through the vibrations in my head while I played the trumpet I had difficulty hearing everyone else at the same time. The -9db is a good filter level for playing, but in a restaurant, though the volume level is lower and you have to really listen, the voices are clearer with the -15db filters.As I said initially, they are far too expensive for what they are, but system works better than any off-the-shelf ear plug.

A bit pricey, but worth it in my opinion. They seem to last long, but most importantly, they're protecting your ears from long term damage!I've used these for many different scenarios:Attending to concerts on small locations, reducing noise in public transportation, walking around the city, going to the movies, going to a loud pub, and so on.Overall, their noise reduction is good, and in regards to music, it doesn't affect the audio quality too much compared to regular plugs.However, keep in mind that the 15dB ones won't be enough for massive concerts with large line array speakers. You WILL need the 25 dB, and even so, sometimes it feels as if they're not enough (or at least, in Chile, metal and rock concerts get VERY loud). I have both filters and switch them according to the music genre and the size of the venue.

I have bought many pairs of these filters over the years for my custom ear plugs. They are fantastic for reducing sound evenly over the frequency range. One of the filters came damaged but the seller was amazingly quick in replacing the damaged item.

The 15 dB filter has a much better curve in practice than the 25 dB filter, which makes the highs sound unnatural. These filters are phenomenal.The price, though, it's completely absurd. I understand that Etymotic needs to recoup their R&D on what is likely a fairly cheap item to manufacture, and the volumes are low, but perhaps the sales volumes wouldn't be quite so low if it didn't cost as much (or more) as some other alternatives (that are complete).

I picked these up for my custom fit ear molds from Westone. They work really well and IMO sound more transparent than the 15db versions, which is what I started with. I've tried most of the plugs out there labeled as "musician ear plugs", these along with custom fit molds are by far he best choice. However, yes as others have said they are very pricey, I wish the manufacturer could lower the price to something more reasonable.

At $28 a piece they better work! Seem to be perfect, these are the 9db reduction filters, the 15db ones I started with were a bit too much...these are great...as a musician I now have options depending on the gig...generally 9db's is fine but I can "up" the protection if needed...

Works well. I just can't believe what they charge for it. Ripoff.

These fit great in my Sensaphonic custom plugs.9db bring the level down, but still allow you to hear quite well. I'm coming from using 25's which squash everything so it's nice to be able to hear a lot more.4 stars because of price.