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

These earplugs provide excellent noise reduction while preserving sound clarity, making them ideal for concerts, rehearsals, or any loud environment. The ER20XS design ensures a comfortable fit for extended wear without muffling music or conversation. The build quality is solid, and they’re easy to insert and remove. They come with a convenient carrying case, perfect for on-the-go protection. Overall, a high-quality, effective, and comfortable solution for ear protection. Highly recommended for musicians, concert-goers, or anyone exposed to loud sounds.

I am a professional violinist. I began having tinnitus many years ago: hearing the TV static “sound of silence,” plus occasional 10-second bouts of extreme ringing typically in the left ear. I put one of these earplugs in my left ear, which is just above the instrument as I hold it under my jaw. Hearing damage/loss in the left ear is a universal symptom of long-term violin playing, and additionally, the loud direct sound from being close to the instrument sometimes causes students (me many years ago) to limit themselves and avoid drawing the most sound from the instrument. This earplug solves both those issues: I still hear clearly at all volumes but am not overwhelmed when I play out, and my bouts of ringing have disappeared, and only come back when I forget to put the earplug in. I use this earplug whenever I play, indoors, outdoors, practicing or performing. I could go on about how useful this has been for me. After a couple minutes of being worn it fills the ear extremely comfortably, and I often (at least twice a week) forget to take it out after practicing, because I simply don’t realize it was in until someone notices the thing in my ear. This size is perfect for my ear, snug but not tight. I personally don’t use the case, I just slip it under the strap for my violin in its case. I believe these can last indefinitely until lost, which is a fine value for $10 each when I only use one at a time. I would recommend this to anyone who needs slight sound reduction of upper levels.

Great sound reduction and fidelity! As a musician I need to protect my hearing and must be able to hear what I’m doing complete detail. These attenuators work very well considering the low price point. They’re not quite all-day comfortable, but otherwise I couldn’t be happier!

I use these for concerts and put them in before it starts, and leave them in until it’s over and these are great. They prevent tinnitus or any kind of hearing issue after the concert is over, you were fully protected. You can still hear the concert perfectly and even better they drown out your concert neighbor’s screams and singing. When the people around you talk during the show it’s hard to hear them but you can make out what they say if you want to. And the concert has quite good sound. I wore them to a rock concert that was shaking the brick building and sidewalk outside during sound check and after the concert was over my ears were perfect. I enjoyed the show with no discomfort and happy with the sound and even talked to the band during (and heard their reply to me, the guitarist came out into the crowd). Very nice! Only thing is, they do hurt while they are in. It goes away as soon as you take them out, I am playing with adjusting them better but I think it’s just the design and hardness of the base plastic. It’s not a huge deal, they do feel like they go in kind of deep. I will always keep these on hand for concerts and replace them often. Love them. Absolutely better than foam ones for concerts but my daughter finds them uncomfortable enough that she prefers foam, she has had a ruptured ear drum and is always sensitive about her ears. She claims her cheap foam ones give the same result for her, but I use both and think these are way better if you can tolerate the feel of them. I personally love these.

I kept trying to use these but without the stems (which are on the ER20) I couldn't get them positioned correctly in my ears. I was in a drumming workshop this weekend and still hearing too much noise. I swapped them out for my older ER20 style earplugs and the sound dampening was much better. So I will just buy the other style from now on. Be careful if you can still hear painful sounds while wearing these.

BLUF: I'm both surprised and delighted with my new Etymotic Research ER20XS earplugs. In my 20's I had multiple surgeries to remove a tumor and repair resulting damage in my middle ear. Tinnitus has always been a problem since and is greatly aggravated by loud and piercing sound. And since I write/perform music and ride motorcycles, it's something I battle with constantly. In the past I tried other "affordable" products that claimed to reduce decibels that cause fatigue and hearing loss without affecting the quality of sound; but I was always disappointed. I gave up and just relied on standard foam and/or silicon earplugs instead. After recently misplacing my favorite pair of silicon earplugs I started shopping for replacements and stumbled across these here. After reading reviews, I decided to give them a shot. I figured, worst case, I'd be out a $14 bucks. Well, surprise, surprise, they actually work! They fit my ears perfectly, are extremely comfortable, and reduce the intensity just enough to prevent serious hearing damage while maintaining surprisingly good sound quality. I'm not suggesting they are a perfect solution, but when I listen to loud music while wearing these (especially when riding my Harley Street Glide) the music is clear and unmuffled compared to standard earplugs. And I don't get that tunnel sound I've experienced with other similar decibel reducing earplugs I tried. That said, they don't reduce damaging decibels as well as typical foam or silicon plugs, but they do work as advertised and you get to actually HEAR your music while your it's pumping, either in the studio or on your bike! I can actually say I'd wholeheartedly recommend these to others looking for an affordable solution to protect their hearing while living life!

So I have two problems with this. My husband prefers this brand or at least he did. He couldn't find his old pair so he asked for a new one. I was trying out a bunch of ear plugs for the k-pop concerts we're going to with my teen. I used to sing and have some hearing damage and tinnitus from not wearing protection and an ear infection many years ago that ruptured one of my ear drums. At this point, I'm looking to live with at least less EEEEeeeeeeeeee than I already have. I do have a older hearing aid for that side that ruptured but I rarely use it every day unless I'm in a loud busy place (I'd never use it for a concert because there are things I need to hear (my kiddo) but a busy city restaurant or Disney World? Then I do but only if I need to because I hate it.). It’s uncomfortable to wear for a long time and I should probably get a new one fitted. I've become pretty good though at discerning how effective a hearing blocker for my “good” ear is (and yeah, I should probably just get this all custom made for my ears, but this is quite expensive and time consuming so I just haven’t). First there was a sharp piece on one side and it cut my ear canal. The item was clear-ish so I didn’t see this little sharp edge until I was cut and the inside of my ear was bleeding. Yikes. Second there is no way this at its highest levels cut 20 dcb let alone 16. It’s more around ten. Putting your hands over your ears would be more effective than this. I could clearly hear our heater kicking on, the tv next door and my kid’s music through her headphones. It’s also quite long for a woman’s ear canal which makes it uncomfortable. This is not safe enough for a concert between the crowd cheering and the music. Maybe these were more effective and better made years ago? But the ones we received were terrible.

I go to a lot of concerts and luckily haven't had any long term damage, but I figured the risk of long term issues isn't worth it. I havent used earplugs before so I didnt want to get anything too expensive to start with, my priority was finding something cheap and these hit the mark. The quality overall was great, I didn't know what to expect but I had no ringing in my ears that night or the following day. I used these for a 12+ hour festival and a hard-core show where I was in a small GA section in front of the stage. Both instances these were highly valuable. They did start to become a bit uncomfortable during the festival after so many hours, but I think that is mostly due to the fact I have a large ring in my daith piercing that makes any plugs or headphones not fit 100% correctly if they go into my ear. That being said they did fit well enough and I will absolutely continue using them. The little storage pouch was also very nice to attach to my belt loop when I wasn't wearing them I recommend these for people picking up their first pair of earplugs or if you are prone to losing them.