Review: Etymotic Music PRO Electronic Earplugs

Being a working musician will make you deaf. That's the underlying reality of what is otherwise a very romantic and enviable profession—playing gigs in front of grateful audiences night after night. So, any pro musician wanting keep the train rolling will take the necessary precaution of wearing hearing protection.

But we're not the only ones who should be worried about our ears. It's probably louder out there in the audience than it is on the stage. In fact, if you're a fan of live music or if you play it—for a living, or just once in a while—you need to invest in some earplugs. Many pros use custom-fit models, but those require some fuss and can be very expensive. The cheaper ones will protect your hearing, but the audio quality suffers and the nuances of the music can get lost, so they aren't suitable for professionals who need to hear every frequency clearly.

Etymotic's Music PRO MP 9-15 earplugs are an off-the-shelf option for anyone needing hearing protection in professional situations. The nice part is they don't require any custom fitting. They come with an array of tips, like a pair of quality earphones, so you can find your own best fit. They're actually a hybrid between earplugs and earphones: tiny, high-sensitivity microphones on the outside pick up the noises in the room, some wide-dynamic-range compression circuitry cleans up the sound, and then the tempered music gets delivered to your ears (at a safe and manageable volume) via balanced-armature drivers.

They're powered by small 1.45V batteries which only need to be replaced a couple of times per month. There are two modes: a -9 dB mode that provides 6 dB enhancement of soft sounds and 9-dB protection when sound exceeds safe levels, and a -15 dB cut that offers natural hearing when it is quiet and 15 dB protection when sound exceeds safe levels. You can toggle between the 9dB and 15dB modes by flipping a switch on the exterior of each plug.

Etymotic loaned me a pair to test, and I wore them on a couple of different gigs using both modes. The earplugs proved to be effective and simple to operate. Although the filtration of the earplugs requires a little bit of adjustment, in general the sound seems fairly transparent, especially in the –9db mode. The enhancement of quiet sounds is slight, but the 9db cut worked well to attenuate cymbals and a fairly loud guitar at moderate volume club gig. While using the –15db mode at a louder outdoor gig, the responsiveness didn't really come into play as the stage levels were fairly loud the entire performance. The uniform –15db cut was enough to prevent ear fatigue that would normally be expected from such volume without any noticeable compromise of dynamics. Although it's obvious that the earplugs have a sound unto themselves and there is some spectrum compromise on both the low and high end of the EQ curve (the bandwidth is 40 Hz – 16 kHz), the overall response was natural.

The earplugs come with tips for varying ear shapes, and it's very important to do some experimentation here to insure that the earplugs perform optimally. In operation, the earplugs proved smooth and reasonably comfortable, although when placing them in the ears it's worth nothing that the active electronics can feed back slightly if the microphone is inadvertently covered by your hand or your ear. Also, the active dynamic compression of the earplugs can be a little distracting to more sensitive listeners.

Finally, it's worth noting that there are passive, custom molded ear plugs (for equivalent money) available to musicians and other people who may require hearing protection. Nonetheless, for people looking for quality, off-the-shelf hearing protection who are willing to put a small amount of time finding the proper fit, the Music PROs are a solid choice.

UPDATE 12/04/2014: The review has been updated to correct the stated frequency with which the batteries need to be changed. The batteries last between 7 and 10 days on average.