Earbuds as Earplugs, but not TOO much noise cancelling?

[doyendean]

I work in a very noisy environment, and I would like a some earbuds that I could use in place of earplugs, protecting my hearing and listening to music at the same time. I can't have COMPLETE hearing protection, though, because i need to be able to hear if an alarm goes off, or if my boss or coworkers call out to me.

I looked at the shure and etymotic brands, but it seems like their products completely shut out the outside world.

What would you recommend for a good, noise blocking earbud that still lets enough outside noise come through to stay safe at work?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I work in a very noisy environment, and I would like a some earbuds that I could use in place of earplugs, protecting my hearing and listening to music at the same time. I can't have COMPLETE hearing protection, though, because i need to be able to hear if an alarm goes off, or if my boss or coworkers call out to me.

I looked at the shure and etymotic brands, but it seems like their products completely shut out the outside world.

What would you recommend for a good, noise blocking earbud that still lets enough outside noise come through to stay safe at work?

I have etymotic hf2 headset and let me tell you - they are NOT completely shut out outside world, however then music playing even at moderate volume - they do. I guess if you use them with low volume you'd find the balance you are looking for. Btw: SQ wise these are great - if you love original (reference) type sound.

 

[zhimbo]

The style of "in-ear" phones that have rubber tips that create a seal, but don't insert deeply into the ear, tend to block out as much sound as a typical set of standard sealed headphones. I have an inexpensive pair of iHarmonix "in-ear ear buds" which sound...well, OK, and block out a good bit of noise but not in a "goodbye world" way. They're roughly equal to my Sennheiser HD280 full-size, sealed headphones in terms of blocking sound.

I like them for commuting via subway/train. As long as I'm not blasting my music (and I rarely do), I'm at least aware of announcements, etc., even if I have to stop the music to really listen.

My iHarmonix cheapies do their job and sound better than many cheapies, but Sennheiser, Denon, and others have similar designs that presumably are better quality.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I used to have Sony in-ear Canal style cost around $20-30 and they sound OK, noise blocking is OK, not nearly as good as Etymotics.

 

[skers_54]

A word of caution: You can damage your ears with music pretty easily, especially if there's a lot of ambient noise. It might be worth calling the manufacturers of any prospective earbuds to see if they have rated the amount of noise isolation their product provides.

You also might want to check with your boss. There's usually OSHA regulations that have to be followed, and I'd hate for you to get in trouble with them or your company during a spot safety inspection.

I have some Shure buds that seem to block out noise pretty well. Not the most bass, but the mids and highs are pretty good. They have both foam and rubber earpieces so you can use whatever works better for your situation.

 

[Brian_the_King]

I have a pair of ER6i and can tell you now that if you seal them in your ears properly (the only way to get good sound out of them) you will not be able to hear your coworkers.

If you don't play any music they would probably block out the ideal amount of noise, but I'm not sure what could work while music is going.