In ear monitoring safety question

[Spikey Horse]

Since my DT 150's developed a loose connection / bad lead I've been using my Shure in ear isolation earphones a lot more while playing drums. I used to only use them for 'serious' recording (where spill from 150's can be a problem) or for live on stage where big headphones are too cumbersome.

But now I'm using the in ears so frequently (most days now) I'm getting concerned about accidental ear blasting and damage - it's very easy when playing drums to lose all sense of volume, therefore easy to turn up the volume mid session to unsafe levels without realizing - with the DT 150's I would wear foam earplugs underneath and never need to worry when cranking them right up because it was IMPOSSIBLE to accidently blast my ears that way. It was a great set up for everyday usage. But with the in ears even with a limiter on the mix and rolling off the highs (and lows) a bit - it's still easy to creep up the overall headphone volume itself .... and just having speakers shoved so far into the ear itself pointing at my eardrums is now making me very nervous.

At the moment it's just so easy with my firebox to crank it up beyond sensible volume by mistake (the firebox headphone outs is LOUD!)

Anyway - what do people do protection wise, if anything, with in ear monitoring - or what advice can you give on using isolation in ear h/phones- either for practicing, recording, or playing live? .... especially playing with drums.

Thanks!

[BradLyons]

Contrary to popular belief or myth, in-ear monitoring is actually easier on the ears. The reason is that the earbud locks into place and blocks out outside sound. When you're listening to a stage monitor, you're also listening to everything else---fighting with other monitors and whatever else is going on on-stage. You're actually putting way more SPL into your ears than direct level in your ear. However this is where it's tricky---you think it's louder in your ear, but really it's not.

Most good quality in-ear receivers have built-in limiters, but it's also recommendeded to have a dedicated hardware brickwall limiter in the chain as well for "just in case".

[OldTimey]

in a silent environment play a commercial cd through your firepod, set the level to where it feels comfortable to listen to, and you are confident you are not hurting your ears. check your meters, put a limiter in the chain, and have it clamp down when it feels too loud. then. when playing live, try to replicate that comfortable volume level by checking your meters and using the same limiter settings.

[Spikey Horse]

in a silent environment play a commercial cd through your firepod, set the level to where it feels comfortable to listen to, and you are confident you are not hurting your ears. check your meters, put a limiter in the chain, and have it clamp down when it feels too loud. then. when playing live, try to replicate that comfortable volume level by checking your meters and using the same limiter settings.

Yeah I do this kind of level checking ... still it's so easy to turn up for some quieter pieces and then keep the level there .... and when playing live it's not always possible to take levels down mid song (while drumming) .... maybe I should compress even more as well .... I guess half of my worry is just the whole concept of in ear monitoring (I a so protective of my hearing) ...... at the moment it just feels like an inherently risky and dangerous set up - no matter how careful you are ....

[rmhofu]

The one truth we know is that once we've damaged our ears, there is no going backwards. Already on account of being male, your ears' sensitivity to Hi's will reduce with age. As you say, it is very easy to turn the volume up on your in ear monitoring, resulting in severely fatigued ear drums. If you are feeling that fatigue after monitoring, or if you are hearing that whistling sound in your ear, or if you find that your ears begin to "mute" the Hi's, then you are harming your ears. However, as mentioned by Brad above, the spl out of your in ear system is actually low, it is only amplified by its proximity to your ears. Bottom line is your ears tell you. Discipline with the knobs. Don't kill your ears, it would be a miserable world without them.