Are molded ear plugs worth it?

Assuming you are talking about hearing protection: I know people that like them, but I wasn't a big fan. I probably didn't do it perfectly, but it's so time consuming and kinda expensive, so I didn't want to keep trying.

I just use the disposable squish 3m foam earplugs and they do great. Easy to put in, don't fall out.

For me, yes. My ears ring all the time due to listening to loud things in my youth. I don't want that getting any worse. You can't buy new ears.

I had a pair of 30$ musicians earplugs, but they really changed what I could hear. At concerts I couldn't understand the lyrics; basically they changed the audible frequencies too much.

Got 200$ moldeds made and I don't feel like I'm missing out when I wear them, at least not much. I can understand lyrics better now. They aren't completely neutral, but close enough. I keep them in a pill bottle attached to my keyring so I always have them at a show or the movies, or wherever else reckless people are in charge of amplification.

I do think its an odd situation where you go to a show and the volume is crushingly loud, and everyone in the audience is wearing earplugs. At least the music doesn't get overwhelmed by people yelling out drink orders at the bar. Alternative: silent disco style, with wireless headphones.

100%. I got my custom concert ear plugs right before Sonic Temple 2024 this year. I forgot them on day 1, and everything was painfully loud.

Days 2-4 were wonderful. I could get to the front of the crowd with absolutely no discomfort. Plus, wearing them for 8-10 hours didn't cause any pain or soreness what so ever (off the shelf ones hurt me after ~30m).

They're not cheap, but neither are hearing aids.

What are you doing, and why do you want them?

Personally, I spend $40 or so and get 500 disposable earplugs, and use each pair until they don't work well any more, then throw them out. (For riding my motorcycle, sleeping, sometimes shooting; I wear Etymotic earplugs for concerts.) Is it a little wasteful? Sure. But it will take me years to spend as much on disposables and molded ear plugs would cost. I've tried the DIY molded ear plugs, and found that they were less effective than disposable foam earplugs for blocking noise.

Just pour some hot wax in your ear and let it set. Candles are cheap.

Depends on your goal. If you want maximum sound attenuation, you can’t really beat cheap foamies, which are rated up to about 40 dB. If only about 20 dB is good enough for your needs and you want the comfort, custom molded ear plugs are great.

I have a pair that have a tiny hole drilled in them, the idea being it attenuates loud noises, but still makes it easy to talk to people. I bought them for a specific purpose, and still use them all the time, but if I were going to buy some now I'd get ones without the sound passage for more noise suppression.

They are very comfortable and I can insert/remove them quickly.

The downside is if you lose them, they're expensive to replace. Somehow I haven't lost mine over the past 6 years.

I went to an audiologist who made the molds and did all of the mailing back and forth. It wasn't that much more expensive, but it's more time consuming because you have to go back to their office to pick them up so you can test fit them. I liked that process, because I ended up rejecting the first pair so they redid the molds.

I tried it for sleeping but ultimately I ended up preferring the Bose sleepbuds, or their new version now called Ozlosleep.

Probably one of the best investment in my life.

Also the fact that the shop where I’ve done the molded ear plugs keeps trying to call me for telemarketing twice a year does not help…

It entirely depends on how much and what you'll use them for. They're going to be around $200 USD all in, so if they're for occasional use probably not. If you're going to use them a lot like for work or a regular hobby then it's not a crazy amount to spend. They tend to be more comfortable than flange earplugs, and a little better than foamies, but for me at least I don't want them in for more than 3 hours.

Etymotic makes a few different ones for general noise, sleeping, music, and they also do ones for their earphones.

I've been using EarPeace earplugs with interchangeable filters.

They're relatively cheap so if you lose them you can replace them easily.

I carry them with me everywhere in a little keychain tube. I use them when I need to tone down the noise either at work or in a bar or cabaret or whatever. I change the filters to the stronger ones when going to concerts.

They're great!

I've never had any custom molded earplugs, but I could definitely go for some. I have a pair of knockoff Airpods, same shape and size as legit Airpods, and the left one never seems to want to stay in place, it always likes to fall out of my ear.

I hope so! Ive always wanted to try them, but never pulled the trigger

I guess it depends on the context.

If you go to a lot of concerts, yes.

As a motorcyclist, that's a definite yes. On long trips, it is the wind around the helmet that is one of the most tiring things. Custom plugs allow the rider to hear traffic while being shielded for wind noises.

A good friend of mine has concert plugs and he swears by them, but that has been said earlier in this thread.

how much are they trying to charge you?

My ex used to play guitar and he swore the only earplugs that were worth buying were Hearos earplugs. I tried them once. They’re really good. The only thing that compares are gun range ear muffs.

Simple answer: YES!