The Earplugs That Don’t Ruin the Music
Between playing keys and singing backing vocals on stage, running front of house on tour, and mixing and mastering records, my ears aren’t just ears. They’re the most important piece of gear I own, and unlike a blown tube, I can’t just order a replacement set.
When Ultimate Ears set me up with a pair of their Reference Remastered custom IEMs earlier this year, I asked if I could check out the custom musician earplugs they sell, too. Spoiler: these are the best earplugs I’ve ever used. Period. They even fit me better than the IEMs, which says a lot, since those are custom molded to my ears too.
For those of you who aren’t familiar, UE doesn’t build these itself. They’re made by Microsonic, an earmold lab out of Ambridge, Pennsylvania, that describes itself as “one of the nation’s leading full service earmold laboratories.” Let’s dive right in, shall we?
What They Are
The short version: these are custom-molded earplugs with a removable filter in each one. The plug is built from impressions of your ear canals, and the filter sets how much sound gets cut.
Here’s the rundown, according to UE:
- Name: UE sells them as Microsonic Earplugs, made by Microsonic.
- Filters: -9 dB, -15 dB or -25 dB, and they’re interchangeable.
- Fit: Fully custom, made from impressions of your ears.
- Price: $199, with replacement filters at $70.
My pair has the -25 dB filter, so that’s what everything in this review is based on.
Picking a Filter
UE lays out the three options like this:
- -9 dB: “best for when you want to cut back just a little bit of ambient noise.”
- -15 dB: “a good balance between hearing protection and still feeling very ‘live.'”
- -25 dB: “for extremely loud environments.”
Mine has the -25 dB filter, the heaviest of the three. If you’re not sure which way to go, UE pitches the -15 dB as the middle ground, and since the filters are interchangeable, you’re not locked in forever.
Why “Musician Earplugs” Aren’t Just Marketing
What makes a musician earplug different from the foam ones at the drugstore? It comes down to how they cut the volume.
Most basic earplugs block the high frequencies a lot more than the lows. So you don’t just get quieter, you get muffled. Cymbals lose their sizzle, vocals lose their consonants, and the whole band sounds like it’s coming from the next room. For a musician, that’s a real problem.
A filtered musician earplug is designed to turn everything down more evenly. UE sums it up well: they “reduce all frequencies evenly so they avoid the skewed, muffled sound effects common to over the counter earplugs.” Think of it less like a blanket over the speakers and more like a volume knob for the room.
So How Do They Sound?
Mostly transparent. That’s the headline. With these in, the room just gets quieter, and the balance of the band stays pretty much intact, which is exactly what you want from a musician earplug.
Are they perfect? No. I can hear some of the high end getting blocked out more than the mids and lows. It’s not dramatic, but it’s there, and if you listen critically, you’ll notice it.
That being said, they’re far better in that regard than any other earplug I’ve ever used. Every other earplug I’ve put in my ears has done a worse job of keeping the top end intact, and not by a little.
The Fit: Even Better Than My Custom IEMs
They fit even better than my UE Reference Remastered IEMs, and those are built from impressions of my ears, too.
I imagine part of that is that an earplug has a much simpler job. There are no drivers, no crossover and no cable to house, so the whole thing can just be shaped around your ear.
Why does fit matter so much on an earplug? Because a filter can only do its job if the plug actually seals. Any leak lets unfiltered sound sneak in, which throws off both the protection and the tonal balance.
Getting a Pair Made
Like any custom in-ear, it starts with your ears. UE’s order page gives you three routes: you’ve had a 3D digital scan, you already own a set of UE customs and they can use the impressions they have on file, or you take physical impressions at an audiologist and send them in. That middle option is handy if you already own UE in-ears.
General Advice: Protect Your Ears (Seriously)
This is general advice, not gospel:
- Know the numbers. NIOSH sets its recommended exposure limit at 85 dBA averaged over 8 hours, and every 3 dB louder cuts the safe time in half. At 100 dBA, that’s 15 minutes. A loud rehearsal room or club stage can get up there.
- Hearing damage doesn’t grow back. NIOSH is clear that noise-induced hearing loss is permanent. You don’t get a second pair.
- If you mix, your ears ARE your monitors. No plugin can fix decisions made with damaged hearing.
We’ve been preaching this at Gear Gods for years, so if you need more convincing, check out 5 Reasons You NEED To Start Wearing Earplugs Now.
The Quirks You Should Know About
- A Little Top-End Loss: Some high end gets blocked more than the mids and lows. It’s far less than any other earplug I’ve used, but if you’re expecting perfectly flat, they’re not. Not a deal breaker.
- Pick Your Filter Carefully: The filters are interchangeable, but replacement filters are $70 from UE, so it pays to choose the right one up front.
- Custom Means Impressions: Unless UE already has your impressions or a scan on file, you’ll need an audiologist visit first, so factor that in on top of the $199.
- Small Filters: Removable filters are great for cleaning and swapping, but they’re small. Keep track of them.
- They’re Earplugs, Not Monitors: They don’t feed you a mix. If you need to hear a monitor mix in your ears, that’s a job for IEMs.
Verdict: The Best Earplugs I’ve Ever Used
The UE Pro Microsonic Earplugs are, hands down, the best earplugs I’ve used. They fit even better than my custom IEMs, and they keep the music sounding like music: mostly transparent, with just a bit of top-end loss that’s still far less than anything else I’ve put in my ears.
If you play in a loud band, mix live, or just go to a lot of shows and you’re still using foam plugs, this is one of the easiest upgrades you can make. If you need a mix in your ears, that’s IEM territory instead.
At $199, they cost a lot more than a bag of foam plugs, but your hearing is worth a lot more than that.
That’s it for this one. Let me know in the comments what you’re using to protect your ears.
Full disclosure: Ultimate Ears provided these earplugs as a review unit.
