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4 Apr 2014, 07:34 (Ref:3388564) | #51 | ||
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I was dubious about mine when I first got them and tried them at home - I didn't think the volume would be anywhere near loud enough, but they're perfect.
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4 Apr 2014, 07:45 (Ref:3388568) | #52 | ||
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I must admit that it is more the fact that they look so big and silly when they vare on, but if they help me hear the radio and follow the race it is £18 well spent
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4 Apr 2014, 09:25 (Ref:3388598) | #53 | ||
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Ah, I stopped worrying about that long ago! James, Tony and I can often be seen together, all wearing them!
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4 Apr 2014, 09:56 (Ref:3388613) | #54 | |
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well, i'm a bit of a girl about hearing now, and at ricard on saturday i didn't feel it was necessary to stick my fingers in my ears.
there's no aggressive highs like there is in f1, the only things that get a little bit close to wanting ear protection for are some of the ferraris. everything else is quiet enough that hearing protection is more to give your ears a break from the constant noise rather than stop the high notes from hurting. |
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devils advocate in-chief and professional arguer of both sides |
4 Apr 2014, 10:47 (Ref:3388628) | #55 | ||
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Rightly or wrongly, I've never worn anything to protect my ears, figuring if I can survive a front row seat at a Black Sabbath gig, I have little to fear from racing cars... I wear them as they enable me to hear RLM perfectly...
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4 Apr 2014, 11:35 (Ref:3388640) | #56 | ||
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That is why i am giving them a try, got fed up with wires from my little sony to the ear pieces get caught up and the ear pieces falling out, not really worried about the noise of the cars but being able to hear RLM is why i bought them
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4 Apr 2014, 14:21 (Ref:3388697) | #57 | ||
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I have Skull Candy in ears attatched to my RLM radio...
But am jealous of the Ear Defender radio thingies, as they are VERY good... |
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Tim Yorath Ecurie Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch Fan of "the sacred monster Christophe Bouchut"... |
5 Apr 2014, 08:00 (Ref:3388926) | #58 | ||
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Quote:
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5 Apr 2014, 09:44 (Ref:3388951) | #59 | |||
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Quote:
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11 Apr 2014, 07:15 (Ref:3390982) | #60 | |||
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Quote:
Once you've damaged your hearing enough it won't come back... The choice though, off course is everyones to make. I don't wear my ear defenders 24x7, I always like hearing the sound of the cars in the distance as they go up the Mulsanne. There's something very evocative about that. |
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11 Apr 2014, 10:03 (Ref:3391015) | #61 | ||
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Ironically the Tinnitus is playing up something ROTTEN today. Middle C in the left ear (Legacy of a Party Popper incident 25 years ago), and it's echo in the right.
Why? I have NO idea. Possibly a LACK of loud noises? GRRR. |
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Tim Yorath Ecurie Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch Fan of "the sacred monster Christophe Bouchut"... |
13 Apr 2014, 07:33 (Ref:3391845) | #62 | |
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That is the exact point on the circuit which prompted me to switch to radio ear defenders...the sound there amplified by the concrete wall. Excruciatingly painful. If it was hot and sunny on the Sunday, I'd spend a lot of time on the little path under the trees next to the trackside fence, to take advantage of the shade...and would stay there until my ears could take no more.
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20 Apr 2014, 09:27 (Ref:3395435) | #63 | ||
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Rebellion made me wonder how do they succeed to keep it inside noise limits? It's not that much quieter than 3.5 litre group C cars. |
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21 Apr 2014, 07:28 (Ref:3396074) | #64 | ||
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Well i gave the new cheap ear muffs a good work out at Silverstone, and they were brilliant, easy to tune radion in and hear RLM, nice and light and best of all they kept my ears warm. The last point was very welcome at Silverstone. So if you want radio ear muffs but bulk at the price then try the clas olson version £15 well spent IMHO
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21 Apr 2014, 07:48 (Ref:3396081) | #65 | ||
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Driving my '95 GT2 winner to Le Mans, again and again and again and again and again.... |
21 Apr 2014, 07:57 (Ref:3396084) | #66 | |||
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The real rain came at the end, we were all a little upset at the red flag but as we headed back to the car park the rain got heavier and heavier until it was like a monson and there were rivers of water running everywere. |
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15 Jul 2014, 16:26 (Ref:3434158) | #67 | |
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I'm not trying to bump old threads, but this one suits best for my case. So, most of the time in Le Mans I wore rubber earbuds. And those did the job well, except taking them off too many times may have affected my hearing.
After the race, I didn't feel pain or didn't have ringing ears. But strangely enough, now a month after the race my ear canals feel a bit sore and left and right ear have become slightly unbalanced. Of course, it can be some other reason (summer allergy etc.) since the race was four weeks ago, but I'd be probably lying if I said LM has nothing to do with this issue. So, next year high-SNR ear plugs will be my choise, it's not too late for me. PS: About a month prior LM I was in an audiometric hearing test and the result was near excellent (agewise), now it feels that the sharpest edge is missing. |
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15 Jul 2014, 17:33 (Ref:3434173) | #68 | ||
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Pushing things into your ear has always been the best way of blocking them up with wax, suggest you try some olive oil first and if not go and get them syringed at the doctors, it sounds like an ear wax problem to me, by the way my cheap clas olson radio ear protectors were excellent at le mans this year, could hear RLM and excess noise was blocked out when i wanted to, but i must be honest loved the car noise at the start
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15 Jul 2014, 17:48 (Ref:3434180) | #69 | |
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That can be the problem as well. Once as a teenager (many years ago) I had my ears flushed with ethanol, because wax was so tightly packed inside.
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15 Jul 2014, 20:03 (Ref:3434228) | #70 | ||
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I've always had very good hearing and for years took a simple radio with in-ear headphones. But I've had my Elvex Quietunes now for 4 years (I think) and I'd be lost without them.....
http://www.elvex.com/QuieTunes.htm |
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15 Jul 2014, 20:33 (Ref:3434236) | #71 | ||
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Thanks for the thread bump, lots of useful advice here.
A couple of years ago I asked a similar question on the ALMS fan forum (RIP) since I was about to get stationed in a very noisy area of the Toronto IndyCar circuit. After much good advice I decided that the easiest/best solution for me was what I was already doing - 3M foam earplugs (now replaced with generic drugstore ones). Rated at 33, they were better than all of the over-ear defenders I could find, at least those that weren't breathtakingly expensive, and much easier to wear under a wide-brimmed hat! No use at all if you want to listen to RLM or race control, mind you, but plenty quiet enough for today's turbocharged Indycars, even trackside. Worst experience for me would have been the Trans Am series cars on the Toronto IndyCar track a few years back... man those things are LOUD! The Canadian Tire NASCAR stock cars were brutal too, but I wasn't as close for those... |
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16 Jul 2014, 18:19 (Ref:3434594) | #72 | |
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Good news. I took GT6's advice and went to the doctor to have my ears checked if there was an ear wax problem. But inside the ear canals there was no wax at all. And that was a part of the problem. Recently I switched from foamy 3M's to flanged silicone earplugs (I use them at work). But it wasn't any good idea, because rubbing dry ear canals with those new plugs multiple times a day wasn't very pleasing. And hearing loss in the right ear was caused probably when I had pushed the earplug way too hard and it had had a contact with the ear drum. Luckily, the drum wasn't ruptured.
Nothing permanently wrong and ears should be fine in a few days. Right ear feels already better than yesterday. |
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16 Jul 2014, 19:54 (Ref:3434625) | #73 | |||
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Quote:
Last edited by rwintle; 16 Jul 2014 at 19:56. Reason: Didn't read your post carefully enough... :P |
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16 Jul 2014, 20:44 (Ref:3434651) | #74 | ||
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Glad i was of some help, ear infections can be a real problem and sometimes it can get very serious, i had a problem after a holiday a few years ago and after seeing the doctor was give a pescription and told it would clear up, after a couple of days the pain got worse and eventually i headed to accident and emergency in the evening when the pain became unbearable, sat waiting for about 3 hours waiting to be seen when i felt something pop, Helen was with me and saw stuff coming out of my ear, funnily enough the nurse then took me straight into the doctor, turned out the infection was in the inner ear and the pop was my eardrum tearing releasing the build up of puss, antibiotics cleared the infection and eardrum repaired itself so no long term damage, Infection was picked up in the holiday pool i was told.
Anyway glad you are getting better now |
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22 Jul 2014, 16:03 (Ref:3436705) | #75 | |
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Wrap up
Thanks again for everyone who has responded to the thread over the past few months. Since I started the thread with a question I thought I'd provide the results of our decision.
Having attended many ALMS and Formula 1 races in North America, we've always used the small foam ear plugs that you roll between your fingers and place in one's ears. These work well for shorter races (ALMS 'sprint' and F1) but would seem to get annoying for longer events. As part of our preparation for our first 24h we ordered both the 3M (Worktunes) and Elvex (Quiet Tunes) models suggested by several on this forum. Both fit well but the ear muff on the Quiet Tunes was slightly taller than 3M's. While we preferred the auto tuning of the 3M model we also noted that this model had a tendency to ride up the side of one's head, pinching the bottom on one's ears. While the unit may loosen up over time we were concerned that discomfort would occur in worn for a long period of time (say during a 24 hour sports car race). We went with the Elvex model and couldn't have been more pleased. We were able to tune into RLM during the race to keep track of things - which would have been difficult other wise since we moved around the track and were not always near a big screen. One final bit of advice, on both the Elvex and 3M models we found that to best tune the unit we had to flip the orientation of the headset when wearing it. This is most likely the position of the receiver in the unit relative to objects around it. On Sunday while sitting in the grandstands the tuner dial was on my right side and the tuner dial on my wife's headset was on the lift side. Both had a decent signal but just something to keep in mind with whatever unit you decide to go with. Hope this helps. Brian |
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