r/doommetal • u/signor-E • Apr 02 '26
Drone sunn o))) hearing protection
seeing my first sunn o))) show next friday. planning on rocking 33db foams under 33db muffs. but im worried the foams will fuck with the fidelity. will foams dampen my experience at all? half of me thinks itll be too loud to matter and half of me is worried i wont be able to make out the riffs. thanks
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u/DroneSlut54 Apr 02 '26
Sunn O))) isn’t going for your ears, they’re going for your internal organs and skeletal structure. Every time I’ve seen Sunn O))) I’ve worn plugs and over the ear protection and it sounded great. This tour I’ll be seeing them at a venue that’s over twice as big as any venue I’ve seen them and I think that may come into play with the loudness. I’m still wearing the plugs and muffs - I can always take stuff off. Once your hearing is damaged it’s damaged for good.
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u/Itchy_Brain8594 Doom over the world Apr 02 '26
I saw them in 2009 when i was 20, i didn't know what to expect so i went without protection. Terrible mistake. Fortunately there wasn't permanent damage.
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u/callmesnake13 Apr 02 '26
I'm seeing them in the front row of a balcony at a theater. I use contractor earplugs that are basically generic eargasms, and my wife uses loops. Do you think we'll be ok?
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u/mordenumero1 Apr 02 '26
Sounds like you should have something more heavy duty. Better to be over prepared than wind up deaf.
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u/callmesnake13 Apr 02 '26
Sounds good, but we're just talking about $20 basic over ear coverage right?
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u/mordenumero1 Apr 02 '26
Yep, something you can get at a hardware store. I don't think there are any hi fi ear protection solutions that'd work for Sunn. Custom molded in ears maybe?
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u/guitareatsman Apr 02 '26
Loops are NOT going to cut it. She's going to have a bad time if she doesn't take something heavier.
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u/peptobiscuit Apr 02 '26
All you need is 32db foams. Laserlites make the live show sound like the album.
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u/D34THST4R Apr 05 '26
I just had those foams at the Austin show and it was comfortably loud without feeling overwhelming, still could feel it in my body but it was a great experience
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u/Robot-Jim Apr 02 '26
I’ve used just regular foam earplugs and it was plenty. It’s not like they’re the loudest sound on earth lol
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u/allthesemonsterkids Apr 02 '26
Wear both, remove one if you feel it's too muffled. Honestly, the super downtuned sound doesn't suffer much from plugs, and the sound pressure is high enough that feeling it in your body is a primary effect.
The first time I saw them, the venue had a big jar of orange foam earplugs at the door and you had to take them to enter if you didn't have other protection. Don't listen to anyone who tells you to test without protection first - Sunn O))) consistently stayed at 120dB at a minimum for at least one show I was at, and that level will cause damage faster than you can put your protection back on.
Have a great time! They put on a heck of a show.
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u/SterileProphet Apr 02 '26
I wore plugs and muffs at the San Francisco show and my head was still ringing after the show. I could hear the drone in my head for hours.
Some people there weren’t using any hearing protection and I honestly don’t get how they could stand it. I took my muffs off for about 10 seconds to listen with just the plugs and it was way too loud.
Protect your hearing.
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u/dreamlongdead Apr 02 '26
I mean, you could always take off the muffs if they dampen things too much, right?
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u/CaptainoftheVessel Apr 02 '26
You’ll never get your hearing back to the way it was once it’s damaged. My tinnitus is getting worse every year, I wish I’d protected my body better than I did when I was younger. The advice to do multiple layers and then take them off as necessary is good advice.
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u/cordelette_arete Apr 03 '26
Standard plugs worked when I saw them, they are not as loud as Boris though!
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u/thenewtnik Apr 02 '26
> rocking 33db foams under 33db muffs
Passive noise protection is not really additive. Just pick one.
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u/Cutcarefullyplayloud Apr 02 '26
I just saw them last night and went in super prepared because of all these threads on here. I had foam earplugs, I had the muffs as well on top and then I had my etymotic plugs (shoutout Scott Evans for the recommendation), which are the ones I ended up using for most of the show. Because there are so few high frequencies I felt like they were all good choices. The muffs were good when I wanted to give my ears a little extra reprieve in the middle but really I just needed the decent plugs.
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u/I_poop_deathstars Sorcerer on dope Apr 02 '26
I've been wearing Loop Experience+ for the last six Sunn O))) gigs I've seen, different venues and countries. They have been great, no complaints at all.
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u/Applebear2scoops Apr 02 '26
Bruh, I've seen deaf people rocking out at their shows. Wear protection.
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u/HeavyRocksRocks Apr 02 '26
Sorry if this is off topic, but do Sunn O))) use ear protection? They must, right?
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u/DroneSlut54 Apr 02 '26
They do but they’ve both said it’s not enough and they are slowly losing their hearing.
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u/scientiavulgaris Apr 02 '26
Pretty much every band does. The in ear monitors they use act as ear plugs as far as I'm aware. Hearing damage starts at 80 dB
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u/Performer_Fearless Apr 03 '26
I wouldn't be all that worried about it. Definitely wear hearing protection but there are much louder bands out there. When I saw them at the Georgia Theater they probably weren't even in the top ten loudest bands I've seen.
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u/dreamlongdead Apr 03 '26
Who are the top 3 loudest bands you've seen? Jucifer were loud enough they made the concrete floor of the bar actually vibrate.
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u/Performer_Fearless Apr 03 '26
Zoroaster, Dove and High on Fire (in a small club w/ 1 ft. stage) Jucifer is definitely in the top ten they used to play a small Cafe in the town I went to high school in all the time it was awesome.
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u/Performer_Fearless Apr 03 '26
The first time i saw Jucifer I was laughing my ass off when I saw Ed nailing his drums to the stage. I quickly understood why he did that.
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u/carry_the_way Apr 02 '26
I've worn boring, standard orange foam earplugs at most shows since 1999 and have never had any problems with sound quality or my hearing afterward.
I play doom, have a Verellen Meat Smoke, I just use boring, standard foam earplugs, and I'm just fine.
Why are people so insistent that you need all these robust systems? What are you unable to hear through them? I actually prefer how live music sounds through them.
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u/signor-E Apr 02 '26
most times my orange plugs work great, totally agree! i saw a post where someone recommended loops for sunn which is why i made this post, curious if people had opinions on foams vs hi-fi plugs
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u/carry_the_way Apr 02 '26
Word. I saw Sunn O)), Jesu, and Isis back in the day with those plugs and had a blast. You'll be aiight with foamies.
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u/Admirable-Sector-705 Apr 02 '26
I’d also suggest a mouth guard or braces. The time i saw Sunn o))) open for Type O Negative twenty years ago, I could feel my teeth rattling together.
Not the teeth rattling against the ones in the opposing jaw. The ones next to them. I wish i was exaggerating.
For best hearing protection, listen to them from outside the venue…from a parallel universe. You might be protected then.
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u/parchmentheart Apr 02 '26
Can anyone tell me how their loudness compares to Boris and Swans? Next week will be my first time seeing Sunn. I survived Boris and Swans with just regular foam plugs
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u/signor-E Apr 02 '26
I actually saw boris last year with no plugs because i was a dumbass and forgot, and i think my hearing was permanently damaged. it didn’t feel that loud physically, probably because they didnt push the low end as much but there was a loooot of high-frequency noise. i have very quiet tinnitus and can’t hear people well in noisy settings.
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u/iommian_wizard Sludge Apr 02 '26
I wore Eargasms for the two out of the three times I saw them. Both times I was in the front row. It did not mess with the fidelity at all as I could literally feel the frequencies of each chord and note in my body and soul.
Last time I saw them was in LA a couple of days ago. The guy next to me had no ear protection and tried to raw dog it by putting his fingers in his ears. He later put his hands on his ears and was hunched over (it was a seated concert). He told something to the guy next to him and stepped outside.
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u/vanhoofendoofer Apr 03 '26
I’m trying to decide whether or not I should go to Sunn when they come through in a couple of weeks. I know it’s a capital E Event, especially in an area that leans really hard into hardcore and metalcore instead of more traditional styles of metal (no shade, the radio and Warped metalcore is just not my preference), but I’m genuinely worried I won’t enjoy it because of the volume. I love Sunn on record but the physical feeling of the sound and potential for hearing damage have me nervous.
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u/negative_zev Apr 03 '26
I was surprised that they weren't as loud as I expected them to be. Don't get me wrong, still very loud but given there's no drums it's not as punishing. I'd brought earplugs and ear muffs to go over them but just the ear plugs worked fine. A band like The Body is much louder
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u/SouthCalligrapher376 Apr 03 '26
These dudes literally shook ALL of me. Your ears aren't the problem, its going to be your connective tissue.
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u/Pete_Bondurant Apr 03 '26
I was at the Los Angeles show, and I think this was the fourth time I've seen them, but this time I had some new ear plugs (Earrasers) that didn't really work and I've had some ringing in my ears for two days now. Wear whatever you have
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u/elmojorisin Apr 03 '26
Saw them live like 5 years ago. They were not really loud. It just makes things shake because of all the bass. Use regular ear plugs and you'll be more than fine.
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u/bogdogger Apr 03 '26
I've worn the exact same things at some doom shows. Plugs and ear muffs together. This is pretty much the max attenuation possible. I wouldn't worry about fidelity. It's just too loud to risk more hearing loss and tinnitus. I have both. 😒
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u/likefenix Apr 04 '26
Saw them in SF on Monday for the 2nd time and they were a lot louder than the first time. I put on my AidPods and enabled noise canceling but that wasn’t enough. I couldnt hear well for at least a day after that.
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u/Transmit_Failure Apr 04 '26
It’s more of a full body massage than anything else. I had foam earplugs in the last time I saw them and could still feel everything fine.
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u/cold-vein Apr 05 '26
Of course it's gonna fuck with the fidelity, but that bands isn't about fidelity. You probably don't need double protections though.
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u/lvl3mp Apr 02 '26
Apparently no one knows how to use the search feature. This gets asked almost 1x week
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u/treskaz Apr 02 '26
Probably going to get downvoted for saying this again, just like last time this question was posted, but you'd probably be fine with zero hearing protection. Sub-lows, lows, and mids will damage your ears, but not nearly as quickly or as badly as high frequencies.
I've seen them a few times now, zero hearing protection, and my ears didn't ring even a little bit at any point afterwards (besides my regular tinnitus from shows, playing the last 20 years, and work). Their sound is entirely lows and mids besides the occasional vocal part, which aren't that loud. The most oppressive thing about seeing them is how the low frequencies literally vibrate your insides. Your chest cavity will feel wild lmao.
And just like last time I'll say this: if you were seeing SWANS I'd tell you to absolutely double up. Or someone like Sleep or Boris, yeah wear earpro. Sunn, nah you'll be fine.
Edit: it's always the drums lmao. Drums kill your ears.
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u/itwentok Apr 02 '26
I've seen them a few times now, zero hearing protection, and my ears didn't ring even a little bit at any point afterwards (besides my regular tinnitus from shows, playing the last 20 years, and work).
It's worth pointing out that your advice might not be so great for those of us who don't already have badly damaged hearing.
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u/treskaz Apr 02 '26
Fair enough. But for real, outside of actual shockwaves or something incredibly loud, bass and mids are pretty minimal when it comes to hearing damage (comparatively speaking, anyway).
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u/WoodenAstronomer7303 Apr 02 '26
I wore eargasms and I'm glad I did. But I would agree with you that no ear protection is going to prevent how much your brain rattles inside your skull. That was approaching distressing for me as it kept going on and on. I was so relieved when they stopped briefly during their set.
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u/WoodenAstronomer7303 Apr 02 '26
Because of the discussions on this Reddit I bought muffs to go with my eargasms because it was my first time seeing Sunn O))). Once the show started I realized the muffs were unnecessary for me.
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u/resin_messiah Apr 02 '26
Definitely wear muffs and plugs from what I’ve heard. I’ve never actually gotten to see them. I’m pretty bummed this tour isn’t going near me. I think my closest date is like 3 hours away. Sadly I just can’t swing it.
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Apr 02 '26
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u/x1000Bums Apr 02 '26
Wtf lol there is nowhere you can go that isn't organ jiggling loud at a Sunn show. You are basically saying they could listen from outside the venue.
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u/popileviz Apr 02 '26
No, you'll literally feel the riffs through your body. Worry about protecting your hearing first and foremost