Hearing (or Not) Is Believing

By David Colker

Aug. 7, 2005 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Los Angeles Dodger fans, who have not had an abundance of things to cheer about this season, went nuts in the bottom of the second as a smash hit by Jason Repko to right-center brought in three runs. There was such a cacophony of yelling, stomping and electronic blasts from the stadium speakers that my seat in the upper deck was vibrating.

But I heard little of it. That’s because I was wearing a set of custom silicon earphones made by an audiologist to fit perfectly inside my ears, blocking out much of the outside noise.

It was a little lonely there as I listened to the Vivaldi Gloria while everyone around me celebrated. But I had come to Dodger Stadium to test custom earphones, which have been used for years by musicians, TV studio technicians and even motorcyclists.

But with the huge success of portable music players, custom earphones that block outside noises are catching on with the general public too.

Craig Johnson, president of the Academy of Dispensing Audiologists, said he started getting calls for them at his practice in Baltimore in the late 1990s. “With the popularity in cellphones and MP3 music players, people started asking if we could make earphones along the lines of how we make custom hearing aids,” he said. “Now they’re in my Yellow Pages ad.”

It’s a word-of-mouth trend not pushed by the big audio companies because they’re not equipped to offer such a one-off item.

And they’re not cheap: The price per pair is usually $150 to $200, depending on the audiologist’s fee and the type of ear speakers used. That’s a lot to pay considering that most portable music players already come with earphones.

But if you take a lot of flights or commute regularly by train or bus, custom earphones can go a long way toward bringing a measure of sonic peace into your life.

That said, getting fitted for the custom plugs is not for the squeamish, in that it usually involves a complete stranger messing with the inside of your ears.

I went through the procedure last year at a motorcycle consumer show. Many motorcyclists, even those of us who ride relatively quiet touring and sports bikes, use audiologist-made earplugs and earphones to protect our hearing from the ravages of wind noise.

“Just hold still, this is going to feel a little funny but it’s not going to hurt,” audiologist Marilyn Navia said as she filled a large plastic syringe with brightly colored silicon. Navia then injected the stuff into my ear canals (it felt like warm Play-Doh) and waited about 15 minutes to let it harden. Then she pulled a rubbery object out of each ear.

By the next day, she had implanted a set of Shure Inc. earphones inside the rubbery pieces. All together, the earphones cost me $180. (Johnson said his office charged about $160.)

I had never tried the earphones under conditions as loud as Dodger Stadium on an evening when the boys in blue were winning.

But with music flowing through these earphones directly into my ear canal, the noise generated by the stadium crowd -- sometimes egged on by electronic signs exclaiming “MAKE SOME NOISE” -- was little more than a dull, distant roar.

And because they were custom-made for my ears, they were far more comfortable than one-size-fits-all ear buds.

Navia, who is based in Miami, specializes in ear devices for motorcyclists and normally comes to the area only for the annual International Motorcycle Show.

However, Johnson said most dispensing audiologists will do the job. The sites for the major audiologist associations -- www.audiologist.org and www.audiology.org -- feature search engines to locate local members.

While at the game, I also tested some custom earphones made not by an audiologist but from a mail-order wax impression kit.

The model I tried, from Aero Design & Mfg. Co. (www.aerostich.com, involved getting a friend to press a wax compound into my ear. The resulting mold was then sent back to the company to produce the earphones.

Areo’s price ranges from $130 to $170, depending on the quality of the speaker.

The set I ordered fit comfortably, but not snugly enough to effectively block out stadium noise. In a more real-world test, they also failed to block much of the noise generated by the Metro Blue Line train as I rode it from downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach.

Late in the baseball game, I switched to the latest model of noise-canceling headphones from Bose Corp., which uses electronics to damp outside noise.

Bose is one of the most respected names in the field, and true to form, the audio reproduction on the latest version of its QuietComfort 2 headphones (which will be in stores in September) was spectacular. Indeed, noticeably better than in either of the custom-made earphones I tested.

But the Bose headphones, which will carry a manufacturer’s suggested price of $300, didn’t block outside sounds as efficiently as the audiologist-made earphones. And although quite comfortable at first, they made my ears feel clammy after an hour or so.

After eight-and-a-half innings, the Reds had failed to get even a run and the Dodgers took the game 4-0. At the time of the last out, I was listening to Queen and David Bowie performing “Under Pressure” on the audiologist earphones. I popped them out just in time for the traditional playing of Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” that follows a win.

It was time to rejoin the world and celebrate with the crowd. Sometimes it’s a relief when you can stop being a geek.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Hearing the music amid the noise

Custom earphones, molded to fit snugly into the ear to block outside noise, are a less expensive, more comfortable alternative to bulky noise-canceling headphones.

Audiologist-made custom earphones

Price:$160-$180

Pros: Excellent noise blocking, comfortable

Cons: Must go through an audiologist to get a pair

Home-kit custom earphones

Price: $130-$170

Pros: No audiologist needed

Cons: Does not block noise as well as audiologist-made earphones or the Bose

Bose QuietComfort Headphones

Price: $300

Pros: Excellent audio quality

Cons: Expensive, uncomfortable to wear for long periods and not as quiet as audiologist earphones