New Year's resolution: get custom earplugs

The list of DJs whose very livelihood has been jeopardised by tinnitus is staggering. Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter was rumoured to have stopped DJing because of the affliction. Yousef and Carl Craig live with it. Eats Everything suffered from it so badly he became clinically depressed.

Once you have it there is no going back. And that's one of the worse things about tinnitus: the regret. There is no treatment as of yet though some scientists are making (small) steps forward.

We're all used to that post-club ringing in the ears going away after a day or so and we think it will always be that way. But one day, you wake up and it stays. The impact it can have on your life is quite staggering. You have the most piercing sound in your head causing migraines and disrupting your sleep patterns. Worst of all, your favourite pastime, going to clubs, becomes a thing of the past.

There are of course tactics to help those living with tinnitus such as special audio tapes to mask the sound when you sleep (or if whale noises aren't your thing, try tracks from Aphex Twin's 'Selected Ambient Works'). But prevention is the best cure.

While cheap foam earplugs work to a certain extent, they tend to fall out and muffle sound so much that your listening experience is pretty much ruined. With quality custom moulded earplugs like the ACS range, the harsh high frequencies are cut while the bass and mids are left intact. Most say the music sounds better.

A couple of the Mixmag team suffer from tinnitus and we wouldn't wish it upon anyone. So do your self a favour: forget the gym membership and get a pair of moulds before it's too late.

Mixmag have teamed up with ACS to offer our readers 15% off their custom fit hearing protection range, the PRO Series. Enter coupon code MIXMAG2022 at the checkout at acscustom.com. Valid from 13/12/2021 – 31/12/2022. UK customers only. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotions or offers. Full T&Cs apply - https://acscustom.com/uk/mixmag

http://acscustom.com (UK)

This video demonstrates how annoying the sounds can be (the high pitch; not the actors).