Etymotic Research High-Fidelity Dual Flange Earplugs (Concerts, Musicians, Airplanes, Motorcycles, Sensitivity and Universal Hearing Protection)

The effectiveness of this product depends on your ability to choose the right size ear plug, and install the device correctly in your ear, every time. So this will take some experimentation and practice in order to consistently get it right. You should then verify that you have it installed correctly, which you can do by listening to a db calibrated source, then installing the ear plugs, and adjusting the source to the same perceived sound level. Then repeat this insertion procedure again at the theatre, in the dark, in a crowd, etc. The device itself works fine. It just takes some effort to fit it well and insert it correctly.

Thoughtless drummers pounding on their drums while I put mics on them (the drums) is fairly common. Reduces painful percussiveness to negligible.

I didn't use these for very long, as they didn't end up working for me. I have an ear condition which causes increased pressure and sensitivity. When wearing these, they blocked out sound, but they also reflected internal sound back into the ear, so clicking my teeth together or eating something crunchy was uncomfortable as it created "impacts" on my eardrum.When I did use them, they blocked out sound decently well, across the spectrum it seemed, but they didn't insert very far into the ear and the harder edges were a little uncomfortable when making contact with other parts of the outer ear. They were also more conspicuous than I would have liked, sticking not so much beyond the plane of the ear but still being quite visible when viewed from the side.If you just wanted these to cut down on extra noise without needing to go for full over-ear protection, they'll probably work. However, for me, they weren't quite right.