Originally Posted by
ROBERT WRUBLOWSKY
Workshop is my happy place with good music on. I turn on the shop vac way too frequently to clean up after every cut etc. Its not practical to walk around with the ear protection 80% of the time.
While I might use a band-style hearing protection for a quick operation, anytime I'm doing sustained work that has a higher level of sound pressure, I use a pair of 3M Work Tunes so that tunes continue while I'm not exposing myself to excessive sound levels. They are not expensive at all and reasonably comfortable. There are other noise-reducing music solutions available, too. I tried a pair of IsoTunes a few months ago, and they did a good job at noise reduction while keeping the music on. I only returned them because the level of bass response was far below my long-term requirements as I wanted them for travel needs (such as on a plane), too.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...