I like a good gig me. But I’m getting old and my ears ring the day after a gig. That can’t be a good thing.

Last couple of gigs I’ve gone to I’ve just used some normal foam in ear plugs but they lessen the experience. Sound is muffled and rubbish.

Are these special gig earplugs worth the money?

I’ve got some custom ones about 10 years old now so I cannot compare with the ones mentioned on here but mine are brilliant. Perfect clarity just at a reduced volume.

Yes. I wear Rooth ones, I’ve got three or four sets, I always carry a set on my keyring, and they’re much better than foam, and very much cheaper than custom fit!
They do a very good job of blocking the high frequencies that do the damage, without losing the detail.
Etymotic are very good, they make excellent earphones, so they ought to know what they’re about.
There’s a whole bunch on Amazon, mine are pretty much identical to the Senner and Falley ones:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gig-ear-plugs/s?k=gig+ear+plugs
These will probably be perfect for what you want, they’re not too obtrusive when you’re wearing them, and they’re a decent price:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hearprotek-Cancelling-Earplugs-Hearing-Protection-Percussion/dp/B07GSZ5TZF/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=gig+ear+plugs&qid=1558696459&s=gateway&sr=8-8
Oh, and the ringing; mine still ring after a Grand Slam gig in 1982!
One of the last gigs Phil Lynott ever played, and I was standing in front of the speakers. It was bloody loud.
It’s why I wear plugs now.

The band wear earplugs. Many of the audience wear ear plugs. Could they not just turn the volume down a notch or two?

https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/alpine-white-musicsafe-pro-ear-plugs

I use these for gigs and for practice. They work fine for me

The band wear earplugs. Many of the audience wear ear plugs. Could they not just turn the volume down a notch or two?

Many years ago I saw Jonathan Richman at the Concorde it Brighton, someone was shouting for him to turn up but he just said he was too old and it would hurt his ears.

Could they not just turn the volume down a notch or two?

BALLS TO THAT!
Ruin it for the rest of us who like it LOUD and don’t want to hear the **** who insist on talking all the way through… Probably too busy waving your phones around taking pics for your facebook than getting into the music anyway. Hmph.

ACS custom for me. Take off the volume but don’t lose any clarity.

Unfortunately a lot of gigs, and “sound engineers” disguise the poor sound the band makes with volume. When I’ve seen really good gigs it’s usually the sound engineer that’s responsible for making it so.

I saw Wilco at the Albert Hall in Manchester 2 or 3 years ago. At one point someone in the audience shouted for the band to turn up the volume. Jeff Tweedy then took the time to explain that the venue had enough hard surfaces that playing any louder would ruin the sound, and we should be glad that all the “sacks of blood” in the audience were damping things enough that the sound could be as loud as it was.

https://www.alpinehearingprotection.co.uk/earplugs/musicsafe-classic/

These have always worked well for me.

need to get some. just home from seeing Maximo Park at the Liquid Rooms and my ears are ringing !

I’ve been using the Alpine Music Safe ones mentioned above. Can’t say there is anything not to like. Nicely attenuating the volume without any significant loss of clarity.

Given that a lot of what you ‘feel’ at a gig is bass through the body as a whole, protecting the lugs is a damn fine idea for us old geezers.

If you are a serious fuss pot about the sound of the music, you wouldn’t be at gigs anyway, just sat at home listening on some gazzillion pound audio set-up.

The band wear earplugs.

No, the band wear in-ear monitors, usually custom made, so they can hear properly what the rest of the band are playing, and be able to hear what they’re singing, which is very difficult to do; on-stage monitors are ok, but have limitations. Great for guitarists to put one foot on to pose with!