With the increase in popularity of in-ear phones that can seal of as much as 90% of external noises, the question comes into effect of safety. It's one thing to relax in your chair at home and sit in blissful ignorance of all the sounds around you, but quite another thing to walk around the streets or cycle the roads with no auditory signal that your just about to be run over by an articulated lorry!






The cleaver chaps at Shure have produced a small device called the 'Push to hear' (PTH) monitor. Plug it between your earphones and your portable device and you can adjust just how much of the outside sounds it lets you monitor by the use of a small microphone.

It's also handy when your fourteen year old asks you for some money because it features a fully off position. Selectively deaf my mum used to call it.