Well, I've never used ear plugs to hear anything, but I have listened to my own voice to determine what I needed to do to improve the quality, diction, etc... When I first got into radio news broadcasting, I practiced what was known back then as rip and read. Essentially, we would rip the news copy off a teletype machine, then walk into the studio, sit down at the mic, and upon a cue from the program director, would begin reading the news scrips. I taped every newscast, then brought the tapes home and listened to them every night for hours. I also brought home the news script and recorded it over and over until I felt comfortable with every word's sound and pronunciation. It took about two months of doing this before I could just step up to the mic and provide a 5 minute newscast.

When I was singing, I pretty much did the same thing. Additionally, I had my wife critique each and every song, which I still do. She has never been one to mince words, and lets me know what sounds good and what does not.

BTW: I've tried singing with ear buds, and the results were not good. I'm told that I have a great voice by lots and lots of people, including many highly skilled musicians, so I assume they know what they are talking about. However, I'm still very conscious about my vocals with every song I perform. And, I still ask my wife "did my vocals sound OK?" So, in response to Tony's post, I think about this all the time - maybe it's because I'm not a good musician and rely heavily on my vocals to get me through a job.

Good subject,

Gary