passageway thus providing attenuation the pancake elements 720 725 730 and 735 are blocking members that may be made of attenuating material such as foam rubber or other attenuating material the pancake elements may be connected via the fastening member 760 or may be connected to one another via a spring or other such element that allows these pancake members to axially move with respect to the control member 710 either towards the control member 710 to close off the passageway or away from the control member 710 to allow sound to pass through the passageway in certain embodiments the pancake members rotate when the control element 710 is rotated in other embodiments the pancake members simply move either towards or away from the control element without rotation of the pancake members in certain embodiments of the invention the control member is controlled by a remote control in certain embodiments the remote control allows for a user to close or open the passageway through the at least one earcup allowing for sound to pass through in certain embodiments the remote control is located away from or remote from the at least one earcup and in other embodiments the remote control may be attached to or linked via an electronic cable to the at least one earcup in certain embodiments the remote control includes a processor and or a computer and software executing.