Loop Earplugs - Are They Worth It For Concerts
If you are looking for earplugs that allow some sounds through while blocking others, these might be for you. They are comfortable, have a sleek design (they sort of look like Klingon jewelry), and do what they say on the box.
They come in a little cardboard box with a storage case and a few different sizes of silicone tips to fit your ears.
Sound Quality
At concerts, sound levels can reach up to 85 decibels. Prolonged exposure to these levels can cause permanent hearing damage, so using earplugs is essential to protect yourself and enjoy the music as intended by the artists. But earplugs can be incredibly uncomfortable, and many users complain that they make their ears feel ringing or buzzing after a night of listening.
Belgian startup Loop is out to change that, with earplugs that look more like fashion accessories than medical devices. The earplugs come in solid black and gold, or pastel colors, and have a distinctive circular design that fits snugly into the outer ear canal. They also feature a high-tech mesh filter and a 3D-printed acoustic channel that creates a chamber that acts as the ear canal but reduces volume evenly across all frequencies, which means you can still hear a full range of music.
The earplugs also come with small, medium, and large rubber earbuds that fit comfortably in your ear canal. Plus, all the sets except Quiet and Experience have a mute add-on that boosts the sound attenuation by 5 decibels. This allows you to control the amount of protection you need, without having to take them out and reinsert them every time you want to adjust your hearing.
In my testing, the earplugs were comfortable and didn't affect the quality of the music. At the same time, I could easily tell that they weren't completely blocking out all the noise, which made it easy to interact with my friends and hear what they were saying. The acoustic filter did take out some of the high-end sizzle, but it's an acceptable tradeoff for protecting your hearing.
In my tests, the earplugs reduced volume by 18 to 27 decibels on average. While that's enough to protect your hearing, it may not be effective in some heavy-duty settings. Luckily, the Quiet and Experience earplugs have different acoustic filters that can be swapped out to increase or decrease the level of protection.
Noise Reduction
When you wear earplugs at a concert, the most important thing is that they allow you to enjoy the music while protecting your hearing. That's why earplugs crafted with concerts in mind are worth the extra investment over basic foam plugs. For example, Loop earplugs are engineered with an acoustic channel that mimics the function of your natural ear canal and features a filter to reduce sound by 20 decibels. That's more than enough to keep your ears from ringing the day after a concert and still let you hear the band play with clarity.
What's more, unlike most earplugs that make you feel isolated from the rest of the world by reducing vocal clarity and muffled sounds, Loop earplugs minimize this effect by incorporating an acoustic chamber in the tip to allow sound to resonate as it passes through your ear canal. This is similar to the way sound travels through a closed bottle of water. It allows you to hear the song but not so much that you can't also hear your friend leaning over and asking if you want another tequila soda.
The Loop Quiet and Loop Engage earplugs both offer significant noise reduction with great comfort. They are aimed at people who regularly wear earplugs for sleep, noise sensitivity, or focusing in loud environments and can be used by neurotypical and neurodiverse individuals alike.
However, they do require practice to get a seal and aren't as easy to use as other earplugs. You have to push the rounded end of the plug into your ear canal and twist it to secure the tip in the concha to create a tight seal. The design of the Loop earplugs prevents you from pushing them too far into your ear, which is a huge benefit for those who have struggled with other brands in the past and needed tweezers to get them out.
For those that have the technique down, they can be used all night at a concert without having to continually adjust them. They're the best reusable earplugs for sleeping but aren't the most comfortable to wear all day. When you're considering these earplugs for various purposes, don't forget to search for the latest Loop Earplugs UK Coupon Codes to save on your purchase and ensure you have the right hearing protection for your needs while enjoying cost savings.
Comfort
One of the great things about Loop’s earplugs is how comfortable they feel. They’re molded to fit the ear canal so they don’t stick out or fall out of the ear, and they have a sleek matte black finish that gives them a velvety texture and makes them look like something Batman might keep in his jewelry box. The design is also surprisingly lightweight, and after wearing them for a while you don’t even remember that they’re there.
They’re rated to reduce sound by 27 decibels, which is more than enough to protect your hearing at concerts (where noise levels can reach 120dB or more) but still let you hear the music and talk with friends. They’re able to do this by minimizing occlusion, which is the degree to which the earplugs block your ability to hear sound around you.
While they’re designed to work for all kinds of listening situations, they’re especially suited to concerts and other social gatherings where the noise is elevated, or too loud sports arenas. They’re a good choice for people who suffer from hearing loss, but they can also help people with autism and other sensory processing issues. A lot of the reviews I read for these earplugs come from people with those conditions, and they all rave about how much these earplugs have changed their lives.
The company’s latest earplugs, the Experience and Engage lines, have a slightly different design. While the Quiet earplugs prioritize attenuation and comfort, the Experience plugs are meant for enjoying music with your friends, and they reduce noise by 18 to 27 decibels. They also filter sound in a way that preserves frequency ranges and focuses on keeping voices clear, so they’re easy to use in conversation with people you’re with.
These earplugs are a lot more high-tech than the Quiet earplugs, and they let you adjust the level of attenuation with a small lever that clicks into place. The toggle switch can cycle through three settings: 17dB, 21dB, and 25dB, which is perfect for a variety of situations. They also come with an attachable accessory that can add another 5dB of protection if you need it. When you're considering these high-tech earplugs or other hearing protection options, make sure to look for the latest Accessories Voucher Codes to save on your purchase and get the most out of your hearing protection while enjoying cost savings.
Value
The price tag on a pair of Loop Experience plugs is relatively steep at around $200, but they're easy to justify based on how well they perform. They come with a pair of earplugs, a small case that's large enough to fit in the smallest of pockets, and four different sizes of silicone ear tips for optimal comfort and sound reduction.
The earplugs are also stylish, featuring a doughnut-shaped body that — unlike the plug-and-play foam variants you'll find on Amazon or in the drugstore — doesn't stick out of your ears. They resemble Klingon jewelry and sit snugly between your antitragus and concha — yes, I looked up ear anatomy whilst testing them — so they look a lot less obvious than bright orange pieces of foam sticking out of your ear. The torus shape also holds them in place without any annoying pressure on your ear canal, and they're easy to clean should you happen to drop one in a mosh pit.
In my tests, the earplugs were comfortable to wear for extended periods and delivered impressive noise reduction. As with all earplugs, it's possible to lose high-end clarity and a bit of the sizzle from live music when wearing them, but that's a sacrifice most of us are willing to make for the protection they offer.
Despite their high-end clarity loss, the earplugs did a good job of reducing occlusion (the amount of sounds that can reach your eardrum from behind) and it's possible to have a conversation with someone in front of you while wearing them. The Engage model did a particularly good job of this, but the Quiet earplugs weren't quite as successful in delivering clear voices while wearing them.
Beyond protecting your hearing, the earplugs are useful for everyday scenarios where you want to focus on a task, block out loud noises, or just relax. They're also popular among those with autism or ADHD as a way to help mitigate sensory overload from everyday sounds and activities. As such, I'd recommend the Loop Earplugs as an affordable way to keep your ears safe from overexposure to loud sounds that can cause permanent damage if exposed for long periods.
Conclusion
Loop Earplugs are worth it for concerts. They protect your ears from harmful noise levels while still allowing you to enjoy the music. They are comfortable, and discreet, and come with a handy carrying case. Don't risk damaging your hearing, invest in a pair of Loop Earplugs for your next concert experience.
