PRODUCT REVIEW: Loop Experience Earplugs

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We live in a world full of noises that we can't really shut out. Most people learn to deal with them and 'filter them out' using our brains and unconscious selective hearing but there are times when the noise simply cannot be gotten around. Some environments are just plain loud.

The science of getting around that has been relatively simple throughout the years. Environment too noisy? Cover your ears with something or leave.  Can't cover your ears, or still need to hear something or someone? Well...you're kind of hosed at that point.

You were, anyway.

Loop Earplugs claim that they've got a product that can filter out a lot of ambient noise around you while still allowing you to hear critical audio from things like conversation. The price for this miracle?

Around $30. 

Do they work?

THE SHORT VERSION:

Yes. You should always consult your doctor before sticking ANYTHING in your ears though.

THE LONG VERSION:

"Steve, did you really just buy a pair of $30 earplugs?! I can get a bag of the things for $5!"

Yes, I did. Stick with me though because this one's kind of interesting.

Earplugs of just about any kind work on the brute force principle of lowering the intensity of all of the frequencies that reach your eardrum. If you want a blanket muting of all audio, this works perfectly and you should 100% buy those el cheapo foam earplugs and be on your way. What makes Loop Experience earplugs so interesting -- and so worth it in my opinion -- is what Loop allows you to do with their products.

At their core, all Loop earplugs -- there are three flavors of them -- are just that: Earplugs. You put them in your ear and they deaden the noise around you. Loops earplugs have a few tricks up their sleeves that increase their value and usefulness though.

First, the Loop Experience earplugs come with four different types of silicon eartips to make sure you get the fit that you're comfortable with. This is critical because if your earplugs don't fit right, they don't do a strong job of stopping the audio from getting to your eardrums. Having a good fit goes beyond simply blocking noise though. By shipping their products with so many options for fit, Loop allows you to DELIBERATELY pick eartips with a tighter or more loose fit depending on what you want. This allows you to customize the extent of sound that they block out. A smaller plug means you can let more sound in. A larger plug gives you the opposite...and let me tell you, when you've got larger plugs in, these do a -really- good job of blocking sound out. I tested them against both normal foam earplugs and active noise-cancelling earbuds -- Apple AirPods Pro -- and these blew them both out of the water when properly configured.

Not everyone wants to simply make the world go away. Sometimes we just need to take the edge off of things a little bit. Loop allows for that. Bonus points, the Loop plugs have a little audio channel cut into them that actually allows for certain middle frequencies -- those occupied by most voices -- to pass through a little more readily than the rest of the ambient sound in the world. Configured properly, it allows you to block out a lot of the extra sound in the world while still being able to hear those voices, meaning you get the best of both worlds.

All Loop earplug products come with a nice little carrying case too, complete with a loop that lets you put them on keychains or other fasteners. It's a little gesture that goes a long way to making them convenient to keep around you. The case is a little smaller than a standard AirPods case and could easily fit in your pocket if you chose.

Finally, and of more importance than a lot of folks give credit, is the fact that Loop earplugs don't look like gaudy orange earplugs. They rest flush against your ear rather than sticking out. You can't see them straight on, and when you look at them from the side, they simply appear as little circles in your ears. They're -- dare I say it? -- fashionable.

"Alright, Steve...why do I give a damn if my earplugs look fashionable again?"

For starters, some of us aren't wearing earplugs because we want to. We're wearing them because we have to. Blocking sound isn't always about physical comfort. For a lot of people, myself included, it's about neurological comfort. Sound can be stressful. It can be triggering. It can make living a normal life more difficult. My situation is just one example:

My ears don't process sound properly and, as a result, I hear -everything-. My world is loud and when you combine that with a few other neurological factors, I really need to shut that off from time to time. Not being able to do that comes with ... unpleasant consequences. That means stuffing something in my ears, sometimes at random. That's stressful enough but I'd rather not also call attention, especially negative attention, to myself in the process. 

It might seem like a small thing until you're the one dealing with it. 

Loop Experience earplugs offer a solid, customizable, fashionable, and convenient way to lower the sound of the world around you. If this sounds good to you, you should consider giving them a try. The price is right and you can snatch them from a variety of online sources, including Amazon, which makes returns a cinch if you find they're not worth the money.

For me, they were money well-spent.  Learn more on the Loop Earplugs website.