Best Earplugs for Concerts (original) (raw)

I Tried 6 Pairs of Concert Earplugs to Find the Best Ones

By ,the Strategist’s sleep writer, covering mattresses, pillows, and more. She has been writing about sleep products since 2021, previously as a staff writer for Sleepopolis.

Five pairs of various earplugs and cases laid on a wood table.

All the earplugs I tried.Photo: Amelia Jerden

I’ve been going to concerts since I was a teen, but only in recent years have I (begrudgingly) committed to wearing earplugs at every one. I should have started sooner — any damage that’s already done can’t be reversed — but part of the reason I dragged my heels is that I don’t want hearing protection to come at the expense of enjoying the music. So I’ve been on the hunt for the best earplugs that keep my ears safe, while still letting me hear the show.

When I started my search, I already owned the Loop Experience earplugs, which I was relatively happy with. However, they were the only “fancy” earplugs I’d ever tried; prior to buying them a couple years ago, I had either been using last-minute-purchase disposable foam earplugs or going without earplugs entirely. While the Loop Experience were leaps and bounds ahead of disposable earplugs, I wanted to find out if I could do better.

I usually see between one and three shows a month, depending on who’s touring, and go to a couple of festivals a year. I wanted reusable earplugs that are effective but still relatively affordable — I don’t need professional quality and I’m not ready to commit to a custom set, which can cost upward of $200 and requires visiting an audiologist. I also kind of hate having to wear earplugs at all, so my goal was to find a pair that let me hear the music most clearly and felt the least obtrusive in my ears. Finally, I wanted a pair with a decent carrying case that’s easy to keep track of and clips onto my keys so that I actually remember to take earplugs with me.

In total, I tried earplugs from six different brands over the course of five months at a variety of concerts and venues. All of the pairs I tested were designed for concert use, so they have filters to reduce sound but maintain clarity, which earplugs designed for other uses (like sleeping) may not have. It’s like turning down the volume on a radio — the filter means you can still hear each component of the music clearly, instead of the muffled sound you’ll get from earplugs designed to block as much noise as possible.

A quick note on noise blocking: Earplugs sold in the United States will have a noise-reduction rating (NRR) issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, but you may also see single-noise rating (SNR), which is the European rating. They are calculated differently, so even though many earplugs list both, I looked at the NRR for the earplugs I tried to compare apples to apples. As for the minimum NRR you need for a concert, there isn’t an “official” recommendation. The higher the number, the more hearing protection you’ll get, but higher NRRs will also block out more sound overall. Some of the most quantifiable guidance I’ve found comes from the U.S. government. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires workers to wear ear protection when exposed to noise at-or-above 85 decibels for over eight hours; most concerts are considerably louder but also much shorter. (This calculator from Sensear can help you figure out your actual noise exposure and the OSHA recommended time limit for that exposure, if you want a baseline idea of how NRR works at different noise levels.) So ultimately, it’s a bit of a judgement call on how you want to prioritize. My personal goal was to find earplugs with a NRR between 15 and 20.

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NRR: 14 | Material: Silicone | Color: Pink, blue, black, clear | Comes with: One pair of earplugs, five ear tips in different sizes, carrying case

I first learned about Curvd while reporting on earplugs for sleep. The shape of the Curvd Live earplugs is similar to the brand’s sleep earplug, but the D-shaped outer piece is considerably smaller. They are made from silicone and come with five ear-tip sizes; I ended up sizing down to the extra-small ear tips, which fit into my ear well but also offered less cushioning and felt harder in my ear. Still, when I tested these in January while seeing MJ Lenderman at a small venue, I was quite impressed with the sound quality. I could hear the show very clearly and felt I was getting solid protection; these have an NRR of 14, which is not incredibly high but close to the generally recommended range. As far as looks go, the Curvd Live earplugs come in four colors, including bright pink and blue. If you want your earplugs to be noticeably visible — which is sometimes helpful so that others know to speak up a bit — these ones definitely stick out more than others I tried, especially in the brighter colors.

The carrying case is a bit of a mixed bag; it’s basically a mini twist-top aluminum canister, which slips into a silicone ring keychain. It looks good on a keychain and won’t inadvertently come open. But it was annoying to get my earplugs out of while standing in a crowd. The aluminum canister is flat and wide, and it’s tricky to get a good grip on it, especially since you have to fully remove the canister from the silicone keyring to open it. There are just a lot of moving pieces, which may not be the biggest deal in the world, but the more awkward it is to open the case, the more likely I am to drop an earplug onto the sticky venue floor.

The Curvd Live earplugs.Photo: Amelia Jerden

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NRR: 13 | Material: Thermoplastic elastomer | Colors: Jet black, Brass blue, Silver night, Aural mist (white and silver), Gold haze | Comes with: One pair of earplugs, four ear tips in different sizes, carrying case

Much like the Curvd Live, the Hears One earplugs are a perfectly fine option that just wasn’t my favorite in the end. They are made from thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), a type of plastic engineered to feel like rubber. The resulting fit and feel was pretty similar to that of the silicone Curvd Live earplugs. Also similar to the Curvd Live, the Hears One earplugs have a large outer piece that definitely signals to others that you are wearing them. They come in a few different colors, but they are generally a bit subdued — a pro or con depending on your preferences.

You get four sizes of ear tips to choose from; they come preloaded with the medium, but I sized down to the small, which fit me decently well. The fit and feel did remind me of my Loop Experience earplugs, but I think the Loops actually fit me slightly better. I brought both pairs with me when I tested these at the Dreamville music festival in April and switched between them during different sets. I ended up settling on the Loops for the second day of the festival because they fit better and because my ears felt a little sore after having the Hears in for too long, perhaps because the ear tips are slightly harder than the Loop’s ear tips.

The Hears One earplugs come with a hard plastic carrying case. It’s a good size — smaller than my AirPods case — but it doesn’t actually have its own loop to clip it to my keys. I’d either need to run a lanyard through the small hole on the side of the case or try to hook it through a keyring.

The Hears One earplugs.Photo: Amelia Jerden

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NRR: 21 | Material: Hard plastic with silicone ear tips | Colors: Black | Comes with: One pair of earplugs, 11 sets of ear tips in different sizes and shapes, cleaning brush, earplug leash, carrying case

I must say: I would probably never spend quite this much on earplugs. So off the bat, that precludes Minuendo’s earplugs from taking the top spot for me. However, the company sent these to me to try and they are pretty great — so proceed with that caveat in mind.

They are easily the most customizable earplugs I tried for this hunt. Not only do they come with 11 (11!) ear tips in different shapes and sizes, you can also adjust how much sound the earplugs are blocking with a slider on the side of each earplug. There are cone-shaped ear tips, foamy ear tips, and traditional “earbud”-style ear tips; the latter are what I ended up using when I tried these out in March while seeing the band Anxious. It was a loud and rowdy show at a small venue, so earplugs were definitely necessary.

The sound quality through these earplugs was absolutely incredible, especially at the lowest sound-blocking setting. Of course, you’re also getting less protection at those levels, but I felt like using these at a low setting is a good compromise for times when you really would prefer to not wear earplugs. At the lowest setting, the sound quality with and without earplugs was nearly indistinguishable — but at least I was still getting some protection as opposed to forgoing earplugs altogether. Having the option to adjust also means you can go for more noise-blocking during a song, but turn it down if you want to talk to someone next to you. I also think that would make these more versatile for different types of shows where you may need more or less sound blocking. The NRR for these earplugs is 21 — the highest on this list — for the maximum position only. (Minuendo doesn’t list an NRR for the lower settings, but says the earplugs decrease sound levels by 7 dB in the most open position and by 25 dB in the most closed position, with a range between.)

The fit on these earplugs was comfortable for me, with plenty of ear tips to fiddle around with to get a close-to-perfect fit. The outer piece is the largest and bulkiest of any of the earplugs I tried for this story, but I didn’t find it particularly obtrusive in my ear. The earplugs only come in one color, black, and have an outer piece so large that anyone will easily be able to tell you are wearing earplugs. Because of that, the carrying case is also quite large. It’s about as wide as my AirPods case and a bit longer. There isn’t an easy or obvious way to clip it onto my keys, so I’d have to either bring these in a bag or stick the case in my pocket. If you want to be able to customize your earplugs without actually getting a custom pair fitted, these could be a good option. Otherwise, they’re a bit fiddly to deal with and significantly more expensive than most other brands.

The Minuendo Adjustable earplugs.Photo: Amelia Jerden

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NRR: 16 | Material: Silicone | Colors: Transparent, blue, gold, pink, rainbow, glow-in-the-dark green, hot pink, dark blue, copper, dark green | Comes with: One pair of standard and one pair of small earplugs (with one filter), carrying case

Eargasm’s High-Fidelity earplugs were very close to being my favorite. I’ve used them at a few different shows, and they were the first earplug I tried that really felt like a contender to the Loops, so I tried them again for this story last month when I saw Beach Bunny at a midsize venue in order to reassess. The Eargasm High-Fidelity earplugs are made from clear silicone in a cone shape. You get two sizes of earplug, one standard and one small, for some level of customization. Mine came with the filters preloaded in the standard — it’s a little bit of effort to pop out the filters and swap them over to the smaller earplugs, but very doable. Unfortunately, the fit of both sizes felt a little off to me. The standard pair was a little too large, but the small pair was too small. I ended up sticking with the standard, because the small wouldn’t stay in my ears. Overall, the Eargasm earplugs do feel comfortable, but over time I start to feel some pressure on my ear from the standard size. However, the reason I still ranked them so highly is that the sound quality is really incredible. It’s good enough that I think I’d be willing to put up with a little bit of discomfort from the sizing issues.

There aren’t any large exterior pieces of the Eargasm High-Fidelity earplugs, so they are pretty visually unobtrusive. I have the completely transparent ones, which are especially hard to see once they are in your ear. Eargasm does offer quite a few color options though, many of which are collaborations with larger music festivals. The main difference is the color of the filter itself, not the earplugs, which are almost always clear (the glow-in-the-dark pair are the one exception). The carrying case is also probably my favorite of the earplugs I tried for this story: It’s a short, wide metal canister with a twist-off top that already has a key ring on it. Because the canister isn’t as thin as the Curvd one, it’s a lot easier to open — especially because when it’s attached to my keys, I can just untwist the bottom portion to open it and grab the earplugs. I will note that if, like me, you clip your keys onto a belt loop with a carabiner and you proceed to dance with any level of vigor, the canister can actually loosen from the lid and twist off by itself. Take it from someone who almost lost this very carrying case in a mosh pit.

Priced between 46and46 and 46and55 depending on color, the Eargasm High-Fidelity earplugs are among the more expensive options on this list. But I think the price is still reasonable for the product — especially if your ear holes are just a bit bigger or smaller than mine, apparently.

The Eargasm High-Fidelity earplugs.Photo: Amelia Jerden

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NRR: 12 | Material: Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic outer piece with silicone ear tips | Colors: Black, silver, rose gold, gold, and occasionally other limited-edition colors | Comes with: One pair of earplugs, four ear tips of varying sizes, and carrying case

As I said above, these were the earplugs I started out with, so they were something of a benchmark for how I felt about all the others I tried. I made sure to retest the Loops to see how well I still liked them, and while I have definitely identified some cons, they are still one of my higher-ranked picks. I purchased my pair of the Loop Experience earplugs a couple of years ago, so they are actually the first-generation Experience earplugs; Loop now sells the second generation, Experience 2, exclusively. They seem fairly similar, though thankfully the Experience 2 earplugs have a higher NRR than the first-gen version I have, which only have an NRR of 7 — the lowest I’ve encountered on this hunt.

I’ve used these a couple of times recently, and I still really like how they fit and feel in my ear — not too tight, not too hard, and nice-looking but low-profile. The signature “loop” nestles into my ear, but with a bright pop of color that’s easy to spot. They’re comfortable to wear, but I do have to admit after trying the other earplugs on this list that the sound quality is not the best; nor, apparently, is the protective quality of the pair I actually own. (I was choosing them over the Hears One at the Dreamville music festival mostly out of comfort.) I wore them again after Dreamville when I saw Magdalena Bay at a midsize venue and had no qualms with the sound. But I tried them most recently when seeing Kendrick Lamar and SZA — a large stadium concert — and ended up feeling disappointed by how muffled the music was. So overall, they can be a bit hit or miss.

I haven’t tried the new version — they’ll be next on my list to test — so it’s possible the sound quality has improved, along with the level of protection. And I do still foresee myself using the Loop earplugs despite their cons purely because they are comfortable. For those who are a little earplug-resistant, the Loops are easily the most stylish earplug of the ones I tried. They’re relatively ubiquitous — I see other people wearing them all the time — probably in part because they don’t look weird or dorky. Loop usually offers some good color options, too, including limited-edition ones (mine are rose gold). Loop’s price point is also pretty reasonable, especially for people who plan to use them only a couple of times per year. The carrying case is perfectly functional; it’s plastic and opens like a clam, with a small loop to attach to a keychain.

Worth noting: Loop sells another earplug called the Switch 2, which allows you to “switch” between three listening modes called “Engage,” “Experience,” and “Quiet,” similar to the way the Minuendo works. My partner has the first-gen version of the Switch earplugs and likes them a lot. If I were to purchase another pair of Loop earplugs in the future, I’d probably go with the Switch to have more control over how they work at different types of shows, since I sometimes like the sound quality of my Loops and sometimes don’t, but they cost about $20 more than the Experience 2.

The Loop Experience earplugs.Photo: Amelia Jerden

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NRR: 11, 14, or 19, depending on which filter is used | Material: Silicone | Colors: Clear | Comes with: Two sets of three ear plugs in small and standard sizes; three sets of filters in medium, high, and maximum protection; carrying case

While there are things I liked about every earplug on this list, the Earpeace earplugs win for me because of their comfort, customization options, sound clarity, and affordability. These are silicone, cone-shaped earplugs — similar to the Eargasm High-Fidelity ones above. However, the silicone they are made with is a little softer than that of the Eargasm ones, which I found fit a lot more comfortably in my ear. They didn’t put much pressure on my ears, even after an extended period of time. I first tried them when I tagged along with a friend to see Moon Walker at a super-small venue, then again at a slightly bigger venue to see Free Throw, and was happy with the clarity both times. I didn’t feel like I was missing out by wearing earplugs, and I definitely needed hearing protection on both occasions.

Earpeace provides a standard set of earplugs and a small set of earplugs (I used the small), and each set comes with three earplugs, so you have a replacement if you lose one. I love this feature because I wouldn’t have to buy a whole new set just if I lost one earplug. Earpeace also provides three different sets of filters, each of which provides a different level of hearing protection. I love this feature too, as there may be times you want more or less protection depending on the type of music or venue. Admittedly, the different filters are not as easy to switch between as on the Minuendo or with the Loop Switch 2, since you have to pop out the filter and push a new one in rather than simply sliding a switch. But unless you see yourself needing to change between filters on the go, I think it’s a worthwhile inconvenience since these earplugs are so comfortable and affordable. They are the cheapest earplugs I tried, at just $30, which feels like an extremely reasonable price for what you get.

My biggest gripe with the Earpeace earplugs is the carrying case. It’s an aluminum canister keychain, similar to Eargasm’s but much thinner. If you accidentally stick the earplugs into the tube at an inopportune angle, they may not readily shake out and, because the tube is so thin, it’s difficult to pull them out with your fingers. (It opens at both ends, so you can theoretically put one earplug in each end, but that seems like needless extra effort.) I’m willing to put up with this as the Earpeace earplugs are otherwise great. And while they don’t offer much in terms of style, Earpeace does sell some special-edition versions with a little more pizzazz, though they are a little more expensive too.

The Earpeace Music earplugs.Photo: Amelia Jerden

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