I spent 3 days in New York with Loop earplugs — and it was delightful

I just spent three full days in New York City swapping between different sets of earplugs to decide which ones you should buy.

The earplugs come from a company called Loop, whose mission is to create a product that can be used by those dealing with hearing sensitivity, focus issues and more. There’s an application for the plugs in a variety of everyday scenarios, from sitting down to focus on a project to silencing crowd noise at a concert.

Recently, the company hosted me in Brooklyn to test their earplugs while I attended Motorola’s big Razr smartphone launch. It was an adventure full of city sounds, booming music and loud conversations with all of my tech buddies. There were also plenty of times when I needed to sit down at my computer and type out my coverage of all the news that broke, and I needed to focus as best I could.

That’s where the earplugs come in. From muffling loud noises to silencing everything around me while I wrote, Loop’s products certainly helped.

But the question remains: Should you even own earplugs, let alone fancy ones from Loop? I reviewed all three sets they sell — Experience, Quiet and Engage — and each has its ups and downs.

Here’s what it’s like to use them.

Disclosure: Loop provided lodging, food and Uber vouchers, and an in-room massage during my stay in Brooklyn. However, the company did not receive any copy approval or editorial input.

The Loop Quiet are the ideal option for blocking out the world around you, particularly when you're trying to sleep or focus.

The Loop Experience are the middle ground of the lineup, offering a good amount of noise reduction while still allowing you to enjoy concerts and conversations.

Packing the lightest noise blocking of the bunch, the Loop Engage are built to simply take the edge off while still keeping you aware of your surroundings.

Typical earplugs aren’t designed for comfort or silencing certain noises, but to simply plug your ears and drown out as much noise as possible. That’s not a great approach for creating a mainstream product, and Loop wanted to differentiate itself with a line of stylish, comfortable and effective earplugs.

Founded in 2016 by Maarten Bodewes and Dimitri O in Antwerp, the company’s original goal was to design a set of earplugs that could limit decibel intake while retaining sound quality. Both founders suffer from tinnitus, which doesn’t blend very well with their love of nightlife. Maarten assured me that they tried “every earplug on the market. And we were always left wanting more.”

So, they set out and created Loop Experience, their first pair of earplugs designed for concerts, festivals and other loud activities to bring the volume down while keeping the outside world easy to hear. They went over well with consumers who praised them as must-have accessories for concerts, but once the COVID-19 pandemic began, all of the excitement died down quickly, with the company nearly going bankrupt in the process.

With this sudden turn of events, Maarten and Dimitri had to think of a new approach for Loop. Their solution? Cater to more diverse use cases like traveling, parenting, focusing on work and accommodating those with noise sensitivity such as those with neurodivergence.

Turns out, that’s a recipe for success. Loop proceeded to ship two new products, Quiet and Engage, to an excellent response. Revenue skyrocketed year over year, their staff grew exponentially and they became a staple for many people around the world.

But what makes them so special compared to other earbuds? It all has to do with the design. They come with a unique blend of custom-engineered acoustic channels and filters to reduce certain sounds while keeping others in focus. With the Experience earplugs, for example, Loop had to engineer filters that could reduce bass, high tones, and mid tones equally to achieve what’s called “flat attenuation.”

“Achieving universal flat attenuation is tricky,” Maarten said. “We conducted reliable acoustic simulations as well as real-life tests in order to arrive at a final product suitable for every ear. Because every ear is unique — there are even differences between your right and your left.”

Similar techniques were used for the Quiet earplugs, which focus strongly on attenuation and comfort and put sound quality aside.

But for Engage, Loop’s latest earplugs, sound quality took top priority, as they’re meant for people (especially members of the noise-sensitive community) who want to take the edge off in loud environments while still being able to hear others around them.

For that, the company needed to work on occlusion, which is the unpleasant feeling of speaking while your ears are plugged or clogged. Maarten said they went through various simulations and trials to perfect the Engage’s design, and landed on an acoustic channel and single mesh filter, “which does a much better job at reducing occlusion than other earplugs. All while maintaining natural attenuation so speech and conversation can flow.”

The result is a lineup of earplugs that anyone can latch onto, from those who just need to focus on their work to those who need to regularly silence loud noises in their everyday life. Plus, each pair comes with various silicone tip sizes to achieve a consistent seal based on your ear size.

The concept of regularly wearing earplugs might only dawn on those who were told by a medical professional to do so, but Loop wants to change that narrative.

“We want to break the stigma surrounding hearing protection,” Maarten told me. “Many people opt not to wear earplugs — which is a shame. Because they can help prevent everyday challenges like stress, migraines, hearing damage and sensory overwhelm.”

Among its user base, Loop has found that a lot of folks wear their earplugs every single day, including those who don’t identify as being noise-sensitive. It’s driven the company to position its earplugs as lifestyle products, which is evident from their friendly designs and fun color options.

“While Loop initially focused on earwear for nightlife, our understanding of the importance of hearing protection has evolved,” Maarten said. “We now recognize that earplugs can benefit lots of people. Including those who are sensitive to noise, those who want to sleep better and people who work from home and want help with focus and productivity.

“The truth is, according to the World Health Organization, over a billion people regularly expose themselves to noise levels that can lead to permanent hearing damage. And one in five people is neurodiverse, meaning they’ll likely navigate noise sensitivity and sensory overload often.

“We see earwear as the new sunglasses. And the world agrees.”

When I walked into the Weylin in Brooklyn during my trip, I was immediately thankful that I had Loop’s Experience earplugs in my pocket. It was a loud event, with a live DJ and high-volume conversations all around, and I was itching to reduce the impact on my hearing.

After withstanding a reasonable amount of time without them in (read: about 25 minutes), I popped them in and instantly felt relief. The Experience earplugs are crafted to reduce the volume of loud events while still maintaining enough clarity for conversations, and they seemed to work really well.

Once I put them in, it was far easier to enjoy the event and all that was happening. The plugs offer up to 18 dB of filtered noise reduction, which was the perfect amount to turn down the volume. The venue itself wasn’t very large, so no matter where you went, it sounded like you were front-row at an electronic music concert. Having the earplugs felt almost like a requirement to properly enjoy myself.

The Experience worked like a charm. I could still hear each song that was playing with a good amount of clarity, all while my hearing was being protected. And since everyone was raising their voice due to the loudness of it all, conversations were easy to pick up on. That’s not something every brand of earplugs can achieve, so Loop deserves a lot of credit here.

Loop’s Quiet earplugs are the strongest of the lineup, with up to 27 dB of filtered noise reduction. They will unapologetically silence everything around you, and from relaxing during a massage to sitting down and typing out an article, these earplugs worked really well.

I could tell the difference in sound isolation compared to the Experience, with a more pronounced seal and muffle on the sounds around me. The design of these plugs is slightly different in that they use silicone for the loops, allowing them to conform to the shape of your ear a bit better.

I popped them in during my in-room massage, and it was perhaps the most relaxed I’ve ever felt. I also tried them while sleeping, which worked like a charm for going to bed early. And since my room’s balcony was regularly bombarded by the sounds of Brooklyn (with plenty of loud music, motorcycles and police cars), I wore the Quiet earplugs every time I sat outside to write, and it was amazing. You don’t realize how focused you can be until you put literal earplugs in to block everything out.

If falling asleep or focusing on your work is an issue, these earplugs will prove their worth the moment you put them in. Out of all the plugs I tried, these are my favorites.

The Engage earplugs offer the lightest noise reduction you’ll find in Loop’s line of products, but that’s for good reason: they’re meant to be used when all you want to do is take the edge off, while still being able to listen to a conversation and sounds closest to you.

Loop says they’re good for parents who want to reduce the volume of their busy household, social gatherings while maintaining easy interaction with others and those with noise sensitivity to make everyday experiences easier to manage.

During my New York City adventure, these were the earplugs I reached for most often. They were incredibly convenient when I wanted to suppress the noisiness of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, while their reduced strength meant I could still hear people talking and vehicles passing by (two all-important factors whenever you’re walking the streets of NYC).

The best noise-canceling headphones in 2023

I also used them while writing this review in the lobby of the William Vale in Williamsburg. They offered enough suppression so I could focus on my craft, and I was still able to hear some fellow tech reviewers call my name as they passed by. I could also faintly hear the overhead music, which added a nice backdrop to the listening environment the Engage created.

From coffee shops to gift stores to the fountains of Rockefeller Center, the Engage earplugs followed me everywhere, helping to take the edge off whenever I needed to lower the volume of the world around me. They’re the most versatile of Loop’s products since they can be applied to almost any scenario you can imagine, which makes them a great first pair for anyone diving into the world of earplugs.

Here’s one of the coolest parts of Loop’s earplugs: You can increase their isolation whenever you want.

Technically speaking, Loop gave me the Experience Plus and Engage Plus earplugs. The “Plus” at the end of their names doesn’t change anything about the plugs themselves, but it does mean that inside their boxes, you get Loop Mute add-ons.

Loop Mute is a separate silicone attachment that, when installed, increases noise isolation by 5 dB using a custom mesh insert. I tried it out and, as you’d expect, it works really well. I could tell that everything was just a bit quieter than when Mute was left in its packaging, which is helpful if you aren’t able to achieve the amount of isolation you want simply by slotting the plugs into your ears by themselves.

The Quiet earplugs aren’t available as a Plus bundle, but you can purchase Mute on the side in a bunch of different colors. I took the Mute attachments and installed them on my Quiet earplugs, and let me tell you, it gets really quiet, to a point where it’s best to have someone else around in case you get a knock on your door or your phone rings.

Loop has done good work to reduce loud noises with its earplugs while maintaining a level of clarity to hear what’s going on around you, but these are still earplugs, and that means every sound you hear will be muffled since there’s something obstructing your hearing.

Voices are a particular problem. Loop says you can still converse with others while wearing any of the three sets I tested, and that’s true to an extent. I had a conversation with a few PR friends at Motorola’s launch event with the plugs in my ears, and I was able to communicate pretty well. However, I had to stand very close to them to understand what they were saying. It was also hard to speak at an appropriate volume; with the earplugs in, I forgot how loud the venue was to everyone else. I caught myself a handful of times speaking with my inside voice, which was impossible for anyone else to hear given the environment.

Loop’s work to reduce occlusion was noticeable, but it’s not perfect. The laws of physics simply won’t allow it; there’s an object obstructing your hearing, therefore sounds will be muffled. The Engage earplugs were the easiest to hear voices through, but it wasn’t on the level of, say, a transparency mode in a pair of wireless earbuds.

Of course, you can just take them off to converse when you have to, but they’re designed to be worn the entire time you’re out. It’s possible to chat with others while wearing them, but some may find it challenging.

It takes a good while to master the technique of popping Loop earplugs into your ears. But even if you get the moves down, there’s a good chance you won’t achieve a proper seal every time.

The way to put them in seems pretty simple. You hold the plugs upside down so the loop is near your earlobe, then — after sliding the earplug into your ear canal — you twist it to secure the loop in the concha (you’ll know it’s in the right spot if the loop sits flush with the outermost part of your ear).

I’ve done this over and over again, and I can never seem to get a perfect seal two times in a row. It always takes some adjusting to get the right seal, and even then, I notice that one ear might be more isolated than the other. They’re by no means as effortless to put in as something like AirPods, so if you want to pop them on for a little while, you might want to give yourself some extra time to get the seal right.

The cheapest earplugs you can get are the Quiet, which retail for $25. The Experience and Engage are both priced at $35. That’s a reasonable price for a single pair you’ll use every day, but Loop is always dropping new colors for different looks based on the time of year. (They recently released their Solstice color collection for summer, for example.)

If you want to get a few pairs to add to your rotation, it can get pretty pricey. You’re looking at around $50 to $75 for earplugs in different shades, with no discount options for returning customers. If you’re fine with that, go wild! But for everyone else, you might want to consider the colors Loop has available and decide on one that’ll go with every outfit.

Having Loop’s earplugs in my backpack during my adventure in New York was great. Wherever I found myself throughout the city, I had the option to shut off the noise for a little while whenever I wanted to.

I can see why Loop wants to normalize everyday use of earplugs. Having the convenience of increasing your focus, blocking distractions and aiding noise sensitivity at a moment’s notice is incredible, and I can see myself carrying them around like I do my sunglasses.

If you’ve been exploring the world of earplugs and want something fashionable, comfortable, and effective, you can’t go wrong with what Loop has to offer. Even with their shortcomings, they’re a product you won’t realize you need until you have them.