More than just earplugs: Loop Experience Earplugs review

Think of earplugs and you’ll probably imagine stuffing luminous foam pellets into your ears to outlaw as much sound as possible. That’s what sprang to mind when I discovered I’d be reviewing the Loop Experience Earplugs. I was pleasantly surprised to find that these are no ordinary earplugs; they’re a passive alternative to some of the best headphones when it comes to noise control. I also found I had to challenge my entire understanding of what earplugs are actually for.

The only time I’ve ever used them is to try to switch off the world; usually with reusable earplugs to get as close to total silence as possible. The all-too-familiar second option is headphones, preferably with ANC to seek and destroy unwanted noise. My headphones could keep me in splendid isolation, tucked behind the loud wall of my Spotify playlist.

Sounds great, right?

Well, not really. I realised I didn’t always want to use loud headphones to drown out unwanted noises. I didn’t want to end up with that ‘hear your own heartbeat’ isolation you get from bog-standard foam earplugs either. But what if I could still experience the sound of the outside world, just at a lower volume? Could it be possible to do this without muffling or muddying the sound? And what about music? Could I really ditch the headphones and enjoy ambient music without dulling the bass and killing those high notes? That’s what Loop Earplugs claim to do.

I tested two models, the Loop Experience with an RRP of £29.95, and the Loop Experience Plus at £39.95.

Loop Experience Earplugs - Life's volume control

Before trying the Loop Experience Earplugs, I’d never stopped to consider why I’d reach for my headphones or wireless earbuds. Turns out I didn’t want to totally cut myself off from the outside world. I simply wanted to lessen the impact of the odd distraction.

I'm highly sensitive to noise, and I've got tinnitus which is often triggered by loud sounds. I find my concentration easily shattered by background noise - the dog barking at the postman, my son shouting all the way to America when playing online video games. Then there's the thud-thud-thud-dunk of the junior basketball team in the garden next door. So, these loops would seem to offer some respite from this.

How does it work?

The Experience version I’ve tested claims to deliver a good range of bass, mid and high frequencies. This can help with noise sensitivity for those who find they’re overstimulated in noisy environments, but it can also protect your hearing at concerts or noisy places in general. Therefore, unlike foam earplugs, these won’t actually stop you from hearing everything around you. They’ll just deliver that sound at 18-23db less volume.

There’s only a small handful of components at work here, starting with the loop itself which is a machined acoustic channel. The acoustic channel is the clever bit - intercepting the sound that would ordinarily be en route to your unwitting eardrums. The sound is channelled in a way that largely retains the acoustic value of that sound; funnelling it through a membrane, and a protective mesh, before making its way past the silicone earbud itself into your inner ear. Any reduction in volume like this would normally come at a price - resulting in the sensation that your ear is underwater. The key here is that Loop Earplugs will funnel the most important frequencies through the sound channel largely unadulterated

Testing, testing, one - two - three

I've used two models of Loop - the Loop Experience, and the Loop Experience Plus. I decided to test my Loops during various activities across a number of days. I opted for the Plus version most of the time as they’re essentially the same as the Experience. The Plus has three more ear tips to choose from - foam ear tips so you can fine-tune the fit. My version is silver, but there are three others to choose from to help them to blend with your style.

The most important inclusion is the two sets of optional rubber rings - the Loop Mute. This accessory fits inside the acoustic loop and can further reduce sound by an extra -5db. That makes for a grand total of -23db of sound reduction - roughly the same volume level as a dishwasher. By switching out the Mute accessory, I can vouch that this is audibly true.

Out of the box

Right out of the box, these impress with the simplicity of their packaging (cardboard, nicely recyclable) and the materials used. The looped part is precision engineered and lightweight. Just as well, as this is the bit that does the sound-reducing magic. They scream quality of manufacturing and simplicity of design.

Testing the fit of the Loop Experience Earplugs

At first-wear, it's easy to feel disappointed. I had to repeatedly remind myself that these are not standard earplugs - I was expecting near silence. That’s not the point of the Loops. Sitting down in front of my Alexa to write, I found I could still hear the nuances of my music, as well as the sound of my keyboard. The fit is comfortable, obviously because there's a good range of ear tips included. Therein lies one inescapable truth of the Loops, or any earbuds or earplugs: At some level, you'll always know you're wearing them.

The five-pence-piece-sized loop part was nothing to do with this either. Initially, just by looking at them, I was convinced that any comfort issues would be due to that. But I can hardly feel it at all. Despite this, even after a few hours of continual use, I could never quite forget I was wearing the Loops - but they came close. This may have been because they’re passive - they’re not piping music into your head. It’s easier to accept the mild discomfort of regular headphones if you know they’re doing something.

That said, as you’d expect the Loops do their job best when the fit is reasonably firm. Not painfully so, but not loose enough for errant sound waves to enter. This makes them a little less forgiving fit-wise than normal audio headphones. However, I found that the Loops do offer a great combination of low-profile design and adjustability for comfort. You could sleep in these - put your hand flat against your ear and you can't feel them.

Testing noise reduction

In testing, I used the reasonably scientific method of using an iPhone to measure the ambient noise in a quiet room, and then seeing how many of those decibels were truly cancelled out by the Loops. One interesting fact here is that 0db is not total silence. It's the lowest sound that's perceptible by the human ear. So, even in my quiet home office with only the faint hum of my PC and the occasional birdsong, the level was already approaching 30db.

This made testing the effectiveness of the Loops easy. I could gauge whether the rated 18db (or 23db with the extra attachment fitted) was doing the job. And it was. By moving to a corner of my room where the meter was reading 26db, what I could hear was close to silence. So, that's the Loop concept and the company's claims verified, all be it not in a lab.

Rock music, a noisy supermarket, and a very loud dog

So what about the listening experience? I listened to music while working from home, and had video conference calls and conversations without noticing any significant changes to the quality of sound - other than the volume. Thankfully, the Loops didn't turn my Alexa's rendition of AC/DCs ‘Back In Black’  into a pub band playing in a cellar. Played through my NAD amp and bookshelf speakers, James Brown’s ‘I Got You’  was just as full and rich as I was used to - just not quite as loud. Cranking up the volume to near concert levels (sorry, neighbours) the music was expectedly loud. But I could immediately hear how having some Loops handy could be the difference between hearing damage and enjoying ear-splitting music without actually splitting your ears.

Supermarket sweep

Wearing the Loop Experience Earplugs while shopping in a busy supermarket, I did feel a little more at ease. I had that extra little layer of separation between me and the barrage of in-store muzak, chatting shoppers and bleeping checkouts. Speaking with people was still unhindered, which of course is essential - remember, these aren't earplugs in the traditional sense. Walking the dog next to a busy road, and quieter streets in a rural village, demonstrated a welcome lack of in-ear wind noise and the rumble of passing lorries was a little less thunderous.

Back at home

The annoyance of my dog just down the hall barking at the postman was still there. But the reduced volume really did help me to stay focussed on my work. I realised that the dog barking wasn't actually that irritating, a lot was down to the sheer volume of it. I did find that my voice did reverberate inside my head a little more than usual. That said, I was able to have phone calls and conversations with the Loops and not find them a show-stopper. To be fair to Loop, they do have a model that is specially tuned to favour speaking and promote improved focus for conversations.

Loop Experience Earplugs: any downsides?

If you’re going to use these more passively (for example while working, making calls, or working from home) that doesn’t mean you won’t still hear the dog barking or a knock on the door from the Amazon delivery man.

Fine, that’s what they’re designed to do - so what’s the problem? Well, it’s not so much a problem as a feature. These will reduce noise - but it’ll reduce them all equally, not selectively. Sound that’s further away is normally lower in volume than the things closer to you. So, by reducing up to 18-23db of volume, the Experience Plus earbuds will dampen the volume of anything and everything by that amount.

However, the noises I’d like to reduce are somewhat louder than that. The dog barks at something like 50db, and the basketball next door is around 35db. Of course, I wasn’t expecting magic from these Loops. I mean they’re not powered and there’s no AI to intelligently filter out whatever I flag as disruptive (that’s for the near future, I guess). So, if you’re looking to defeat momentary intrusive sounds that break your concentration you’re out of luck.

Price and competition

If, like me, the whole concept of Loop Earplugs is something of a revelation, you’ll understand why they have no real competition. This is a unique and novel concept. If anything it makes me wonder why it’s taken so long to materialise. Assessing value for money is difficult. There are others, such as SUPCEAT Ear Plugs that claim to do a similar job for around half the price. However, as they’re silicone they’re a little more disposable and unlikely to treat frequencies with as much care as the Loops.

On one hand, paying around £30 for audio tech that doesn’t even need a power supply is a little disorientating. But you’re really paying for the engineering, the R&D and the build quality of a product that could, in practical terms, protect you from hearing loss. Are the Loop Experience Plus Earplugs worth £39.99? I’ll let you decide.

Verdict

Despite not being earplugs in the traditional sense, I do recommend the Loops (specifically the Loop Experience Pro) for reducing the volume level at crowded events like sports and definitely at loud music venues. While they increased my focus a little when working from home, the truth is some sounds are annoying no matter the volume. I did though find that the sort of sudden loud noise that may have triggered my tinnitus was reduced enough to help me avoid the dreaded 'beeeeep' that normally comes on for days afterwards.

Other than hearing protection at concerts, the strength of the Loop Experience Earplugs will be apparent for those who suffer from sensory overload. Put simply, if everything is too noisy - a classroom full of children or the crowd at a sporting event - these will take a significant edge off that wall of noise without making you feel cut off from the experience - great name for a product, that.

But don’t forget there’s the added flexibility of the Plus over the standard Loop Experience. That extra inner Loop Mute ring will kill five more of those pesky decibels if you need it. Remember, the Loops are not powered, so all things considered they do a fantastic job. Have conversations, hear what’s closest to you, filter out wind noise - useful for cyclists and the like - and just take everything down a notch. Attach the small carry case to your keyring and take these everywhere - you’ll never know when they’ll come in handy.

More items to consider

There aren’t many genuine alternatives to Loops in terms of design and engineering, but here are some cheaper earplugs that claim to do something similar. And If you’re all about personal audio, but still want some protection from outside noise pollution, we recommend investing in noise-cancelling headphones.

How the Loop Experience Earbuds were tested

The Loops Experience Earbuds were received in March and tested for 10 days in April 2023. They were worn while working from a home office, including during video calls, phone calls and whilst listening to background music from an Amazon Alexa. They were also tested with music played through a NAD amplifier and speakers, walking the dog next to a busy road, and shopping in a store.

Chris Duffill is a Tech Product Writer for What's The Best. He specialises in audiovisual, computing, and gadgets. He also writes for Yours.

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