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Rolling Stone
I Spent Three Days Wearing Loop Earplugs at a Music Festival — I’ll Never Catch a Set Without Them Again
By Sage Anderson,
1 day ago
Walking back home from a concert at Brooklyn Steel last year, as soon as my gang and I poured out into the streets with the rest of the post-concert, Uber-hunting crowd I realized that not only had the ringing started, but my hearing had gone fuzzy. Like playing the game where you guess what someone else is trying to say underwater, I found myself repeating, what? What? What was that? While my friends were standing less than two feet away from me on the sidewalk talking through auditory jello. Okay maybe, I resolved myself then and there, I should do something about this.
If you’ve ever found your ears screaming after a concert night of decibel-amped-up guitar shredding, or are feeling the weight of one too many festival weekends weighing on your hearing comprehension, we’ve been there. While session musicians and touring artists (alongside you avid live concert-goers out there) are some of the most likely to experience ear and hearing issues , including tinnitus, I had the unfortunate double whammy of having my hearing affected due to chemotherapy treatment as a young adult along with life-long auditory processing issues.
But in the past I hadn’t wanted to admit that I should probably be wearing reusable earplugs when going out to shows in my Twenties, and to be fair, look at the traditional options — the standard foam plugs, while excellent for your hearing health, often meant shouting at the top of my lungs to get a friend’s order at the venue bar, or having to deal with a distorted, muffled music quality while listening to the set itself. Bottom line? Foam earplugs feel sponsored by the NFL — the No Fun League.
Wearing earplugs during a concert has also traditionally been seen as (much like ski and skateboard helmets) kinda lame. But my laissez faire attitude towards hearing health growing up was no surprise; It’s estimated that over a billion young adults are at risk of hearing loss “due to unsafe listening practices,” according to the World Health Organization . No one wants to think they can lose a part of themselves so young, and due to the nature of this job, I had started to see way more live music over the past few years. So if I wanted to get serious about protecting my hearing health, I needed to find the best pair of reusable earplugs for concerts that would suit my needs without looking drab or feeling bulky to wear.
The good news is that several companies have been attempting to make preventative measures like plugging up your ears before a concert more enticing by leaning into style without sacrificing on listening enjoyment. We’re now in an era of the accessorization of protection — enter the Loop Experience 2 plugs .
In This Article
What Are Loop Earplugs? Loop x Tomorrowland Experience 2 Earplugs Review – Unboxing & Design – How Do Loop Earplugs Sound? Loop Experience 2 Earplugs: Pros & Cons How Do the Loop Experience 2 Earplugs Compare to Others? Loop Experience 2 Earplugs: Final Verdict
Founded by friends Maarten Bodewes and Dimitri O in 2016, the original Loop plugs (“ Experience “) were designed with the effects of tinnitus in mind, limiting the decibel intake without compromising on sound quality when you’re out at festivals or music gigs. “We did a nightlife survey that showed that 6 in 10 participants in the U.S. have experienced ringing in their ears, and also that 7 in 10 think it’s totally normal and part of the experience,” co-founder Bodewes told Rolling Stone.
He also mentioned that half of those surveyed didn’t believe earplugs were comfortable, and thought they would make them miss out on the full experience of the music. So how were they able to crack this code and turn what were essentially tiny helmets for your ears into trendy accessories that concert-goers would actually want to wear? By leaning into style and design, of course.
“We get the ski helmet metaphor a lot, but the other one we like to think about is sunglasses. The first Ray-Bans, you know the Aviators, were invented by the U.S. Air Force. They were meant to shield pilots’ eyes from glare. But once everyone spotted them back home, these protective glasses got a second life in fashion. The designs have evolved over the years, but even though everyone thinks of sunglasses like accessories now, they’re still protecting your eyes from UV rays, right? That’s what we aim to do with Loop Earplugs — if they’ve got different colorways and look unique, you’re going to want to pair them with your concert outfit. In this way, we really want to break the stigma around hearing health.”
Loop does distinguish themself from other reusable earplugs on the market with a variety of distinct fun designs and products for different atmospheres starting at just $19.95. They now have Quiet (the strongest, with up to 24dB of ambient noise reduction), Engage , Experience and Switch earplugs, the latter made to “switch” between the three modes. This is why you’ve probably spotted them on social media or popping up at festivals like Tomorrowland, with the hashtag #loopearplugs racking up over 25 million views on TikTok . But are they comfortable enough to make you want to “go front row” as Bodewes said in our interview? We decided to find out.
These days, savvy concert-goers and festival attendees are swapping cheap, disposable earplugs for reusable ones. Traditionally made as foam or wax plugs, disposable options are only really reusable for a few nights before starting to get gross and ineffective. Unlike regular foam plugs, which also fill up your ear canals to block out sound, Loop’s Experience 2 plugs boast “advanced noise reduction technology,” with a custom-designed acoustic channel and mesh that not only dampens noise, but filters sound to reduce the noise level overall. The Experience 2 plugs are made from soft, flexible silicone, with a circular plug to hold it in place and tip that sits inside the ear canal.
With up to 17 dB of coverage, they’re perfectly designed for music festivals, concerts, or any other place where you still want to hear the sound around you, just not as much. The Experience 2 earplugs we tried provides “flat attenuation” — basically, you’ll get the same volume protection across the sound spectrum without impacting audio quality. This year, Loop once again teamed up with Tomorrowland, the world-famous electronic dance music festival in Belgium to release a limited-edition set of Loop x Tomorrowland Experience 2 earplugs featuring the fest’s dreamlike color scheme and signature festival logo. “Loop and Tomorrowland are a powerful combination,” said Bodewes in a statement, “because they bring the world of festival life and the world of design-led wellness into the same conversation.”
Loop plugs stand out from their foam and wax counterparts thanks to a subtle, well-engineered design that’s as easy to wear as they are to listen through. The range of gorgeous colors do make them enticing, but they’re also extremely compact. In the box, you’ll get a snap-close case that you can easy throw in your belt bag or attach to your key ring with the elastic loop. With four interchangeable tips (although I chose to go with the standard fit), there are plenty of options no matter what your ear size (and believe us, we know thing or two about finding earbuds for small ears ). You’ll also see a QR code with instructions on the box if you want to find out more about how to find the best fit.
Immediately out of the box, my fit was on point — the Loop earplugs felt secure and did not fall out once, even though I head-banged, raved, and jumped up and down for three days. The squishy, soft silicone made it feel like they were barely there, with no pain and no digging in (they were so comfortable, in fact, that I would routinely forget when I had them in). Cleaning them after a long festival day was also a breeze — I just wiped them down with a damp cloth and I was good to go.
Music sounds better when it’s turned up to 11, but there’s a difference between being immersed in a song and completely blasting your ears after a day at a festival. The best earplugs for concerts are designed to let the instrumentals and vocals through, while filtering out both background noise and higher frequencies that could be damaging. That way, you still hear the singer or track without causing that uncomfortable ringing later on (or doing more permanent damage).
For an EDM-heavy fest like Tomorrowland, I felt like the Loop Experience 2 buds were especially essential — think heavy bass drops, loud, high-pitched synths, the works. For reference, I had also worn Loop earplugs to the New Orleans Jazz Festival earlier this year, and while I was grateful to have them during, say, Heart’s headlining performance, it didn’t feel as much like I was saving some of my hearing the way I was here.
As far as performance goes, I wore the Experience 2 earplugs to almost every stage and they really take the “edge” off of live music. I could still hear the thumping bass and melodic lines clearly, just slightly subdued. I think these would be great for anyone sensory issues to wear on their commute or around the office too, but they really do sound best for watching a concert. And yes, this did let us push up to (nearly) the front of a few stages with no problems or “yikes-I’m-standing-next-to-the-speaker-aren’t-I?” panic. Although the biggest “win” for me of the weekend was when I laid my head on the pillow to sleep after each night and didn’t hear the usual chorus of tin-y “ eeeeeeeeeeee” sounds in my ear. Not a single one!
One thing that I also feel was an absolutely a game-changer for wearing the earplugs to a festival was combining them with one of these Loop Links . Like a glasses chain, these have a silicone ring that holds your loops at the end of a rope that snaps together with magnetic material, so you have easy access to your Loops around your neck at all times. Loop earplugs have an, ahem, streamlined design, which means they are tiny. I felt like I spent half of Jazz Fest fumbling around in my bag searching for the buds, when I always knew were they were and could just slip them on when I passed a particularly loud stage at Tomorrowland.
But it wasn’t just me that Loops were helping out — several musicians playing at Tomorrowland also told us they love Loop’s ear plugs to help protect their ears while performing; they’re especially popular with DJs and percussionists like drummers, who don’t want their hearing to be compromised over time. Oguz is a Netherlands-based DJ who said he planned on wearing them at the fest. “As I almost always experience pain in my ears, especially in my right one, in which I have been 80% deaf for a long time,” he told Rolling Stone , “ Loop Earplugs keep my ears safe by protecting them from very high and loud noises behind the decks or when I’m flying. Despite this protection, I can still hear everything around me clearly.”
Nostalgix , a female DJ who played the Planaxis (a futuristic, conch shell-shaped stage along the water) mentioned the importance of hearing safety as a musician who’s constantly on tour. “It’s important for me to protect my hearing. Loop Earplugs have become an essential part of my daily routine and when I travel, am on stage, or in the studio. They keep my ears protected to do what I love every single day.”
Easy-to-wear : While it might take some trial and error to slide the earplug into your ear canal and twist it to secure the loop in the concha, they’re incredibly secure, didn’t budge, and were comfortable for long hours of wear
Sleek designs: With a variety of colorways from black and metallic gold, to Tomorrowland purple, these are simultaneously more discrete and more stylish than a tuft of neon foam sticking out of your ear
Great for concerts: No matter what stage we were at, the music we heard while wearing the Loop Experience 2 plugs sounded crisp and well-balanced, while still taking the “edge” off
Conversations are still a problem: While the Experience earplugs do offer better sound quality and can block lower frequencies, it was sometimes hard to understand conversations with folks even standing right next to me — you’d probably be better off wearing the Engage if you still want the option to get chatty
Not heavy-duty noise cancellation: While the Experience earplugs reduce sound by up to (SNR) of 18 dB or 7 dB NRR, traditional foam plugs like these have an NRR of 31 decibels. They’re great for general nightlife noise sensitivity, but if you’re frequently around loud sounds, you might want (or need) something more heavy-duty
Pint-sized means easy-to-lose: These buds are a compact three inches tall, and if you’ve ever lost a single AirPod before…you already know what I’m going to say
While those generic foam earplugs will do the job if you’re headed off to a show and you’re in a pinch, they’re often made from a cheap material that’s less durable and prone to falling out of your ears. Foam earplugs are also stuffier and less comfortable to wear for long periods of time. And that neon orange or yellow color? Not exactly subtle.
After seeing the effects they had on mitigating my tinnitus from just one weekend wearing them to Tomorrowland (featuring arguably one of the loudest genres of music), you won’t see me at another musical without my Loop Experience 2 plugs in ever again. I was able to rock out and stay engaged with the music, just at a reduced, non-headache-inducing volume, and the dreamy purple “LIVE, LOVE, UNITE”-engraved plugs made me want to put them in. Pleasantly surprised by how comfortable they were to wear the whole day, these will be my go-to grab to toss in my (clear, venue-approved) bag, but I’m certain they won’t spend much time in there.
If you’re a frequent concert-goer or want protection for the festival season, these are a no-brainer investment — and for $24.95-$59.95 , they’re not as big of an investment as buying noise-cancelling earbuds, either. Discreet yet stand-out stylish, reusable and easy-to-clean, Loop earplugs are an simple way to let you tackle the front row while still taking care of your hearing health.
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