Top 8 Best Earplugs For Concerts (2021 Review)

Who doesn’t love attending concerts? Everyone out there would want to hear live music once in a lifetime. Music lovers dream about going to concerts of their favorite artists all day. The experience of listening to live music is so overwhelming.  However, if you go to concerts frequently, then you must be aware that concerts are way too loud. Unfortunately, the loud music can lead to ear damage. It’s not about how many concerts you attend; even a single music event can damage your auditory system in less than 10 minutes.

However, what if we tell you there is a way to protect your ears? All you need is a set of earplugs, and you can enjoy music as much as you want without damaging your hearing ability.   We can help you learn all you must know about the best earplugs for concerts and how they protect you against loud music. Check out our top earplugs for a concert and see how these tiny plugs will save you from hearing loss.

Earplugs for concerts – Buying Guide & FAQ

Finding the best earplugs for a concert is not easy at all especially when having no idea about earplugs. If you want a seat of best earplugs for yourself, follow our detailed reviews below. But, first, you must know what these little earplugs are.

What are earplugs?

Earplugs are small devices made of foam, rubber, silicone or wax and are to be inserted in the car canals just like you insert your earbuds. The earplugs are designed specifically to protect your ears from loud noises, or any foreign particle from entering your ear canal like water, dust, and wind, etc. Some earplugs are custom made that fits the size of one’s ear canal accurately. The earplugs are used by several people such as swimmers, scuba divers, mine and drill workers, concert photographers and managers. People also use it while sleeping to avoid loud noises entering their ears and disturbing their precious quality sleep.

How loud sounds affect our ears?

Loud sounds can damage our ears. The sound enters our eardrum and passes to cochlea where there are many microscopic tiny hair cells. What these hair cells do is they signal the brain through your auditory nerve when vibrations pass through them. Your brain interprets different tones based on how fast your hair cells move. The hair cells move faster when the sound is loud. Excessive working of hair cells can ultimately lead to their death by frequent exposure to loud sounds. This is result in permanent loss of hearing as the hair cells cannot regenerate. The hair cells usually bend when damaged and may cause tinnitus.

Why must you wear Earplugs while going to concerts?

Although the purpose of going to a concert is to hear music loudly, this can lead to hearing loss. You must keep a set of earplugs designed for concert use with you for noise clarity while protecting your ears. Nobody would want damaged hearing because of long exposure to loud music from speakers at concerts. Loud music can lead to permanent hearing failure.

Our normal conversation levels are about only 60 to 65 decibels loud, but the music at concerts can reach up to 100 to 120 decibels. The noise above 100 decibels can cause loss of hearing right after exposure to 15 minutes only whereas 120 decibels will cause an earache and permanent ear damage right away. So, think twice before going to a rock concert without a pair of musician ear plugs.

Are concerts too loud?

To answer this, we will refer to the standard decibel meter to see which sound range is safer and which noise range is dangerous for your ears. According to NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health), it is not just a question of the noise intensity alone with a safe threshold value of noise exposure to ears. It is more of an ear that can withstand noise levels for a certain time. 85 decibels is the upper limit for safe noise level. It mainly depends on the time the noise is exposed to your ears. An interesting fact is that the time duration that an ear can endure the noise is halved for each 3-decibel increase added. Amplifiers and drums mostly cause the damaging noise levels by rock musicians at concerts.

What is Tinnitus?

The noise rings or buzzes in your ears or head that does not come from any external source; those ringing sounds are your perception. It is a symptom of ear damage and hearing loss. The ringing noises in both ears are sometimes so loud that it interferes with your ability to hear a genuine sound or concentrate on your work. It is also caused by exposure and listening to loud music for hours which damages the hair cells of your ears.

What are the different types of earplugs?

There are diverse types of earplugs but mainly divided into these categories:

• Foam:These are the most common earplugs in the market. Also, they are very cheap. These are made of memory foams like polyurethane or polyvinyl chloride, which is why they are called foam earplugs.  They are compressed to insert in your ear canals providing you the highest decibel drop off. To insert these, you must roll them with a slender rod, then pull and hold it deep into the ear canal with the help of a finger. These foam plugs can offer noise reduction to 22-32 decibels.
• Wax ball earplugs:They are similar to foam ones, but they seal your ear canals completely, and you would feel disconnected from the world. They are easily available at the local pharmacies.
• Flanged:The flanged earplugs’ cone-shaped rims create a universally fit seal against your ear canal. They are comfortable to wear for long hours and designed for musicians.
• Custom silicone:These are the custom molded earplugs made of vinyl or silicone that fit your ear canal and shape with no pressure or discomfort. They custom made earplugs offer consistent attenuation.
• Musicians or Hi-Fi:These earplugs are designed for musicians, performers, and technicians and come with various attenuations levels.

What are Hi-Fidelity earplugs?

Musicians are also exposed to high noise levels which can cause tinnitus or hearing loss, so they must wear Hi-Fi earplugs to protect their ears. These earplugs of musicians are designed in such a way which attenuates the sounds across every single frequency evenly. This helps to maintain the natural response of frequency of the ear minimizing the effect on the treble and bass perception of the user. Technician and musicians commonly use these in their concerts and studios to avoid the high exposure to loud music levels. A minute diaphragm is present that reduces the low frequency and an absorbent material for high frequency. Filters inside them flatten response of frequency. Thus the music passes in your ear through the plug being minimum effected.

How are concert earplugs different from typical earplugs?

The earplugs for a concert will not distort or muffle the sound completely as the typical earplugs do. They conserve the quality of the sound while simultaneously reducing the volume to a new ear-friendly noise level. The audio filters reduce the noise throughout the entire sound spectrum in a uniform way. The usual earplugs lower only some sounds causing the listening experience to deteriorate. The earplugs for concert allow you to enjoy the experience of high fidelity, whereas preventing you from damaging your hearing system, so you carry on to enjoy music. Having a low profile design, they are less noticeable by anyone. For more information on earplugs, click the link.

Things to Consider before buying ear plugs

We want you to buy the most appropriate earplugs for yourself. So, here are tips you need to see before choosing the best earplugs for the concert. Blocking or filtering soundThe earplugs which block the incoming vibrations to your ears will give a much-muffled sound. You probably won’t like that feel while going to a concert. So, it is better to avoid the earplugs made of foam and earmuffs. Go for earplugs with audio filters and some new loop designs in the market allows you to hear clear music while protecting your ears.

Type Choose the universal fit ones like earplugs made of silicone. They fit your ears perfectly plus they are much easier to clean.  Ear plugs that are moldable have to be heated first and then cooled to fit your ear shape. You also have the custom earplugs exactly made according to their ear size. Pick the one which suits you finest. PriceThe foam earplugs are the cheapest of all the earplugs out there in the market. You can have a bulk of them for just $10. The universal ones vary between a price range of 10 to $40 depending on the brand and type you want to buy. The custom-made earplugs are expensive.

Levels of noise reduction – the main reason you buy earplugs is to protect your ears from damage due to loud sounds. Therefore, it’s important to remember decibel reduction when buying a set of earplugs for yourself. Concerts can loud to 150 dB, so choose the earplugs with noise reduction up to 15-20 dB.

Earplugs safe or not?

You might be thinking if earplugs are safe or not? Theirs is a slight chance that the earplugs might go too far into ear causing ache. This hardly ever happens because of the typical earplug design with soft textures that minimizes the risk of earplug pushed too deep inside your ear. You are much likely to harm yourself when you go to concerts without earplugs than when you go out with them. The cleaning of Hi-Fi earplugs is a very simple procedure. Although various brands recommend different techniques for cleaning the earplugs according to instructions given, the simple way of cleaning is to rinse them with water. It would help if you bought a new pair of ear plugs every three months to avoid ear infections.

The Best Earplugs for Concerts

Now, you know that you must protect your ears to avoid hearing damage and in concerts. To make it easy for you, we will provide you with detailed reviews of the best earplugs for the concert. See our product table below with comparison if you are running short on time.