Hi, Chillers !
First of all, Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄
When you go to a lot of concerts, festivals, or noisy events in general, you need to protect your ears, whether you’re close to or far from the stage, to avoid hearing loss. There are three solutions: traditional earplugs that distort the sound, more modern ones whose reliability or even certification is questionable, and custom-made earplugs from a professional, which cost a fortune.
After much research, and comparing them to my custom-molded professional earplugs, I’ve found a great alternative with excellent value for money, and all without sponsorship, just because I love your hearing, dear little Chiller. Yes, it’s official, we’re now Chillers, because I’ve been asked—no, pestered, lol—for the last four years, so I gave in, lol, even though you’ll always be my little Padawan.
Okay, enough with the fluff, let’s get going.
Loop, the earplug brand that really surprised me.
It all started one day when a friend of mine said, “Oh, your stuff is weird!” He was obviously talking about my pro earplugs, try to keep up. Sure enough, mine were custom-made by a professional, and, lo and behold, I get incredibly accurate sound, just a little quieter. That’s what you want from earplugs, or rather, what you’re supposed to expect from them, since it’s a real jungle out there.
Before that, like everyone else, I’d tried the wax ones, the foam ones, the ones that look like three open umbrellas—I wonder if those aren’t the worst—anyway, they weren’t great.
Then one day, I saw a brand of earplugs pop up online, and I made it my mission to test them for you, since I’m lucky enough to be able to compare them with real professional earplugs. So I can give you a solid comparison, and I have to admit I was blown away.
The Loop earplugs come with several different tips to fit almost perfectly to your ear size. They’re quite stylish, with a choice of pretty colors, a mini case for carrying them everywhere, and you can also choose a cord so you don’t lose them. By looping them around your neck, they magnetically attach to each other (just like the photos).
There are several levels of hearing protection, depending on the degree of noise reduction you need. For heavy, greasy metal, I wanted to test the strongest protection, the “Experience 2 PLUS.”
However, the color I wanted, iridescent black, only existed in the “Experience 2” version (which offers less protection—the difference between these two models is the addition of a small black disc in the center), so I made my own: I took the iridescent black version (Loop Experience 2 “Tomorrowland” edition), to which I added the small internal black rings that provide extra protection (the “loop mutes“), which essentially makes it the “Loop Experience 2 Plus” version, the most protective version, in the color I wanted. Yeah, in life, there are only solutions.
I tested these earplugs for the first time at a Guns N’ Roses concert. I put them to the test alternating my professional earplugs with these. I know the sound and lyrics by heart; I’ve been to dozens of concerts with them (well, okay, a few more, lol), so it’s easy to compare. Well, I was blown away.
Then I went to a small Wind Rose concert in Lyon (Mine! Mine! Mine!), the sound was incredible for such a small venue, and especially way too loud, but that was a good thing and fortunate, because I was able to really test the Loops, and once again, the sound was magnificent.
I also went to Hellfest for three days, with rock, punk, metal, heavy metal, really heavy metal, alternating between the Altar and the Temple stages, for those who know, and everything went great. I switched once or twice with my professional earplugs to check, and once again, I was blown away.
What differences did I notice between my custom-made professional earplugs and my Loop Experience 2 Plus?
The Pros win out with a very slight additional bass attenuation and smoother treble reception, and vocals are even a bit clearer. But we’re really splitting hairs here; if the Pros are at 100%, the Loop Experience 2 Plus are at 90 or 95%, depending on the type of music. Honestly, I don’t think a non-music lover will notice any difference. Which is crazy when you compare the price of the two!
I’m finally going to tell you about the advantages of the Loops compared to the Pros, because yes, I see two: My Pros don’t have a nice cord like my Loops that magnetically attach to each other at the end (available as an option on the Loop website here; they come with a super handy soft silicone case for storing the ear tips with the cord, see photo). Finally, my Pros are more of a pain to clean than the Loops. And that matters too!
Don’t forget to clean them with a Disinfecting wipes after each use are important.
So, that’s it for this little test. I’m happy, after many unsuccessful attempts, to have finally found this superb alternative. I still use them regularly on different types of sound, and I’m still just as delighted after a year of testing.
All that’s left for me to do is wish you a good weekend, and I’ll see you next Friday for more adventures on the blog.
XO 🎵
