High Fidelity Ear Plugs for Hearing Protection - Discreet, Clear Ear Plugs for Concerts, Festivals & Noisy Events - Up to 18dB Background Noise Reduction Rave Earplugs - Comes with Aluminum Case

I have sensory issues and I’m looking more for something to help me when my kids are getting loud so that I can still hear them when I’m getting anxious. These are extremely comfortable! So much better than the traditional earplugs, reduces, just the right amount of noise, perfect value for the money because of the carrying case is so helpful. I thought the design was a little weird at first but super cool and works really great.

I need ear plugs of some kind for a number of reasons. I have extremely sensitive hearing and tend to get uncomfortable adrenalin surges when loud and sudden noises occur. I also like to attend concerts from music types from orchestral traditional music to jazz/fusion to all-out metal rock music.In the work I do (IT, office-based business), I am called to conference rooms for meetings several times a day. Inevitably, someone on the conference speaks mouse-quiet and someone has the microphone permanently embedded in their teeth so that not only are they louder than anyone, we get treated to breathing and mouth noises for an hour at a time. Also, inevitably, the person running the call has the speaker/speakerphone turned up to its maximum volume. With some folks, this isn’t a bad thing. With most, however, it’s really grueling to have remote callers screaming at you at 125 or more decibels for long periods of time. This is the PERFECT time for the DownBeats ear plugs. They fit my small-medium ear channels, and they aren’t grossly obvious to my colleagues. This is a life saver for me: it really is excruciating when a caller is screaming at me through low-fi speakers in the room for what seems like a lifetime.Some have asked about the color of the stems. My family has four sets of DownBeats, and all of them have clear stems. It might be a manufacturing batch or maybe a supply difference that causes some to have white stems. None of ours have white stems and hide very nicely in our ear channels.When I go to concerts, the DownBeats aren’t quite as attenuating as I would like. They work great and are very unobtrusive to my ears (as in, how they feel in my ears) and are unobtrusive to the sound quality, save a little shaving off of the high trebles and a bit of the mids. For me (this is a personal thing), I would like for them to attenuate a little more when I am at a loud concert. When the sound technician is attempting to produce the current show as if she/he was engineering The Who in the 70s, I find the DownBeats lacking a bit. At a recent Pat Metheny concert, I couldn’t have been happier: the Carolina Theater in Durham had the balance, EQ, and volume just right (and besides, Path Metheny and his folks understand a little –used thing called dynamics).To give you an idea of the flexibility of the fit of DownBeats, I can use an Apple ear phone reference to help you: my ears channels are small to medium. Apple EarPods and ear buds don’t fit in my ear. I’ve never been able to use them because they don’t even slightly fit in my ear channels. My wife, on the other hand, has much larger ear channels and comfortably wears both Apple EarPods and the older ear buds. Here’s the punchline: The DownBeats fit both our ear channels just fine. They are flexible and soft enough to really do the trick.One more thing about comfort… They’re very shallow. I have deep ear pockets and my wife has shallow ear pockets. In my case, I have learned how to grip the DownBeats by their stems and push them in my ear channels in just the right way. It takes a moment to get them settled in or get them out, but in neither case is it hard to do. In addition, I can wear them for a few hours at a time without having ear-compression issues or ear-contact sounds that are irritating. With my wife, the DownBeats are really easy to pop in or out, as her smaller fingers and larger ear pockets give her more room to get the DownBeats just right.Overall, I’m very happy with them. We have a couple of pairs in her purse and one on my keychain. I also have a set at work I keep on my badge for ready use for those lovely multi-continent dial-in meetings.The DownBeats beat the pink foam ear inserts for me at concerts because DownBeats don't kill the best parts of the sound spectrum - although pink foam inserts to make loud concerts quieter.

Ordered plenty of these throughout the years and they work great! They will yellow after some time so that’s the reason for 4 stars. You can’t see these in the ear from head on. I have small ears so these being practically invisible is amazing!

I'm a long-time user of the Etymotic ER20 attenuators. I have both sizes of Etys, and I just bought some of these DownBeats.Here's my comparison.The DownBeats come in a robust aluminum case. They don't rattle inside (there's a plastic liner), and the base doesn't unscrew and fall off the lid. It does clank on my keys, so I wrapped it in tape. It's easy to get the plugs out of the case.The Etys come in a rubbery plastic squeeze-case. Also fine on a keychain, but a little more bulky, lighter, and a lot less noisy. The rubbery case gets dirty and beat up over time. It can be difficult to get the plugs out.The DownBeats are shorter -- only two flanges against the Etys three, and a stubby stem. That makes them smaller and less noticeable from the front -- the stem doesn't poke out from your ears. But the stems of the Etys are clear, while the DBs are white; from the side the Etys are less noticeable for that reason.The shortness is an advantage under a helmet, hat, or laying against a pillow, but it slightly works against the DBs when inserting and removing. Only slightly, though.Now, on to comfort and fit.The flanges on the DBs are as fat as the large Etys. If you have small-to-medium ears, that might affect how well they fit.To me, with mid-to-large ears, both the white (large) Etys and the DBs are noticeable in the ear -- there's a constant gentle feeling of pressure when inserted. It's not bothersome, but you do notice it when compared to the smaller Etys.The Etys go deeper into the ear, and have a longer stem. That makes them less comfortable than the DBs. The comfort distinction is exaggerated if you're moving your ears or wearing something on your head -- the stem moves and applies pressure inside the ear canal.By contrast, the smaller blue Etys are slightly more comfortable than the DBs, but only if you stay still and don't move your face!Sound-wise: all three are good, and to most ears there won't be a difference in attenuation or sound quality. Fit is the most important factor to how these perform for you.Comparing back-to-back with good over-the-ear headphones is too close to call regarding quality: it would be dishonest to make a judgment. The DBs seem to attenuate slightly more than the blue Etys, which makes sense -- the blue Etys are probably a tiny bit too small for my ears. The DBs seem to have a more even attenuation curve, blocking heavy basslines a little better than the Etys.In conclusion: I'm carrying and wearing the DBs. I find them more comfortable, I prefer the way they sound, and I value the small improvement in attenuation.If you have small ears, have trouble inserting or removing earplugs, or want a soft case, you might prefer the Etymotic ER20s. If you find deep earplugs uncomfortable, need a lower-profile appearance, or want a hard case, go for the DBs. If you're stuck between the two, the DownBeats are a good choice.