The 3 Best Earplugs for Concerts of 2025

We’ve tested more models of earplugs than can be listed here. To see other earplugs we’ve tested in past rounds, along with some key measurements, check out this table.

The Audree Style set provides four sets of tips, and we found the fit very comfortable. However, the sound was more muffled than with any of our picks, and we heard a slight ringing sound with high pitches, likely caused by some sort of resonance in the dampening filter.

The Bollsen Music SoundPro pair is sold on the Bollsen website with the option of “AR KI TECH,” which sounded as though we were receiving custom earplugs — but what arrived looked like the universal fit. The process involves sending a picture of your ear, and we assume the company then chooses the right size for you. Whether that was helpful was debatable, but we did appreciate the earbuds’ discreet looks. We didn’t care for the required methodology to put in the earbuds: sticking a finger in your ear and wiggling it back and forth. This created a suction that made taking the plugs out feel like pulling a cork from a wine bottle, and people with dexterity challenges or long fingernails won’t be able to install these properly.

The Curvd Everyday Earplugs have a soft, flexible arching-wing design, and our panelists found them extremely comfortable — even to sleep in. We liked the sturdiness of the case, as well. Unfortunately, the sound was more muffled than that of our picks, so we wouldn’t recommend these for concerts. However, if you want a pair of earplugs to reduce annoying sounds while still having some awareness, the Curvd pair is fantastic.

D’Addario dBud earplugs fit well and offer two levels of noise reduction. You can adjust the level using a simple slide, but the resistance on the slide makes this pair tougher to adjust in your ear than the Loop Switch 2. Additionally, our panelists and our measurements agreed that the dBud let in more bass and less vocal range than our picks, causing them to sound muffled.

The Decibullz High Fidelity Earplugs are the less-expensive version of our best-for pick, and these earplugs use the same molding process to nearly guarantee a good fit and seal. However, the attenuation on this pair is too high, which in our testing produced a very muffled listening experience.

The Eargasm High Fidelity Earplugs were among the better-sounding universal earplugs that we tested, with slightly more-even attenuation than we got from our top Loop pick. However, our panel found the pine-tree-shaped plugs to be uncomfortable to wear because they extended deeper into the ear canal, often chafing or pinching. Additionally, the small removal tab was tricky to grab if it slipped behind the tragus part of the ear.

The Earos One earplugs offered sound reduction that’s similar in characteristic to the Loop’s, providing volume reduction without too much of a muffled quality. The stabilizing wings make these earplugs feel as though they’ll stay in place regardless of your movement. However, Earos provides only two tip sizes, so folks with very large or small ear canals run a higher risk of not getting a proper fit. The largest tip was not broad enough in diameter for one of our panelists to get a seal. For the panelists who got a good fit, the Earos One set’s pine-tree shape felt rather invasive, and it was uncomfortable enough that they said they wouldn’t wear these earplugs regularly.

The Earpeace Everyday set includes filters with the lowest amount of noise reduction that Earpeace offers. They’re designed to reduce the intensity of sound around you without impacting your awareness. They’re great for the gym or a busy office, or for folks who have auditory sensitivities. The Everyday earplugs are available in four color options and come with a matching plastic case. If you don’t mind a deeper-seated earplug design, this set is very comfortable, and does allow you to hear voices well enough to respond. However, the reduction isn’t sufficient to use for loud concerts, and the plastic case can be tougher to open than the metal screw-top canister design of the rest of the Earpeace line.

The Earpeace Music pair has a similar fit to the Music Pro, but it includes three different filters that can be changed out to adjust the sound reduction. We found this process to be more cumbersome than we’d want to do frequently, since the tiny filters are challenging to handle and easy to lose. We also thought these didn’t sound as good as the Music Pro, with less detail in the vocal range.

The inexpensive Hearprotek High Fidelity Music and Hearprotek High Fidelity Concert earplugs share the same flaws. First, the earplugs are made from a silicone with a gripping quality that makes them difficult to push into place. Additionally, the silicone flaps occasionally fold over on insertion and then suddenly snap open in your ear, making an uncomfortably loud thwap. Neither set sounds as clear as our picks, and we found the website confusing. It’s tough to know what you’re actually buying, and one pair we purchased didn’t come with the case pictured.

The Hears set has a chic aesthetic. However, the included tips are very difficult to remove and replace, and the largest tip was too small for people who usually use large tips in other brands. We also found these difficult to remove from our ears, and the wings can pull off, leaving the rest of the earbud still in our ears. Physical design aside, we liked how they sounded, so we hope Hears can work out the design for a future iteration.

The JLab JBuds Protect earplugs have a stem that twists to adjust your reduction level, but there is no physical feedback, so you have to take these out to change settings. We loved the magnetic case that holds the earplugs in place for added security. However, the foam tips run on the smaller side, so people with L or XL ears will need to push the JBud Protect unsettlingly deep into the ear to get a seal. And once they’re sealed, the overall sound is duller than that of our picks.

The Loop Experience 2 Plus package deal includes everything from the Loop Experience 2 Earplugs box, plus three sizes of foam eartips and a pair of Loop mutes, which Loop says will increase the sound reduction by 5 dB. While we like the foam tips as an option, the mutes weren’t our panel’s favorite tool because the tiny plastic circles are very easy to lose when you pop them in and out of the earplugs. That said, if you know you’ll always need that extra 5 dB of reduction, or you prefer foam tips, the Experience 2 Plus set is a good buy.

The Minuendo Live set comes with a lot of thoughtful accessories, but our panelists had difficulty getting a secure seal. Once we did, the sound was tinny compared with that of our picks, and high frequencies ended up sounding harsh.

This article was edited by Adrienne Maxwell and Grant Clauser.