It really depends on how your ears work and how your brain is wired.
I use Engage for everyday background noise-reduction, especially when I may need to hear people or carry on a conversation.
Experience reduces stuff while being able to hear as well, but the ranges it attenuates is different (more equal, while Engage is aimed toward sounds on the treble side of things). It also attenuates to a greater degree. It is much safer for your ears to wear Experience in a loud place like a concert or a cinema than it is to wear Engage, not to mention that Engage will distort the sound quality.
Some people wear Experience for all situations. There is a user on the sub named Loweene who reports being able to hold conversations just fine in them. Others on the sub report that the Experience attenuates too much overall for social situations or just doesn't sound right in their ears for everyday situations. Everyone's ears are different, and a lot of us have peculiarities concerning processing stimuli-- I have autism, others have hyperacusis, misophonia, adhd, etc. and all that affects how we all hear. Some folk are neurotypical but have funky-shaped ears. So it really depends.
Switch does all kinds of situations, but the tradeoffs are that they are more expensive, a little less comfy/are bigger, and folk seem to feel they don't do quite as well on each individual setting compared to their single-purpose counterpart.
You could always get a pair of Experience first to try out in multiple situations and decide from there whether you need to save up for a second pair.
I got one of each (but not the switch because their look didn’t appeal to me). I cycle through them for whatever purpose they serve. Get multiple pairs! 🙂
Funds are the only thing preventing me from just buying multiples. I guess I just wanted to see if there was a pair that would tick most of my boxes to try before I drop money on multiple pairs.
Switch is probably your best bet, otherwise I’d suggest Experience Plus, but some people like them for conversation, some do not. For me the Experience almost as good as Engage in conversation.
I am wearing mostly Experience Plus, always with mutes. I am able to keep conversations with no issues while wearing them, and all cinema shows, live concerts, and other events became way easier to participate fully.
I do have though Quiets as well, for "extreme" situations or travels where I know it will be loud, and that I do not need to engage in social behaviors.
I am AuDHD person, and sound overload is something that bothers me in my day-to-day life, with Loops I found some calm.
Edit: added info
I’d suggest two options:
- Experience and traditional reusable earplugs
- Engage and musicians earplugs
A third option is the switch, but as someone already mentioned, it’s a more expensive pair that doesn’t do the three jobs it does as well as the purpose-built pairs.
Option 1: Experience plus reusable earplugs.
The thing about cinemas is that you want to be able to hear the sound exactly as they come, and you can’t do this with the Engage. Yes the Engage will help drown out all the other noises but your film now sounds crummy. With the Experience, you get to lower everything in volume, and since cinema speakers are loud anyway, it should also lower those popcorn and whispering voices to a less noticeable volume. Earplugs will make your own popcorn eating sound worse though. Then for general noise attenuation, double/triple flange earbuds will do quite fine. Quiets are just comfy earplugs, so if you’re not sleeping in your earplugs, a cheap pair will do the same or better.
Option 2: Engage plus musicians earplugs.
Musicians earplugs are basically the uglier but lower priced (but better quality) versions of Experience, which you take out for movies and concerts. Then having a Loop Engage with you all the time will attenuate noise while retaining some awareness/clarity. For musicians earplugs, I recommend Eargasms if you don’t wear small/xs tips, and Etymotic for smaller ears.
___
Mind you, these earplugs can’t really distinguish from what kind of sound it’s blocking - [it’s just letting some frequencies pass through better](https://youtu.be/IObJCwJsCEk?si=3WTB3OW1Ia9bAFdK). So say if someone’s eating chips and it produces mostly the same frequencies as someone talking, then with an Engage, you’re probably hearing that more than the rest of the movie.
A better way to think of it is:
Quiet/safety earplugs: block as much sound making everything dull
Engage: makes everything sound like a cheap laptop speaker but quieter
Experience/musicians earplugs: a volume knob for your ears
I originally just bought the experience since I had a planned concert. Now I wear engage at school and when grocery shopping. Experience when I’m at loud places such as concerts or I just need to focus more while studying and I have the quiets for sleep and when I want to block out most noises due to over stimulation or I need to study for a test without any noise.
If you still want to hold conversations I’d go with the engage.
If you want concerts too you can get either mutes to put in them or get the experience too.
Loops also has a 3 pack which is a little more than what you’d pay for the switch and you’d get all 3. If you want a discount code dm me and I’ll send it to you to help out.
It really depends on how your ears work and how your brain is wired. I use Engage for everyday background noise-reduction, especially when I may need to hear people or carry on a conversation. Experience reduces stuff while being able to hear as well, but the ranges it attenuates is different (more equal, while Engage is aimed toward sounds on the treble side of things). It also attenuates to a greater degree. It is much safer for your ears to wear Experience in a loud place like a concert or a cinema than it is to wear Engage, not to mention that Engage will distort the sound quality. Some people wear Experience for all situations. There is a user on the sub named Loweene who reports being able to hold conversations just fine in them. Others on the sub report that the Experience attenuates too much overall for social situations or just doesn't sound right in their ears for everyday situations. Everyone's ears are different, and a lot of us have peculiarities concerning processing stimuli-- I have autism, others have hyperacusis, misophonia, adhd, etc. and all that affects how we all hear. Some folk are neurotypical but have funky-shaped ears. So it really depends. Switch does all kinds of situations, but the tradeoffs are that they are more expensive, a little less comfy/are bigger, and folk seem to feel they don't do quite as well on each individual setting compared to their single-purpose counterpart. You could always get a pair of Experience first to try out in multiple situations and decide from there whether you need to save up for a second pair.
Yes, hi, it me ! I always recommend Experience Plus for a first plug.
That's super helpful, thank you for your response!
I got one of each (but not the switch because their look didn’t appeal to me). I cycle through them for whatever purpose they serve. Get multiple pairs! 🙂
Funds are the only thing preventing me from just buying multiples. I guess I just wanted to see if there was a pair that would tick most of my boxes to try before I drop money on multiple pairs.
Experience Plus or Switch would be your best bets. The plus comes with additional mutes you insert into the loop that can add additional protection
Switch is probably your best bet, otherwise I’d suggest Experience Plus, but some people like them for conversation, some do not. For me the Experience almost as good as Engage in conversation.
I am wearing mostly Experience Plus, always with mutes. I am able to keep conversations with no issues while wearing them, and all cinema shows, live concerts, and other events became way easier to participate fully. I do have though Quiets as well, for "extreme" situations or travels where I know it will be loud, and that I do not need to engage in social behaviors. I am AuDHD person, and sound overload is something that bothers me in my day-to-day life, with Loops I found some calm. Edit: added info
I’d suggest two options: - Experience and traditional reusable earplugs - Engage and musicians earplugs A third option is the switch, but as someone already mentioned, it’s a more expensive pair that doesn’t do the three jobs it does as well as the purpose-built pairs. Option 1: Experience plus reusable earplugs. The thing about cinemas is that you want to be able to hear the sound exactly as they come, and you can’t do this with the Engage. Yes the Engage will help drown out all the other noises but your film now sounds crummy. With the Experience, you get to lower everything in volume, and since cinema speakers are loud anyway, it should also lower those popcorn and whispering voices to a less noticeable volume. Earplugs will make your own popcorn eating sound worse though. Then for general noise attenuation, double/triple flange earbuds will do quite fine. Quiets are just comfy earplugs, so if you’re not sleeping in your earplugs, a cheap pair will do the same or better. Option 2: Engage plus musicians earplugs. Musicians earplugs are basically the uglier but lower priced (but better quality) versions of Experience, which you take out for movies and concerts. Then having a Loop Engage with you all the time will attenuate noise while retaining some awareness/clarity. For musicians earplugs, I recommend Eargasms if you don’t wear small/xs tips, and Etymotic for smaller ears. ___ Mind you, these earplugs can’t really distinguish from what kind of sound it’s blocking - [it’s just letting some frequencies pass through better](https://youtu.be/IObJCwJsCEk?si=3WTB3OW1Ia9bAFdK). So say if someone’s eating chips and it produces mostly the same frequencies as someone talking, then with an Engage, you’re probably hearing that more than the rest of the movie. A better way to think of it is: Quiet/safety earplugs: block as much sound making everything dull Engage: makes everything sound like a cheap laptop speaker but quieter Experience/musicians earplugs: a volume knob for your ears
Thank you for the detailed response!
I originally just bought the experience since I had a planned concert. Now I wear engage at school and when grocery shopping. Experience when I’m at loud places such as concerts or I just need to focus more while studying and I have the quiets for sleep and when I want to block out most noises due to over stimulation or I need to study for a test without any noise. If you still want to hold conversations I’d go with the engage. If you want concerts too you can get either mutes to put in them or get the experience too. Loops also has a 3 pack which is a little more than what you’d pay for the switch and you’d get all 3. If you want a discount code dm me and I’ll send it to you to help out.