Noise-canceling earbuds vs earplugs: which is better for protecting your ears?

That’s what Wirecutter wanted to find out. 

They conducted tests to determine whether earbuds really do what they say on the tin, and protect your hearing. They tested three of the most popular noise-canceling earbuds as well as a selection of earplugs, to see which fared better when pitted against loud music. 

They did this by using the GRAS RA0402 ear simulator, a device that measures exactly how much sound filtered through the earbuds or earplugs. This device was placed between two PA speakers, which were roughly three feet apart.

Then, they played a six-second clip of hip-hop music. The music was played in a five-minute loop at 105 decibels, which is slightly louder than the level you’d hear at a rock concert (usually about 104 decibels). 

While the music was playing, the Wirecutter team measured the sound level from the RA0402’s internal microphone, to get an accurate picture of how much sound was getting through to the ear, when wearing either earbuds or earplugs. For this, they used A-weighting. This eliminates bass and other low sound frequencies, and focuses only on higher sound frequencies that are more likely to cause hearing damage.

To get a more accurate result, they measured the different earbuds in three different ways, to reflect how people might use them for hearing protection in a real-life situation:

• They measured the sound levels that were blocked when simply wearing the earbuds, without any additional features turned on
• They measured the difference when the earbuds were using hear-through mode
• They measured the sound levels when the earbuds’ noise canceling feature was turned on

When in hear-through mode, the results weren’t quite as good as advertised by earbud manufacturers. All three earbuds tested did reduce noise levels from 105 decibels, 95 dB, 91 dB and 102 dB respectively. 

Hearing damage is possible after two hours of exposure to sounds of 91 decibels without hearing protection. While it’s great that the earbuds tested do offer some noise reduction, it does mean that you run the risk of hearing damage if you’re relying on earbuds as hearing protection during live events like concerts.

But because these simulations don’t tell the full story of what happens in real life, the testers also took the earbuds and earplugs to a concert.

The testers took two sets of earbuds and Loop earplugs to a concert, where the sound levels reached 105 decibels. As they watched the show, they switched between the earplugs and earbuds, and switched between the noise-canceling and hear-through modes on the earbuds. 

They found that the hear-through mode gave the best experience when it came to enjoying the concert, as it simply gave the full experience – but quieter. As they described it, “the guitars, drums and vocals all sounded surprisingly clear, and our enjoyment of the sound wasn’t lessened at all.”

While the music sounded great, the hearing protection offered by the earbuds still wasn’t enough: tests showed that the noise levels were unfortunately still too loud with the earbuds in.

When the testers switched to the earbuds’ noise-canceling mode, they found that it made the sound incredibly quiet, meaning the concert experience was diminished.