When Loop offered me the chance to try its new Dream earbuds, the first from the brand specifically made for sleep, I leapt at the opportunity to potentially get a good night’s rest.
Having tried and despised foam ear plugs a few times, I was prepared for at least some mild discomfort when wearing my pair of Loop Dream earplugs – thankfully, I needn’t have worried.
Offering the highest noise reduction in the Loop range at 27dB (SNR), the Loop Dream have been specially designed for sleep. The biggest change is their new ear tips, which are oval-shaped instead of rounded, and designed for an optimal and secure fit while reducing pressure in the ear canal.
However, Loop has also redesigned its namesake loop, which sits in the cavum of your ear (the little bowl at the opening of your ear canal) to improve comfort for sleeping. In the Loop Dream, it’s less loop-shaped, more platelet-esque, with a reduced surface area and flexible silicone coating for increased comfort.
So, do they work? Here’s my experience with the Loop Dream earplugs…
No, not chewing… TAPPING!
For some context; I moved into what I thought would be my dream apartment a few months ago, only to find out after I’d moved in that it was both due to be demolished and in serious need of some major repairs… and especially in the case of its racketing radiators. Fun fact: the radiators could well date as far back as the building’s construction in the early 1900s. If so, they have survived not one, but two world wars (with the building itself being damaged several times as a result of bombing during the Second World War), and now exist solely to haunt my every waking – and sleeping – hour.
How, you ask? They tap. A lot, and loudly. For hours every day, this particularly grating, echoey tapping noise fills every corner of my flat as every single heating device pipes up and joins the chorus.
I already struggle with sound sensitivity, which another Loop product, the Loop Switch, helps me keep in check by day. However, I also have a disorder called misophonia, wherein certain sounds trigger emotional or physiological responses - in my case, it’s triggered by chewing, tapping and sniffing. Even someone without misophonia and sound sensitivity would likely find those noises irritating, but for me, it’s akin to torture.
At night, it’s on a whole other level. I struggle to get a good night’s sleep at the best of times, and my brain will leap at any excuse to keep me awake for a few more hours; an incessant, unavoidable tapping noise is perfect fodder for my grey matter.
With Loop’s latest earbuds, however, I’ve finally been able to get a good night’s rest.
A gentle breeze on Hushabye Mountain
Research has shown that irregular exposure to sound may disrupt our circadian rhythm, as well as having the negative impact of waking us up unnecessarily, with the World Health Organization recommending that bedrooms be kept below 30dB when it comes to ambient noise at night; for context, a loud whisper generally registers at 33dB, so that’s pretty quiet.
When measured, my radiators were tapping away at 35dB, which goes some way towards explaining why I’ve been so crabby since my heating issues began. With my Loop Dream earplugs in situ, however, I’ve noticed a genuine improvement to my sleep quality, given they offer 27dB of noise reduction and effectively mute low-level sound while still allowing you to hear important sounds like alarms, doorbells and phone calls.
I know a few light sleepers who use Loop’s Quiet earbuds for sleep, but the brand's sleep-focused redesign has really paid dividends – I’ve been really impressed by how comfortable they are. I have quite small ears, so it’s always a concern that even the best earbuds might give me issues. The new oval tips, however, work a treat for reducing pressure in the ear canal, and while the redesigned loop didn’t quite fit snugly in my cavum, it didn’t matter too much due to its squishy silicon coating providing plenty of flexibility. They have fallen out of my ears a couple of times as I slumber, but I'm a particularly active sleeper, so that's no surprise – still, it's worth considering.
The Loop Dream earplugs are now available at loopearplugs.com for $49.95 / £49.95 / AU$69.95 in Black, Blue, Lilac, and Peach, and come with a new carry case with a non-slip grip bottom for easy bedside storage.
