Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This review is for those with misophonia who want to know if these earplugs will help them out. (For those who don’t know, misophonia, meaning literally ‘hatred of sound’, is a condition where certain sounds cause an incredibly strong negative reaction in the listener, often an overwhelming rage or panic.) Just so you know for your own comparison, my triggers are primarily chewing, smacking, crunching, slurping (all eating sounds) as well as tapping and clicking. Also, as a note, my misophonia is not as severe as others. I don’t usually feel rage, just strong annoyance and sometimes panic, and a need to leave the room or area. First off, as earplugs, the Vibes work as they are described. They are definitely earplugs, where most sound is muted and quieter then normal. However, certain frequencies come through very clear, almost as if you were not wearing them. Talking is definitely much easier to understand than normal earplugs. However, it has to be loud enough. Soft speakers do not usually come through. For some reason whispers come through better, probably because they are at the right frequency. As regarding misophonia: for me they are partly useful. In some ways, they are fantastic for my needs, and in others they do not help. It depends on the kind of sound, but thankfully, for most chewing and tapping, the sound is blocked. I tested the Vibes in several areas where I often get triggers: - Office environment. The earplugs fantastically block out clicking and typing. If this is your main trigger, get these. However, it is a little hard to hear speech when someone comes over to talk to me, probably because I work in a quiet office and people speak softly. I usually take the earplugs out to hear them. - Public transit. I tried these on BART (the subway of the Bay Area) and they did what earplugs should: all sounds were muted. The sounds of the train car and of other people were all quieter. And amazingly, I could still hear my companion talk to me! Speech, especially close by, comes through these very well. - Live theater. A man was crunching near me, but for some reason, the earplugs still let his crunches partially through. Disappointing. Also, I could hear what was said on stage clearly, but the music was too muted for me. I had to take out the earplugs so I could fully enjoy it. - Movie theater. Popcorn crunches were blocked completely, crinkles of candy bags were not. The movie was clearly audible though of course the sound was not as clear. I wore these at several movies and they definitely helped. - Religious meeting. When I used normal earplugs before, they blocked out everything, so I could not hear anything spoken. These were where the Vibes shined. All non-speech sounds were blocked, especially gum smacking and other random noise, though paper crinkling usually comes through rather clearly. However, I can hear the talks and commenters perfectly. - At home. When another person is eating, these block out the sounds effectively. It is a little harder to hear speech because the talking and environment is all quieter than when I’m out. I can usually hear someone talking to me but it’s as quiet as a whisper. The TV is also difficult to hear unless it is turned up. (Still worth it to block the sounds.) Keep in mind, because these are earplugs, your own talking and eating is louder. If you are triggered by your own eating, be aware of that. Lastly, the fit and comfort is pretty good. It depends on the size of your ear of course, but it helps that they come with a few sizes. For me, I tend to push them in too far and they start to hurt, so I just need to remember to push and then tug them out a bit to the right spot. TL;DR These let in talking though it’s muted. For other sounds, some come in, some do not. For example, a man was crunching a bag of chips next to me. I put these earplugs in, and the crunching did not get through (yes!), but the crinkling of the bag did (aw!). Whether these earplugs work for you depends on your environment and your particular triggers.