Hearos Ultimate Softness Series Ear Plugs, 14 Pair

To start off, I first purchased Mack's Ear Seals back in 1/2011 and thought they were pretty good. Until I figured out that there has to be better ones than that. I found Hearo's and read all of the reviews I can on them. To me, the 5db difference from Mack's to Hearo's is a huge difference. Mack's Ear Seals Earplugs 1 pair Mack's are rated at 27db but you can't sleep with them. After a couple hours of use, my ear canals start to hurt a little. Overall they're okay. I would say it's more for an air seal like for swimming. Noise-Cancellation, after using Hearo's; haha - yeah right. I guess it is a little bit better than wearing my Altec Lansing noise-isolating earbuds. Just without the annoying noise that is made from the cord rubbing against anything it touches. But once I got these delivered today 3/7/2011 and tried them out; wow. At the time I was listening to music and had the subwoofer bumping as usual. My sub is 200watt RMS putting out 400 max power. It delivers the bump, as a bass-aholic anyone could agree to that. Normal listening volume but since my room is small in my apartment and the walls are drywall thin; the bass travels down three floors and down the hall 10 rooms over. Oh well, college what can I say. I plugged these into my ears and all I could hear is a very faint thump. Couldn't hear the vocals at all and the bass just sounded like my heartbeat. When you wear earplugs you can hear your heartbeat; it was that level of subtle thumping. 100% noise-cancellation? Not really, but it was definitely 90%. I couldn't hear mine and my suite mates bathroom door rattle, couldn't hear the windows rattle; just a subtle thump. No where close to a boom when I took out the earplugs. I was just in shock with my mouth open, it was as if I was deaf; which I can't imagine what it would be like. However, to describe the noise-cancellation that is what it seemed like. I just couldn't hear anything. I wore them in the library while studying and I was just blown away compared to Mack's Ear Seals; and I thought Mack's were good. Just like my room test, I just couldn't hear anything. The only thing I heard was dead space from my ears; not sure how to explain it. It wasn't white noise, just no sound at all. It's just the sound of complete quietness, of nothing; as oxymoron'ish as it sounds, that's how it was. Now. They are NOT 100% noise-cancellation. While sitting in the library there were still "some" things I could hear. The things I could and couldn't hear. I couldn't hear: - sound of flipping a page - writing with a pencil (that swish swish sound when you write) - unzipping my hoodie - when I farted - from a distance the people that were talking - noise from people walking by I could hear: - the kid talking on his phone momentarily on the other side of the cubicle desk. It was audible but it was definitely muted about 75%. Then again he was talking pretty loud and had the phone volume loud too so you could hear the other person talking (on the other end). - from a distance, someone dropped their book. I definitely heard it, but again it was muted. This was a pretty faint sound. Not like when the kid was talking. - when I dropped my coffee cup into the metal garbage bin and it went clunk. Again, muted. In the end, I mean the soft sounds will definitely be canceled out. However, the louder noises will definitely be very muted and just "almost" there when it could be considered noise canceled out. What I really got these for is to sleep and study with. My neighbor likes to slam his door shut. Knowing the cheap very thin drywall-like walls, you definitely wake up to it. Waking up in the middle of the night being startled because your neighbor is narcoleptic, and he's walking in and out of the room at 4am; definitely pisses me off. Wouldn't you be? I'm a pretty light sleeper, so anything can potentially wake me up. Unless I am completely knocked out in a deep sleep. Tonight will definitely be the test to see if I wake up or not from the crashing sound of a door. I tested my phone alarm which is pretty annoyingly loud and I could hear it with the plugs in. So the waking-up-portion with my cell phone and alarm clock shouldn't be a problem; I don't think. Also, you might be thinking; how come I couldn't hear the music in my room test but could hear the kid talking on the phone. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure myself. The music and bass just canceled out. Physics.. What can I say, nothing. If this was Finance I would know. What I'm telling you is the truth though. I could hear the kid talking on the phone and the music was canceled out with the bass just a thump. One last thing, to put these in; you need to roll them with your fingers so it gets squished. Stick it as far as you can into your ear canal. The important part is to HOLD your finger there until it expands and fills your ear canal. It's a pretty interesting feeling because your hearing slowly mutes out then it's completely gone and can't hear anything. All in all. The $10 was well spent. Plus, 20 pairs?! I'm pretty sure this will last me a year. I highly doubt I will even get to the second pack. My .02, my recommendation, definitely buy it. Period. [Don't even waste your time and money for some other ones. I already did. "Take it and go" - Russell Peters]

These things are gold and worth every penny. I am a very light sleeper AND it takes me about 30 minutes - 1 hour to fall asleep. That makes a deadly combo and makes it near impossible to ever fall asleep properly. The only times that I fall into deep sleep is when I'm exhausted from the lack of sleep. I could sleep fine when I lived in the quiet Orange County, but moving up to Oakland was a whole new thing. There are so many sounds that I can't even manage to sleep a wink: - There are always cars racing on the freeway overpass at night (which is almost directly behind the house) and the sudden revving of the engines jolts me awake. [Update 1/11/17: Found out that there's a street racing competition every few nights nearby so you can imagine the noise.) - Neighbors like to throw really loud parties (they're friends with the cops so cops don't bother stopping them) - Next door neighbor owns 20+ dogs. The other neighbor owns three. The house across from us owns two. The apartment house I live in contains a pitbull, another large mixed bred dog, a black lab, and three other yippy dogs. All these dogs will strike up a chorus at anything - the mailman, the cat, other dogs, children, the wind, you name it. And their owners do not know how to constrain their dogs. Especially the three yippy ones - they yelp as if someone is murdering or torturing them whenever their owners come home. Most of the dogs also seem to have abandonment issues and will whine when they are not barking. - The occupants of the apartment house talk by yelling at the top of their voices in normal conversation. - My boyfriend lets his alarm play for half the song (2 min or more) - and he goes to work four hours earlier than I do (but he sleeps much earlier) - My cat likes to sing at night - Loud semi's always pass by our house to get to the business across the street. - etc... I've tried sleeping pills before but it doesn't work for me -plus, they are not healthy. After pissing off my friend with all my complaints, he gave me the genius idea of buying ear plugs ("I wish I had some right now!"). This was the best purchase I have ever made. I haven't tried other earplugs, but I don't care because these are perfect. Do follow the directions when inserting them. I had a bit of trouble, but it didn't really matter if I did put it in all the way because it managed to muffle most sounds. These earplugs muffle. THEY DO NOT BLOCK. My boyfriend can talk normally and I can make out what he is saying. If he whispers, it will be a hum. But I prefer it that way because I need to hear my alarm ringing (which is slightly audible at max volume [iPhone 5s] directly by my head). Ever since I wore these to bed, I've been able to sleep through the night. I've been able to have my wonderful dreams (which means that I've having a REALLY GOOD sleep). I highly recommend these to anyone who's a light sleeper. They are also comfortable. I do get a bit of sore ears in the morning (but probably because I don't put them in right) but it goes away in a minute after you massage your ears a bit. I wish they blocked out the sense of touch (my bed dances when the washing machine and dryer jiggle against the wall) but its good enough ;D. Update 01/11/17: I forgot to use these for about a couple months but had to get back to them after a couple of roommates ended up having a babies. These things are still fantastic when you need them. I didn't realize how sleep-deprived I was after I started using these. When I don't use them, I would only have one dream (indicating one deep sleep cycle) and once something wakes me up, I stay awake for an hour(s) before I'm able to fall asleep again. When I use these things, I have multiple dreams; and even when I wake up several times after a dream (which I do periodically for some reason), I fall back asleep immediately and still wake up refreshed.

Because my ears have very narrow ear canals, and one of them takes a 90 degree bend and goes straight up, I am particular about my ear plugs. Because I use earplugs for active motor sports, shooting, and chainsaw work in Hawaii, over the ear protection isn't always practical. I recently purchased 5 different brands of earplugs and put them to the test. Here's what I found, sorted for most to least favorite. Mack's Ultra Soft - My personal favorite, and at $0.17/pair, also the least expensive. They share the same small diameter of the Hearos Ultimate Softness, but are a bit more firm and a few millimeters longer. So, for me, they did a better job of subjective sound dampening, and were a bit easier to grip and pull back out. My tests are mostly in warm weather. In very cold weather, these could be too firm for some users. The Mack's and Hearos Ultimate Softness both shared the same smaller diameter. Hearos Ultimate Softness - These were the softest, most comfortable plugs I tested. At $0.18/pair they were the second cheapest, and also my second favorite. My daughter doesn't like earplugs, as they really bother her ears, but she was at least able to tolerate these. I think most people would be pretty happy with these, however, they were not my favorite for two reasons. First reason is that they seemed to stop slightly less high-pitched sound than the other plugs. All the plugs are rated at 33 db, but that's because that is all they are allowed to be rated. Subjectively, these were at the lower end of sound blocking, but still adequate for most tasks. My only other "complaint" is that these seemed to take the longest to spring back to shape and fill the ear because they are very soft, and they are somewhat shorter than the Macks. This makes them feel a bit like they might fall out for the first minute or two, and their 2-3 millimeter shorter length makes them every so slightly more difficult to grip and remove. Both minor complaints, and these are very good plugs. Hearos Xtreme Protection - As the name implies, subjectively, these blocked the most sound of all the ones I tested. They have the same larger diameter as the 3M plugs, but are easily twice as soft/half as firm. They gave a very full feeling to the ears, but were not uncomfortable. At $0.39/pair, they were the most expensive plugs tested. They were the most effective and were quite comfortable, but the Mack's were 95% as good, and less than half the cost. These went into my shooting kit and would be my third selection, for use when max protection for a shorter wear period is ideal. Flents Quiet Contour. These plugs have a bell shape. I did not find that the shape made any improvement to sound dampening. These were on par with the Mack's for noise suppression. The downside of the wide end is that there is more material in your outer ear, which could be uncomfortable for some, and also perhaps less aesthetically appealing. However, if you're in charge of safety compliance, that extra bit makes it much easier to visually see that someone is wearing hearing protection, and it did leave more to grip for removing the plugs. At $0.30/pair, these were the second most expensive, and I do not recommend. 3M 1100 - These are what was issued to me for my 22 years of military service, and the benchmark from which I was judging. About the only positive thing I'll say about them is that they came individually packaged by pairs, so you can carry or store them in dirty or wet environment easily, but these were absolutely the least comfortable of the ones I tested. I paid $ 0.27/pair for them which puts them in the middle of the pack price wise. For me, they are much too firm, and also have the largest diameter of the group. In very cold weather, they would be nearly solid. They quickly made my ears sore/itchy. As much as I usually love 3M products, I do not recommend these. For those who care about such things, I tested these several ways. I wore each pair for about an hour just to get subjective feel for long term comfort. The exception was the 3M, which I could not leave in the entire hour because they were uncomfortable. Then to test for noise reduction, I put one brand in one ear and a different brand in the other ear and work for half an hour, then switch ears. During the test, I listened to speech, music, traffic noise, etc, and noted which plugs seemed to be most effective.

From left to right, Hearos ultimate softness, Macks ultra soft, Flents quiet time, Purex 3800. Comfortable earplugs are very subjective as everyone's ears are different sizes. After struggling to find comfortable nrr33 earplugs, I researched a bit to find that the nrr rating isn't necessarily the most useful. Depending on the size of your ears, a lower nrr rating earplug might block out noise better. Plus high rating earplugs aren't effective if they don't stay put. I live on a noisy street with loud cars racing past after midnight. I used to love Flents quiet time and quiet contour (not pictured) but my ears eventually started to dislike them because they went too deep and irritated my eardrums and made my ears itchy. I would pull them out in my sleep and wake up in the middle of the night from external sounds. I needed a smaller earplug. This was when I discovered that earplugs do not list their dimensions. Here's my experience with the ones I tried after Flents. Howard Leight max 1 (not pictured), way too big for my ears and they hurt from too much pressure. Bought a huge pack because they were so cheap and immediately regretted it. Purex 3800, those were firmer and more rubbery/bouncy than I'd experienced. They're also wider than the Flents, meaning they put too much pressure on my ear canals. Macks ultra soft, this was the most comfortable and soft of the bunch but it also let in the most noise and I would wake up in the middle of the night from sounds with the earplugs still in my ears. Hearos ultimate softness, slightly smaller than the Macks and firmer with a slightly similar texture as the Purex. They block out more noise than the Macks too. I've only had them a few days so I'm still gauging how well I like them. So far they get 4 stars.

I am so fed up with garbage products that I decided to write a review to give credit where credit is due. By far these are the best ear plugs out there. No 1 they are comfortable. No 2 they keep the noise out completely. No 3 they are easy to put in and take out of your ear. Yes I started out thinking I’ll try the cheapest one and if it work, they work. Well they did not work and by now I have invested more money then I’d like but such is life. No 1 - Comfortable I have been using ear plugs for over a year and have tried all 4 major brands and models, starting with the CVS brand, Mack’s, Flents Quiet Time and Hearos. I have a hard time sleeping, am one of those guys who can’t sleep if I hear anything in the background from a ticking clock, my wife breathing to the passing train. I tried them all and the “Hearos Ultimate Softness Series Foam Earplugs” are the only ones that actually do not hurt my ears. I don’t know about other Hearos models. You’d think that even after I been using earplugs for sleeping for over a year now, that your ears would adjust and get used to it. It’s not true, especially if you’re using it for sleeping, where any physical irritant will wake you up not to mention throbbing pain after a few hours. Sure your ears can get used to something if you have it in for work 3 – 4 hours, while you’re awake, and distracted with the task at hand, but if you have it in all night that’s a different story. These are the only ear plugs that do not hurt my ears, what so ever, no matter how long I have them in. For that alone I love them! No 2 - They keep the noise out completely. I start work at 4:30am every day and desperately try to take naps in the car whenever possible. Unfortunately next door there is some sort of industrial metal manufacturing plant where the stupid train doesn't just come through, but stops, to drop of some sort of huge metal supplies. Any way the point is, when that industrial cargo train come through especially through that intersection and then stops next door it blows its horn about a million times, and what seems like forever, "GOD... ALRIGHT ALREADY, YOUR HERE WE GET IT!!!". By far is probably one of the loudest thing on the planet that i've experienced. This product works, I STILL sleep like a baby. Love it! And I am the one who stays awake because of ticking clock. No 3 - They are easy to put in and take out of your ear. It doesn't take much effort at all to roll them in to shape and put in the ear. They are not too long and not fat/big like the “Mack's Ear Care Ultra Soft Foam Earplugs”, but most importantly they do not quickly expand in your hand like the “Flents Quiet Time Soft Comfort Ear Plugs” before you can insert it in your ear. P.S. The “Flents Quiet Time Soft Comfort Ear Plugs” are awesome too in all the important things except they are hard to put in the ear and sometimes/rarely do hurt my ears, rarely though. Oh, almost forgot they don’t come in the flesh tone color ether, which is awesome when I use them at work. Let’s just say sometimes I leave them in after my car nap and use them in my cubical too. Hope this review wasn't a waist of my time and helps someone out there. P.S. Sorry about the spelling and grammar, English is not my first language.

I don't often write reviews for products but this is one case where I feel that it could be a benefit to other people. I've had sleeping problems for most of my life and about a few years ago I discovered the Hearos brand ear plugs. These were a huge help and I've reordered them multiple times. On my recent reorder though I have to say I'm hugely disappointed. As many of the other reviews have mentioned the product itself has changed. They seem bigger but definitely have a different consistency and feel. The old versions used to have a smooth and soft texture to them, like memory foam. The new ones I received have a glossy, almost plastic feel to them as well as a different more bulky shape. I didn't notice much of a difference at first aside from the size but after a week of using them I've woken up with a soreness in both ears. It's gotten to the point where I can't use the plugs at all or it creates a huge amount of pain from the pressure. After not using them for a few days I noticed small scabs forming inside my ears and it seems that these ear plugs actually created tiny sores. One thing that I have to mention is that this is the first time I've ordered the bulk 56 pair, mainly because it was actually cheaper than the smaller packs which should have been a red flag. You may have better luck ordering the smaller packs since I'm not sure if these different plugs are exclusive to the bulk pack. I've been satisfied with this brand up until now so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and plan on ordering a smaller pack. Update: After receiving a smaller pack Hearos Ultimate Softness Bulk Pack Ear Plugs 20 Pair (Pack o I'm relieved to say that this smaller box is the original ear plugs that I've used for so long. If you're not sure what you're getting and you're worried about getting the new style some of the reviews are complaining about then you should be safe with this one.

I bought these because many reviews said that they are extremely comfortable to wear and that they are basically as good as their competitors at blocking noise. It is true that they are very comfortable. But I found them unacceptable and won't use them. Before I bought these, I had been using Flents Quiet Time (rated at 33 NRR, whereas the Hearos are rated at 32 NRR). The Flents are made of a slightly different material which is more foam-y than the Hearos, which are more malleable and clay-like, and compress more easily; this seems to be why they are more comfortable. The Flents, however, are substantially longer and go deeper into your ear. They also have less of a tendency to remain compressed, and seem to generate slightly more pressure in the inside of your ear. For this reason, the Flents seem much more capable of blocking out noise. Why, then, do the Hearos get better reviews? I think the reason is that many people don't take proper care in making sure that they are inserting the ear plugs correctly. Getting the Flents inserted correctly takes practice. Ear plugs (of any brand) can easily get folded or pinched while inserting, which creates gaps for sound to easily get through, and prevents them from going in very deep. This is more likely to happen if you don't roll them tightly enough before inserting, or if they've been used too many times (e.g., more than a few days in a row; I've found that ear plugs decompress faster the more times they're used). It also helps to lift up on your ear while inserting, and to hold it firmly in place for 30 seconds to 1 minute so that it doesn't push out while expanding. Longer ear plugs (like Flents) have to go in deeper for full effectiveness, so they require more care to be taken for proper insertion. Because the Flents have to go in deeper, you do feel them more when you wear them. But like many things, you get used to the feeling of wearing them over time; I'm able to sleep with Flents in with no problem. I rated this product 3 stars because while they don't block out noise nearly as well as some of their competitors (such as Flents), they are very comfortable and easier to get inserted properly, so they might be the right product for some people (those only needing light to moderate attenuation).

From a review of three earplugs, these came in first: 1st place: Hearos Ultimate Softness, 20-Pair Foam (Pack of 2) 2nd place: Quiet Time Comfort Foam Ear Plugs - 50 Pair 3rd place: Hearos Xtreme Protection, 14-Pair Foam (Pack of 3) (they're basically ranked in decreasing softness, since all three block out sounds well) The following were excluded as they did not fare well in the following review: Flents Quiet! Please Noise Reducing Ear Plugs - 50 Pair - NRR 29 and Howard Leight Max-1 Ear Plugs, Uncorded, NRR33, 200 PR / box w w w . s l a t e . c o m / i d / 2 1 1 8 8 0 0 / or read the first review found in google with the search term: best ear plugs The Hearos Ultimate Softness ear plugs were the winners for my ears because they had the right combination of comfort and noise reduction. Some notes: 1) my ear canals are probably narrower than average, so even these tended to generate pressure when worn; of course this can't be avoided since that's how sound is blocked out. But these were definitely the softest out of the three. 2) All three (and probably all ear plugs) don't reduce as effectively lower frequency sounds. They are very good at reducing sounds at the frequency range of music, voices, typing sounds, etc., but not so good at blocking out sounds of your upstairs neighbor dragging his furniture across the floor at dawn, or his evil spawn dropping various toys on the floor. Pros: Comfortable, effective. Cons: In people with small ear canals or who have sensitive vestibular systems, all ear plugs, including these, will create slight nausea or discomfort. Caveat: I have small ear canals. Conclusion: If unable to stop the source of the noise, and if ear plugs must be used, then use these. Note: These are rated 32dB

The best earplugs ever...skin colored and really soft...great for long duration without any discomfort...really nice...

Weich weich weich

Texture douce, oui, la mousse est nettement plus molle que les autres bouchons du même genre, oui, par contre elle reste quand même d'une conception encore nettement trop dense ce qui rend l'usage quotidien trop douloureux et la garantie de se réveiller la nuit à cause de la pression qu'ils exercent dans le conduit auditif et inconfort la journée suivante, au bout de trois nuits impossible de les remettre et ils sont un peu trop long pour dormir confortablement sur le côté. Au final il n'y a que les EAR classiques jaunes qui fassent l'affaire sur le long terme, on ne change pas une équipe qui gagne...

après de très nombreux essai de toutes marques se sont les seules que je supporte.

It completely blocks the noise