Calmer Earplugs - An Audio Engineer's Perspective 

I dont normally comment but i appreciate how objective and thoughtful this review was

Nice to see a manufacturer use practical, waste-reducing packaging instead of "premium" packaging that's 20x the size of the product.

It can be helpful for people with sound sensitivity such as those on the autism spectrum such as myself but I do love this thorough review

I got these about a month ago. They’ve helped immensely with my hyperacusis. They’ve also reduced, but not eliminated, my tinnitus. Good product for me.

It's nice hearing a review that isn't aggressively trying to sell you these, thank you. Somehow, though, I think you sold me on trying them out. I've been advertised these a lot and honestly thought it was a targeted, extremely specific ad because I'm autistic - and looking into what people say they do, they sound... kinda perfect for me on paper. I realized I need to use earplugs during certain activities where some higher frequency stuff is involved (for example, dining with people with TV on and dishes clattering) to avoid feeling terrible. Earplugs are cheap and help a lot, but they muffle everything at once - so the TV is less loud, but the person next to me trying to grab my attention with a lower sound of voice gets completely cut off, too. I'm going to give them a try!!! Absolutely no idea what else they could be marketed for, except us folks who are especially sensitive to certain noises, though.

I think they would be great in an environment with high frequencies where full spectrum headphones or ear plugs would be inappropriate. In a hospital environment where clinicians are constantly assaulted with beeping and alarms these could be a solution. I’ve been looking for something that would dampen the sharp frequencies while allowing me to hear people. I think in my case it’s worth a try.

I got these for christmas to help reduce stress from noise as I'm a sufferer. I already own Bose QC20+25 and Sony XM3 ANC headphones, IER's with foam tips and use full spectrum earplugs which all help in certain circumstances but what I really need is something to reduce the high frequencies that cause me the stress but allow me to still hear people easily and not have to take headphones on and off so these seem perfect for my situation. I've barely worn them due to current circumstances but on the few times I have they have helped out and reduced that shrill sound that causes me the most stress. If I can I'll report back when I've used them more.

I've just received a pair of these, and I came across your review when I was looking for some more specifics on the proper fit. I appreciate the scientific specifics included in your review. I felt a bit frustrated, though, by your confusion about why they would be useful. As a parent of four children (who have all been at home with me for a year now), I am constantly bombarded by high frequency sounds. I am also autistic, and I am much more sensitive to these sounds that I had realized before having children. I have sturdy headphones, which I can use silently to greatly reduce the kids' noise or play music to completely block it out. I don't like the complete dulling or blocking of all sounds, though. It makes me feel cut off, similar to wearing heavy winter gloves. I am also bothered by things like cymbal flare and higher pitched noises in music, whereas the lower pitched sounds are very pleasing to me. Having a way to better balance that feels amazing! Flare's advertising recently has focused on the experience of people with sound sensitivities, such as autistic people like me. I'm very glad to see that your measurements support their claims, and I'm very very pleased to have these devices as an option.

You don't see what they do because they aren't for you. Those of us with different types of neurodivergence are plagued by issues with sound. Thanks for the honest technical review, though. It helped me decide that I really do want to try these.

Just bought these and seriously helped my tinnitus.... Plus they do feel like a calming blanket for the ears....i personally find them fantastic....

I feel like this is something that unless you have sensitivity to high frequency noises you are unable to understand the benefit of them. I have a pair and it cuts out the high noises while still allowing me to hear which regular ear plugs would never do. I can still hear when my kids are whining or my dog is barking, but that high tone that comes along with those things and hurts my ears is dampened so I don't become so overwhelmed I can't focus.

I have no HDHD nor am autistic but I am sensitive to noise and especially high sounds. Your feedback is being very useful and the comments just as much. Thank you for everyone expressing their experience. ❤️❤️❤️

The point is that people with. ADHD, or autism (which you do not have) can concentrate and focus better. That's what they are for. Just FYI.

Since a couple people have mentioned it and missed the (very small) note on my B-roll: yes, I was wearing the earplugs incorrectly in this video. There was a gap of about three weeks between me receiving, testing, and writing my review of the earplugs and actually shooting the video. In that time I forgot how they were supposed to be worn, but when doing the actual critical listening and writing the review I was wearing them correctly. Me noticing they were in backwards in the video and turning them around was a "dramatic reenactment" of when I first received the earplugs and couldn't figure out how to wear them. Update: Since I made this video, Flare has started marketing the product more aggressively towards people with sound sensitivities. It was briefly mentioned in their advertising when I wrote the review, but I chose not to comment on it in this video since I don't have any qualifications to talk about what may or may not help people with different medical situations. Hopefully the general part of the review is helpful if you fall into that category.

I think the Calmers are more aimed at people with sensory issues whereas the earHD 360 are made out of harder/less comfortable plastic and are more for music listening/removing resonance.

I ordered one for my working. I think that this is perfect for me: a dentist. They should definitely market that niche.

I’m a mama, so blocking sound is a NO for me. It just makes me anxious! I’ve been wearing them for a week, and they have changed my life! It feels like one thing is happening at a time, like life is in slow motion. Maybe I’m still in a honey moon phase of sorts, but anger has not come up for me!

Yes, looks like you definitely had them in backwards even in your B-roll (the cutaway with you wearing your face mask). The tab goes against the head, not hanging out over your pinna. Incorrect placement will directly hamper the sound and make it appear muffled.

This is an excellent, pragmatic and well crafted review of this product. I have a degree in audio engineering myself and am also autistic with adhd and suffer with misophonia. I did not feel "misrepresented" as some of the comments in this section are indicating. This was a review of a product exactly as it was stated by a person with the expertise and knowledge to cut through rabble and waffle that is often rampant with marketing strategies these days. My misophonia is often problematic at frequencies above 1khz so this video taught me this product is for me. Along with this I was reminded about phenomenon about sound localisation that I even forgot about from my studies. 10/10 review mate, thank you for this video. You're doing great!

I just ordered Calmer. I went to check my hearing last autumn. It turned out that my hearing is well above avarage, especially in The higher frequences. This explained why I always reacted in noicy enviroments. So if Calmer reduces higher frequences it sounds perfect for my needs.

I really appreciate your review. I tried these on a recommendation from a co-worker. I have neurological events (migraines, tinnitus, sensitivity to sound) and thought these would help. These hurt! I mean they are really painful to wear. The silicon is far more firm than I expected. I too had them in the wrong way and even with correcting the direction, they still hurt and I did not notice a significant change in sound. I didn't find them effective in reducing "spikes" in sound or tinnitus. I'll go back to ear putty or foam ear plugs. So I agree, in my experience there is a lot of hype with little actual benefit.

About 5 seconds after admitting you were wearing them wrong, you show a shot of you wearing them outside and they are instered wrong again :-)

Thanks for the review, I came across it because I wanted to see if I could find information backing up what I was experiencing with the calmers or if I had some sort of placebo effect. I am HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) and have been using these for over two months now. I must say I ordered the calmer night because I read they were softer and reduced more frequencies than the regular calmers but I use them mostly for work when some indoor noises get to be too much for me. I used to have regular foam earplugs but I could not use them for long periods because 1) my ears hurt, they become uncomfortable quickly, and 2) I don't like how they block all the sounds and I get to hear myself breathing. For me, the calmer night do exactly what I was expecting, first, they are super comfy and I actually feel overall more relaxed and found out that they help me enormously to focus, even more so now that I am working from home. Actually, these helped me get through the last month of the writing of my PhD dissertation, I had a tight schedule and wearing this I could focus more quickly and for longer than without them. Also, by the end of the day I would feel less exhausted than I normally would. I don't use them whenever I go outside for a walk because I also read in another review that wearing these could make it hard to know where the sound of a car o else is coming from, hence being a safety risk. But overall the calmers might be a great device for people with sound sensitivities.

Hey thanks for this review, I found it very informative. I'm a musician with tinnitus who works as a barista and I think these are just enough protection against grinder and steamer sounds without being too problematic. great video!

Watching this was helpful and educational. Well edited, and no time waste.

I just purchased these after seeing they can help anxiety around lot's of noise. The comments I read said they are not for tinnitus. I can say for me especially in a loud restaurant they help. I don't really notice them doing anything until I take them out to see if they are helping. I put them right back in.

I love your review! Thank you! Was about to buy these for my autitory/sensory overload as they claim to be good with autism. But my issue is low frequency noise that highly triggers me. So thanks a lot for saving me out of that bad buy. I will look into other products.

They sound completely different when wearing them the wrong way. Also they sound different than earplugs. For example with calmer you don't miss what people say, but at the same time you can use a drill and be fine. I think some people just can't tell the difference but this doesn't mean there is not any.

I'm very impressed with your knowledge of sound, and your honesty :) Keep it up!

"let's unbox them I GUESS" I don't know why I love that, but I do. Earned my subscription. I dig your personality not to mention your intellect. Thank you for taking the time to do this. Great job.

I'm trying these out to see if they can reduce my stress prompted from my toddler's crying during tantrums. I've always been bothered by high frequency noises, and his first year was rough since, ya know, babies are just going to cry sometimes. If these do what your review states, I'm hopeful they'll help take the edge off so I'm not fight those "fight or flight" feelings while tending to his needs and emotions all day. 🤞 I'd already purchased them when I saw your review, and the one or two times I tried them, it didn't do much, but I'll give them another go.

For me, they are very useful in places like an airplane or noisy airport waiting rooms.

If they reduce higher frequencies so I can go shopping without screaming children feeling like a pickaxe to my brainstem, it'll do

I have sound sensitivity and a reverse slope hearing loss. Which makes the upper frequencies super exaggerated to me. Your video is great and it confirms my experience with the Calmer earplugs. I wasn't sure if if I was just experiencing a temporary placebo effect 😀

The thing that make these different than normal earbuds, as you mention in the video is the partial frequency reduction. The suggestion to use normal earbuds for full spectrum reduction "because you can adapt to the lower audio" negates the entire point of reducing high end relative to other sound. To me this relative reduction is the key component to their effectiveness. Otherwise yea, they'd b e a waste. Lowering or raising all volume leaves the same issue of high end sound being a perceived irritant within the environment if this is a problem for someone. That said, great review. Even if it did start with a clearly negative approach before even opening the packaging :P

5:01 I’ve just come here after seeing them again on an fb ad and wanted to know more about them. But the fb ad clearly shows them in an ear the opposite way round that you had them at around 4:57 in this video. You had the toggle thing to the front, the picture showed it to the back.

My triggers include, sharp laughter, and coughs. Modified car exhausts. Music and games played on phones. Repetitive bass heard through walls. Footsteps of neighbours. Power tools of neighbours. Problematic environments are- anywhere with people. Would these plugs help?

Looks like you have them in backwards. The tab and logo go towards your head, as the instructions show

Your so upfront! I really love this about this review! 😊

After using several kinds of earplugs and noise cancellation products, as someone suffering misophonia, hyperacusis, tinnitus AND seborrheic dermatitis, I think this product needs a complementary approach since it has been designed for those with neurological conditions. It is very frustrating when you are being triggered by certain sounds, or saturated by a noisy environment, yet you cannot wear earplugs because you need to hear someone speak (and it is very disheartening when you cannot speak with others because in those situations you have to choose between socializing or being highly anxious), so these Calmer provide some middle ground between complete isolation and complete exposure. Also, a lot of people using plugs will know how the more you use them, the more your brain becomes sensitive to sound, and the more risk to develop ear infections that worsens the sound sensitivity. The material is ideal for those who experience some kind of skin disorder inside de ear canal or cannot tolerate the pressure of foams for hours. It isn't perfect, but I'm glad this product is making others more aware of sound sensitivities and maybe other companies will develop more products specific to these conditions.

Amazing review!!

You did an awesome job on this.

Thank you for this. In the short term, I’ve been thinking about something to keep me from being set off by the sharp alarms in the fast food place where I work, but long term, I’d like to protect my ears going forward, when concerts happen again, since I’ve seen my favorite artist 9 times since 2014. So this was very helpful

Thank you. Finally a critical review, all the other "reviews" on youtube sound more like advertisements. But at 4:51 you are clearly wearing them wrong, the stem should be at the back not in front...

Being highly sensitive to high sounds, this might help reduce my stress. Thanks for the warning in wearing them outside.

Your thumbnail indicates you're wearing them the wrong way. The little tab should be towards the back of your head, not at the front. Turn them over.

Interested in buying these, great review, but my main concern is that you didn't insert them correctly. There's a diagram in the manual you showed, and the little pull tab should be facing backwards, or along the concha, rather than sticking out as you have them.

I have ADHD and these earplugs have saved my sanity and allow me to meet up in bars etc with friends.

Could you do a comparison of ambient recordings (street, workplace) with and without the plugs, using the EQ chart in the booklet ? That would be very useful for us viewers.

I have ADHD, I work in an industry where a lot of background noise humming electrical sounds, heavy industry machinery and all kinds of white noise. Wearing these all day and coming home I am no longer full of anxiety, constant background noise puts me on edge and these severely reduce my symptoms. It also cuts down on mouth noises for me and makes them less noticeable. They're probably not for everybody, but for those where they do work they work well.

This was very helpful. I appreciate the data and opinion combined!

I’ve seen bad reviews on these saying they don’t do anything but what I’m looking for is a way to listen to music without feeling like my head is the hi hat every time they hit it and I wanna be able to act normal around high frequencies without wanting to run away or want to cry lol I might give them a try I don’t know if I’m on the spectrum or not but I’ve had this issue all my life.

Great review buddeh, articulated and straight to the point with no BS, earned yourself a subscriber🤙🤙

they are helping people with sound sensitivities

Thank you for the technical review. For me it seemed like these were a solution to a problem that I don't have. It's curious that they suggest using these with audio headphones if they make music sound muddled.

THIS WAS SO HELPFUL THANK YOU FOR EXPLAINING

I have sensitivity to people whistling in the office, people playing tinny rock and roll with no bass in the office, chat programs that ding every 3 seconds at work because the associate believes I should wear headphones so he can listen to the dings without headphones, people in the office listening to training programs on their pc without headphones because it is company related and they shouldn't have to wear headphones, people listening to videos on their phones in the office refusing to wear headphones, phone typing noises for every key from everybody texting instead of working all day, people who get text messages every 2 minutes and need to have the loud ding so they know they got a text message even though they check their phone every 10 seconds for new text messages. I have to deal with all of these at the same time with my sensitivity. I bought $350 sony headphones to drown everybody out, but I get tired of being in a bubble all day and having to remove them every 15 minutes when someone comes to my desk to ask a question about how to do something. I am hoping these will block all those sounds out, or muffle them all, so they do not send me into a rage. I am convinced the rage does not come from the sounds, but the lack of respect for everybody else on the floor who has to hear these noises because the person requiring the noise refuses to wear headphones so they are the only ones hearing the noise they require.

thanks for the honesty.

i'm a teacher and i think i need this

Good review but honestly you sounded biased against these from the beginning.

What earplugs are there I can buy that offer full spectrum reduction?

You explained this very well! Thank you!

Looks like you put them in incorrectly

This was a super helpful review. Thank you.

I would highly recommend something like this for people with hearing sensitivities, but I am NOT happy with how calmers customer service seems to look. Not giving multiple sizes just in case, making you pay them $15 to return them, basically draining your money. I have autism, they have helped me with harsh sounds like the highway I live on, it 100% helps when my mom is playing piano downstairs and I'm talking to someone, instead of the piano and the other person's voice being at the same volume, the piano is actually soft background noise with these in. They totally remove the sound of the AC and dampen the freezer humming at the loud grocery store. I am relatively happy with mine, but they need to treat their customers better. I haven't tried loop yet so idk about quality, but they give u 3 sizes like conventional earbuds. That itself is better that Flare audios service.

You have inserted them the wrong way:/ the tip should face backwards

I would love an comparison from the normal and the new "pro" and the prototype "pro2" (wich has a different shape even)

I have sensitivity to higher frequencies so these helped a lot!

Thanks for your review. I have autism and where thinking to buy them. Thanks to your review I think I will give it a try. The high sounds are always a problem, especially at work in the laboratorium, lot of machines with beeping sounds. You mention that it is hard with these plugs to hear were sound is coming from, well at least for me, with my autism I am rarely ably to tell were sound is coming from and often when I think it comes from a certain direction someone else who doesn't has autism tells me it is actually coming from the other direction than what I thought 🙈.

This was extremely helpful, thanks!

i got these a week ago, didnt do anything, dad wasted £40 on a case and the plugs, fitted fine, just didnt do ANYTHING, it didnt block OR dull any noise (i did try in a public space, just started crying)

Thanks for the informative review. Have you done one on the Looper earplugs by any chance?

I have problems with I guess it would be low vibration noises. Boat engines on the water in the distance, ferry idling on the water in distance, lawn mowers in the distance. What would be the type of ear barriers I should get. I hate hearing my own heartbeat and hearing myself chew but this vibration of engine noise is so annoying. I don't think these calmers are for my sound issues? Thanks

Has anyone with autism and/or SPD tried these and do they help?

Thanks for this objective review ❤️

Great scientific approach! Cheers

Thanks for this. I couldn’t figure out the point of these. If someone, like me, has audio sensitivity surely you’d want to reduce all frequencies, not just one…

I think what they are trying to achieve is actually something that’s available, which is the APEX module in the 64audio’s custom IEM. It relieves air pressure inside a sealed canal, that allows clearer and lower decibel listening. They guy who first created it was the same guy who invented the hearing aid for the hearing impaired.

How do these compare to Eargasms?

Can you do a review of Loop earplugs?

Would this item help children with autism who hate the vacuum sounds.

I struggle to distinguish voices from background noise (therefore my listening comprehension is quite poor even though my hearing is fine) and I can't really talk to people in clubs or bars. Would these help me to reduce the perceived background noise and hear the voices more easily? I see you mentioned that environments like nightclubs and bars tend to have lower frequencies (< 1khz ?) - does that mean that these would have little effect there? Thanks in advance!

I have sound sensitivity so I hear anything even against my ear will it still help?

i don't blame you for putting them in backwards, the pamphlet they come with does a terrible job explaining it. i came here to try to see someone actually wearing them so i could figure it out, then didn't see the text you put in the corner at first and also put them in backwards -_-

Could you test and review flare audio earHD plastic version too? The titanium version is too expensive. 😅

Thank you for your expertise 🙏🏻

Found your video realy helpfull and honest. Thank you! Do you have an earplug you recommand? (For hearing protection and for sound reduction combined)

I work at a theme park and suffering from a tinnitus in my left ear, I thought, they were definately worth a try. To be honest: When wearing them I don‘t notice any difference in sound at all. I still get annoyed of people screaming on roller coasters and the breaks of the coasters squeeking. I wonder if they only work for a certain type of authistic people.

I can tell you. I’m really hypersensitive to high frequency sounds. This would be heaven if it truly works

I'm autistic and I suffer from high sound sensitivity. Normally I wear sound cancelling headphones that help me when I can distance myself from daily sounds, but sometimes I have to communicate with people for example in a restaurant or pub (these are hell so I'm trying to avoid if I can) and for that purpose I need something that'd cancel only some of the sounds while still letting me hear human voice with clarity. Would these earplugs do the job? Does anyone know about earplugs that can help with above? I'm ready to pay a high price if there is a solution I just need it to work for me.

I need it to be around my screaming child, and loud brother !!

Perhaps you are confusing their marketing line (read "oversimplification for the general population") with a better technical analysis? >I guess< that would be that it functions as a low-pass filter, which is ideal for modern environments with more than the "typical amount of higher frequency sounds and transients" than what our ears have evolved for over millenia. Yep, they shouldn't have called it "distortion", perhaps call it "unnatural audio inputs removed for very sensitively developed hearing better and thereby create a sound environment more reminiscent of pre-industrial society"? Very catchy marketing right there, no?

6:35 For me I wear standard earplugs in LOUD environments; but for environments like a mall where there's a food court with a loud beeping computer and kids screaming in the play area -all that, but I'm trying to have a conversation with someone, I want to be able to hear what they're saying still and that's hard with regular earplugs, so I think it's interesting to have such a small reduction of sound cause sometimes that's what I'm looking for rather than 20bd+. Plus although I have issues with lower frequencies it's mostly the loud high pitch frequencies that noise cancelling headphones can't always block out, so now I can wear these under my headphones (still trying them out for the first time may change my mind- also these are weird to wear; I still don't know if I have them in correctly) and it helps limit the high pitch noises coming from my outer environment (love living in a noisy place)

I have noises coming from top floors from a kids who runs a lot.i get thumping and boom noises. Will this help

What about using these at home, where you constantly hear music coming from outside, or even at night, so you can sleep?

How about snoring? Does it prevents snoring voices?

Would LOVE to see this kind of analysis on Loop Earplugs! all the videos I find are sponsored and feel a bit bias

Thank you very much ! Such a nice review, will be very interested if you can review other products like these (other Flare products), bose sleepbuds etc.

You mentioned earplugs which are one third, can you tell which are those?

So, it made headphones sound warmer?