Maker of hugely popular all-purpose and gig earphones Loop has come up with a new pair, the Loop Dream.
They are intended to be even comfier for all-night wear as you sleep.
I originally took a look at Loop’s earplugs in my group test of earplugs made for concerts. Loop came out top for general comfort, but not for sound quality.
The Loop Dream are made for next-level comfort. And while they are not as technically interesting as an earplug intended to retain sound fidelity for gigs at a lower volume, they are just as smartly engineered as some of those pairs. Let’s take a look.
Loop Dream Design
One question matters over all else, though: are they actually more comfortable than other earplugs? For use during the night, for side sleepers, I’d say they are.
Neighbours with whom I share a flat/apartment wall have just had a baby, so I’ve been using earplugs a lot more often. I’m also a side-sleeper, and find most non pure foam earplugs end up causing cartilage discomfort.
This happens occasionally with the otherwise lovely and super-comfy Loop Quiet, but the Dream largely fix this with a new main body design. They still have the round section that nestles in by your tragus. But instead of using the company’s signature loop, it’s a super-soft silicone-like puck with just a slight skeleton of a ring deep inside.
It lets the Loop Dream have some added structure, while retaining that all-important softness. If you’re a side-sleep who, like me, finds earplugs give them ear discomfort after a while — but don’t want to resort to disposable foam plugs — these are ones to audition.
There’s more to the design too. Loop has put extra attention into making sure the Dream do not fall out of your ears in the middle of the night. It’s another issue I have with some earplugs.
How? The actual tip parts aren’t quite like anything I’ve seen in 15 years of reviewing earphones. While the outer of the tip is silicone, there’s a foam inner section that avoids the tip collapsing under pressure. And that foam is kept in place because the outer silicone actually snakes around the end of it, getting tighter at the end of the tip “bulb”.
Look closely and you’ll also notice the tips aren’t the standard round shape either, but longer across one side.
Putting this much attention into a pair of earbuds is a little wild. Well, until you look at the cost and realise these are no tiny investment for something that, in the end, just blocks up your ear canal.
Do I still occasionally wake up with them having fallen out? Sure, but less often than with most other pairs.
Loop Dream Performance and Features
Loop says the Dream provide 27dB of noise reduction, more than the 24dB of the Loop Quiet 2 I used beforehand. But is it something you’ll notice clearly when you put them in? Not really.
Both pairs fully block your ear canal, and basic foam tips can provide as much noise reduction. That’s not really the point of the Loop Dream.
As part of the package you also get a little carry case and four pairs of additional tips. The Loop Dream come in Peach and Lilac colours as well as the plain black seen here.
Verdict
Loop once again proves it’s a master of comfort. This seemed like a secondary benefit in its earplugs designed, in part, for use during concerts. But with the $50 Loop Dream? It’s the whole premise.
They may not be worth double the expensive of the aleady-good Loop Quiet 2 for everyone, though. These earplugs are best suited to side sleepers, who are most likely to find their ears start to ache with anything more substantial than a pure foam design.
