Earplugs for concentration

Not every sound is equally disruptive. In a study by Banbury and Berry (1998), participants did tasks such as memorising a text and mental arithmetic while they heard office noise. Office noise with speech disrupted both tasks. Office noise without speech only disrupted the arithmetic. It made no difference whether the conversations were about something meaningful.

So it is hard to tune out people talking around you. Earplugs do not take it away completely, but they make voices quieter and harder to understand at a distance. If you have ADHD and noise easily pulls you away from your work, also read earplugs for ADHD.

In the office you usually want to hear when someone says your name. A light filter like the DR 10 is enough for that. It mainly reduces high tones and lets most speech through. If you want to hear as little as possible, for example during an exam week or while writing, the DR 15 and DR 20 give you more calm.

Do not automatically choose the strongest filter. With a lot of attenuation you hear yourself relatively better, such as your voice, your breathing or your chewing. This is called the occlusion effect, and some people find it distracting. All values are on the filter page. The filter is interchangeable, so you can adjust it later.

Why your own voice sounds different and what helps is explained in the occlusion effect.

For studying, choose a filter of 16 or 19 dB SNR if you want to hear as little of your surroundings as possible. In the mid frequencies, where speech sits, these filters reduce sound by 13 and 17 dB according to the Dynamic Ear datasheet. Whispering, scraping chairs and conversations at the next table in the library or study room then become clearly quieter. If you study at home and still want to hear your housemates, 9 dB is often enough.

During a test or exam, your school or university decides whether earplugs are allowed. That differs per school, university of applied sciences and university. Ask the examination board well in advance, so you are not caught out on the day itself.

Wear your earplugs a few times while studying first. Then on exam day you are used to the feeling and to your own voice, which sounds different with earplugs in. Custom earplugs are ready about three weeks after your ear impressions are taken. So have your ear impressions taken in good time, well before the exam period.

• Library or study space. Whispering people, scraping chairs and keyboards.
• Working from home. Housemates, children, the washing machine or the neighbours.
• Open-plan office or hot desk. Phone calls and meetings at the desk next to you. Are you an employer? In custom earplugs for the office you can read how to equip a team.
• Train and café. Reading or working on the go. Also take a look at earplugs for travel.

If noise quickly overwhelms you, also read earplugs for sensory overload.

Concentrated work often lasts for hours. Foam earplugs put pressure on your ear canal because they expand in your ear. A custom earplug follows the shape of your ear canal and does not need to expand to seal. Choose silicone if you wear them for long periods and softness matters to you, and hard acrylic if you put them in and take them out often and want them easy to clean. More in acrylic or silicone, which should you choose?

• Banbury and Berry (1998), Disruption of office-related tasks by speech and office noise, British Journal of Psychology
• Acoustic specifications of the filters (H, M, L and SNR) from Dynamic Ear Company, as on our filter page.

Written by Thijs Worm. Last updated 5 October 2026.