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Listening at home⏱️ Estimated reading time: 11 min
On this page: Overview
Key Takeaways
Most earplugs are rated somewhere between 15 and 33 dB. For everyday wear, about 15–25 dB is the sensible band, and our Life+ earplugs sit at the top of it with a passive SNR of 24 dB.
No. Around 33 dB is the maximum-isolation class, built for very loud places. In a café or on a bus it tends to sound muffled and is harder to wear for hours, so a moderate rating is usually easier to live with.
Roughly a fifth as loud, because every 10 dB taken away makes a sound seem about half as loud. As a rated estimate, a 90 dB room reaches the ear at about 66 dB and a 95 dB party at about 71 dB.
A passive earplug blocks high-pitched sound more easily than low-pitched sound, so the reduction rises with frequency. In its EN 352-2 lab test, Life+ cuts 21.9 dB at 63 Hz and 35.3 dB at 8 kHz.
Yes, but voices get quieter too, by about 21 dB in the mid range (M 21). Loud sounds such as alarms, announcements or a child calling stay audible because they are loud.
85 dB(A) over a working day is the UK workplace trigger set by the HSE. Outside work, WHO’s weekly safe-listening allowance shrinks fast above 80 dB, from 40 hours a week at 80 dB to just 4 hours at 90 dB.
How many decibels do earplugs block? Most are rated between 15 and 33 dB, but for everyday wear about 15–25 dB is the sensible range. Our Life+ earplugs are rated passive SNR 24 dB, so a 90 dB room reaches your ears at roughly 66 dB. That sounds about a fifth as loud, and you still hear the world, just quieter.
At Bollsen, we make reusable silicone earplugs and everyday hearing protection that is German-tested, independently certified 24 dB and trusted by 1,000,000+ people. This page covers the numbers behind our guide to earplugs for noise sensitivity, for anyone whose everyday sensitivity to sound makes cafés, stations and busy rooms feel louder than they should.
On earplug forums, the same two wishes keep coming up. People want plugs that don’t feel “like being underwater”, and plenty say they switched to a lower-rated pair and liked them a lot better. Both point the same way. The biggest number on the shelf is rarely the right one for an ordinary day.
How many decibels do earplugs block, and how many should everyday ones block?
Most earplugs sold in the UK carry a Single Number Rating (SNR) between about 15 and 33 dB, and for everyday wear in shops, cafés, offices and on public transport a moderate 15–25 dB reduction is the sensible band, with SNR 24 sitting at the top of it.
Around 33 dB is the maximum-isolation class. It suits very loud places. In an ordinary room it tends to sound muffled, makes your own voice boom and gets tiring to wear for hours, whereas a moderate rating takes the edge off a loud room without shutting you out of it.
The figure on a European box is an SNR. American packs print an NRR, which is measured differently, and our explainer on NRR vs SNR shows how the two ratings compare. If you came here about foam disposables, our separate page on how much foam earplugs block covers their ratings, which tend to sit towards the higher end of the range.
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Life+★ 4.7 · 3,700 reviewsLife+★ 4.7 · 3,700 reviewsMusic SoundPRO★ 4.8 · 514 reviewsWatersafe+★ 4.8 · 684 reviewsLife+★ 4.7 · 3,700 reviewsHow much quieter does a 24 dB reduction actually sound?
As a rule of thumb, every 10 dB taken away makes a sound seem about half as loud, so a 24 dB reduction leaves roughly a fifth of the perceived loudness, while 20 dB leaves about a quarter and 30 dB about an eighth.
That rule comes from how hearing scales loudness. HyperPhysics at Georgia State University puts it neatly. It takes about ten violins to sound twice as loud as one. It is an approximation, not a measurement of any one listener.
The table below uses a simple rated estimate, the room level minus 24. Real results depend on fit and on the pitch of the sound, since low hums are cut a little less than this and high hiss more. Typical levels for conversation and cinemas come from the US National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).
| Everyday sound | Without earplugs | With SNR 24 (rated estimate) | How it feels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal conversation | 60–70 dB | ≈36–46 dB | A quiet room or soft talk |
| Busy café or open-plan noise | 75–80 dB | ≈51–56 dB | Ordinary conversation level |
| Tube carriage or platform (how loud the Tube and buses get) | 85–100 dB | ≈61–76 dB | A busy street |
| Loud bar or party | 90–95 dB | ≈66–71 dB | A normal busy room, about a fifth as loud |
| Cinema peaks | up to ~104 dB | ≈80 dB | Still loud, no longer overwhelming |
So a loud bar at 90 dB arriving at about 66 dB is close to a normal busy room. Alarms, announcements and someone calling your name still reach you, simply because they start out loud.
What does the lab test show, frequency by frequency?
In its EN 352-2 laboratory test, Life+ reduced sound by between 21.8 and 23.2 dB from 63 Hz up to 1 kHz, then by 28.4 dB at 2 kHz, 29.3 dB at 4 kHz and 35.3 dB at 8 kHz, which is what a passive SNR 24 dB earplug looks like band by band.
| Frequency | 63 Hz | 125 Hz | 250 Hz | 500 Hz | 1 kHz | 2 kHz | 4 kHz | 8 kHz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean attenuation (dB) | 21.9 | 23.1 | 21.8 | 22.1 | 23.2 | 28.4 | 29.3 | 35.3 |
Mean attenuation, EN 352-2 test by PZT GmbH (Notified Body 1974); rated SNR 24 dB, H 24 / M 21 / L 19.
Those per-band results roll up into the ratings printed on the box: SNR 24 dB, with H 24 for high-pitched noise, M 21 for mid-pitched noise and L 19 for low-pitched noise. The certificate itself is on our third-party lab test results page.
If those numbers suit the places you spend your days, our Life+ passive SNR 24 dB reusable silicone earplugs (£29.95) are made from hypoallergenic natural silicone with a flush two-lamella fit. Each pair lasts up to 100 uses, about 30p per use, and comes in an aluminium case with our 40-day money-back guarantee. Free UK delivery applies to orders over £35, so a single pack doesn’t qualify on its own.
Why doesn’t a passive earplug cut every pitch by the same amount?
A passive earplug is a sealed piece of silicone in the ear canal, and a seal like that blocks short, high-pitched sound waves more easily than long, low-pitched ones, so the reduction rises with frequency rather than staying level from bass to treble.
People on earplug forums often ask for plugs that keep “clean highs” and turn everything down by the same amount. No passive plug does that, and we won’t pretend Life+ does. It cuts high hiss and clatter most, around 35 dB at 8 kHz, and low rumble least, around 22 dB, so a bus engine stays more present than rattling cutlery.
Voices sit mostly between about 250 Hz and 4 kHz, so they get quieter too, by roughly 21 dB going by the M value. A sealed plug has no way of picking speech out. You still follow people at a normal distance because their voices are loud enough to carry, with the whole room turned down around them.
Noise-cancelling headphones behave almost the other way round, working hardest on low, steady drones. That difference shapes the choice between earplugs vs noise-cancelling headphones vs ear defenders, which mostly comes down to which sounds you want quieter in a given place.
How loud is too loud in everyday life?
85 dB(A) over a working day is the UK workplace trigger set by the Health and Safety Executive, and outside work the World Health Organization’s weekly safe-listening allowance shrinks fast above 80 dB.
WHO gives 80 dB as safe for up to 40 hours a week, 85 dB for 12 hours 30 minutes and 90 dB for only 4 hours a week. NIDCD adds that long or repeated exposure at or above 85 dBA can cause hearing loss, while sounds at or below 70 dBA are unlikely to.
That is where a moderate rating earns its place. A 95 dB party lands at about 71 dB with SNR 24, comfortably under 80 dB, while a quiet office needs no earplugs at all. We suggest wearing them for the loud stretch and taking them out afterwards, and how long to wear earplugs each day is worth reading up on separately.
Choosing hearing protection for a job is a different matter with its own rules. For noisy workplaces, our guide on how much hearing protection you need at work is the right starting point rather than these everyday figures.
Does fit change the real number?
Yes, because the SNR is measured on a properly sealed plug, and a pair that is the wrong size, sits too shallow or loses its seal when you talk or chew can give noticeably less than the rated 24 dB in daily wear.
Life+ uses a conical two-lamella shape that seals without being pushed deep into the ear. If you are unsure about size, an ear measurement settles it, and our AI ear measurement from two photos option (£44.95) picks the right size from two pictures of your ears before the earplugs ship.
A good seal also changes how your own voice sounds. It booms a little, because the sound of speaking travels through your head and stays in the sealed ear canal, the same occlusion effect people notice when they chew. Our article on hearing your own chewing with earplugs explains why it happens.
What number should you look for on the box?
For everyday use, look for an SNR of roughly 15–25 dB and a seal that suits your ear, ideally backed by a frequency curve from an independent lab rather than one headline figure.
Our Life+ sits at SNR 24 with the full EN 352-2 curve published above, which suits loud cafés, commutes and busy rooms. Comfort, materials and cost per use matter as much as the decibels, and our guide on what to look for in everyday earplugs covers all three.
Bollsen earplugs are hearing protection and comfort products, not medical devices. See a GP if everyday sounds feel painfully loud, changed suddenly, or come with pain or discharge, and the NHS guidance on hearing loss explains when to get your hearing checked.
His connection to hearing protection stems from personal experience with sound sensitivity during live events and work in noisy environments, an issue that made him more aware of the long-term risks of unmanaged noise exposure. Today, as both a communicator and a user of BOLLSEN products, he is passionate about raising awareness around the importance of proactive hearing care.
At BOLLSEN, he develops data-driven marketing campaigns, writes SEO-focused articles, and manages communication channels that connect customers with practical knowledge about hearing protection. His work ensures that BOLLSEN’s message—prioritizing health, performance, and sustainability reaches a global audience in an engaging and trustworthy way.
Passionate about writing since childhood, Timotej combines creativity with a strong analytical approach, continuously testing new ideas in digital marketing, performance advertising, and social media. He believes in learning through innovation and collaboration, balancing leadership with openness to new perspectives.
Beyond his professional role, Timotej is committed to a healthy lifestyle and finds inspiration in fitness, sports, and quality time with friends. His personal passion for well-being aligns with BOLLSEN’s core values, making his work not only a career but also a cause he deeply believes in.