More comfortable and reliable than Etymotic
I work professionally as an audio engineer and have used earplugs for years to protect my hearing. When working loud events for hours on end they are critical to avoid hearing damage. For many years I used Etymotic earplugs. They are useless when it comes to EQing (go figure) but the lowered the noise floor and allowed me to clearly hear the layers of my mix. The biggest point of failure on my Etymotic earplugs was the case. It would degrade very quickly and I would eventually lose my ear plugs. The other issue I had with them was comfort. They were never comfortable for extended periods. Downbeats has remedied both of these issues while providing me with similar noise reduction and sound quality. There is a risk to inserting these earplugs too deep. However, this is entirely related to user error and is unlikely to ever happen to you. Overall, they are comfortable and the case is extremely durable.
Rating: 5 stars