I have a confession to make: I've never worn earplugs. For someone as ATGATT as I am, this seems like a pretty big oversight, right? Thing is, I never liked them and never thought I needed them. Decades of playing in bands, attending ear-shattering concerts, riding motorcycles with bad helmets, and parenting had done their damage. Why, I thought, should I bother with earplugs when my hearing was already shot? After my cross-country ride on my new Ural, however, my attitude regarding earplugs has changed and now I don't think I could ever ride without them again thanks to EarPeace.
EarPeace was founded back in 2008 after founder and CEO Jay Clark got his ears blown out, metaphorically speaking, at Trinidad & Tobago's weeklong Carnival celebration. After Carnival, he returned to the States with a new personal mission—to create the best earplugs money can buy and save the world from hearing loss. That's a bold mission statement right there. Has EarPeace done it? Has Clark saved the world from hearing loss? Let's talk about it.
EarPeace Moto Pro Earplugs are the company's newest, highest-tech product. Made from super-soft, hypoallergenic, silicone that conforms to the inside of your ear, each plug features a dual-cone design to produce a good seal and the company's proprietary acoustic filter. In the box, you get six earplugs with filters—three standard size and three large—and a very nice milled aluminum carrying case about the size of your thumb with two weatherproof lids and a keychain clasp.
The acoustic filter is the real star of the show here, and the feature that really makes EarPeace stand out from its competitors. Made from precision machined, injection molded ABS, the filters feature a specially tuned acoustic membrane that acts like a rider's eardrum. It catches incoming sound, lowers the volume, then passes the sound onto the rider's real eardrum so they get the full sound, just quieter. This is unlike foam earplugs or earplugs without filters that just block all incoming sound while muffling assorted frequencies, reducing sound quality as well as volume.
EarPeace's Moto Pro sound filters come in two protection levels—High Protection and Max Protection—allowing users to tailor their sound protection to their circumstances and riding style? According to the company's website, High Protection filters lower your sound by 20 decibels and are appropriate for, "track racing, shorter rides, and situations where communications equipment is used extensively". Max Protection filters reduce sound by 24 decibels and are recommended for motocross, bigger pipes, louder engines, and longer rides.
Now, I hear what you're saying; "The technical info is all well and good, Jason, but how are these earplugs to live with? Are they comfortable? Do they work as advertised?" Well, I'm here to tell you that, in my experience, they are and they do.
On the trip, I wore my Moto Pro plugs for roughly ten hours a day for 16 days, a total distance of about 3,800 miles. I found them extremely comfortable, and their real-life performance backed up the company's claims about its sound filters. Despite having an extremely loud helmet—something I'll talk about when I get around to reviewing said helmet—my Moto Pros filtered the worst of the noise and still allowed me to (mostly) hear the sound from my SENA 50C pretty well over wind, engine, and road noise. Using the earplugs became second nature on the trip, and the aluminum carrying case kept me from losing them in my tank bag.
If you're looking for a new set of earplugs, I highly recommend a set of EarPeace's Moto Pro plugs. They're comfy, they work as advertised, and the company clearly cares passionately about its product and its mission. While I really don't have anything to compare them to, since these are the first earplugs I've used, I can't say, in good conscience, if they're the best in the world. I will say that any other earplugs I wear will have to work mighty hard to impress me after using the EarPeace plugs.
Moto Pro earplugs will set you back a cool $39.95 for the plugs, filters, and carrying case. Additional filters can be bought for $29.99 per set, and the company sells a handful of accessories like carrying straps and additional carrying cases.
