Sound Masking vs Earplugs

They Are Not Rivals: They Work on Opposite Ends

Most comparisons treat these two as rival products and pick a winner. That hides the one thing that really decides the question: they do not work on the same sounds.

Earplugs block sound, and they block far more high sound than deep sound. That is not a fault in one product. It is what happens when you put a small, soft plug in your ear. High sounds are easy to stop. Deep sounds pass through the plug and through the flesh around it.

Sound masking adds a sound, and you can match it to the noise. Masking means covering a noise with a steadier sound, so your brain stops noticing it. Because you choose the sound, you can put it exactly where the noise is in pitch. Neither of the other two can do this.

Noise cancelling headphones are the opposite of earplugs. They work best on deep sounds and less well on higher ones. That is why they make such a difference on a plane and so little against a conversation at the next table.

Put those side by side and the rule is clear. The household noise that keeps people awake, such as traffic, machinery, bass through a floor and snoring, is mostly deep, because deep sound is what walls and floors fail to stop. Earplugs are weakest exactly there. That is the whole comparison in one sentence. Everything below is detail.

What Earplugs Actually Take Out

The single number printed on the packet is not the useful figure. Knowing why is worth more than any product tip.

Earplugs block different amounts at different pitches. Typical earplugs block much less of the deep sounds than the high ones. Industry figures put it at about 15 to 25 decibels for deep sounds, against up to about 40 decibels for higher sounds (Hearing Review). The rating on the packet squeezes all of that into one number. That is handy for comparing packets, but it cannot tell you whether a plug will help against a specific noise.

The ratings come from a lab. They are measured with careful fitting under test conditions. Real people put plugs in quickly, in the dark, without rolling them down properly, and then lie on them. Real-life blocking is often lower than the printed figure. The gap is largest for the foam plugs that print the highest numbers, because they depend most on being put in correctly.

And there is a limit no earplug can pass. Sound reaches the inner ear through the bones and tissue of your head, not only through the ear canal, so sealing the ear cannot block everything. Measurements put that limit at about 40 to 60 decibels across most of the range of hearing (Berger, Kieper & Gauger, 2003). Past that point, a better earplug makes no difference at all. The only options left are reducing the noise where it starts, or masking what gets through.

None of this makes earplugs a bad product. Against high sounds, such as a television, voices, or an alarm in the next room, they are excellent, and nothing else is as handy. It just makes them the wrong first choice for the noises most people are trying to sleep through.

The Differences That Decide It in Practice

Wearing them for eight hours. This is where earplugs lose most often, and it has nothing to do with sound. If you sleep on your side, the pillow presses the plug in deeper or works it loose over a few hours. Many people wake with sore ears. A plug that is perfect for twenty minutes on a plane can be unbearable by four in the morning. The best plug on paper is no use if you take it out at two.

Two people in a bed. Earplugs only help the person wearing them. Masking fills a room, so it works for both people at once. It also has to suit both people, which is worth agreeing while you are both awake.

Hearing what you need to hear. Earplugs reduce everything, including a smoke alarm, a child, or a phone ringing. Masking works by contrast instead of blocking, so a sound well above the background still gets through. At a correctly set volume, it does not stop you hearing an alarm. If you are the person at home who has to hear things at night, this matters more than any number on a packet.

Ear health over months. Wearing something in your ears every night does not suit everyone. Sore ears, and sometimes a build-up of earwax, are common reasons people stop. If you get pain, discharge, or a change in your hearing, ask a doctor. Do not just change brands.

Cost and effort. Foam plugs are cheap but you keep buying them. Moulded ones cost more. Masking is free if you already own a phone and any speaker, and it costs only a little electricity to run.

What each one cannot do. Earplugs cannot be matched to the pitch of a noise, and they cannot pass the limit set by sound travelling through your head. Masking cannot reduce the noise reaching you, because it adds sound to the room instead of removing it, and it handles sudden, random sounds badly. Both facts matter. The masking page covers the second one fully.

Which One, For What

Traffic, machinery, bass from a floor or ceiling, a boiler: masking, with brown noise. These are all deep sounds, where earplugs do least, and they are all steady enough to mask well. This is the biggest group in ordinary homes.

Snoring: both, and expect to need both. Snoring is deep, and it comes from a metre away with no wall in between. That is bad for earplugs and hard work for masking. The plugs take out the higher part of the snore, and brown noise covers the rasp. The page on snoring covers the setup, and it starts with the medical warning that belongs with that subject.

Voices, a television, a housemate on a call: earplugs are good here. Speech sits mostly in the middle and upper-middle range, where earplugs block well. If you would rather not wear anything, white or green noise covers the same range.

Sudden noises, such as a door, a dog or a car alarm: earplugs, if anything. Masking is poor against sudden sound, because covering the bang means playing the masking sound far louder than the rest of the night needs. Earplugs reduce everything all the time, so they do not have that problem.

Travel: earplugs or noise cancelling headphones. Neither needs a power socket you may not have, and you will not want to run a speaker in a hotel room you share with someone.

Tinnitus: neither of the above, and earplugs may make it worse. Taking away outside sound can make a sound inside your head stand out more. That subject has its own page, with a more honest account of the evidence than you usually find.

Why Using Both Beats Either One

It is not a compromise. The two methods fail in different places, and those places do not overlap.

Earplugs take out the high sounds well, so the masking sound no longer has to cover them. Covering high sounds is what makes people play white noise loud. Brown noise then covers the deep sounds that went straight past the plugs. The result is a lower masking volume than masking alone would need, and better results on deep sounds than earplugs alone can reach.

There is a real trade, so make it on purpose. Together, they make you less able to hear an alarm or a child than masking alone would. If that matters at home, use masking on its own and accept a slightly higher volume. If it does not, the two together are the strongest option short of building work.

Set it up in this order. Put the earplugs in first, then set the masking volume with them in. If you set the volume without them and then add them, the masking will be louder than it needs to be all night.

If You Only Read One Paragraph

Earplugs block far more high sound than deep sound: about 15 to 25 decibels for deep sounds, against up to about 40 decibels for higher sounds. No earplug can block more than about 40 to 60 decibels, because sound also reaches the inner ear through the bones of your head. The household noise that keeps people awake is mostly deep, because that is what walls fail to stop, so earplugs are weakest exactly where the problem is. Masking adds sound instead of removing it, and you can match it to the noise. That makes brown noise the better answer for traffic, machinery and snoring. Earplugs are still the better answer for speech and sudden noises. Using both beats either one, because their weak spots do not overlap. Put the plugs in first, then set the masking volume.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related pages

• Decibel Meter — Check how loud your room is, and which noise colour covers it best.
• Sound Masking — Masking does not block sound. It raises the background so the noise stops standing out, and the colour has to match the noise.
• Block Neighbour Noise — Bass and footsteps need brown noise. Voices through a wall need white or green. Most advice gives one answer to both.
• Block Out Snoring — Snoring is the hardest sound to cover: deep, uneven, and a metre from your head with no wall in the way. What really helps.
• Block Traffic Noise — Your walls already removed the high sounds from the traffic outside. That is why brown noise covers it indoors and white noise does not.
• Brown Noise — The deepest colour: a steady rumble that is best for traffic noise and long nights.
• Brown Noise App — Which brown noise app to install, whether it is really free, and what an app can do that a browser tab cannot.
• Brown Noise for Tinnitus — Masking versus getting used to tinnitus, why the pitch of your tinnitus decides the colour, and where sound therapy really sits in the 2014 medical guideline.
• Brown vs White Noise — The two colours furthest apart: what each one can and cannot cover, and why your speaker may decide for you.
• White Noise — The flat, bright colour, and the best of the five at making speech impossible to follow.
• Green Noise — The middle colour: pink noise with the middle sounds made stronger, and the only one of the five with no standard definition.
• Brown Noise Machine — Two very different products are sold as a brown noise machine, and one of them cannot make brown noise. What to check before buying.