This article is published in partnership with Loop Earplugs

At the heart of music culture is sensory experience: whether it's the thump of bass through your body, strobes illuminating the crowd or the moment a smoke machine floods the dance floor. Each are key ingredients in the recipe for an enjoyable festival.

Understanding the dance floor's power to alter and amplify sensory perception dictates Loop Earplugs' relationship with sound, and how we interact with it. High-fidelity sound at impactful volumes is synonymous with festival culture—and it's something all ravers should have the opportunity to experience without sacrificing hearing health or personal style. Resident Advisor has worked with Loop to champion these benefits for festivalgoers this summer in The Music Sounds Better With Loop campaign, which touched down at Houghton in the UK and the Netherlands' ZeeZout.

Awareness campaigns concerning hearing health, such as the World Health Organisation's (WHO) "Make Listening Safe" and Tinnitus UK's "Plug'em," highlight the health risks associated with long exposure to loud music. Earplugs are essential for protecting your hearing, but there are additional benefits too—just like your favourite pair of sunglasses. Effective, well-fitting and comfortable hearing protection can enhance the way we engage with live music, elevating the listening experience without feeling restrictive or sacrificing the quality of the sound. In short, earplugs allow music fans to stay on the dance floor for longer.

Now that the dust has settled on Houghton and ZeeZout, and we approach the final stretch of festival season in the Northern hemisphere, we spoke to Dr Banana and Sally C, two artists who understand the dance music landscape intimately. Both are regulars on the festival circuit, with packed touring schedules and a shared affinity for vivid, high-energy dance music. Here, the pair recount their observations on the ground, reflecting on how people have been engaging with sound and hearing protection this summer.

Dr Banana

If Dr Banana could be boiled down to one word, it would be "colourful." His sets deliver head-knocking energy, taking the crowd through bouncy house and UKG to driving techno and electro. With years of experience on both sides of the booth, hearing protection is a non-negotiable for him. "I always use [earplugs] when I'm on the dance floor," he said, "and most of the time when I'm playing as well. I couldn't encourage people more to use hearing protection. There's just no reason not to."

Off the back of a weekend at Houghton that was equal parts madness and magic, Dr Banana dialled in from his London home ahead of a busy weekend of gigs in Manchester. He was quick to point out the utility of proper earplugs. "A lot of people think of those colourful foam ones when they think of earplugs," he explained. "While they do a job to protect your ears, you do lose a lot of fidelity. Loop Earplugs offer options which are great for different situations—you wouldn't want a heavy-duty pair if you're going to a classical music concert."

Musical enjoyment is, of course, the beating heart of a great festival. But overloading your senses can warp the experience beyond pleasure. Sound system tuning, equipment quality and excessive audio levels can also contribute to distortion, or "redlining." With ear protection, any of those harsh levels are alleviated, enhancing the clarity with which we can experience the levels in the production.

"Sound systems can [often] just be too loud and it's not a pleasant experience," Dr Banana said about being on the dance floor. "When you're dancing, exposing yourself to really loud sound, you can strip that back a little when you have plugs in. I was at NYC Downlow at Glastonbury and the vibe was amazing, but it was so loud, that without plugs, I just couldn't enjoy it or be in there. As soon as I had my plugs in, I felt comfortable, which goes to show they add to the experience rather than taking it away."

Sally C

Travel demands for a touring artist can come in quick succession. Hopping between continents from weekend to weekend comes with its own pressures on your senses. "I can't DJ without earplugs," Sally C said on a call from her Berlin base. She was gearing up to travel from Berlin to the US, before flying back to Ibiza, Lyon and Amsterdam. It's a schedule that's testament to her career so far, during which she's lit up dance floors around the world with her dynamic blends of acid, hip-house and breakbeat, all delivered with playful finesse.

Sally C is all too familiar with the consequences of long-term exposure to high-volume sound, both as a raver and an artist, and her relationship with hearing protection has evolved over time. "I used to have ringing in my ears and quite a lot of pain," she explained. "It's crazy that I just ignored that." Despite DJing without earplugs for years, they're now an essential item in her toolkit. "When you're at festivals, the monitors are louder and stages are bigger, so I'm constantly wearing my ear protection," she said. "It's a necessity on the dance floor, too. If I can feel my ears being exposed to such high decibels, my ears automatically send out danger feelings. They're like, 'No, absolutely not!'"

While Sally C's familiarity with hearing protection stems from her experience as a DJ, this naturally differs from the experience of most dance music fans. Custom-moulded earplugs are common among professional circles, but the cost, effort and aesthetic can feel alienating or restrictive to the regular punter. Loop is helping to remedy this. "I feel they've really bridged that gap between the musician, the DJ and the punter," Sally C explained. "They're more accessible. You can just buy them, pop them in and they work perfectly."

How does this accessibility translate to the experience of enjoying high-fidelity music? "I think there's a stigma attached to earplugs that you aren't experiencing the full sound," she explained. "But you're hearing the frequencies and it sounds better. On big stages, if it gets fucking loud, it doesn't sound good. Earplugs create a better sensory experience, especially for neurodivergent people whose senses can be overwhelmed."

The modernisation of earplugs in recent years has diversified choice, offering a way for festivalgoers to complement their style as much as their experience with pleasing designs that still prioritise protection. "[Loops] look good, like an earring," Sally C said. "I remember seeing them for the first time. Paula Tape was wearing them at Kala Festival a year or two ago and I was like, 'Wow, that looks fucking sick. What's going on there?'"

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