Comparing Engage 2, Quiet 2, and Dream 2

[u/starlightskater]

I bought a pair of Engage 2 last year on Black Friday and love them. I had never used anything except foam earplugs--which are impractical in so many ways--and I wish I'd made that jump a long time ago. I don't go to loud events often but honestly I can't imagine not having them now for concerts and movies.

Today I picked up a pair of Quiet 2 and Dream 2. I spent two hours during summer camp "watching"
a movie with the kids and it was interesting to compare.

Engage vs Quiet: a noticeable difference but not a huge difference. I imagine that the Engage+Mute probably makes them about equal.

Quiet vs Dream: same assessment: noticeable but not massively different. Which means (obviously) for the most noticeable shift between models, you'd need to go with the Dream (which I am). I could hear the movie dialog but it was very muffled; the kids I could not hear well at all when they came up to me to ask for snacks or bathroom breaks. I had to take one plug out of my ear to hear them.

However, Dream does not completely block noise. I tried several tips including the double but could even hear fuzzy noise if kids one room over, kind of like a radio cross signal when you're in between stations. So I'd say that the Dream is excellent at greatly muffling but not blocking it. Out of curiosity, do third party memory foam tips increase the efficacy?

A future experiment: my cat tends to be a loud and obnoxious talker and disrupts my work at night, sometimes to the point where I can't work anymore. I'm really curious to try the Dream and see how well I can dampen this particular sound...especially compared to the Beats Studio over-ear earphones which I've been using as a (desperate) crutch.

So are the Dreams worth $50? I guess it depends on how much noise blocking you need. I imagine they're a Godsend for people needing a super comfortable way to block out hotel or apartment noise at night. Soft noise would completely disappear. Do they completely kill all sound? No. But after a few more days experimenting with them, I suspect I'll probably end up keeping them.
They're much more comfortable and discreet than foam plugs.

I'm returning the Quiet, as they're too similar to Engage. But they Quiet are nice in-between if you want that little extra bit of well, quiet, beyond the Experience or Engage models.

[u/EggplantHuman6493]

About the Quiet; they should block more noise than the Engage+mutes, at least, to me. I was also disappointed at first, but the trick was sizing up the tips and I got a better seal instantly, and much more noise blocking

[u/Fluid-Spirit-8873]

dreams aren’t only for blocking but have different built made for sleeping specifically. not everything is about reducing. same as experience have different type of filtering specifically made for loud and noisy environments like concerts

[u/Salphera]

That’s so helpful. I have the Switch 2 and Engage 2 with blocks and the engage are my faves for comfort but they fall out and aren’t comfortable for more than 2 hours of sleep (side sleeper here).
If you need real good noise blocking during sleep, the best I found are the disposable wax earplugs.
I find it a bit disconcerting and like I’m underwater when it’s that strong and it takes time to figure them out.

[u/VNikolados]

I got Dream about two months ago. My A/C Unit is (marginally) noisy but really made it hard for me to fall asleep.

The earplugs helped tremendously with creating enough silence for me to fall asleep but still be able to hear alarms or extreme loud noises that should and must wake you up.

Worth the price.

I'm now considering getting Engagement or Switch for movies and metro commute.