Last night, I stepped into Marquee night club in New York City. David Guetta was on the set list. People were dressed their best, lights were flashing, and I had a fresh glass full of booze in hand. I should have been excited, but instead my head just hurt.
Am I getting old? Are clubs just getting louder?
In either case, Dubs Acoustic Filters solved my problems.
Created by Doppler Labs, Dubs are the modern-day reinvention of earplugs.
They’re entirely mechanical earplugs that maintain acoustic quality while simply lowering the decibel level, so your ears aren’t ringing all night. Dubs are sold online and in Best Buy, as well as various music festivals like Europe’s ADE, having sold more than $1 million in the past 60 days. At $25/each, that’s 40,000 units pushed in two months.
Of course, Dubs aren’t the only option on the market. You could also pop in some of those bright orange, squishy earplugs they sell in 20 packs at gas stations, or you could buy massive, over-the-ear electronic ear muffs. Dubs, however, seems to find good middle ground.
Last night, Dubs launched with Marquee, which is the largest chain of night clubs in the country. The earplugs will now be sold right on the dance floor, from nice men and women walking around with a tray and a Square card reader.
“We were surprised by how well the Dubs are selling online,” said co-founder Noah Kraft. “But sales are also really great on-location at events, and the partnership with Marquee is very exciting for us.”
Alongside the launch with Marquee, last night was also my first chance to test out the Dubs in a real use-case scenario.
It took a minute to acclimate. At first, Dubs feel similar to any other earplug, muffling things just a bit and pushing the sound into your jaw and head instead of entering through your ears. But once my ears acclimated, I noticed that I could still hear the high “tsss” of the snare drum, the pin-like laser notes, while the bass felt comfortable and still powerful underneath.
Then I took them out.
And the club was overwhelming. Too loud and reverberating to enjoy.
I’ll say that I preferred to take out the Dubs when I was talking to someone, as it was just too difficult to have a conversation with all the noises happening inside my own head. But while I was hanging out and listening to the music, it seemed clear to me why Dubs runs with the tagline “Go Louder Longer.”
It might not be the same body-beating experience that only booze can numb (which you may very well prefer), but it turns the club-going experience into something that is comfortable enough to last through, for the long haul.
And for $25.