Are you struggling to find relief for your misophonia symptoms? For me, the hardest times were the beginning until I accepted that I have misophonia. During the beginning, it’s important to use tools to get your trigger responses under control. In this article, I share alternatives to misophonia hearing aids that I think you’ll find useful. Since hearing aids are mostly used to amplify sound for hearing-impaired individuals, there are better, more affordable options than having a custom hearing aid made by an audiologist.

Additionally, hearing aids may draw unwanted attention in social situations since others may think you have a hearing impairment. The white noise alternatives to misophonia hearing aids I share appear more natural and are better for people with hypersensitivity to noise.

Below, I share a helpful chart of five white noise earplugs for misophonia, or in this case, noise-canceling earbuds, earplug headphones, and white noise machines since standard earplugs don’t actually produce sound. For good standard earplug options, my guide on choosing the best earplugs for misophonia is a better resource.

Reviews of the Best Alternatives to Misophonia Hearing Aids

Now that you’ve checked out your options, I’m sure you already have some ideas brewing. In each section below, I share reviews of the five products from the chart above. Along with the reviews, I share helpful tips on how to choose the best alternative to misophonia hearing aids.

Before we get started with the reviews, let’s consider the different situations you may want to use these products to cope with your misophonia triggers:

• Active Noise Canceling Earbuds & Headphones – Travel, Work, Running Errands, Flights, Around the House, Busy Office Settings
• Sleeping Headphones – Snoring Sounds, City Noises, Barking Dogs, Noisy Neighbors
• Earplug Headphones – Noisy Work Environments, Construction Sites
• White Noise Machine – Sleeping, Inside Your Home, In Your Office

#1) Boltune True Wireless Active Noise Cancelling Earbuds

This type of device is the closest you’ll get to an in-ear white noise generator for misophonia and the closest to being a white noise hearing aid. The advantage is that you choose whatever you want to listen to instead of relying on built-in sounds from a hearing aid.

Music apps with free-use membership levels such as Spotify are excellent resources for free white noise sounds. You’ll most likely find Spotify’s expansive white noise sound library quite remarkable. The key here is to combine the active noise-canceling technology featured in the Boltune earbuds with your favorite white noise sounds.

Boltune earbuds use Qualcomm cVc 8.0 noise cancellation technology to reduce outside sounds by up to 25 dB. This is comparable to a quality set of earplugs, so you essentially get wireless earbuds and earplugs in a single device. Additionally, the noise-canceling tech is good for when you want to make calls on the buds and block outside sounds.

Lastly, the included charging case provides up to 24 hours of playtime with 6 hours per charge, which makes these great for long flights and other travels. All in all, these are a really solid deal, and being an audiophile myself, I know a good deal on earbuds when I see one.

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#2) MAXROCK Sleeping Headphones

The next option is sleeping headphones, and as the name suggests, they are good for sleeping. Keep in mind, this type of headphone does not feature active noise canceling. Think of it this way, sleeping headphones are essentially earplugs that play music. The earbuds create a seal inside your ear canal similar to a standard earplug.

Once you seat the tips in your ears to create an airtight seal, you enhance the noise reduction by playing music or white noise while you sleep. A good option is to choose a playlist that lasts for about 6-10 hours while you sleep. This way, you ensure the soothing sounds don’t stop while you’re asleep.

For music and white noise, there are a lot of options on YouTube and Spotify. As I mentioned earlier, I listen to white noise playlists on Spotify quite often. The water and nature sounds are perfect for use with sleeping headphones.

A couple of final highlights of the MAXROCK sleeping headphones are they’re comfortable for side sleepers, cheap, very easy to use, and there’s an included storage case.

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#3) Bose QuietComfort 20 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones

If you want the best of the best in active noise canceling, then stick with Bose or Sony. Of all the Bose ANC headphones on the market, the QuietComfort 20 model is the best in-ear model for generating white noise, playing music, and crystal-clear voice calls.

If you look closely at the headphones, you’ll see that Bose did not cut corners when it selected the noise-canceling mic on the outside portion of the buds. Compared to the other headphones in this guide, you get much better noise-canceling, and that’s reflected in the higher price.

One thing I think is really cool is the long 16-hour battery life per charge with a 2-hour charging time. That’s more than enough power for even the longest flights or workdays. There’s also a nice branded Bose storage case that makes these great for commuters, business travelers, and leisure travel.

As far as audio quality, Bose TriPort and Active EQ make for an awesome audio experience. Whether you’re listening to music, white noise, or watching movies & TV shows, you’ll love the sound these produce. Overall, of the five products in this guide, Bose QuietComfort 20 is the most premium choice for canceling out noise and reducing a negative response to misophonia triggers.

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#4) Elgin Ruckus Earplug Earbuds (OSHA Compliant Noise Reduction)

These “earplug earbuds” are very similar to the sleeping headphones in that they work to block out sound by creating an airtight seal inside your ear canal. Think of these as corded earplugs with headphone functionality. Another difference is that they’re made for construction workers who desire OSHA-approved headphones or compliant gear. Having worked in the construction industry when I was younger, I can tell you that OSHA is no joke when it comes to site safety.

OSHA adopts the EPA recommended Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) to meet ANSI workplace standards. NRR is measured in decibels, and in this case, the NRR is 25dB provided by the Elgin headphones. These are perfect for misophonia sufferers who work in industrial settings, on construction sites, and even in busy office settings.

Several final highlights are the Kevlar-reinforced cable, IP65-rated to keep out dust & moisture, triple-molded audio jack, and an included woven nylon storage case with an aluminum carabiner.

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#5) LectroFan High Fidelity White Noise Sound Machine

The final good alternative to misophonia hearing aids is a standalone white noise machine. The reason I added this type of device to this guide is that it’s not a good idea to use in-ear headphones all day, every day. It’s important for misophonia sufferers to try to keep earplug and headphone use to a minimum, and a good way to break from them is to use a white noise sound machine.

LectroFan is one of the best white noise machines currently on the market, and it’s being sold for a very fair price. LectroFan is ideal for use inside your office to prevent disturbances due to your misophonia triggers or to use while you sleep. Since most of us don’t want to sleep with something in our ears every night, a white noise machine is an excellent choice if you find that it gets the job done for you.

Keep in mind, LectroFan does not block sounds the same way as active noise-canceling technology. Instead, LectroFan produces white and fan noises to mask outside sounds. There’s a wide range of onboard soothing fan sounds to choose from and a list of white noise sounds, so you’ll have no problem choosing your preferred sound for every situation.

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Final Thoughts

In reality, all of the products in this guide are better options for noise cancelation than misophonia hearing aids. The time, cost, and hassle of having a hearing aid retrofitted to produce white noise isn’t worth it compared to choosing a white noise product.

As a recap, it’s best to stick with active noise-canceling earbuds or headphones if you want to listen to your own music, make voice calls, and play white noise whenever you desire. Earplug headphones and sleeping headphones are the cheapest options, however, they do not feature active noise canceling.

The final option is a white noise machine, which is great to have during the times you want to drown out misophonia trigger sounds without having something inside your ears. Personally, I try to limit how much I use earplugs and headphones to protect my sense of hearing and earwax production.

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