Q: I want to get this for use in the office. I hear everything from birds, keyboarding to footsteps. Earplugs are a pain. Would you recommend a pair?
A: Nope - They are designed to cut out noise at higher levels. Solid earplugs are best to cut out noise from birds, footsteps, keyboards (even loud breathing). With these earmuffs you will likely still hear these "quiet sounds". Now if you are around leaf blowers, lawn tractors, heavy machinery, .50 caliber guns, or the like you will be happy with the comfort level that these muffs provide!
I use these occasionally (after ear plugs started causing problems for my ears). They do a pretty good job in my experience at helping me focus even though they do not perfectly cut out some sounds, everything is muffled enough that it's a peaceful sensation if not total silence.
The bigger issue for me is they really can't be worn more than an hour or so at a time without discomfort.
Basically I wore them for the majority of the hours of the day (during sleep + while working) for over two years without any issues then I had a some pretty major impacted ear wax and started looking into it more. Apparently ear plugs are not really good for you. Which is unfortunate because there is really no substitute.
