Thanks to constant exposure to potentially ear-splitting gadgets such as iPods and cell phones, today's kids face a huge threat to their hearing. Ultimate Ears, manufacturer of high-end earphones (including our Editors' Choice winner, the UE 11 Pro) is attempting to address this problem. The company's new Loud Enough earphones are targeted at children (and adults, let's face it) who tend to blast their audio devices at unsafe listening levels. Built-in circuitry limits these earphones' output, attenuating the signal by 20 dB or more. And at $40, they're a real steal. Better still, these 'phones not only guard your hearing, they sound great as well.

As I write this, I'm listening to Radiohead's latest album on my iPod at maximum volume. My ears should be positively bleeding by now, and, when I take my earphones out, I should have a horrendous ringing in my ears. Good thing I'm wearing the Loud Enoughs. They really do drop the audio signal significantly. Listening at reduced volume may not seem to be much fun, but the sound is surprisingly good. How this is possible? Ultimate Ears has taken advantage of two tricks that make any earphone audio mix seem louder: a good bass presence and passive noise reduction. The Loud Enough set has both. The earpieces block a lot of ambient sound, so the focus is on the music. Meanwhile, the bass is delivered with a pleasant, if not overwhelming resonance. The result is that it doesn't feel as if you're listening to music at reduced levels.

There's no denying that the Loud Enoughs are marketed to appeal to children, and the color variety is certainly kid-friendly (Blueberry, Plum, Mint—you get the idea). Even so, I see no reason adults couldn't wear them. The colors aren't garish, and everything else about the earphones is simple and nondescript. In addition, the cable (which is, thankfully, black, rather than a fruit-inspired color) is a manageable length for both adults and kids. Silicone ear tips come in three different sizes and provide a satisfactory fit, blocking out sound and staying firmly in place. One annoyance: There's no Right or Left labeling on the earpieces, so you could potentially be listening to your music with the speakers reversed. Not everyone will care, but this really bothers a sound geek like me.

Looking at our HEAD Acoustics frequency response test results, it's easy to see how much lower the output of the Loud Enoughs is when compared with Ultimate Ears' own $130 Super.fi 4. The Loud Enoughs' frequency response curve has a more uneven slope than that of the Super.fi 4 set—but that's the whole point. Low (bass) frequencies are less dangerous to ears. With that in mind, the earphones' curve is less peculiar than it may first appear. In effect, it means that output is reduced in the more dangerous, damaging high-frequency range (the domain of screaming vocals, snare drum hits, and screeching guitars). When tested against the Super.fis, with both sets using the same signal at the exact same input level, the Loud Enoughs showed some frequencies producing output 25 dB lower. Yet when you actually listen, everything sounds clear and full with a good bass presence.

The Loud Enoughs aren't high-end, $200 earphones, so having reasonable performance expectations is essential. But I found that the lower volume didn't mean sacrificing too much low-end presence or crispness in the highs. At the highest volume level, the sound felt balanced, full, distortion-free, and not at all unsafe.

On the other hand, the deep, resonant thuds of electronic music from The Knife didn't blow me out of the water as they would on a higher-end pair of Ultimate Ears. If dominant bass is the main thing you want from $40 earphones, you'd be better off with Radius's Atomic Bass earphones; they're the portable equivalent of turning your subwoofer up to max. They're also more about deep sounds than about safety (though, as noted, it's not the low end you generally have to worry about when it comes to protecting your hearing). But even the $40 Loud Enough set delivers much-higher-quality, distortion-free low end (and overall performance) than the $30 stock iPod earbuds—that's good value for the money.

It's hard to identify a true complaint about Ultimate Ears' Loud Enough earphones. They're affordable and sound great. For those looking to protect their hearing, I highly recommend the Loud Enough earphones.

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