I was just thinking about this with the announcement of the new AirPods. Apple could really take the concert earplug market while getting great natural marketing (people wearing AirPods at concerts). Just balance and lower the volume for concerts.
This is especially in question, to me, with the numerous reports of people getting tinnitus while wearing the airpods with noise cancellation on.
You don't really need fancy noise cancelling for tinnitus prevention, just some form of bung in your ear.
Apple has a real opportunity here, and they are slow in seizing it. I suspect some kind of an arrangement with the hearing aid manufacturers regarding iPhone-ready hearing aids.
The name of the game here is to allow people to dial in their own preferred level of compression (amplifying soft sounds more than looks sounds) and equalization using their iPhones.
Apple could have such a great product here, if they would just add gain comparable to the currently available hearing assist devices, and then add compression, equalization, and clipping of loud noises.
Simple amplification isn’t enough.
Or just buy a decent set of earplugs that dont require charging, bluetooth or $200.
I still wear real ear protection, but for the odd cut, or for any other day to day situation with loud noises the AirPods do a good job.
Would you be willing to give a personal experience? Have you tried transparent mode in windy conditions?