Your headphone habits could destroy your hearing. If you constantly listen to audio at a volume of more than 85 dB, the equivalent of traffic noise, you could be at risk for noise-induced hearing loss. Many headphones cross that threshold at 70% volume or less. The PuroPro Hybrid noise-canceling headphones max out at 95 dB, though their default limit is 85 dB.

Should you invest in them for your hearing's sake? Hear us out!

What Inspired Puro Sound Labs?

When Dave Russel, the CEO and founder of Puro Sound Labs, found that his own daughter had damaged her hearing, probably by listening to loud music on her headphones, he also learned that this was a widespread issue.

According to the World Health Organization, over one billion young people between the ages of 12 and 35 are at risk of hearing loss due to exposure to noise in recreational settings. Hearing loss is not just an inconvenience, it's also a huge cost factor for the people suffering from it or the national health systems that cover their treatment.

What's better than treating hearing loss? Preventing it in the first place! In fact, the majority of hearing loss in young people is due to preventable causes. That's where Puro Sound Labs comes in.

Studies show that hearing loss starts at volume levels of around 80 dB. That's the volume of an alarm clock. When you increase the volume to 85 dB, the noise level of traffic, the permissible daily noise exposure drops to 8 hours. At 95 dB, a motorbike driving by, you should limit your noise exposure to 50 minutes per day or less.

Since many headphones permit volume levels that are much higher than what's considered safe for our ears, Puro's founder decided to address the hearing loss epidemic right there. He created the PuroQuiet, volume-capped headphones for kids. The PuroPro are the company's first edition for adults. To protect your hearing, the PuroPro max out at 95 dB, but the default volume cap is set to 85 dB.

Unboxing the PuroPro

The PuroPro come in a wooden box. That's a nice perk and enhances the unboxing experience. But it's also heavier and, at least for consumers, harder to recycle than the standard cardboard and paper packaging. While we weren't impressed with the PR claim that the packaging is environmentally friendly, we do have to admit that a wooden box is a statement that signals quality.

Inside the box, you'll find a carrying case, which holds the folded down headphones, the USB charging cable, and an audio cable.

PuroPro Specifications

• Design: over-ear headphones
• Color: black
• ANC: choice of 32 dB deep noise and 15 dB general noise reduction
• Volume: 85 dB and 95 dB sound limit
• Drivers: 40 mm custom dynamic drivers
• Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz
• Impedance: 32 Ohms +/-15%
• Sensitivity: 120 +/-3dB (at 1kHz, IEC318 test)
• Audio Codecs: no details provided
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0, micro USB
• Bluetooth Profiles: no details provided
• Operating range: no details provided
• Microphones: one omnidirectional mic for communication, four for ANC
• Weight: 10.01 ounces (286 grams)
• Battery
  • Capacity: 750 mAh
  • Playtime: up to 32 hours (Bluetooth only), up to 28 hours (Bluetooth and ANC on)
  • Standby: up to 300 hours
• Charging time: 2 hours
• Price: $200 on Amazon

PuroPro Headphone Ports and Controls

The PuroPro feature a standard set of buttons and ports. On the right ear cup, you'll find an ANC button that lets you toggle between ANC off, ANC1 (-32 dB), and ANC 2 (-15 dB noise reduction), an audio jack, the on/off button, and a +/- volume button that pulls double duty as the switch between the 85 and 95 dB volume cap.

The right ear cup holds the micro USB charging port. We don't know why Puro Sound Labs chose not to use USB-C, but we thought this was disappointing. If all your other devices are on USB-C, you should think twice about adding micro USB headphones to your collection.

Material Quality

The ear cushions and headband are covered with smooth protein leather. The initial factory smell dissipated quickly. The overall design is compact and although heavy on plastic, the PuroPro feel like a premium product.

We love the folding mechanism. You can both fold and rotate the earpieces, which lets you wear them flat on your chest.

Or you can sort of stack them on top of each other, creating a compact bundle. These headphones will pack tight in any situation.

The make of the headphones resembles both the Sony WH-1000XM3, a top-quality pair of headphones, and cheap TaoTronics noise-canceling cans. We mention the latter because we own them, and have used them so much, that the cover on the ear pads and headband started disintegrating (as seen on the left in the photo below). Of course, all products will break down when you use them a lot. What matters is whether you can repair or replace the affected parts.

Fortunately, if needed, the PuroPro's ear cushions are replaceable. You can swap in any membrane-based replacement part. This is a universal standard, meaning you could get much better quality ear pads and thus upgrade your headphones. A basic pair of ear cushions will set you back $10, but you can spend over $60 on a premium pair.

We've demonstrated the replacement of the PuroPro ear cushions in the video above.

Note: Earpads not only influence how comfortable your headphones are, but they can also impact the sound quality. Both the shape and material of your ear pads determine the amount of noise isolation (passive noise-cancellation) that your headphones provide. A quality pair of foam-cushioned and leather-covered ear pads are an inexpensive mod that can give your expensive headphones a real sound boost.

We noticed that the Puro hinges are made entirely of plastic. Other headphones in our collection, especially those that employ a comparable folding mechanism, use hinges made from metal (on the left in the photo below). We'll have to see whether the PuroPro will stand the test of time, but the construction seems solid and reliable.

We're used to wearing headphones all day long, and we've been switching between half a dozen over- and in-ear headphones during the past few months. Not a single one of them felt uncomfortable. Unfortunately, the PuroPro were a bit too tight and hurt our ears.

What helped a little was bending the headband and thus loosening the pressure on the ears. It was nerve-wracking to do that with an expensive pair of headphones. What if they break? Fortunately, they remained intact and it temporarily did the job. But frankly, these headphones still wouldn't be our first choice for comfort.

PuroPro Sound Quality

We're using AudioCheck's headphone test for a basic evaluation of headphones. With the PuroPro, we didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. In short, it passed all audio quality tests.

The PuroPro produced the promised frequency range from 20 to 20,000 kilohertz, though to be transparent, our own hearing drops out at around 17,000 kilohertz. The internal wiring was set up correctly, the drivers were matched, the bass didn't make the headphones rattle, and the tone used to test the bass remained pure and clear at all tested frequencies.

When we tested the PuroPro with our favorite music, we never had to switch to the 95 dB limit. The 85 dB, deemed safe for up to eight hours a day by the WHO, was more than enough to satisfy our need for volume.

Should you feel the need to switch to the 95 dB volume level, remember that this volume shortens your safe listening time from a maximum of eight hours (at 85 dB) to around 50 minutes.

Equipped with 40mm drivers and Puro Balanced Response Curve technology, the PuroPro aim to deliver a well-rounded sound. We particularly appreciated the pleasant bass and thought the overall sound was full and satisfying. While we couldn't shake the impression that the highs sounded slightly muted and canny, we much preferred the sound of the PuroPros over our Sony WH-1000XM2 reference headphones.

However, these aren't high-end headphones, so you can't expect top-notch sound. Audiophiles should reach for the usual suspects. And remember that each brand has its own unique sound profile, so it all comes down to personal preferences.

The Best Noise-Cancelling Headphones for Audiophiles

We noticed that Puro Sound Labs didn't advertise the PuroPro's Bluetooth audio codecs, though we confirmed they're compatible with both SBC and AAC. While that's fine for streaming audio from Spotify et al., audiophiles will notice the lack of quality once listening to a non-lossy format like FLAC.

Active Noise-Cancellation

For a basic (and highly subjective) noise-canceling test, we played airplane cabin noise in the background, while listening to a podcast and music on the headphones. We compared the PuroPro to our worn-out TaoTronics and a pair of Sony WH-1000XM2 in mint condition.

The passive noise-cancellation provided by the ear cushions was best in the Sony headphones, but the PuroPro were a close runner-up. This is a metric you could easily improve by upgrading the ear pads.

The PuroPro come with two levels of ANC. The first filters out up to 32 dB of background noise, while the second drops this to 15 dB, which will keep you somewhat aware of your surrounding. None of the headphones managed to completely filter out the white noise, even when it was set to a very low volume. However, with the ANC 1 setting, the PuroPro surprisingly could keep up with the Sonys.

Our PuroPro Verdict

Honestly, we're not entirely convinced that you need to spend 200 bucks on a pair of headphones that protect your hearing. You can achieve the same effect with volume limiting apps or by consciously keeping the volume down. Moreover, if you buy your electronics in the EU, they should adhere to the EN 50332 standard, meaning the volume should, by default, already max out at 85 dB. But sometimes we all need some help with protecting ourselves from, well, ourselves.

So if you're sold on the volume cap feature, maybe because you don't trust yourself or you want to gift these headphones to a reckless teenager or young adult, the PuroPro are a great choice. The sound is convincing and the battery life and noise-cancellation are on par with much more expensive high-end headphones. In fact, with up to 32 hours, battery life is great! We also appreciate the low-key branding and the convenient folding mechanism.

What would have made this product better would have been a USB-C charging port and more transparency about the supported Bluetooth audio codecs.