Earplugs: imperfect, uncomfortable, annoying to "turn on and off" and gross. And, I suppose, that in many social contexts using them could end up causing you to be labeled a passive-agressive weirdo. Headphones are better in some ways and worse in others. I think they provide weaker isolation and require you to actually listen to music if you want to really stop hearing outside stuff but I never had high-end headphones so I don't actually know.

I'd pay for earlids, especially if they came with a shut-in-case-of-loud-noise reflex.