Electronic Hearing Protection

[saber]

I'm looking to upgrade my hearing protection and am looking at the various wireless headphone options.

Does anyone have a favorite brand or can recommend a particular one?

[keith1911]

If you shoot a lot the MSA Sordin Pro is a good choice. It’s what I use.

[boopiejones]

I splurged on a set of peltor comtacs and have been very happy with them. Prior to that, I had a cheap set of Howard Leight impact. They muffled sound ok, certainly not as good as the peltors, but it was acceptable. but the ear cups on the Howard leights aren’t nearly as soft, so they pushed the ear pieces from my glasses into my temples. After about 45 minutes of shooting, it would become very painful. I still have this issue with the comtacs, but it takes 3-4 hours to develop, vs just 45 minutes.

If you’re looking for a very cheap but effective option,, I really like the surefire ep4. They’re in-ear and not electronic, but they have a diaphragm that closes to block loud noises while still allowing you to hear quieter sounds. For less than $14, they’re a great deal.

[QED]

I use the MSA Supreme Pro-X and it works very well. Plus they're waterproof.

[Bastard]

what do you shoot? while I really like my MSAs the Howard lights are hard to beat for the price but neither of them work with my shotguns so for that I use Decibullz

[Librarian]

See also the sticky http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s....php?t=1133889 in the Firearms Accessories forum

[QED]

what do you shoot? while I really like my MSAs the Howard lights are hard to beat for the price but neither of them work with my shotguns so for that I use Decibullz

I shoot rifle (20 practical - 240 Wby Magnum) and pistol (.40s&w,.357sig, and 9mm). I double up hearing protection and use in-ear plugs in addition to the electronic muffs. The MSA Pro-Xs are somewhat low profile, so they aren't especially obtrusive when shooting rifles with high cheek pieces.

[SarcoBlaster]

This.

[Vinnie Boombatz]

I've been using a pair of the Peltor Sport Tactical 500. I think they're great over the ear electronic protection. Way cheaper than the MSA Sordins. I also splurged and added some gel ear cups and a rechargeable battery, so I can charge them in my car on the way to the range. These haven't let me down. I got mine for $99, but looks like they've gone up in price quite a bit lately.



With all that said, I picked up a set of AXIL in-ears a few weeks ago while at Front Sight. Let my buddy be the guinea pig since he bought them first and couldn't stop raving about them. I pulled the trigger on a set later that day and think these are a game changer for several reasons. First, they are much cooler on your head, which is nice on a hot day. Also, WAY more comfortable if you're wearing these for a day-long or multi-day class where any over the ears can start to feel heavy, can start to hurt, lead to fatigue, etc. In in-ears also won't get in the way and compromise your cheek weld if you're shooting a rifle, shotgun, etc. Finally, the in-ears just seemed to allow me to hear the Range Officer and range commands so much better and consistently than over the ears. Seems like they work differently, where the over the ears seem to work more with a noise gate, and they cut out sounds that hit a certain SPL. The in-ears sound like they have some crazy compression going on where you can hear everything, but it makes gunfire sound like firecrackers. I actually would keep the in-ears in my ears and turned on whenever I was on the range, even if it was during a lecture portion and could hear the instructors even with gunfire going off on adjacent ranges.



I'm still keeping the over the ears around as a spare or for times when I take a friend/new shooter to the range, but prefer the in-ears without a doubt.

I have no affiliation with the company, but it looks like AXIL is having a buy one, get one free Black Friday deal going right now: https://buyaxil.com/?utm_term=axil%2...vD_BwE#product

[k1dude]

With all that said, I picked up a set of AXIL in-ears a few weeks ago while at Front Sight. Let my buddy be the guinea pig since he bought them first and couldn't stop raving about them. I pulled the trigger on a set later that day and think these are a game changer for several reasons. First, they are much cooler on your head, which is nice on a hot day. Also, WAY more comfortable if you're wearing these for a day-long or multi-day class where any over the ears can start to feel heavy, can start to hurt, lead to fatigue, etc. In in-ears also won't get in the way and compromise your cheek weld if you're shooting a rifle, shotgun, etc. Finally, the in-ears just seemed to allow me to hear the Range Officer and range commands so much better and consistently than over the ears. Seems like they work differently, where the over the ears seem to work more with a noise gate, and they cut out sounds that hit a certain SPL. The in-ears sound like they have some crazy compression going on where you can hear everything, but it makes gunfire sound like firecrackers. I actually would keep the in-ears in my ears and turned on whenever I was on the range, even if it was during a lecture portion and could hear the instructors even with gunfire going off on adjacent ranges.



I'm still keeping the over the ears around as a spare or for times when I take a friend/new shooter to the range, but prefer the in-ears without a doubt.

I have no affiliation with the company, but it looks like AXIL is having a buy one, get one free Black Friday deal going right now: https://buyaxil.com/?utm_term=axil%2...vD_BwE#product

I have those and they're horrible. 5 friends bought them as a group buy and 4 have sent theirs back for a full refund. I kept mine because I was too lazy to send it back.

You can barely make out what anyone is saying because of static breaking up the voice when someone talks. We weren't the only ones to experience the problem. There were lots of reviews complaining about it.

I've had very good luck with MSA Sordin Supreme Pro X. For indoors I double up with Shothunt in ear.

[Vinnie Boombatz]

I have those and they're horrible. 5 friends bought them as a group buy and 4 have sent theirs back for a full refund. I kept mine because I was too lazy to send it back.

You can barely make out what anyone is saying because of static breaking up the voice when someone talks.

Haven't experienced any of that with mine, and neither has my buddy who also bought a set. Used them for 3 days at FS (bought them on the second day of a 4-day class) and they worked flawlessly. Voices were very clear while attenuating gunfire at the same time. Our range had a super crappy little karaoke-looking speaker box that sounded like garbage, yet I could still hear all the range commands just fine while most of the people with electronic muffs were constantly complaining that they couldn't hear anything. My AXIL's are great.

[saber]

Thank you to everyone for the replies. I wanted to give you more information about my shooting and my use of the ear protection. Here's what I typically do:

- I shoot in IDPA, usually once or twice a month. That's about 200 rounds of 9mm plus or minus and I'm shooting all day. When I do IDPA, there are usually breaks where I can take off my ear protection.

- I also shoot mostly at outdoor ranges, when I'm shooting everything from 22's to pistols to centerfire rifles (.223 and .308) and then my shotgun as well.

- 3-4 times a year (pre-COVID) I would take a class at Front Sight where I was shooting outdoors, either .223 rifle or 9mm pistol. That would be about 200+ rounds per day.

- Rarely, I shoot my pistols indoors. I don't actually like shooting indoors since the range I go allows Centerfire rifles and indoors those are just brutal to be next.

The one issue is that I always wear a hat when shooting and I will sometimes where a baseball cap or a bush hat.

I have multiple sets of the electronic (Howard Leight) electronic ear protection because I prefer that since I can still hear the range commands when I'm shooting IDPA or taking a class.

My primary interest is this:

1. I actually don't like baseball caps (kind of odd) and I like to wear my bush hat. The over the ear head phones can be worn with a baseball cap but not with my bush hat. That's why I want the wireless head phones.
2. I want the electronic ones
3. I need to get a really good set since I had my hearing tested and it turns out I have some permanent hearing damage already and I don't want it to get worse.

Thanks for all of the suggestions, I will look into those.

[Tarmy]

[Librarian]

Sordin does have a behind-the-neck model https://srstactical.com/msa-sordin-s...n-headset.html

[Scratch705]

i use the aftermarket ear cushions for my howard leights that are gel based.

so they fit very tight over my glasses but still offer very good comfort.

i also want to get an electronic ear-plug style protection for the hot days when having that headband just adds to the heat/sweat and for better cheek weld with my long guns.