FWTW I have a severe high freq loss and Phonak behind the ear hearing aids. I found that I had a problem at times hearing the start tone with amplified Walker and Sordin muffs and had to use my Phonaks inside the muffs and still have problems with the timer. I discusssed with my audiologist my problem and asked him to look over info I had printed for a couple of the available in-ear hearing aids, made for shooting. He came back to me and said that he would match the price, ~2000, and give me something more programmable and have the same protection. In addition, he said I could try them for 30 days and make my decision. He had them made with a large blob (full shell) - not invisible - without the vent hole, as I told him, I was interested only only in using them at the range. They are digital, therefore, able to be programmed to my particular hearing loss and able to be adjusted to suit my tastes as I prefer. The way I understand it, they shut down instantly to noise above a certain level. These work fine for me, allowing me to converse with others normally, shoot, hear most hits at steel challenge, and generally let me operate, hearing the timer, and not worrying about protection. Brand is Unitron, but I don't know the model.
There are a couple of downsides. Without the vent holes, they sound like plain earplugs, with no ambient background noise, when not on. Without the vent holes, if driving to or from the range, where there are hills, ears will not equalize the pressure and ears need clearing - not a problem at the range, even all day. Since they are not the high end model, some advance features are not in mine - like wind noise elimination etc. My regular Phonaks, have some of these features and don't notice them in day to day use, but do notice the lack thereof, when wearing these. These are NOT usable by themselves at an indoor range. Not any different than plain low tech ear plugs, even when turned off indoors. When at an indoor range, my normal muffs without any aids are by far the best for me. Thinning of the wallet hurt bad.....
