Electronic Ear Plugs

[looking4reloadingdeals]

I am also interested in how/where the coverage is from insurance. I checked my coverage and did not see anything on this topic. Was it an FSA/HSA item or specifically covered by insurance?  

[vluc]

I simply called and asked my "healthcare concierge".  Looking through printed material is too cumbersome.

 

Whether I choose to do it or not depends on what model I pick.

Edited March 3, 2022 by vluc

[cnote]

Any other positive or negative thoughts about the 3M Peltor EEP plugs - basic function, 3 gain settings, rechargeable, no Bluetooth, etc.  With the Skull Screw earpieces

[cnote]

,

Edited March 5, 2022 by cnote
duplicate

[bdpaz]

4 hours ago, cnote said:

Any other positive or negative thoughts about the 3M Peltor EEP plugs - basic function, 3 gain settings, rechargeable, no Bluetooth, etc.  With the Skull Screw earpieces

It may just be my ear shape but most of the time the skull screw earpieces compress and block all sound. When they don’t collapse they work well but it doesn’t happen often enough for me to be able to use them. And I do need the skull screws to get a good seal. 

[Ronemus]

The EEPs are worthless without the skull screws - not enough isolation.  I haven't had problems with them collapsing.

[coframer]

On 2/10/2022 at 6:31 PM, Nathanb said:

I’ve got the Otto noise barrier micros. Absolutely love them. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to over ears unless I need to double up 

Where did you purchase those?  Thanks.

[Nathanb]

11 hours ago, coframer said:

Where did you purchase those?  Thanks.

I believe it was Brownells. 

[anonymouscuban]

I'm currently in the process of getting custom ear pro through my insurance so thought I'd share some details of my experience thus far.

 

I called House of Hearing in St. George Utah. They're a dealer of SoudGear Phantoms and setup a booth at a lot of the bigger matches in the area. They were recommended by a friend and I think they sponsor Sailer and a few other pros. I gave them my insurance details. They called my insurance to check on coverage and called me back the next day. My insurance, BCBS of Minnesota PPO, covers $1000 per ear, every 3 years under "hearing aid device". I have a $500 yearly deductible for this type of coverage and since I hadn't met any of it, it would have to be paid. 

 

I went ahead with the process:

1. I went to a local Audiologist to have a hearing test and molds of my ears done... cost was $75. 
   1. Chris at House of Hearing explained that some insurance will only cover the electronic ear pro if you have hearing loss. In his experience, even the mildest case will satisfy this requirement
   2. Fortunately I had very minor hearing loss so I was good
2. Emailed the results of the hearing test to House of Hearing and mailed the molds to them
3. The same day I sent the hearing test they submitted a claim to my insurance this way if they don't approve the claim, I can choose if I want to move forward and pay out of pocket
4. 3 days ago I got word from them that my claim was approved and they are starting to build my ear pro
   1. It took 3 weeks for my insurance to approve the claim
   2. They said I would receive my ear pro 7-10 days from the day the claim was approved

My total cost was $500 out of pocket. I'm getting the SoundGear Phantom but it's not the regular version. It will have custom programming based on my hearing test results. Also, they will be "unlocked" so I can create additional custom digital programs from the app. What Chris explained to me is that they are basically same product as the top end Harris and Son "Twenty" model as the internals are supplied by Starky.   

 

Hopefully I will get them in the next week and will share more when I do. 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by anonymouscuban

[limitedgun]

On 5/10/2022 at 1:10 PM, anonymouscuban said:

I'm currently in the process of getting custom ear pro through my insurance so thought I'd share some details of my experience thus far.

 

I called House of Hearing in St. George Utah. They're a dealer of SoudGear Phantoms and setup a booth at a lot of the bigger matches in the area. They were recommended by a friend and I think they sponsor Sailer and a few other pros. I gave them my insurance details. They called my insurance to check on coverage and called me back the next day. My insurance, BCBS of Minnesota PPO, covers $1000 per ear, every 3 years under "hearing aid device". I have a $500 yearly deductible for this type of coverage and since I hadn't met any of it, it would have to be paid. 

 

I went ahead with the process:

1. I went to a local Audiologist to have a hearing test and molds of my ears done... cost was $75. 
   1. Chris at House of Hearing explained that some insurance will only cover the electronic ear pro if you have hearing loss. In his experience, even the mildest case will satisfy this requirement
   2. Fortunately I had very minor hearing loss so I was good
2. Emailed the results of the hearing test to House of Hearing and mailed the molds to them
3. The same day I sent the hearing test they submitted a claim to my insurance this way if they don't approve the claim, I can choose if I want to move forward and pay out of pocket
4. 3 days ago I got word from them that my claim was approved and they are starting to build my ear pro
   1. It took 3 weeks for my insurance to approve the claim
   2. They said I would receive my ear pro 7-10 days from the day the claim was approved

My total cost was $500 out of pocket. I'm getting the SoundGear Phantom but it's not the regular version. It will have custom programming based on my hearing test results. Also, they will be "unlocked" so I can create additional custom digital programs from the app. What Chris explained to me is that they are basically same product as the top end Harris and Son "Twenty" model as the internals are supplied by Starky.   

 

Hopefully I will get them in the next week and will share more when I do. 

 

 

I received my Soundgear Phantom ear pro from my audiologist in Quincy, IL last week. The Dr. had experience with Soundgear but I was the first Phantom customer. She was excellent in the knowledge and testing. She tested before we ordered and then with the Phantoms in. Great experience and so far in the 4 hours I have used them they are phenomenal. Great ear pro!

[anonymouscuban]

On 5/10/2022 at 11:10 AM, anonymouscuban said:

I'm currently in the process of getting custom ear pro through my insurance so thought I'd share some details of my experience thus far.

 

I called House of Hearing in St. George Utah. They're a dealer of SoudGear Phantoms and setup a booth at a lot of the bigger matches in the area. They were recommended by a friend and I think they sponsor Sailer and a few other pros. I gave them my insurance details. They called my insurance to check on coverage and called me back the next day. My insurance, BCBS of Minnesota PPO, covers $1000 per ear, every 3 years under "hearing aid device". I have a $500 yearly deductible for this type of coverage and since I hadn't met any of it, it would have to be paid. 

 

I went ahead with the process:

1. I went to a local Audiologist to have a hearing test and molds of my ears done... cost was $75. 
   1. Chris at House of Hearing explained that some insurance will only cover the electronic ear pro if you have hearing loss. In his experience, even the mildest case will satisfy this requirement
   2. Fortunately I had very minor hearing loss so I was good
2. Emailed the results of the hearing test to House of Hearing and mailed the molds to them
3. The same day I sent the hearing test they submitted a claim to my insurance this way if they don't approve the claim, I can choose if I want to move forward and pay out of pocket
4. 3 days ago I got word from them that my claim was approved and they are starting to build my ear pro
   1. It took 3 weeks for my insurance to approve the claim
   2. They said I would receive my ear pro 7-10 days from the day the claim was approved

My total cost was $500 out of pocket. I'm getting the SoundGear Phantom but it's not the regular version. It will have custom programming based on my hearing test results. Also, they will be "unlocked" so I can create additional custom digital programs from the app. What Chris explained to me is that they are basically same product as the top end Harris and Son "Twenty" model as the internals are supplied by Starky.   

 

Hopefully I will get them in the next week and will share more when I do. 

 

 

I received my ear pro today. Could not be happier. Super comfortable and the amplification if great. Will try them this Thursday in live fire training. Have a match Sunday. Will report back on how they perform.

 

[Cuz]

Interested in reading about how the work during a match and practice sessions. 

[cbrussell]

Following with interest.

[ScottR65]

Very happy with my Otto Noize Barriers - with the foam tips - as the plastic flanged ones don't do squat. Also very good are the 3rd party Comply foam tips. 

https://www.otto-comm.com/NoizeBarrierMicro  https://www.complyfoam.com/products/canal-tip?variant=41445474861243 (Comply tips are cheaper on Amazon)  

[anonymouscuban]

23 hours ago, anonymouscuban said:

I received my ear pro today. Could not be happier. Super comfortable and the amplification if great. Will try them this Thursday in live fire training. Have a match Sunday. Will report back on how they perform.

 

So I’ve had a bit more time to play around with these. Going to the range tomorrow morning but thought I’d share some pretty cool tidbits about them.

 

So the electronic portion of these consist of the Arc Ai hearing aid. Reading up on them I guess it’s a pretty advanced hearing aid. The reference to Ai is you can set them to a mode where they will auto adjust the amplification to your surroundings.

 

They also have a built in activity tracker sort of like a Fitbit. It tracks steps, standing and also can detect falls and send an alert text to an emergency contact in such a case.

 

Lastly, it comes with 4 programs for different levels of sound but you can create 5th custom sound. You can adjust how it pics up/amplifies high, med, and low range sounds to your liking.

 

All of these extended features are managed from the phone app. I’m not really sure how much if I at all I use any of them, but I’m a tech nerd so I find this stuff interesting. Maybe I will use the custom program but unsure.

 

As mentioned, I live fire train tomorrow and have a match this Sunday. I RO on the squad so I will be able to see how they fare with major and open guns. I will my share experience Sunday night or Monday.

 

Stay tuned.

[UpYoursPal]

On 5/10/2022 at 2:10 PM, anonymouscuban said:

I'm currently in the process of getting custom ear pro through my insurance so thought I'd share some details of my experience thus far.

 

I called House of Hearing in St. George Utah. They're a dealer of SoudGear Phantoms and setup a booth at a lot of the bigger matches in the area. They were recommended by a friend and I think they sponsor Sailer and a few other pros. I gave them my insurance details. They called my insurance to check on coverage and called me back the next day. My insurance, BCBS of Minnesota PPO, covers $1000 per ear, every 3 years under "hearing aid device". I have a $500 yearly deductible for this type of coverage and since I hadn't met any of it, it would have to be paid. 

 

I went ahead with the process:

1. I went to a local Audiologist to have a hearing test and molds of my ears done... cost was $75. 
   1. Chris at House of Hearing explained that some insurance will only cover the electronic ear pro if you have hearing loss. In his experience, even the mildest case will satisfy this requirement
   2. Fortunately I had very minor hearing loss so I was good
2. Emailed the results of the hearing test to House of Hearing and mailed the molds to them
3. The same day I sent the hearing test they submitted a claim to my insurance this way if they don't approve the claim, I can choose if I want to move forward and pay out of pocket
4. 3 days ago I got word from them that my claim was approved and they are starting to build my ear pro
   1. It took 3 weeks for my insurance to approve the claim
   2. They said I would receive my ear pro 7-10 days from the day the claim was approved

My total cost was $500 out of pocket. I'm getting the SoundGear Phantom but it's not the regular version. It will have custom programming based on my hearing test results. Also, they will be "unlocked" so I can create additional custom digital programs from the app. What Chris explained to me is that they are basically same product as the top end Harris and Son "Twenty" model as the internals are supplied by Starky.   

 

Hopefully I will get them in the next week and will share more when I do. 

 

 

This post is incredibly helpful.  My insurance covers hearing aids up to $1400 every 36 months, which just so happens to be $1 more than the cost of the Soundgear Phantom plugs.  To be honest I had no idea how to even start the process of getting them, and emailing Soundgear was only somewhat helpful.  Your post nails it.

[ogiebb]

ESP user here for 12 years now... best device i bought for my shooting especially for those really hot days that you swear off Shooting muffs.

Plus Jack Homa is Great to work with i have him re mold the shells on mine every few years. 

 

[vluc]

When I asked, they wanted to know if I needed hearing aids or hearing protection.  Soundgear items I was interested in are classified as hearing protection, not hearing aids

[usmc1974]

I use these, they work pretty well.Pro Ears Stealth 28 Rechargeable Protective Electronic Light Ear Buds

[jrdoran]

@anonymouscuban Interested in how it went at your training session  and the RO duties.  I'm about ready to make the call to House of Hearing.   thanks for a great writeup; 

[motosapiens]

On 2/27/2022 at 6:11 AM, andyivan said:

Did you just call your insurance and ask if this was covered? I'm guessing yes, but I don't want to wait on hold for an hour and have the call center person have no idea what I'm talking about. 

I bet the vendors can do the legwork for you. I simply gave my insurance info to Chris Bain (house of hearing in st george) and he took care of the rest. He travels to some major matches in the west (he did our earmolds at A1 in boise), but you can also get a local audiologist to do the earmolds for a small fee.

[motosapiens]

On 5/25/2022 at 7:09 PM, anonymouscuban said:

Lastly, it comes with 4 programs for different levels of sound but you can create 5th custom sound. You can adjust how it pics up/amplifies high, med, and low range sounds to your liking.

 

 

you have read more than I have, but otherwise my experience somewhat mirrors yours, although I paid nothing out of pocket.

 

we got our soundgear phantoms from house of hearing on friday and used them for practice saturday and a match sunday. they are more comfortable than my non-electronic custom earmolds, but don't attenuate quite as much noise, probably because the plastic is slightly harder and they don't fit as tight. I would probably wear muffs over them if running open shooters all day, but for normal shooting they are more than adequate. far better attenuation than standard non-custom earplugs. it was very pleasant to be able to easily hear the other RO when scoring targets.

 

I'll take a look at creating a custom setting. mostly I'd like it to default to a lower microphone volume for shooting, so I don't have to manually set it every time I shoot, but with the phone it's pretty easy to do. so far, really stoked on them.

[anonymouscuban]

So I’ve had the ear pro for several months now. I’ve shot many matches and live fire sessions. Thought I’d update the thread with my experience. 
 

Comfort:

They’re the most comfortable ear pro I’ve used whether In ear or muffs. I shot 16 stages this past Friday and I literally forgot I had them on  when I left the range. 

Protection:

I am a certified RO so I often get stuck with the task at the local matches I shoot. I’m exposed to all major of guns and power factor. I have to say that I never feel like I’m not protected enough even when behind an open shooter. The seal and muffling is as good as the custom ear plugs I have which are quite good at blocking sound.

 

Amplification:

I can hear voices very clearly even while someone is actively shooting. The Speech program is probably the best for this. I usually run them in this mode when I’m not shooting. When I’m shooting I place them in “Train” mode. This gives me the most protection but I can still clearly hear voice commands from the RO.

 

BT Connectivity:

Excellent! They immediately connect to my phone when I power them up and stay connected. I often record video and review it while I’m training. The sound switches to my ear pro as soon as I hit playback on the video and then switches off when done. One cool discovery is that when I’m using the Practiscore Log app with my AMG timer, the audible playback of the last string plays in my ear pro. Kind of cool. 
 

Battery Charge:

Excellent. It’s rated for 19 hours with streaming. Like I said, I shot 16 stages which was a full day of shooting including breaks and they had plenty of power at the end of the day. Charging is a breeze. Just pop them in the case which serves as a portable charger. The one gripe I have is that they automatically turn on when you remove them from the charging case. I forgot once and the next day they were dead when I went to use the them. They still worked as plugs but I was a little annoyed. I now pay closer attention to make sure they off when I take them off the base if I’m not gonna use them right away.

 

Wind:

They do well in wind. I can still head the wind, especially when it’s gusting but it’s not annoying like some other ear pro I’ve had. I can still hear voices clearly. This is the one area I don’t have much to compare to. Definitely much better than the Walker BT Silencers 2.0.

 

Overall I extremely happy with these. Definitely happy with my decisions and would buy them again. Actually, my wife will be getting a pair come January. 

[Cuz]

Can you provide a link to the specific model you got?

[CHuynh]

On 11/5/2022 at 2:23 PM, anonymouscuban said:

So I’ve had the ear pro for several months now. I’ve shot many matches and live fire sessions. Thought I’d update the thread with my experience. 
 

Comfort:

They’re the most comfortable ear pro I’ve used whether In ear or muffs. I shot 16 stages this past Friday and I literally forgot I had them on  when I left the range. 

Protection:

I am a certified RO so I often get stuck with the task at the local matches I shoot. I’m exposed to all major of guns and power factor. I have to say that I never feel like I’m not protected enough even when behind an open shooter. The seal and muffling is as good as the custom ear plugs I have which are quite good at blocking sound.

 

Amplification:

I can hear voices very clearly even while someone is actively shooting. The Speech program is probably the best for this. I usually run them in this mode when I’m not shooting. When I’m shooting I place them in “Train” mode. This gives me the most protection but I can still clearly hear voice commands from the RO.

 

BT Connectivity:

Excellent! They immediately connect to my phone when I power them up and stay connected. I often record video and review it while I’m training. The sound switches to my ear pro as soon as I hit playback on the video and then switches off when done. One cool discovery is that when I’m using the Practiscore Log app with my AMG timer, the audible playback of the last string plays in my ear pro. Kind of cool. 
 

Battery Charge:

Excellent. It’s rated for 19 hours with streaming. Like I said, I shot 16 stages which was a full day of shooting including breaks and they had plenty of power at the end of the day. Charging is a breeze. Just pop them in the case which serves as a portable charger. The one gripe I have is that they automatically turn on when you remove them from the charging case. I forgot once and the next day they were dead when I went to use the them. They still worked as plugs but I was a little annoyed. I now pay closer attention to make sure they off when I take them off the base if I’m not gonna use them right away.

 

Wind:

They do well in wind. I can still head the wind, especially when it’s gusting but it’s not annoying like some other ear pro I’ve had. I can still hear voices clearly. This is the one area I don’t have much to compare to. Definitely much better than the Walker BT Silencers 2.0.

 

Overall I extremely happy with these. Definitely happy with my decisions and would buy them again. Actually, my wife will be getting a pair come January. 

Thanks for the write up brother. Curious as to your experience now after a couple months? Reading through soundgears site, the phantoms are rated at 22NRR. Wondering if that's sufficient or would 3M EEP with the skull screws (30NRR) provide better protection but less functionality