top quality electronic ear muffs

[moparnut88]

HI i have been looking for a pair of very high quality muffs, i had a cheap pair of 3m non electronic muffs that i used for double protection with open. i wear custom ear plugs but want electronic muffs with gel pads. i have read a bunch on the peltor and sordin. what are the consensus on which brand is the best hands down cost irrelevant. buy for life is the goal here. Thanks for the opinions

[Cuz]

3 minutes ago, moparnut88 said:

HI i have been looking for a pair of very high quality muffs, i had a cheap pair of 3m non electronic muffs that i used for double protection with open. i wear custom ear plugs but want electronic muffs with gel pads. i have read a bunch on the peltor and sordin. what are the consensus on which brand is the best hands down cost irrelevant. buy for life is the goal here. Thanks for the opinions

There is no such thing as buy for life, I currently own 2 pairs of ProEars and 1 pair of Sordins. I’ve been very happy with both brands. Not sure which ones I’d consider “better” than the other. Sometimes I prefer having separate volume controls for each side.

[OldRunner]

Was guided to Sordin Supreme Pro-X’s by Pat Rogers (miss ya mi amigo) in 2008, still use them.

 

Added a BTH pair of DEHP modified  Sord Supreme Pro-X’s in 2013, used them in a match Sat., buy once cry once as Pat often said.

Edited June 17 by OldRunner

[moparnut88]

yes the sordin supreme and the safariland liberator 2.0 are some of the ones i was looking at. the sordin keep coming at the top of most lists i see. just looking for real world opinions and thoughts b4 i drop the coin on a set.

[RoundEye]

Personally I prefer their electronic in ear plugs from the likes of ESP OR Soundgear.  
 

For an over the ear muff I had some Peltor Tac 500s with the gel cups that worked well.  After those were stolen I replaced then with the Apollo for Savior which are decent for the money, but the Tac 500s were superior when it came to sound suppression, electronics, and amplification.  One good thing with the Apollo is that you get the gel cups from the factory which was nice.

[moparnut88]

yes i want over the ear i double up shooting open. and i had the same thing happen this weekend. my muffs fell off my belt between stages and never seen em again. lost and found included. so looking to get the best i can get within reason on muffs. i keep seeing the gel is highly favored, i also see an option for memory foam also.

 

[Cuz]

2 hours ago, moparnut88 said:

yes i want over the ear i double up shooting open. and i had the same thing happen this weekend. my muffs fell off my belt between stages and never seen em again. lost and found included. so looking to get the best i can get within reason on muffs. i keep seeing the gel is highly favored, i also see an option for memory foam also.

 

wow, I don’t think I’ve ever shot a match where I felt a conserted effort wouldn’t have been made to return them to a shooter. 
 

That sucks. 

[moparnut88]

yes my thoughts too, been in the sport for many years and this is the first time something like this has happened where it wasn't at least brought to the lost and found or match director. I'm just glad they were a cheap pair and not a nice pair like I'm Tring to replace them with.

[Sarge]

49 minutes ago, Cuz said:

wow, I don’t think I’ve ever shot a match where I felt a conserted effort wouldn’t have been made to return them to a shooter. 
 

That sucks. 

 

16 minutes ago, moparnut88 said:

yes my thoughts too, been in the sport for many years and this is the first time something like this has happened where it wasn't at least brought to the lost and found or match director. I'm just glad they were a cheap pair and not a nice pair like I'm Tring to replace them with.

There are a lot of new shooters showing up these days. The old guard is fading away. At my match things have started coming up missing in the last few years. New dewalt batteries, staple guns, timers, etc etc. I no longer feel comfortable leaving my gun on the safe table to use the porta pottie and this has been the norm for years.

[Sarge]

FYI, do way more research before spending hundreds on muffs. Sordins are often labeled as not good enough. They have one of the lower NRR's.

[moparnut88]

yes i keep getting mixed reviews on the sordins, i had already seen concerns on them about quality. is there any others in that price point of 200-600 that are better. i only seen a couple in my research other than custom molded over 1000 ones. thnks again!

[RoundEye]

3 hours ago, moparnut88 said:

i had the same thing happen this weekend. my muffs fell off my belt between stages and never seen em again. lost and found included.

 

in my case someone broke into my truck and took them along with a few other gun / range tools.  Your experience seems even worse especially if it was at a match.

 

The Peltors are good. If you don’t want to spend the funds on the 500s, looks at the 300s, or the 100s.  Maybe you don’t need Bluetooth or what not.  The gel cups are to primarily keep your head and ears cool as the standard foam cups can get pretty hot.

 

The Saviors are good for the money, I just don’t think the electronics (sound suppression and amplification) are as good as the Peltors.

 

Ive never used the Sordins but a lot of people like them.  Especially people that use Coms.

Edited June 18 by RoundEye

[Sarge]

18 minutes ago, moparnut88 said:

yes i keep getting mixed reviews on the sordins, i had already seen concerns on them about quality. is there any others in that price point of 200-600 that are better. i only seen a couple in my research other than custom molded over 1000 ones. thnks again!

I use peltor tactical pro's but it looks like they quit making them. I can shoot Open without double plugging with no issues. 

[shred]

Peltor Tac 500's are great, until they snap at the headband, which they will, usually just out of warranty.  Check some of the reviews on the Peltor site as well as Amazon, it's a known flaw.

[Prange]

I've been using the electronic Pro Ears since 2005. They have independent volume controls, are rebuildable, and have a NRR of 30. 

[Farmer]

The gel cups are nice, they conform to your body, glasses etc better and are just more comfortable. I replaced the foam ones that I used on the tractor with gels and it was night and day difference and we’re talking 10-12 hr days of pretty much constant wear. 

Edited June 18 by Farmer
Sp

[moparnut88]

Yes the gel sounds like the way to go. These will also by used while running my heavy equipment also so I like the idea of Bluetooth and mic capable. 

[MadBomber]

I'm a BIG fan of Pro-ears.  I have one pair that still gets used that I bought back in 1999!  

[Tampa-XD45]

FYI - I'm ruling out Walker for any future purchases.  I just got off of the phone with them and they don't supply any parts.

I just need a replacement volume knob which fell off during a match ... no parts available.

 

Regardless of which brand you choose, make sure they have auto shutoff or you'll be replacing batteries right before it's your turn to shoot. 

[bootcamp]

Personally I think Peltors are at the top of the mountain.  Com tacs are great but super expensive.  If you do some research you can get some better priced models. For relatively cheap on eBay.  Don’t buy the fake china ones though.  But there are lots of construction models that have the same guts as the com tacs that are marketed for construction and other industries at way better prices.  I use the headset ones as communication during live fire is important when needed.

[DeepFried]

18 hours ago, bootcamp said:

Personally I think Peltors are at the top of the mountain.  Com tacs are great but super expensive.  If you do some research you can get some better priced models. For relatively cheap on eBay.  Don’t buy the fake china ones though.  But there are lots of construction models that have the same guts as the com tacs that are marketed for construction and other industries at way better prices.  I use the headset ones as communication during live fire is important when needed.

Interesting, never thought about this approach. Can you link or give a model name?

[zzt]

Electronic muffs are a trade off.  The first thing to consider is analog vs. digital circuitry.  If analog, you want muffs with the highest passive NRR.  You will hear the initial wavefront at volume before the attenuation kicks in.

 

I want the highest passive NRR I can get no matter what.  I want digital circuitry with an attack of 1-2 ms.  That practically assures the muffs will attenuate before the full wavefront hits.  At 2 ms you may get a touch at the beginning.

 

30dB NRR is as high as I've seen published.  That's only half as effective as 33dB passive foam inserts properly inserted.  However, it is twice as good as the bunch of muff sporting 27dB NRRs.  Remember, the NRR scale is logarithmic.

 

When shooting Open, or running Open shooters in semi enclosed spaces, or narrow bays with high vertical berms, the ONLY way to protect your hearing is to double plug with 33dB NRR disposable foam plugs topped with an excellent set of OTE muffs.

[generjoe]

Pat Rogers 

On 6/17/2024 at 11:08 AM, OldRunner said:

Was guided to Sordin Supreme Pro-X’s by Pat Rogers (miss ya mi amigo) in 2008, still use them.

 

Added a BTH pair of DEHP modified  Sord Supreme Pro-X’s in 2013, used them in a match Sat., buy once cry once as Pat often said.

Pat Rogers was the guy who steered me to Sordin's as well. They've been my go-to for years, for both work and shooting. I've used a bunch of different over the ear type's and I always go back to the Sordin's. I do like the Peltor and pro ears. I received a pair of the Safariland at work and the sound clarity in them was terrible. That's a sample of one, but I did check a few other people's and didn't notice any improvement.

 

Almost anytime I'm using them from May to mid-October, it's in temperatures over 110 deg's and they all get uncomfortable quick. The Sordin's with Gel earcups are definitely my favorites. If the environment is really loud, I'll use foam earplugs underneath. I'd like to use the in ear electronic ones, and avoid all the sweat in the ear cups, unfortunately, I can't get any to reliably fit/stay in my left ear.   

[cheers623]

I’ve been using both the older Peltor Tactical versions and the newer Peltor Tactical Sport 300’s and been more or less satisfied with them as long as I use the gel earcups. However, as a professional musician, I want to warn anyone who uses only in ear protection of any kind. Whether it’s electronic or foam types. While they attenuate sound going directly into your ear canal, they don’t protect from sound being conducted through the cartilage of your ears or through the bones of your skull. 
 

While it may seem like you are getting protection from the loud and sharp sounds, you’re not aware of the cumulative damage that is occurring from the concussion and extreme decibel level that happens for hours on end at an outdoor match. 
 

if you’re truly concerned about hearing loss while shooting…over-ear muffs are an absolute must. 

[Bmil]

I’ve been using Ops Core AMPS with the NFMI plugs for a bit now and I love em to death, minimal degradation on sound quality while still being doubled up on my ears, and work great without the plugs too.  I swapped to these after using Sordins for years and the difference in sound quality is noticeable, the AMPS are much cleaner and their filtering of background noice is superior.  HOWEVER these are a VERY expensive headset that I funded partly by getting rid of 2 headsets.  If you don’t want to go that deep, COMTACs would be my second choice and you don’t need the comms so the hearing defenders would work fine.  I would recommend Sordins after the Peltor Sports as in my experience there wasn’t an appreciable difference between the two to just the sizable price increase to the Sordins, and you should just avoid Walker entirely.  
 

Ops core does recommend staying with their foam pads, which are very nice, and do note that gels are not as protective as foam so you will lose a bit of protection.  I loved gel pads but the AMPS are just as comfy to me.