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Just bought Caldwell Electronic Ear-pro. Do they all suck indoors?

jho

jho

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Just bought Caldwell E-max Low profile ear protection with 23NRR rating (don't know what this means). I'm fine for now with the quality of amplification and they work just find outdoors. I find that when I'm in the indoor range, it barely muffles the shots and actually hurts my ears. I normally wear earplugs but was tired of not being able to hear people talk. Also I was tired of feeling ear raped after a few hours though this isn't a major concern.

Are there any other electronic ear pros that do better indoors without breaking the wallet? The Leights also have a 23NRR headsets and the higher acclaimed Peltors have only 20NRR.

Would putting in earplugs under headsets defeat the electronic function?


774928.jpg
 
I use the Howard Leight Impact Sport model on an indoor range every week and have been happy with them. I shoot .22LR and 9mm. I understand many use both the electronic muffs and earplugs. Probably can adjust the volume on the muffs to overcome the earplugs. Earplugs will not interfere with the function of electonic muffs. They work by generating a "sound" that is the inverse of the incoming sound and so cancels it. If you ever had stereo speakers and you reversed the wiring on one of them, you have seen the same effect, in this case of one speaker cancelling the sound from the other speaker. The electronic muffs use the same principle.
 
I haven't personally put earplugs under my set of these earpro but at an indoor range, 23nrr is too low, especially if rifles or magnum calibers are being used.

NRR means: Noise Reduction Rating. Basically the number of decibels the earpro will reduce the sound of.

You only get one set of ears so frankly, doubling up while indoors is prudent.
 
Oh, and NRR is the Noise Reduction Rating in decibels. So a 23 NRR rating theoretically reduces the strength of incoming noise by 23 db (decibels). The higher the NRR the better. Of course if the seal of the muffs around the ear isn't tight, you have sound leaking in that way, so you don't get the full reduction you otherwise might get. So that would be one area to look at. Like wearing glasses and the ear pieces of the glasses break the seal around the muff, for example.
 
I always double stack and shoot outside. The nice thing with the electronic muffs is that you can amplify the sound to hear with the plugs in place. I use Surefire Earpros under Peltor electronic muffs.

I've had my ears rebuilt once and it's kind of nice to hear again.
 
Thanks for the advice. I will probably be wearing ear plugs under the muffs indoors before I consider returning them. I just didn't want to put in ear plugs if it would defeat the purpose of having the electronic muffs.

I wish these muffs didn't cut out with sounds as gentle as racking the shotgun or slamming the slide home.
 
JimO said:
Oh, and NRR is the Noise Reduction Rating in decibels. So a 23 NRR rating theoretically reduces the strength of incoming noise by 23 db (decibels). The higher the NRR the better. Of course if the seal of the muffs around the ear isn't tight, you have sound leaking in that way, so you don't get the full reduction you otherwise might get. So that would be one area to look at. Like wearing glasses and the ear pieces of the glasses break the seal around the muff, for example.
Click to expand...

I tried pushing the muffs tighter while someone else was shooting but it didn't make a difference. While I do have eye pro on under the muffs I don't know how much of a difference it made.

Morpheus sunglasses would be the only way around this!
Morpheus-31.jpg
 
Not sure if serious. Most of that junk grade stuff, is well, junk. There's a reason those things are like $26.

-Mike
 
drgrant said:
Not sure if serious. Most of that junk grade stuff, is well, junk. There's a reason those things are like $26.

-Mike
Click to expand...

They work well enough for me. But I can't shoot rifles with muffs on. I can't get a good cheek weld so I just use plugs when shooting rifle. That and well, muffs don't work when wearing a fedora.
 
JimO said:
I use the Howard Leight Impact Sport model on an indoor range every week and have been happy with them. I shoot .22LR and 9mm. I understand many use both the electronic muffs and earplugs. Probably can adjust the volume on the muffs to overcome the earplugs. Earplugs will not interfere with the function of electonic muffs. They work by generating a "sound" that is the inverse of the incoming sound and so cancels it. If you ever had stereo speakers and you reversed the wiring on one of them, you have seen the same effect, in this case of one speaker cancelling the sound from the other speaker. The electronic muffs use the same principle.
Click to expand...

This isn't how they work at all. I have the Howard Leights also. They work by using a microphone to amplify any sound less than 82db into the head phones. If a sound is louder than 82db, the microphone shuts off. They are not noise cancelling, they are blocking. For me I use plugs and muffs. I turn the volume all the way up on the muffs so I can hear people talking even with the plugs in, but have double protection from loud noises.
 
drgrant said:
Not sure if serious. Most of that junk grade stuff, is well, junk. There's a reason those things are like $26.

-Mike
Click to expand...

agreed you get what you pay for but even the high end stuff seems to be average 20NRR max 24NRR. I think the higher dollar stuff is more about quality of electronics. Even when I shut these cheapies off they sound just the same so I know its not a electronic issue.
 
Rifles are like 155 dBA.

Foam plugs are about -25dB, and electronic muffs are a little less. OSHA standards dictate workers are not to be exposed to 100 dBA for more than 15min a day (or 105 dBA for 7.5min, etc..) That means you should always double up, indoors or outdoors.

If you don't want to double up, you could always move to NH and buy suppressors [smile]
 
soloman02 said:
They work well enough for me. But I can't shoot rifles with muffs on. I can't get a good cheek weld so I just use plugs when shooting rifle. That and well, muffs don't work when wearing a fedora.
Click to expand...

Fedora? Please tell me you own a tommy gun!

- - - Updated - - -

soloman02 said:
They work well enough for me. But I can't shoot rifles with muffs on. I can't get a good cheek weld so I just use plugs when shooting rifle. That and well, muffs don't work when wearing a fedora.
Click to expand...

Fedora? Please tell me you own a tommy gun!
 
I use a set of Peltor Tactical Pro headphones and they work well indoors and outdoors but they aren't cheap. I payed in the $ 180 range IIRC.
 
jho said:
Would putting in earplugs under headsets defeat the electronic function?
Click to expand...

I always double up. 23db reduction in cheap muffs is the same as 23 DB in expensive muffs. I own and have used both and find that the expensive ones sound better, work better and are more comfortable but for under 30 bucks you can't beat the Caldwells. Turn the volume up on the muffs and double up. That way you can hear better when not shooting but get better protection. As others have said you only get one set of ears.
 
I did not like the delay in my Peltors so I let the batteries go dead and used them like normal muffs for 2.5 seasons of 22 comp indoor shooting. Also works fine for .40, .41, .44spl and .45 acp indoors and out. Model is MT15H67FB-01
 
jho said:
Just bought Caldwell E-max Low profile ear protection with 23NRR rating (don't know what this means). I'm fine for now with the quality of amplification and they work just find outdoors. I find that when I'm in the indoor range, it barely muffles the shots and actually hurts my ears. I normally wear earplugs but was tired of not being able to hear people talk. Also I was tired of feeling ear raped after a few hours though this isn't a major concern.

Are there any other electronic ear pros that do better indoors without breaking the wallet? The Leights also have a 23NRR headsets and the higher acclaimed Peltors have only 20NRR.

Would putting in earplugs under headsets defeat the electronic function?


View attachment 115623
Click to expand...
I wear these when shooting trap, I like that they're low profile. I don't think that they work well indoors, especially with the larger calibers.....
 
You need a higher NRR rating for shooting indoors. I have Peltor's with an NRR of 30 and I usually use plugs underneath as when I'm shooting indoors there are guys with compensated/ported space guns and they are loud. I dont' have any electronic muffs (yet) but the higher end Howard Leight muffs seem very popular with guys I know that use electronice muffs.
 
i also bought the el cheapo caldwell's specifically so i could hear the .22 hit the gong @ 100 yards. higher than .22 requires plugs first, and really big stuff i need plugs under a 30nrr non-amplified set

they work well for what i bought them for, but that's about the limit of their effectiveness imho. higher nrr requires more money, shooting an ar for me would require a top of the line pair of amplifieds, money i'm not willing to spend
 

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