Thread: Recommended electronic earmuffs?

OK, my understanding of it is like this the basic headset chassis is the same as a standard 'dumb' earmuff so has the same protection for external noise. The only way sound is supposed to get past them is via the electronics - the noise that is received from the microphones comes in as a set of sound waves as per normal hearing, then the sound waves are inverted or flipped which is the same to our ears but in the process the electronics (well in the good units) modifies the sounds that you are hearing. The electronics will amplify normal low level background noise, but anything that comes in over a preset level (normally about 90-92 or so decibels, normal speech level) gets the tops of the sound waves 'clipped off' to reduce the power the electronic setup allows through to your ears.

Cheaper units like some of the Chinese knockoffs have a noticeable delay in them (I brought a pair for $25 for my spectrum daughter when she was younger as an experimental thing, she did use them but prefers the JBL pink noise cancelling bluetooth hifi music ones for $120 surprise bloody surprise). The more expensive 3M/Peltor and MSA/Sordin brands offer instant limiting and normal directional hearing with amplification - they are very much like 'bionic' ears. You can hear a mouse fart at 20feet, and it sounds like someone ripped one out. One of my expensive Peltor headsets will let you hear a normal spoken conversation at 100 odd meters like your right there, this one is voice enabled and when I have it connected to a radio and the ambient sound amplification up I can join in to conversations spoken between people who are 50m away by using the radio like I was right next to them. It's quite unreal, and you can imagine what that does to your hunting. Stuffs it right up trying to work out what the hell that deafening crash was - until you see the next leaf drop!!!