I have accumulated several different pairs of electronic (over the ear) pro.
I switched to Epro, cause I got tired of regular muffs making my head seem like
it was in a bucket. Also, regular passive muffs become uncomfortable rather
quickly for me.
With Epro, you regain the sense of open air again, and that restrictive static
pressure that is created by passive muffs goes away with Electric muffs.
With that being said, I can wear Epro for much longer periods without
them becoming irritating.
My Radians have the best sound quality reproduction of the few I own. They have
separate bass/ treble tone adjustments, volume, and on/ off knob on each ear.
The pad is comfy. The body of the muff is a tad bulkier than others though.
I also have a set of Peltors that I bought at Walmart, when I had forgotten
my ear protection one day. I think they were $60 or so.
These do not have the sound quality response as some others I have, but
they do have smaller body muffs, which I really favor as a quality.
Large bodied muffs tend to interfere with the buttstock at times.
At first, my intial thoughts on the Peltors from Wally was that I didn't like
the sound response. They are not nearly as bright or crisp in sound, nor
do they offer tone controls. But after using them more, I have grown to
like them more. I can hear conversation well, the mitigate gunfire well, and
are not cumbersome, do to the lower profile muff bodys. They are not
quite as comfy or plush feeling on the head or ears, but work as intended,
and are priced decent I feel.
One thing to consider is how the battery compartment is set up on whatever
Epro muffs you entertain buying. Some have nice, easy access battery
compartment doors that you enter using a coin or flatblade driver. In, out, done.
Others, such as my inexpensive Peltors, require the foam cup to be completely
disassembled to get the battery in and out.. it is a pain in the ass! If you want
to pull your batteries out to store the muffs while in non use for a period of time,
then it is a major pain. Also, if your batteries should get low or dead on charge,
another time consuming pain when you could be shooting.
Always carry spare batteries for whatever brand you use, cause when the
batteries fail, the muffs become retarded in their active speed, and your ears
will take a beating, cause the noise cancel process is to slow with low battery
voltage.
Headsets with a led on light is a plus, cause inevitably, you or someone will
leave your muffs on after using them, and there goes your batteries again.
From what I've found, there are 2 types of Epro.
Compression and Clipping technology. I prefer Compression, as the Clipping
method leaves you briefly with no enhanced hearing sometimes. Not a big
deal, but a little annoying when talking to someone, and your conversation
blanks out here and there. An example: snapping your fingers activates the
clip technology, and blanks the sound completely to your hearing for a brief
second. Yes you
are protected from potential damage, but also interupted sometimes as well
from hearing. During shooting it works fine and performs well though.
Not a deal breaker, just something I have noticed.
Overall, I like and use all my different headsets.
The Radians produce better sound, have good battery compartments, but if
batteries go low... Watch out, cause your ears will start ringing.
The Peltor version I have work fine, have OK enhanced hearing, but the battery
compartment design is terrible, and I would not buy these again because of
this poor oversight. They are comfortable, lightweight, and work fine though.
I never have had to use double ear pro, but I also only shoot alone or
with 1 or 2 shooters at most firing at once. I am sure if at busy range or comp, more
would be certainly advisabe.
