by Honeywell Impact Pro Sound Amplification Electronic Earmuff (R-01902)

Hearing protection is one safety item that you don't want to skimp on. On the other hand, we don't want to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars either. Luckily Honeywell makes this professional ear muff for the rest of us. I paid $52 and consider this to be money well spent. Designed for handgun and pistol shooters looking for a high Noise Attenuation Rating. Perfect for indoor range or any other extremely loud shooting environment. These also work outside on the range, or when using lawn equipment. I use these together with my riding tractor and MP3 player. There's nothing like mowing the property with some AC/DC! The Impact Pro amplifies surrounding sounds such as voices, machines and warning signals to safe levels yet it provides good hearing protection. Loud impulse sounds are effectively blocked out and limited to safe levels. The unique stereo microphones (3) allow detection of the direction of ambient sounds, enhancing communication abilities and awareness of surroundings. This earmuff is provided with electrical audio jack input for connection with MP3 players, cell phones and radio scanners (hint hint NASCAR fans!) The battery is easily changed by pushing on the sides of the battery lid. Alkaline batteries are recommended, NOT rechargeables. Once fitted on your head, then turned on you can immediately notice the difference in the ambient sounds. I was 'snapping' my fingers and adjusting the volume. At the lowest setting I could barely hear the snaps, but when increased it was like I didn't have any muffs on at all. My voice was amplified as well. On the range I was able to talk normally and not scream at my partner. Howard Leight originally was a one-man operation 30 years ago specializing in hearing protection. At one point he was bought by Sperian, now owned by Honeywell. Howard is also the founder of the HearForever foundation. I would gladly pay more for a case. Honeywell offers cases for other muffs, but not these.

With an NRR (noise reduction rating) of 30, these have the ability to successfully mitigate very loud blasts from high powered rifles and handguns. I use it for my AR-15. I also bought the low profile Howard Leight R-01526 Impact Sport Electronic Earmuff (B001T7QJ9O) thinking I would use it for rifles, and the Impact Pro for handguns. My original theory was that the bulk of the Impact Pro would prevent a good cheek weld on a rifle. Howover the Impact Sport only has an NRR of 22, which provides less protection than NRR 30, and I've been able to obtain a good cheek weld even with the Impact Pro. So I wind up using the Impact Pro almost all of the time regardless of the gun type. Both models work by passively blocking noise. They are NOT noise reduction headsets, which actively generate negative or inverse sound waves. These mitigate sound exactly like any other shooting earmuff - by blocking the noise with baffling materials. Where they differ is they have two microphones, and two speakers (one for each ear). With a volume control, they amplify all sounds of interest (voices at the range, or animals moving while hunting). But since they limit the maximum amplitude, sounds are reproduced at reasonable not damaging volumes. You of course can control the volume levels. I still double up with ear plugs, but then set the volume high enough to just overcome those blocks. As an entire system, it works very well. Two more comments: First, the earmuffs are stereo, i.e. each mic in each ear faithfully reproduces the sound in just that ear. This provides for directional hearing, i.e. you can tell if the noise is coming from the left or the right. And second, I find it helpful to orient the mics facing forward when hunting (because that's where you're looking) and to the rear when at the range (because that's where the Range Safety Officer instructions would come from). These are great earmuffs. I know the Impact Sport is a bigger seller, but I think these provide the best protection for your ears and work equally well. My recommendations are to go with the Impact Pro.

I will say that when I got these I was hopeful that the sound quality of the amplified sound and the noise reduction would be tolerable. At the very least the noise reduction would be good enough not to be a waste of my money or time. My results with these exceeded my expectations. The noise reduction was the expected 30 DB as I did not notice any difference between these and my previous usage of in ear 30 DB ear plugs. But the sound amplification quality was very good and clear of all conversations. I could hear cars on the dirt road at the gun range from 40 feet away. Conversations were made way easier to have with these. Going to buy another pair for my wife and already recommending these to my buddies. Really good product. The cons: Big and bulky so it was awkward to put on but they were very comfortable for the time I wore them (3 hours) The pros: Inexpensive Good sound amplification quality Good noise reduction Sounds of gunfire were never amplified

I originally bought Walkers Xcel 100s but they had WAY too much background hiss. I returned them and bought these Howard Leights. After all that background hiss I was surprised that these Howard Leights are dead quiet. No hiss at all. I think the focus here is on basic functionality, not lots of different modes. I also like that they are 30db NRR. Seems like they might need more amplification, but i haven't actually tried them on the range yet. I bought these because i'm getting hearing aids and earplugs are out. I recommend them: simple and functional.

The product was good

Out of the package these earmuffs feel like quality. I have a pair of regular earmuffs with a NRR of 31dB and I can't hear any difference in ambient noise with the power off on these. The mic's sound quite natural when turned on. They are large but not heavy and for me, don't seem to interfere with the rifle butt in a sitting position. I wear glasses and still get a comfortable fit with a tight seal. The lower profile electronic earmuffs post a rating of 19 to 22dB NRR and given that sound preasure doubles every 3 dB, I have opted for the highest (NRR) rating I can get. Haven't tried them at the range yet, I will update this when I do. You might want to check reviews on Amazon.com, there is a lot more. May 12, 2016... Used these earmuffs on an outdoor range last week and they worked perfectly. I'm very happy and would buy again. Note, I have not tried to play music through them... not a good idea while being responsible for firearms. May 21, 2016... I shoot 223 but spotted for a guy shooting 338 today and worked well in suppressing the report.

Excellent auto blockout. Can wear for long periods.

Son de buena calidad resistentes duraderos protegen ante la mayoría de sonidos suertes pero son muy grandes y algo difíciles de cargar contigo y no se pueden usar bien con gorras o cascos en casi todos los casos.

I got these to replace a pair of passive (non-electronic) Howard Leight ear protectors, which I've used quite a bit for smallbore rifle shooting. Those were very effective, but of course it's hard to have a conversation or hear what someone else is saying while you've got them on. The electronic version is excellent, offering the same build quality and gunshot sound protection, but also letting you hear normal sounds and carry on a conversation. There is only one control, which turns the headphones on and adjusts the volume. With the volume fairly low you can shoot happily as well as hearing what you need to. With the volume high it amplifies the sounds around you to quite a high level. Not the cheapest (nor yet the most expensive) but very good quality for the money.