Impact sports elctronic earmuff no good! (for me)[rant]

9

9mm

New member
Howard Leight R-01526 Impact Sport Electronic Earmuff

Just went to the gun range tonight to try out my new earmuffs!

I notice right away it was very loud.... I turn them on, about the same, full power and about the same.. NO GOOD! What am I doing wrong? I took my glasses off and they still sounded very loud!!! With the sound on max I could hear others talking very good but the guns going off still hurt my ears. Right now I have a bit of ringing in my ear. I swear my cheap $10 muffs from walmart did better. What did I do wrong?? :mad: Very mad, paid $60 for these and expected it to be way better than $10 muffs.

I even talked to a guy there with the same muffs, he said its quite for him. Are my muffs defective?

I kept adjusting them the whole time I was there, even my shooting buddy said whats up with the muff adjustment.

I am going cut the grass tomorrow and see if I can adjust these, they said up to 80db.... I will test it with the Ipod and see if it can be quite.
 
Apologies for sounding too obvious - is the battery fresh and properly installed? If so then your hearing protection is defective.

Amazon.com reviews are generally good for your electronic hearing protection.
 
Apologies for sounding too obvious - is the battery fresh and properly installed? If so then your hearing protection is defective.

Amazon.com reviews are generally good for your electronic hearing protection
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Yes brand new ones, I will even double check again tomorrow when I cut the grass to put newer ones in... I bought it because amazon gave it over 300 reviews @ 4 or higher
 
Sounds like something is wrong with them. Weak batteries should give you less/no sound not more because those muffs transmit sound from the microphones or stop when it's noisy. They aren't active "noise canceling" style.

I read a couple of reviews on that model where people complained that the "ear cup gaskets" are too hard and don't form fit to provide a good seal. If true that can render muffs essentially useless since it provides a nice open channel for sound around shooting glasses.
 
Doesn't fit my ear 100% but thats not the problem. The problem is it's not cutting the sharp shounds out. I have it on 100%/75/50/25/0% and the thing is still sharp sounds.

BTW just changed batteries.
 
It sounds like there is a gap someplace, possibly even in construction internally, that is letting sound in.

Or possibly you just need muffs with a higher suppression rating, my wife is like that.
 
It has to be a fit problem.
How thick are the arms of your glasses? Thick ones frequently make for a break in the seal & any break is too much.

Daft question (maybe) are you wearing them correctly? I ask because I once had someone put the fitting that is supposed to go under the earlobe over it & have a similar complaint. The fit has to be 100% against the skull, not the ear itself.
 
Update, I took my glasses off and put them higher up on my head, not around my ears to break a seal. I got the earmuffs fitted quite well, they still are not "silent" I had my Ipod turned full blast, and the knob on 25%ish, its not that loud, and when I put the sound on the muffs to max, it has a fuzzy static sound, the sound of the mower doesn't change, it makes it louder. I thought it made it more quite? I have a good seal but the knob doesn't change sounds outside, just makes voices louder to hear not dulling a mower..

Over all they are a little better now than my $10 ones, but I do not feel like I am getting 82db protection, more like 30~40.
 
You have to remember these are merely noise amplification muffs, that's why there's a microphone on one side. They are not Bose noise-canceling headphones.

If the cups aren't forming a tight seal around your ears, then you've definitely found your problem. Return the muffs and try something else. Or you could always wear earplugs under your Walmarts.
 
You have to remember these are merely noise amplification muffs
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Thought they where close to it... 300+ reviews amazon shows 4/5 stars, box says 82db... I feel like I am getting 30~40. Still good to use with Ipod music though.
 
Sounds like the noise clamping circuit is not working. I would contact the vendor or manufacturer to have them replace/investigate.

They are supposed to amplify "normal noises" like voice or other continuous sounds, so not sure they would work for mower noise unless it is really loud. Their electronics should "clamp" on loud sharp noises such as gunshots. Any sound exceeding the limit gets the microphone cut off.

I have the Peltor Tac7 muffs and they clamp and unclamp very quickly on gun shots. You can barely hear the gunshot, but the echo is amplified to the degree you have it adjusted.

I think you have a faulty circuit.
 
I think you have a faulty circuit.
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I believe so. I turn it on any level and it cuts nothing off. I can hear like a plastic bag sounds more but theres a static/fuzzy noise also that shouldn't be there.
 
Update

So I got my "replacement" in today, its the same sound. I think they have a bad batch. I notice with the replacement I did get instructions, the first pair HAD no instructions with it. I noticed the knob for the sound is different than my other one, it gets stiff then goes into like "overdrive" mode? I have no clue. You know when you turn it on/off? the knob gets that "click" sound well my knob once you go to full, it does another "click" and goes louder. I think these are more broken lol... :mad:
 
At this point I honestly don't know any more.
Maybe this will help you decide, although you seem to have done that already.
How do they reduce noise without any batteries installed?
Can you mess with the fit so that there is a position where they work well at reducing sounds (still without batteries installed)?

If you can make this happen then there is hope for them because the battery-powered electronics have nothing to do with reducing noise, this is done with fit, padding, hard cups & sound deadening materials.

All the powered stuff does is to cut down the amount of amplification given to the noise collected by the microphones. So lets try the sound absorption first & if we can get that working go on to amplification & clipping as a second step.

My electronic muffs have no apparent effect till I pass a threshold, which I hear immediately, after which they amplify faint noises ( this is how I can tell the electronics are working & tuned), but still don't pass loud noises electronically, even after I pass this point. They will still allow some sound through whatever I do, this is the sound beyond the 28dB reduction they claim for the un-powered setup.
 
How do they reduce noise without any batteries installed?
Can you mess with the fit so that there is a position where they work well at reducing sounds (still without batteries installed)?
Click to expand...

They have NRR rating of 22. At least I can use my Ipod with them.



My electronic muffs have no apparent effect till I pass a threshold, which I hear immediately, after which they amplify faint noises ( this is how I can tell the electronics are working & tuned), but still don't pass loud noises electronically, even after I pass this point. They will still allow some sound through whatever I do, this is the sound beyond the 28dB reduction they claim for the un-powered setup.
Click to expand...

With mine turned up all the way, I can hear voices well, a plastic bag very good.
But when you turn something loud on like a blender, the thing makes them louder...:eek:

With the muffs on my head and OFF the difference in sound from using the knob(on, 10%~100%) is not that much noticeable.
 
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