[Chairman Meow]

There have been a number of threads about electronic muffs and I believe I read them all before posting but forgive me if this has been addressed...

Do stereo electronic muffs give you enough directional sound detection ability to hunt with? I believe my 12 guage might be doing my hearing in one pheasant at a time. As for deer hunting, I try to hide out during active hours and it would be very cool to be able to hear the deer coming from a long ways off, provided I could get a good bearing.

How about for home defense? A shot fired in defense inside my house would probably leave me nearly deaf. As a musician, that would really suck. :( Granted, deaf is better than dead, but it still ain't great. However, in a defensive situation the ability to quickly and accurately localize a sound source could mean the difference between life and death, especially in the dark.

I am interested particularly in the Pro-Ears, but I have not made a purchase yet and I am interested in hearing about people's experience with any electronic muffs and their ability to get bearings on a sound source. I intend to double plug at the range, so maximum NRR is not my biggest concern. As always, thanks in advance!

[C.R.Sam]

Some are stereo and some aren't.

Look for true stereo ones and you home free.

Sam

[J.BELLINO]

CM,
I have used Pro Ears for years, now.They are great. Also,if you purchase a pair ,you can call the company and a service tech can walk you thru a simple modification(moving two jumper wires) that will increase amplification even more for hearing really faint sounds in the hunting field. You do get true stereo with Pro Ears so you can tell what direction sound is coming from.

[Chairman Meow]

I am curious if you can tell if something is in front of you or behind you, because in either case the volume should be the same in both ears. Your ears can tell the difference because of the shape of your ear and the phase difference between both ears.

[Double Naught Spy]

Stereo muffs do allow for recognition of the direction of most sounds. Keep in mind that they are stereo must like your ears, but the mics on many stereo muffs are directed forward and so there is some front rear directional bias. Then again, that same bias exists with your natural ears as well. Your ears are more oriented forward than backwards as forward is the direction that occupies most of your activities. You find this with many animals, only several also have the abilities to partially or radically orient their ears in other directions without head movement.

Your concern that sound could reach both ears via he muffs at the same time and therefore not not allow for recognition of sound origin direction isn't a problem if the muffs are working correctly.

I just wen out and grabbed my Peltor Comtacs and did some sound checks and it isn't terribly hard to determine sound direction origin although sounds directly behind are not amplified as a much as those in the front.

[gun-fucious]

the problem with superman ears in the field,
is that a squirrel at 35 yards
sounds like a deer at 50

if you hear something rustling,
you have a hard time figuring where it is
and how loud the sound is for mortals.

[Chairman Meow]

Thanks Double Naught Spy, thats exactly wat I needed to know. I wish I could try some of the models before buying them, but there seems to be a fairly limited selection available locally and I will probably have to order them online. I think I will get some of the Pro- Ears that are smaller and more comfy and then just plan on double plugging at the range. Thanks again guys.

[STEVE M]

The Wolf Ears are VERY easy to tell which direction sounds come from,

they also have a switch to go from off, on, and amplify. I have had mine

for about 5 years with never a problem. They were designed for building

searches by SWAT teams. I have used mine in the deer woods and have

been very pleased. They do take a special battery (available at Wally

World about $3.00) and they are kind of bulky compared to normal muffs

but are still very comfortable.

Mine remain a part of my home defence plan and regular

range/competition wear.

[Derek Zeanah]

Interesting review here (http://www.gun-tests.com/performance/dec96earmuff.html).

I've got the Peltors myself, and find it easy to tell where sounds are coming from.

[curt]

I don't find either of my peltors to be as directional as my ears. I just did a test with my with where i had her move about and occasionally make a little noise, i would then point with my finger and open my eyes. I found that most of the time i would have missed by a couple of feet and once it sounded like she was at 10:30 and was really at 7:30.

Plus things just don't sound the same at all. Background noise like a refrigerator can sound really loud as can crackling noises. I suspect part of the reason is the shape of the ears thing you mentioned plus the fact that every sound is coming from the same point, where each sides speaker is.

I keep a pair in my BR just in case nontheless though i can't envision a scenario other than hunkering down and awaiting the police where i would use them.