Howard Leight Impact Pro

[monotonous_iterancy]

I know I mentioned this in my "earmuff opinions" thread, but since I now have new muffs, I think that thread has served it's purpose.

My new question is about the amplification on the Howard Leight Impact Pro. Mine don't seem have the amplification needed to allow me to hear with earplugs in.

I've never used electronic muffs before, so I don't have anything to compare them with.

Is this just how that particular model is, or do I have a problem that needs to be fixed?

 

[hso]

Have someone else test if they can hear a normal conversation through a pair of plugs while wearing them turned up.

If they can't, exchange them.

If they can, get your hearing checked.

 

[monotonous_iterancy]

HSO, I assume that you have a pair of these, correct?

When doubled up, can you hear normal conversation?

If you can, what does it sound like? Normal? What's the distance?

I'm asking because I just had my mom try, and she has good hearing, at her age she can still hear that super high pitched noise that drives teens crazy.

Anyway, she said she could hear people talking fine with earplugs in. She didn't put them in all the way, she's one of those people who think that putting them in that far is "wrong", but she could still hear.

I can hear people talking fine normally, and I can hear them talking with just the muffs, but with earplugs in, it's like they're not even amplified.

 

[OpticsPlanet]

The plugs in your ears reduce the sound, whether that sound is gunfire or speech. You might consider one of the valved earplugs, like

http://www.opticsplanet.com/radians-hearing-protection-cease-fire.html

They have internal baffles that reduce impulse noise (like gunfire) but allow for more normal hearing with speech.

Mark H.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I would never expect to be able to hear normal conversations very well with simple ear plugs in my ears

 

[monotonous_iterancy]

(Repeat post)

 

[monotonous_iterancy]

But wouldn't you be able to with electronic muffs over them, with the volume turned up?

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I have the Caldwell e muffs. I don't they amplify enough to overcome plugs.

 

[monotonous_iterancy]

Oh, so they're more for say, hunting, when you want to be able to hear the environment but still have some protection?

If you can't hear people talking, then how would you hear range officers at shooting ranges and competitions? I don't know because I've never been.

 

[hso]

When doubled up, can you hear normal conversation?

I have the Impact Sports (what I recommended) and I use them to train others to shoot and we carry on normal conversations with them.

 

[monotonous_iterancy]

Ah. I thought that maybe the manufacturers thought that people wouldn't be doubled up with the increased protection, so they didn't think it high enough to amplify that much.

But my mom said she could hear me talking with earplugs in, although not all the way in. I hardly sense any amplification if any when doubled up.

I have some tinnitus, but I can hear people talking fine, I can hear televisions fine, so I don't know what gives.

 

[hso]

The simple fact is that tinnitus is a symptom of significant hearing damage so you're not hearing anything "fine".

 

[monotonous_iterancy]

I mean that I can understand it. So what's up with that? Does the amplification convert into a frequency that I can't hear with plugs in?

 

[hso]

No, it just means that you've lost some of your hearing if you have tinnitus and like most people you just don't realize how much you've lost.

If you have tinnitus and you haven't been to an ENT/Audiologist that has a proper testing booth you don't have any idea how bad your hearing actually is. I do and I went because I was noticing the classic symptoms of early hearing loss, but the testing revealed that I was a few years away from needing hearing aids (He joked that HS engineers from Oak Ridge were always thinking their hearing was 20% worse than it actually was), but that I had the classic "notch" loss from shooting or chainsaw/power tool use.

With properly inserted ear plugs to provide the full NRR protection and your electronic muffs you should be able to hear a normal conversation like I do as long as there's nothing wrong with the muffs, or your hearing.

 

[monotonous_iterancy]

Fair enough. I suspected that anyway. I'll definitely have to get my hearing checked.

So given that the electronics don't seem to work for me with plugs, then how are you supposed to hear commands at competitions and formal ranges? I don't know because I've never been to either. I'd like to some day.

 

[hso]

They work fine for the rest of us, which means that there's either a problem with your pair or your hearing. Since your mom didn't have any trouble hearing with them that eliminates the muffs and only leaves your hearing.