Thread: SoundGear Electronic Earplugs

Been to see Audiologist to get some custom earplugs made , ordinary plain moulded plug about $200 and these electronic ones are $1200 just curious if anyone was using them on here and what they thought of them ? Cheers

Wind noise can be a bit annoying sometimes and there is no real ability to 'program' them but for the price they are great. You will need to pay $12k plus to get full noise (excuse the pun) ones.

I loved mine but stupidly lost them at a sporting shoot comp. Haven't had the time to get them replaced but will.

Originally Posted by Proudkiwi

Wind noise can be a bit annoying sometimes and there is no real ability to 'program' them but for the price they are great. You will need to pay $12k plus to get full noise (excuse the pun) ones.

I loved mine but stupidly lost them at a sporting shoot comp. Haven't had the time to get them replaced but will.

Cheers for info , yeah not keen on spilling out $12k but figured at $1200 I will try them out

I don't have the Soundgear version, but in case you find it useful I wrote the below on the 'other' NZ hunting forum back in 2011. I've still got the same pair - still working perfectly (despite full immersion in the river one frosty morning!) and I still wear them everytime I'm hunting - .17hmr, 12ga and .270. If they stopped working tomorrow I'd be buying a replacement pair first thing.

My ones are Starkey Magnum Ears - Silver (Digital) Model. To get the bad news out of the way first - my set was $1600 from Dilworth Hearing. To get the same set from Bay Audiology was even more. If you start looking into these electronic ear-plugs, you can get both cheaper and more expensive models. Cheaper tends to cut into the audio quality (apparently), more expensive starts putting more hearing aid functionality into the plug - allowing you to compensate for existing hearing loss as well as protecting your remaining hearing.

I don't have any real hearing loss, but found out the hard way that my ears are prone to Tinnitus (permanent ringing) from loud sound exposure. It doesn't bug me most of the time anymore, but I'm really keen that the ringing doesn't get any louder.

The plugs I have are custom molded for my ears, so are very comfortable. You don't get sweaty ears like with ear-muffs, and they don't interfere with your rifle/shotgun stock. Volume is adjustable, and sound quality is near perfect. You can wind the volume up far beyond your normal hearing level, but there are diminishing returns on this - the sound of your own movements starts to swamp the extra sensitivity. Turned up to normal hearing level (or maybe just a touch more) there's no problem.

The plugs cut out instantaneously when you fire, but come back on quick enough that you can hear the "BOOM" rolling away up the hills. Although I haven't used them enough to be sure, I think they'd come back on quick enough to hear the bullet impact for the times when that's audible.

I've had mine for a couple of months now, and I reckon they're worth the money I paid.

One other thing - Dilworth will give you a 3-month trial period after receiving your new plugs. If you don't like them, all you pay is the initial $75 consultation fee. I had a long phone conversation with a shotgun shooter and audiologist - he tells me that they've never had a set returned during the trial period. Tells you something.

Happy to answer anymore questions if anyone is interested. I had trouble finding anyone with real-life experience with them when I bought mine.

Originally Posted by PaulNZ

I don't have the Soundgear version, but in case you find it useful I wrote the below on the 'other' NZ hunting forum back in 2011. I've still got the same pair - still working perfectly (despite full immersion in the river one frosty morning!) and I still wear them everytime I'm hunting - .17hmr, 12ga and .270. If they stopped working tomorrow I'd be buying a replacement pair first thing.

My ones are Starkey Magnum Ears - Silver (Digital) Model. To get the bad news out of the way first - my set was $1600 from Dilworth Hearing. To get the same set from Bay Audiology was even more. If you start looking into these electronic ear-plugs, you can get both cheaper and more expensive models. Cheaper tends to cut into the audio quality (apparently), more expensive starts putting more hearing aid functionality into the plug - allowing you to compensate for existing hearing loss as well as protecting your remaining hearing.

I don't have any real hearing loss, but found out the hard way that my ears are prone to Tinnitus (permanent ringing) from loud sound exposure. It doesn't bug me most of the time anymore, but I'm really keen that the ringing doesn't get any louder.

The plugs I have are custom molded for my ears, so are very comfortable. You don't get sweaty ears like with ear-muffs, and they don't interfere with your rifle/shotgun stock. Volume is adjustable, and sound quality is near perfect. You can wind the volume up far beyond your normal hearing level, but there are diminishing returns on this - the sound of your own movements starts to swamp the extra sensitivity. Turned up to normal hearing level (or maybe just a touch more) there's no problem.

The plugs cut out instantaneously when you fire, but come back on quick enough that you can hear the "BOOM" rolling away up the hills. Although I haven't used them enough to be sure, I think they'd come back on quick enough to hear the bullet impact for the times when that's audible.

I've had mine for a couple of months now, and I reckon they're worth the money I paid.

One other thing - Dilworth will give you a 3-month trial period after receiving your new plugs. If you don't like them, all you pay is the initial $75 consultation fee. I had a long phone conversation with a shotgun shooter and audiologist - he tells me that they've never had a set returned during the trial period. Tells you something.

Happy to answer anymore questions if anyone is interested. I had trouble finding anyone with real-life experience with them when I bought mine.

Thanks heaps, exactly what I was after , someone actually using them , cheers

The only thing I should probably add is that the sound they transmit is just a little artificial. Not a problem, but it's not exactly like wearing no plugs at all. Personally I think it's a small price to pay.

I'm afraid that is a big red herring. The only sound energy you need to be concerned with is air-conducted noise. Artillery is the exception to this but I'm guessing you're not playing with that..

BTW, I'm a just-retired clinical audiologist who has a interest in this area.

How do you get on with moulded ear plugs if you got more hair growing out of your ears than on your scalp where it belongs ?

Can be a big issue if you have full gorilla coverage there Having said that, I'd say that less than one male in 500 has enough hair in their concha for this to be an issue. The quality of the ear impression is -critical- and I can't over-emphasize this. If the mould fit ends up leaky, the electronics won't save you.

I got a pair through bay audiology and found the wind noise was drove me crazy, Worked great apart from that tho

Originally Posted by 6x47

I'm afraid that is a big red herring. The only sound energy you need to be concerned with is air-conducted noise. Artillery is the exception to this but I'm guessing you're not playing with that..

BTW, I'm a just-retired clinical audiologist who has a interest in this area.

Gidday @6x47, I've just shot closing weekend in the Rangitikei. I wear my 3M Sportac's (grade 4) religously, I don't wear anything underneath like a cap or beanie, change the foam out yearly. After shooting yesterday I lost some hearing in my right ear and had some ringing.
Could you shed any light on this? Some of the limited reading I did, mentioned the repetitive percussion having an effect on the ears.
Cheers

Scott

Just because a pair of muffs is rated Grade 4 doesn't guarantee that in every individual case they will perform at that. Sometimes the protection will be better than rated and a very small proportion may be far worse. The cause is usually head shape, namely the jawline gap behind/below your pinna.

Forget the "repetitive concussion", it's simply the impulse noise dose your inner ears are getting. If you're experiencing increased tinnitus and some hearing loss ( "temporary threshold shift") after using some particular protection, you need to consider trying something different. The issue is more common with plugs, especially due to poor insertion technique. With closed cell foam plugs, if you can see even a third of them sticking out of the canal, they're probably providing minimal protection. If you can see over half of them, they're likely useless.

It was strange, I’d shot all weekend with no issues, then it came on after we only fired a few shots on the last morning.
I’m well versed in ear plug fitting after wearing them in workshop for years, always careful to open ear canal with opposite hand and insert fully.
I think I’ll just use plugs under my electric earmuffs just in case.