Customer Reviews

AO Safety/3M Tekk WorkTunes i.3 AM/FM Hearing Protector, Silver and White #90569

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I suppose I was spoiled by the $200 pair of AM/FM ear muffs that I have had for several years. After the expensive pair died, I decided to try something cheaper. I think these muffs are worth the price but there are some cons:

1. The tuner is a dial that requires very precise adjustment to get a good signal. The slightest accidental touch means you have to stop what you are doing to try to get the dial back on the station. A digital readout would be very helpful but that isn't likely to be found on an inexpensive set.

2. Reception is mediocre. I live near a large city and receive only a few FM stations.

3. The battery cover is not hinged so it comes completely loose during battery changing. Mine disappeared the second time I used the muffs. Now the batteries are held in place by a piece of gaffers tape.

4. The antenna sticks up rather high. When I saw the tall antenna, I assumed that would produce really good reception. Instead, when I am on my riding mower and mow under a low-hanging tree, the antenna catches in the limbs and I get a rather nasty head-jerk. That's probably how I lost the battery cover.

The pros:

1. One of the reasons I bought this pair was the MP3 jack. That is a nice feature.

2. I believe the advertised 22 db NRR is accurate. It is certainly enough to protect your ears when you are mowing, weed trimming, or riding a tractor. As an NRA certified instructor, I would recommend the addition of ear plugs if you wear these muffs and shoot any large caliber firearms.

3. The unit has sufficient volume and the on/off/volume control is easy to find and adjust.

4. The cushions are comfortable and can be worn for long periods of time with comfort.

In my opinion, the muffs are worth the price. However, if you want top performance, especially on the gun range, I would suggest you opt for one of the high-end muffs that allow ambient sound to come in but then attenuate it when a shot is fired or another loud noise occurs. Otherwise, about the time you remove the ear muffs to hear someone speak, someone else on the range will fire and there goes your ear protection.

I work in a construction shop all day and wanted to replace my earmuffs with a set that would let me use my Ipod. These deliver as promised, with a couple of quirks. First, plugging in the ipod doesn't cut off the radio. The instructions say to keep the earmuff volume off and use the Ipod volume controls, which works fine except that I bump the volume knob up by accident and get the radio and Ipod simultaneously. The second issue is common with other similar products. The on/off volume knob is too easily bumped on. I throw these in my box at the end of the day and frequently bump them on, killing the batteries.
The included patch cable is a nice addition, and they do work well for me.

I did my usual over researching of products and came onto these. I bought them because the reviews said they were comfy and because I really needed a pair for my woodworking shop which my wife constantly refers to as 'the garage'. I'm degressing here.

After purchasing them and trying them out for a month...I'm very very suprised and happy. They are light and very comfy around the ears and while not a digital tuner I do find the qaulity of the speakers very acceptable for this type of product.

I find that I wear them more than any other hearing protection product I have owned. I even wear them when I don't need them on, just for the music and I no longer plot against the demise of my dust collector (my wife calls it a shop vac).

I'd give it 5 but I do find them a little tights on my big head and it would be great if they had digital tuner.

Overall - a good buy for any woodworker.

I had been wishing for some time that I could protect my hearing while using loud equipment AND listen to my MP3 player, so this product seemed like a wish fulfilled. However, I have some gripes about this product.
First, they should have spent more than 11 cents on the cord (the one to connect your MP3 player to the headphone). It is garbage. Right out of the box, mine had issues. You know how you sometimes have to bend an old cord just right in order for it to work? That's how this one is. I wasn't going to go through the hassle of sending it back so they could send me another crappy cord. So, I'm living with it until I go find a replacement with a better guage cable.
Gripe #2 - There's a switch to select AM or FM. There's no selection for the external input jack. In other words, the radio input is not shut off when you're listening to your MP3. So, you have to tune to tune to a frequency where you have little or no reception when listening to your MP3. Since I only listen to the MP3 and never the radio, I consider this extremely cheesy.
Gripe #3 - I think there is a built-in limiter on the volume. When I turn up the volume past a certain point, the audio stops getting louder and develops a lot of static. Now, I can understand limiting the volume in a product designed to provide hearing protection, but it would have been nice if it simply stopped getting louder without the introduction of static.
Enough gripes. Overall, I'm glad I purchased this product because the price was fair at about $50 and I have not seen a competing product yet. It does a great job at blocking the external noise and it is comfortable. My hope is that they'll make a WorkTunes i.4 which addresses my gripes.

I bought these my husband who is an excavator and runs an off road machine all day. My husband would actually give this product 4 1/2 stars, but since we can't do that, I gave it four. For the price, this is a good product. It gets good reception for the most part. The only suggestion is that if you need something to really protect your ears, this doesn't have the highest decibel blocker. It could use more noise protection.

Great headphones. Works very well with my Ipod. This is the 3rd Peltor Worktunes I've bought. One I wore out after about 8 years and I keep one for home and one for work. My only complaint is the very sensitive analog tuning that everyone complains about.

i had the first worktunes that come out but,i wore them out.but they worked great.but now that i have a ipod,i thought i would buy these because you can hook it up to this.take my word for this.don't buy these for that because your volume at it's highest setting is to low.cutting the grass or ,any loud noise you cannot hear your music good.i turned my radio volume all the way down and,used my volume on my mp3 like the instructions say do and you can't hear your music well.as far as reception,sound barrier,battery life,the function of the set in general,i would rate it a 5 stars +.but for the mp3 hookup it's a dud.i rate it a 1-.if you want it for radio,hearing protection,great reception,great controls.you can't go wrong buying this product.but i repeat don't buy it for the hookup for your mp3.

I usually work alot on an acre and a half of land that I have and need something to keep me company. This works and has a decent tuner. When I plug my IPOD in it takes some adjusting of the channels to get it to actually come in. But was a great product. The reviews from other people helped.

UPDATE: I have to tell everyone that during the hot times here in the summer, I have sweated on these headphones night and day and still they work after a couple of years, still a great product.

UPDATE: 2011, after five years, they still work, even after what I put them through.

I bought these for when I mow. They are extremely comfortable and do a good job of keeping the noise out. The only drawback is the radio. It is hard to tune and often times fades in and out. Of course, it could be my particular location that causes bad reception, but these seem a little touchy and the signal often fades in and out. Overall, despite the poor radio reception, these earphones are pretty good and worth the buy. The ipod hookup is a nice addition also.

This is a great device to use while working with tools or mowing the lawn. While normal headphones are fine when doing something quiet, these have the benfit of cancelling out loud noise around you. It would be hard on your ears or impossible to drown out a table saw for instance with a normal headset.