Customer Reviews

Howard Leight R-01526 Impact Sport Electronic Earmuff

5 star:		(430)
4 star:		(125)
3 star:		(45)
2 star:		(33)
1 star:		(38)

 

 

Length:: 6:44 Mins

I was so impressed by the value of these phones, I made a video.
feel free to Check my references, I am a 15 year veteran of Live sound and own a recording studio in Maui
[...]
I am a Life member of the NRA and a member of the Valley Isle Sport shooters.
Shooting is my hobby, sound is my life.
I entrust my main professional asset to these head phones.

I bought these for my wife. I was originally going to get her a pair of Peltor Tactical 6s electronic earmuffs because I had ALWAYS heard high praise for them--and I use a pair of Tac 7s myself, which I'll never give up--but then I read some of the negative reviews on the Amazon product page (I wonder how many are schills?). So based on the negative Amazon reviews and the meager NRR 19, I opted to pass on the 6s. I'm not sure how I stumbled onto these Howard Leight earmuffs, but they looked good on paper and the reviews were mostly positive, and I'm very familiar with, and confident in, the Howard Leight name, so I figured why not?

Before buying these, my wife had been previously using the Howard Leight Leightning-31 earmuffs (non-electronic, NRR 31), so I was _really_ worried about the drop in NRR with her. We went to an indoor range yesterday and shot a .40SW pistol (the .40SW has a sharp pressure spike, and hence percussion wave, and being indoors amplifies things, so this was a really good test of the earmuff's effectiveness). After we were done she said that she "likes" these muffs, and "has no problem" with them. They're a keeper! She did have one complaint. She says that they squeeze her head too tightly (not uncomfortably, just a tighter, snugger fit than she's used to) and interfere with her eye protection. We both understand that the tight fit is necessary to seal the ear, so that's not a problem in our minds, but she says she "needs to figure something out" w.r.t. the shooting glasses because that bugs her.

Of course, I tried these muffs out also. I gotta admit, for the price they are pretty darn good. The amplification is above average and you can hear normal conversation easily. They cut out when they should, but the recovery time after a shot is slow (that bothers other people a lot more than it does me). Come to think of it, the power-on time is pretty darn slow, too. Regardless, these muffs are another winner in the Howard Leight product line as far as I'm concerned.

However, whenever a review includes the phrase "for the price", that should raise a flag (IMO); i.e. you gotta look at the big picture as well as the niche. Yes, these are excellent hearing protectors for the price, but overall they're not all that great in comparison to other models on the market. They do their job, though.

Since these are not marketed as "tactical" earmuffs, an LED power indicator would have been nice. My wife will eventually get used to having to turn off her hearing protection, but a power indicator as a reminder wouldn't hurt. On the plus side, these muffs have an automatic shut-off feature to compensate for forgetfulness.

The included instructions are minimal and poorly written. Case in point, they tell you to insert the batteries into the battery compartment, but don't tell you how to open the battery compartment! [Slide the lid vertically toward the headband.] A little common sense goes a long way here.

Bottom line: All babble aside, I'd recommend these earmuffs. Based on my wife's input and my short exposure to them, I think they do an adequate job; and yes, the cost-effective pricing is hard to ignore.

As a hunter, I want to protect my valuable hearing from the muzzle blast noise. I have tried several brands of hearing protectors, and have found these to be the best in terms of overall quality, comfort, effectiveness, and cost.

Pros:

1. The set is lighweight and they are comfortable to wear all day long without making one's ears sore.
2. The sound suppression is reliable and efficient. The blast of a rifle or shotgun is muffled to the extent that it is barely audible.
3. The volume can be turned up to actually hear better than "normal" hearing. The sounds amplified are those typically made by animals rustling in the leaves, grass, or the crackling of sticks and brush.
4. They run on two 3A batteries included with the set. The batteries will easily last 2 or more days even with continuous use.
5. The muffs have a plug-in for exterior radio, MP3 players, etc.
6. The muffs fold up into a compact size that can fit into a large coat pocket if necessary.
7. Compared to other much more expensive "name" brands, these muffs cost much less, are more reliable, and produce quality hearing and loud noise reduction.
8. Best of all, one can actually tell where a sound is coming from when wearing these muffs! Other brands claim this feature, but this brand actually makes it a reality.

Cons:

There really are no cons to this muff set. The only disadvantage (and this is common to all muffs), is that one will bump "clunk" into the stock of a firearm when shouldering aiming. If you know beforehand it is coming, the "clunk" can be minimized.

I would not hunt or shoot without these muffs. I have tried much more expensive brands (Walkers), and some "in the ear" models, but these are the best I have experienced. I consider these muffs the best on the market.

konedog

Cheaper noise canceling safety ear muffs will turn off the sound for almost a full second after a noise impact (usually gun shot). These filter them out and bring the sound right back in. The sound is clear and static free, a difficulty with cheaper muffs also.

When I turn these up, I can hear far better than natural ability in the woods. These are equal in function and quality to many $150-200 pairs I have tried. Exceptional value.

Worried about your stock hitting your muffs? These are about the thinnest you will find in the area of your stock. Electronic muffs in conjunction with earplugs make a world of difference in the shooting sports. A competitive Shotgun shooter will be close to 400-600 shotgun discharges a day. 25DB reduction by one level of protection is not enough, add these and I think you will be impressed. They fit me great and I think they have an ear cup that is made for larger ears, compared to some other brands. There is also an plug so that you can attach your Ipod or other device. Of course that may not be the best thing to do if you tend to crank up the volume, so be prudent. I have not tested this feature, but a patch cable is included as are the batteries. Another brand I reviewed did not include the batteries nor did the option of plugging in another device exist. Leight is ahead, I think.

The Howard Leight R-01526 is the perfect fit for a low budget high quality noise reduction solution for ear muffs. It has a nice compact fold-able design which does not put pressure on the foam ear pieces which over time would deform and reduce functionality and fit. The electronics will shut off after 4 hours so if you forget to turn it off after you are done using it, it saves the battery life. In case the batteries do expire, the batteries (2 AAA cells) are easily installed/replaced. The ON/OFF & volume control switch is easily reached with one hand so adjustment is just as easy. There is a 3.5 mm jack port for your MP3 player of choice so you can listen to digital recordings while still protecting your ears as well as being able to hear someone speaking in a normal conversation level around you in a noisy environment. It is easily adjustable for a comfortable fit and it noise reduction rating of 22 dBA makes it more than a match for even some other higher dollar models. It has a low profile so shooting against a rifle butt is not awkward nor clumsy. I would highly recommend this product to someone looking for a high quality, noise reducing electronic ear muff that will not break the bank.

Although the product is advertised to suppress noise exceeding an 82db threshold, noise generated by air compressors, lawn mowers, power saws, etc. is NOT effectively suppressed. They do work effectively with impact noise, e.g. hammers, presses, and firearms.

So if you plan to use them on a lawn mower while listening to your ipod or iphone, forget it. It aint gonna happen.

Purchased these after being less than full satisfied with peltors. The features I prefer about these are: more comfortable, higher volume, better drop-out circuitry, higher-fidelity sound, single volume knob, auto-off, easy battery replacement. The only problem I had was that they were too big. I'm average sized, but even on the smallest setting, still too big. Stuck some 1/2" foam to the headband to fix.

I like everything about these muffs. I forgot I was wearing them after about 10 minutes. At first I thought I was hearing an intermittent hiss at high volume settings until I discovered that the muffs were picking up highway traffic sounds a quarter of a mile away. With the volume properly adjusted you can carry on a normal conversation while others are shooting nearby. They fold up into a very compact package and conserve precious space in my range bag. They work exactly as advertised and represent a truly great value. Now if I can just keep the range officials from screaming at me... (they have ordinary earmuffs).

When I first started shooting, I wore "el-cheapo" $10 muffs from the gun store. They worked, but if you were shooting at an indoor range or with a large caliber rifle, it became necessary to wear plugs and muffs as the cheap muffs didn't do much to silence the "boom".

My first "premium" muffs were Silencio Magnums that while very effective (as witnessed by the fact that I still have them as back ups 15 years after buying them) were bulky and uncomfortable to wear. Add to that the fact that you couldn't hold an intelligible conversation or hear range commands well with them on, and you can see why I upgraded to electronic muffs.

I was turned on to Peltor 6S muffs by a friend a few years ago, and I swore by them. I told everyone who asked about electronic muffs that Peltor was the way to go.

Then about 2 months ago, I lost my beloved Peltors. I'm not sure where I left them, but they were gone. Granted they were in need of new linings and hygiene kits, but I still mourned them...mostly because prices had gone up since I bought my 6S's!

While looking at Peltors on Amazon, I came across these Leight e-muffs. I had used Howard Leight plugs previously, and knew they were good stuff, but had never considered their muffs. I read the reviews, and they were so cheap that I thought I'd give them a try, since practically no one had a bad word to say about them.

Now I know why...these things are great! They're very good at blocking harmful noise, just like my Peltors. They allow one to hold a conversation at normal speaking levels when wearing the muffs, just like my Peltors.

The similarities end there. They fit way more comfortably than my Peltors did. They also allow for greater sensitivity in the microphones than the Peltors did. I can pick up the TV from several rooms away while wearing these, and game sounds outdoors are amplified tremendously! In addition, the Leight muffs are lower profile than the Peltors, and allow a shooter to get down on the rifle stock better than the Peltor muffs. The Leights also have an input jack and connector wire so you can plug your MP3 player or other device into the muffs (a feature that only comes on the more upscale Peltors costing 3-5X what the Leights cost). Finally, the battery replacement is much easier to do on a Leight e-muff than a Peltor.

For the price, these are quite impressive.

5/5 Stars.