Peltor Ipod Earmuff Review

[woodlandfarms]

Just my opinion on this stuff. For the birthday the wife bought me these Peltors. I had been wanting to listen to music and these were very "gadgety" with the ability to hear certain noises and cancel others out.

Amazon.com: Peltor Alert AM/FM Radio Headset #M2RX7A: Home Improvement

So, they had 3 major problems and got returned. The first is that the radio goes in and out of tune. The manual tuner is a bad idea. The second is that the Ipod connector is not a common connector, and is a $25 add on item. I did not even bother with that. And finally, the noise cancelling may work in a factory environment but not on a tractor. What it is is that you have two microphones and they pick up the noise around you, and you allow how much of it in. I think it is Decibel related, so one the noise gets particularly loud it is cut off. What is weird is that it is amplifying the noise so it can power the internal speakers. Also, there is a very, very subtle delay and for me it was too much.

So, I ended up with these at half the price.

Amazon.com: Peltor WorkTunes AM/FM Hearing Protector with Digital Tuning #90541: Home Improvement

They are new. They are just basically earmuffs with an ipod input and a digital radio tuner. The radio tuner is still mediocre, but at least it stays on frequency. The Ipod input is fine, but the ipod powers the speakers so it drains your Ipod power a bit quicker. Also, it does not get that loud, although I never could not hear the music, sometimes I like to crank it up a bit (I know, defeats the whole purpose but music is part of my business so whatever). The final beef is what I was reluctant about in the first place. There is no place for your ipod. So I have clipped mine to the headset. I need to find a very short mini pin cable as this one is all balled up but it works.. kinda....

So there you have it. Frankly it is really depressing. With all this audio technology (noise cancelling, digital inputs, blah blah blah) it blows my mind that someone is not taking advantage of this technology in creating a new standard for hearing safety.

Oh Also, Peltor and AO Safety are the same company. They are owned by Aearo...

Aearo Corporation - Safety products for hearing, eye, face, head and fall protection

 

[Lloyd_E]

I have the Stihl radio ear protectors with Ipod connection. I think they are made by Peltors, and they are great: use in tractor, wood splitting, chain-sawing, whipper-snipping etc.

The radio in the cab is useless... to over come tractor noise you have to have it up loud... which is too loud for me.

You can buy a FM RF for your ipod. The one I have works within a 60' radius.
Turn your ipod on, leave it wherever, tune your ear protectors to the same frequency and go about your business.

I know, another layer of technology...

Sometimes silence is golden!

Lloyd

 

[Richard]

I've used a pair of Pro-Ears Dimension II's over the years. Right now, the batteries need replaced so I just use them for silence.

A couple months ago, I bought a pair of Custom-3's

Klipsch Headphones - IMAGE, Custom-1, Custom-2, Custom-3

These sound fantastic and what I now do is put in my C-3's and put my Dimsions on OVER the C-3's.

The outer noise is greatly attenuated (even more so because of the C-3's sticking in my canal) and I get fantastic sound.

I'll admit to being a Klipsch fan so dilute anything I say because of that...so with that said, these C-3's are the nicest sounding in ear monitors I've ever heard.

 

[Richard]

IN case I was vague, I wear both the Custom 3's AND my Pro ears at the same time. The sonics are much better than when using the Pro ears alone.

Drawback.....not terribly cheap

 

[Shimon]

Frankly it is really depressing. With all this audio technology (noise cancelling, digital inputs, blah blah blah) it blows my mind that someone is not taking advantage of this technology in creating a new standard for hearing safety.

As long as people keep buying junk...that's all we're going to get.

A couple of months ago I was going to buy a set of hearing protection with a radio and aux input. After doing careful research, I came to the conclusion that there isn't one decent pair to be had. Everything currently manufactured is junk. There isn't one definitive winner for this type of product.

So, I continue to use my 1st gen iPod (8 years old) with ear bud headphones which works well enough...blocks out all external noise while listening to music but my ears get tired of the ear buds after a couple of hours of mowing.

 

[Shimon]

By the way, thanks for providing a meaningful, objective review. Most people buy a product and won't complain because they don't want to believe they wasted their money.

 

[patrick_g]

What about the Bose brand active noise canceling ear phones?

They have two styles, on ear and over ear. You put them on and turn them on and they make it quieter. They make it quieter than just wearing passive noise canceling muffs because they use active electronics to cancel noise that makes in past the muff part. They also are pretty good quality ear phones and have a standard stereo plug (easily adaptable to fit standard audio devices.)

So you can just use them for better than average noise protection muffs or plug them into an audio source and also get good music with much less outside noise getting in.

If you check out Sporty's Pilot Shop and similar sources you will see the aviation industry has excellent noise canceling headsets for use in high noise environments for extended wear such as flying a chopper or fixed wing recip or whatever. The first airplane to circumnavigate the globe nonstop without refueling had active noise canceling headsets for both pilots.

Sporty's has a Headset Wizard where you can specify many parameters and features and then search for models meeting your requirements. WARNING, they have some models running up around $1000 but less expensive ones also. The Bose units (not for Pilots, not the ones at Sporty's but the "home models") are Hi-Fi while the units at the pilot shop are for communicatioins and may not have good frequency response above 10,000Hz.

Sporty's Headset Search Page

Some of the pilot models have cell phone inputs and aux audio (MP3 etc. inputs) They have noise canceling boom mikes so you can talk on your cell in a noisy environment like on a tractor without having to shut down.

Pat

 

[Chuck K.]

I just recieved the same ones 2 days ago and wore them today while mowing the yard.. The noise reduction was great, digital tunning was ok. but the reception was poor, lots of static even on local stations.. Someone mentioned they where pleased with a set of Husquarvna (s/p?) Stereo headphones a bit more money seems ~140.00 if I remember correctly but I could not find them on the net...

 

[woodlandfarms]

The Husq's are nice, but they did not have an input for the ipod...

As for the aircraft ones, a little too pricey for me. I have the bose for flying, LOVE THEM. I can get over crushing a 100 pair of headsets. I cannot get over a $300 or greater...

 

[Chuck K.]

The Husq's are nice, but they did not have an input for the ipod...

As for the aircraft ones, a little too pricey for me. I have the bose for flying, LOVE THEM. I can get over crushing a 100 pair of headsets. I cannot get over a $300 or greater...

As much as I hate to admit it I dont own or even know how to operate an IPOD .. Where can you purchase the Husq. set?

Thanks.. Chuck.

 

[allenr]

I recently had a pair of the Peltor Digital AM/FM posted to Australia from the US as I coulldn't find any any in oz.
Despite paying postage of about AU$38 they arrived here for about AU$100 which is a bit less than a manual tuning Peltor I bought locally several years ago.
While the FM works great the AM is set to go up in steps of 5Khz and Australian AM stations are spaced 9Khz apart.
Sadly my favorite AM station is 891 (Adelaide) so the nearest I can tune to is 890 and the reception is far from good.
Obviously some stations ie 1323 are 2 Khz away and just not listenable.

I guess that might teach me to be more patient in the future (I'm assuming they'll get around to one for oz eventually).

 

[woodlandfarms]

We have a Husq dealer down the street... I would think you could find them online but not positive.. The recommends for them came from this group.

Some guy gives them a scathing review, though...

Amazon.com: Husqvarna Construction Products 505665378 Hearing protectors/radio: Home Improvement

 

[woodlandfarms]

I recently had a pair of the Peltor Digital AM/FM posted to Australia from the US as I coulldn't find any any in oz.
Despite paying postage of about AU$38 they arrived here for about AU$100 which is a bit less than a manual tuning Peltor I bought locally several years ago.
While the FM works great the AM is set to go up in steps of 5Khz and Australian AM stations are spaced 9Khz apart.
Sadly my favorite AM station is 891 (Adelaide) so the nearest I can tune to is 890 and the reception is far from good.
Obviously some stations ie 1323 are 2 Khz away and just not listenable.

I guess that might teach me to be more patient in the future (I'm assuming they'll get around to one for oz eventually).

Man, that is really tight on frequency.... 9khz apart? In the US the 10 khz is still too close... Lots of bleed. then again, we have tons of stations and this may be different for you...

 

[allenr]

Man, that is really tight on frequency.... 9khz apart? In the US the 10 khz is still too close... Lots of bleed. then again, we have tons of stations and this may be different for you...

During daylight hours it isn't a problem, but at night when we can pick up interstate stations it can be a real problem.

 

[IslandTractor]

I also have the Peltor Digital and have used it for the last couple of months. It is OK but I am in an area that is a bit tough on FM so that is marginal. I've found a couple of stations it tunes in well and now I just listen to those. The noise cancelling part works pretty well. Too well sometimes as I dragged a bread loaf rock inside my flail mower for about two minutes before I realized there was an unusual noise. Haven't tried the ipod feature yet. Fit is OK. No problem wearing it for a couple of hours at a time.

 

[tjkadar]

I use a pair of Etymotic Research ER4 MicroPros with my Zune and/or iPod. They work like a set of earplugs. If I need even more hearing protection, I can throw a pair of ear muffs over them. Works great and the musical reproduction on them is fairly accurate.

 

[allenr]

Came across this headphone radio tonight in a hardware store sale brochure, advertised at $AU99.00.

Seems to have a lot of good features but no digital tuning.

Also found them on Ebay Oz for $AU105.00 + $15 P&H.

Bullant Super media ear Muffs - Australian International Design Awards

 

[RobS]

I have had a similar experience with both versions of the Peltor as well. First set I liked a lot but the manual tuner was a problem. That set eventually died of unknown causes.

I recently got the digital version with MP3 input. It's better but still not perfect. Tuning is much easier though it still suffers some static/poor reception. My biggest complaint is the MP3 input. All it does is override the radio so you have to have it tuned to a weak frequency. Seems I cannot get a clear MP3 signal. Also, like the OP I found there is no place for the MP3 player. I kept mine in my shirt pocket while mowing for ease of access but found all the dust got into the controls. It's ok, but I'm no longer using it on the tractor. Radio is fine anyway.

So, for radio I give it a 7 of 10, for MP3 I give it a 2 of 10. For noise control it get's a 9 of 10 and for comfort/ergonomics an 8 of 10. Overall, better than nothing for sure.

 

[IslandTractor]

I use my digital Peltor with a tiny MP3 player that has a simple clip on it. I clip it to the headband and it works fine. I agree it would be inconvenient with something as big as a classic iPod or even a Nano. Mine is a Sansa I believe...cheap money for 8gb chip based player.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

after spending an entire day on the tractor using the flail (and the ztr), when i finiallly stopped cutting, i could tell i was damaging my ears.....everything sounded muffled and dull......

i have some shooting ear muffs and an ipod with ear buds...won't this work ok? my concern is not being able to hear, like was said, a rock or something stuck up inside my flail.......

i'd like to have a pair that has good FM and AM reception.........most of what I do is up on a hill, so maybe this would help....

helpful thread, and, yes, thanks for the honest review......