- In this video, I'm talking about the SoundGear
Custom electronic hearing protection, coming up.
Hi, guys, Cliff Olson, Doctor of Audiology
and founder of Applied Hearing Solutions in Anthem, Arizona
and on this channel,
I cover a bunch of hearing-related information
to help make you a better-informed consumer,
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consider hitting the Subscribe button.
The SoundGear Custom electronic line
of hearing protectors has really revolutionize the way
that you can protect your hearing while shooting.
Something I don't talk about a whole lot is
that I served in the United States Marine Corps
in Security Forces and as a scout sniper,
and one of the problems that we had
was protecting our hearing well
while still being able to communicate
with our other team members.
And as you can imagine,
communication is extremely critical,
either when you're on a mission or just in training.
You wanna be able to have that open communication
without having a hearing protector get in the way.
Not wearing hearing protection is never really a good option
because first off, it only takes one gunshot
for you to sustain a permanent hearing loss
in both of your ears.
Not only that, but when you shoot enough rounds,
you actually develop this tinnitus,
which is that ringing and buzzing sound that you hear
after experiencing some really loud noise,
and that in and of itself can get in the way
of communication,
so it's not really realistic to think
that if you don't protect your hearing
that you could function normally,
whether it's on the firing line
or whether it's not, it's on a mission.
The cool thing about SoundGear Custom hearing protection is
that they solved these problems and more.
First off, they're super easy to get inside of your ears,
so if you're in a hurry
and you wanna get the protection in your ears very quickly,
it's much quicker than using a foam hearing protector.
That being said, once you get them in,
they are extremely comfortable
and have a very low profile to them,
so they won't interfere with anything
that you're wearing around your ears
or on your head.
Once you have them in,
you can communicate like you normally would,
it doesn't dampen the sound of someone talking to you,
but as soon as a gunshot goes off,
within one millisecond the computer chip inside
of the device will mute that sound
or dampen that sound to a point
where it won't cause damage to your hearing.
Now, the best hearing protection
that you can get really is a foam hearing protector
in the terms of a protection standpoint.
When you have a foam hearing protector
inserted into your ears three quarters of the way,
you'll get the maximum Noise Reduction Rating,
which is up to about 33 NRR.
When you wear these devices,
you get around a 24 to 26,
which is a little bit lower amount of protection than
what you would get with a foam protector,
but at the same time,
it goes into the right spot every single time
and you know that you're getting
that full amount of protection.
Now, if you already have problems hearing
before wearing hearing protection,
the other cool thing about these devices is
that you can actually increase the volume
of people talking to you
and still dampen the sounds of a gunshot.
That being said, they're terrific for people who like
to go hunting,
if you wanna hear the game
that's out in the wilderness,
you can actually increase the volume of the devices
and pick up sounds from further away.
Since SoundGear is manufactured inside of the United States
by Starkey Hearing Technologies,
which is one of the major six manufacturers of hearing aids,
you know that you're gonna get a really high-quality product
and really good warranty with it,
which lasts up to two years.
When you order a Custom SoundGear hearing protector,
they come in three different colors,
you can get all black,
you can get black faceplate with a clear shell,
or a black faceplate with a red shell for your right ear
and blue shell for your left ear.
They also come in two different performance lines,
the Silver and the Platinum.
The difference between the two is
that the Silver line of devices actually come
with only the ability to amplify sound,
so they'll amplify sound if you need it
and they will still attenuate a gunshot,
and the Platinum level of devices actually come
with four different programs in addition
to the ability to dampen the sound of a gunshot.
The first one is, again, to amplify sound.
The second one is to amplify sound,
but with reducing background noise like wind.
The third one is a telecoil program
so you can actually use the telephone
while you're wearing these,
and the fourth program is a mute function.
They are custom devices,
so you're gonna have to get a custom earmold impression
from a hearing care professional
and they use a size 13 hearing aid battery,
so you're gonna have to have some of those on-hand as well.
Other than the fact that they don't have
Bluetooth connectivity,
the only real drawback that I see is
that they are more expensive than other types
of hearing protection.
When you're looking at foam hearing protectors,
they cost about a buck.
When you're looking at these,
you're gonna be spending around a thousand dollars
for the Silver line
or $1200 for the Platinum line.
So, in terms of cost, yes, it costs more,
but is it worth it?
Yeah, it really is.
They just work really well,
they work so well that you're actually surprised
with how well they work.
And when it allows you to actually communicate
with the people around you
while still being protected from loud sounds,
it is really a game-changer,
and so, if you're in law enforcement,
if you just like recreational shooting,
if you like hunting,
and especially if you are in the military,
getting Custom SoundGear hearing protectors
really should be an addition to your shooting gear.
That's it for this video.
If you have any questions,
please feel free to leave them
in the Comments section below.
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I'll see you next time.