Radians Maximus Electronic Ears?

FLJim · January 8, 2008, 10:48 PM

I'm in the market for electronic hearing protection. Would prefer the kind that suppress/compress loud noises, rather than those that clip or shut down. (In a very busy, noisy indoor range, the kind that shut off completely are little better than non-electronic muffs.)

Was becoming discouraged. ProEars has the electronics, but apparently aren't very robust. Peltors are more robust, but clip. Sordin is alleged to be very good, but they're very expensive ($250 range) and their stereo imaging is said by some to be so poor they find themselves having to look around to see who's talking.

Then I ran across the Radians Maximus. Price is about right (around $100, plus-or-minus). Has the right kind of electronics. Rated at NRR 29! Would prefer a single volume control and a balance control over two volume controls, but life ain't perfect.

Thing is: Other than one comment on THR (I think it was), I cannot find a single review or user comment on these things. They're either the best-kept secret in electronic ears or they're lousy.

Anybody have these? Anybody ever try 'em? Anybody know anybody else that has 'em or has ever tried them?

Thanks!

BreacherUp! · January 8, 2008, 10:52 PM

Sordin. Don't know who you talked to about the stereo probs. I've used Peltor and Sordin. Sordin is exceptional. But that's what you are paying for

chris in va · January 9, 2008, 02:28 AM

FWIW I bought a pair of Radians from the local gun store a couple years ago for $100. 4 channel mic's, two volume controls. They weren't fancy, just clipped the volume.

After a while you could hear buzzing in one of the muffs every time a shot was fired. Turns out the 'clip' feature was simply a coil spring inside a cylinder and was making too much contact. No way to repair it, out of warranty.

EDIT: Hold up, those are the same ones I had! Just saw the picture. They don't have the electronics you're asking about. I can't recommend them, sorry. Plus they take six AAA batteries, somewhat of a PITA.

sholling · January 9, 2008, 03:33 AM

I'm confused. I have Peltor 6S and they don't clip. You can easily hold a normal conversation while people shoot. My only compaint is that I wish they were 29db or better instead of 20db.

RoscoeC · January 9, 2008, 07:50 AM

I bought a set of the Radians. Junk. Battery life of about 2-3 hours. I just received a set of the Peltor Tactical/Sport from Santy Claus. They are digital and do not clip. I used them for some skeet shooting (about 3.5 hours) this past Sunday, and I found them to work really well. I already have some hearing loss, so the slight amplification is important to me. This is about a $100.00 set, and I really can't comment on longterm performance, but they seem to be extremely well made. The literature claims a battery life of 250 hours if I remember correctly.

FLJim · January 9, 2008, 08:58 AM

BreacherUp!,

Comments in a couple other forums (found by searching w/Google) that the Sordins' stereo imaging ("stereo imaging" is what allows you to determine direction and distance both with hearing and sight) was poor. This resulted in making it difficult to determine who was talking and where they were w/o looking around to find them.

sholling,

Unless Peltor has re-engineered the 6s model: It mutes its output, instead of compressing spikes, on high impulse noise. (E.g.: A gun-shot.) They're fast. Damn fast. So fast that, at an outdoor range, I'm pretty sure I could hear the end of the slide cycle and I could definitely hear the echos, near and far, of the shot. But in an indoor range with lots of activity, particularly a range that has no noise damping, like my old sportsman's club (bare cinder-block walls, flat suspended ceiling, bare concrete floor), where every shot is echo'd and re-echo'd from every surface, circuits like that tend to mute and pretty-much stay muted. I've seen claims of people experiencing this problem with (some?) Peltors, and with other electronic muffs that operate on a similar principle, in some of the hits Google came up with.

As for the NRR 20dB: Unfortunately, most electronic muffs seem to be in the 20dB to 22dB NRR range. I figure I can always double-up with foam earplugs and turn up the volume for conversation.

chris in va, RoscoeC,

That's enough for me. Radians is out. Thanks for the heads-up.

RoscoeC,

Thanks for the pointer to the Peltor Sporttac model. I'll research that one more fully and give Peltor's entire line a new look.

Thanks for your comments, everybody.

mstuhr · January 9, 2008, 12:27 PM

Hi Folks,
I dont understand all the electronic requirements but after having several cheap pair of E.muffs I bought a set of Howard Leight and am very impressed.
I bought them based on the reviews at Cabela's. They had a lot( I want to say 48) of reviews and out of all of them the only two that were negative were from a fellow who thought it took too long to recieve them and another fellow who had a head the size of a beachball claimed they did not fit.
Cabela's has reviews on all (or a lot) of the E. Muffs.
The Howard Leights were 60.00 delivered off E-Bay new.
Thanks and good luck in finding what you want.
I think Midway has a lot of product reviews too.
Mike

sholling · January 9, 2008, 02:05 PM

FLJim,

I don't doubt your word a bit, but if the Peltor are muting I sure can't hear it. I don't remember where but I ran across electronic muff that claimed 34db. Peltor has one that they claim 29db and so does Radian.

Have you looked at these? I was seriously thinking about buying the Radians Maximus to replace my 6S behind the neck 19db protectors. Mainly because I find 19db to be insufficient for my ears. Have you tried them? I'd be interested in your feedback.

* Radians Maximus Features: Electronic earmuff with 4 independent high frequency directional microphones.
* Muff style hearing protection with the added benefit of sound amplification.
* Not only can you protect your hearing while shooting, you can still hear range commands and normal conversation without having to expose your hearing to harmful muzzle blasts.
* Automatically compresses harmful impulse and continuous noises to a safe hearing range below 85 dB without clipping or cutting.
* Adjustable CoolMax headband moves moisture away while providing cool comfort.
* Collapses for easy storage.
* NRR 29 (in passive mode)

FLJim · January 9, 2008, 02:25 PM

Quote:

sholling wrote:
Have you looked at these? I was seriously thinking about buying the Radians Maximus to replace my 6S behind the neck 19db protectors. Mainly because I find 19db to be insufficient for my ears. Have you tried them? I'd be interested in your feedback.

Well, no, I haven't. That was the point to asking about them

. Given that fact that I've been able to find out almost nothing about them, except two negative feedbacks in response to my question: I think I'm going to pass--especially since it seems Peltor, a well-known name for which you can find lots of users and user experience, now has a model with the behaviour I seek. Plus there's only one volume control

.

I don't know if this model has the same electronics--maybe you could write Peltor and ask, but there's also the Peltor Protac (aka: "Tactical Pro"), which has NRR 26. It's about $50 or so more expensive than the Sporttac and is not slim-profile.

BreacherUp! · January 9, 2008, 02:29 PM

FLJim, roger on other posters. I can say frm my experince and others who use them operationally, the Sordin Supreme Pros are outstanding.

sholling · January 9, 2008, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Well, no, I haven't. That was the point to asking about them

I should know better than to multitask, it leads to brain farts and silly replies like mine.

The 7S at 24db looks pretty good to and is a lot slimmer and thus more shotgun friendly.

http://www.opticsplanet.net/peltor-t...rotectors.html

FLJim · January 10, 2008, 10:15 AM

Quote:

sholling wrote:
The 7S at 24db looks pretty good to and is a lot slimmer and thus more shotgun friendly.

I doubt the Peltor 7S is long-gun-friendly. You need something shaped more like the Peltor 6S or Sporttac for long-gun-friendliness, I believe.

I was originally going for long-gun-friendliness, myself. I think I'm going to give up on that. I don't hunt, anyway, and I don't compete in long-gun. So the only thing I really need electronic ears for is pistol, where I might choose to compete, or get advanced training, so I can hear range commands.

A warning about the Peltor 7S, btw: They apparently do not have the more advanced electronics. See, for example: Hearing Protection / Electronic Earmuffs. The author there says "The Peltor Tactical 7S earmuffs completely lose ALL sound for almost a second during and after a shot. At first, I thought this would be a drawback. It seemed like a bad idea at first, but not after testing them." All I can say in response to that is: Try them on a busy indoor range, particularly where there's little-to-no sound deadening. If they're in constant shut-down, you might as well have plain old muffs and save yourself $60 or so.

January 8, 2008, 10:48 PM	#1
FLJim Senior Member Join Date: November 19, 2005 Location: S.E. Michigan Posts: 219	Radians Maximus Electronic Ears? I'm in the market for electronic hearing protection. Would prefer the kind that suppress/compress loud noises, rather than those that clip or shut down. (In a very busy, noisy indoor range, the kind that shut off completely are little better than non-electronic muffs.) Was becoming discouraged. ProEars has the electronics, but apparently aren't very robust. Peltors are more robust, but clip. Sordin is alleged to be very good, but they're very expensive ($250 range) and their stereo imaging is said by some to be so poor they find themselves having to look around to see who's talking. Then I ran across the Radians Maximus. Price is about right (around $100, plus-or-minus). Has the right kind of electronics. Rated at NRR 29! Would prefer a single volume control and a balance control over two volume controls, but life ain't perfect. Thing is: Other than one comment on THR (I think it was), I cannot find a single review or user comment on these things. They're either the best-kept secret in electronic ears or they're lousy. Anybody have these? Anybody ever try 'em? Anybody know anybody else that has 'em or has ever tried them? Thanks!

January 8, 2008, 10:52 PM	#2
BreacherUp! Senior Member Join Date: February 21, 2005 Posts: 566	Sordin. Don't know who you talked to about the stereo probs. I've used Peltor and Sordin. Sordin is exceptional. But that's what you are paying for __________________ Life's tough. But it's tougher when you're stupid.

January 9, 2008, 03:33 AM	#4
sholling Senior Member Join Date: May 18, 1999 Location: Hemet (middle of nowhere) California Posts: 4,261	I'm confused. I have Peltor 6S and they don't clip. You can easily hold a normal conversation while people shoot. My only compaint is that I wish they were 29db or better instead of 20db. __________________ Proud Life Member: National Rifle Association, California Rifle & Pistol Association, and the Second Amendment Foundation. Annual Member: Revolutionary War Veterans Association (Project Appleseed) and the Madison Society.

January 9, 2008, 07:50 AM	#5
RoscoeC Senior Member Join Date: February 21, 2006 Location: DFW Metromess Posts: 562	I bought a set of the Radians. Junk. Battery life of about 2-3 hours. I just received a set of the Peltor Tactical/Sport from Santy Claus. They are digital and do not clip. I used them for some skeet shooting (about 3.5 hours) this past Sunday, and I found them to work really well. I already have some hearing loss, so the slight amplification is important to me. This is about a $100.00 set, and I really can't comment on longterm performance, but they seem to be extremely well made. The literature claims a battery life of 250 hours if I remember correctly. __________________ “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." --Helen Keller "Do not cry havoc when you should but hunt with modest warrant." --William Shakespeare Glock Certified Armorer NRA Life Member

January 9, 2008, 12:27 PM	#7
mstuhr Member Join Date: February 19, 2006 Location: MO Posts: 49	Howard Leight Hi Folks, I dont understand all the electronic requirements but after having several cheap pair of E.muffs I bought a set of Howard Leight and am very impressed. I bought them based on the reviews at Cabela's. They had a lot( I want to say 48) of reviews and out of all of them the only two that were negative were from a fellow who thought it took too long to recieve them and another fellow who had a head the size of a beachball claimed they did not fit. Cabela's has reviews on all (or a lot) of the E. Muffs. The Howard Leights were 60.00 delivered off E-Bay new. Thanks and good luck in finding what you want. I think Midway has a lot of product reviews too. Mike

January 9, 2008, 02:28 AM	#3
chris in va Senior Member Join Date: December 26, 2004 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 13,806	FWIW I bought a pair of Radians from the local gun store a couple years ago for $100. 4 channel mic's, two volume controls. They weren't fancy, just clipped the volume. After a while you could hear buzzing in one of the muffs every time a shot was fired. Turns out the 'clip' feature was simply a coil spring inside a cylinder and was making too much contact. No way to repair it, out of warranty. EDIT: Hold up, those are the same ones I had! Just saw the picture. They don't have the electronics you're asking about. I can't recommend them, sorry. Plus they take six AAA batteries, somewhat of a PITA.

January 9, 2008, 08:58 AM	#6
FLJim Senior Member Join Date: November 19, 2005 Location: S.E. Michigan Posts: 219	BreacherUp!, Comments in a couple other forums (found by searching w/Google) that the Sordins' stereo imaging ("stereo imaging" is what allows you to determine direction and distance both with hearing and sight) was poor. This resulted in making it difficult to determine who was talking and where they were w/o looking around to find them. sholling, Unless Peltor has re-engineered the 6s model: It mutes its output, instead of compressing spikes, on high impulse noise. (E.g.: A gun-shot.) They're fast. Damn fast. So fast that, at an outdoor range, I'm pretty sure I could hear the end of the slide cycle and I could definitely hear the echos, near and far, of the shot. But in an indoor range with lots of activity, particularly a range that has no noise damping, like my old sportsman's club (bare cinder-block walls, flat suspended ceiling, bare concrete floor), where every shot is echo'd and re-echo'd from every surface, circuits like that tend to mute and pretty-much stay muted. I've seen claims of people experiencing this problem with (some?) Peltors, and with other electronic muffs that operate on a similar principle, in some of the hits Google came up with. As for the NRR 20dB: Unfortunately, most electronic muffs seem to be in the 20dB to 22dB NRR range. I figure I can always double-up with foam earplugs and turn up the volume for conversation. chris in va, RoscoeC, That's enough for me. Radians is out. Thanks for the heads-up. RoscoeC, Thanks for the pointer to the Peltor Sporttac model. I'll research that one more fully and give Peltor's entire line a new look. Thanks for your comments, everybody.

January 9, 2008, 02:05 PM	#8
sholling Senior Member Join Date: May 18, 1999 Location: Hemet (middle of nowhere) California Posts: 4,261	FLJim, I don't doubt your word a bit, but if the Peltor are muting I sure can't hear it. I don't remember where but I ran across electronic muff that claimed 34db. Peltor has one that they claim 29db and so does Radian. Have you looked at these? I was seriously thinking about buying the Radians Maximus to replace my 6S behind the neck 19db protectors. Mainly because I find 19db to be insufficient for my ears. Have you tried them? I'd be interested in your feedback. * Radians Maximus Features: Electronic earmuff with 4 independent high frequency directional microphones. * Muff style hearing protection with the added benefit of sound amplification. * Not only can you protect your hearing while shooting, you can still hear range commands and normal conversation without having to expose your hearing to harmful muzzle blasts. * Automatically compresses harmful impulse and continuous noises to a safe hearing range below 85 dB without clipping or cutting. * Adjustable CoolMax headband moves moisture away while providing cool comfort. * Collapses for easy storage. * NRR 29 (in passive mode) __________________ Proud Life Member: National Rifle Association, California Rifle & Pistol Association, and the Second Amendment Foundation. Annual Member: Revolutionary War Veterans Association (Project Appleseed) and the Madison Society.

January 9, 2008, 02:29 PM	#10
BreacherUp! Senior Member Join Date: February 21, 2005 Posts: 566	FLJim, roger on other posters. I can say frm my experince and others who use them operationally, the Sordin Supreme Pros are outstanding. __________________ Life's tough. But it's tougher when you're stupid.