Howard Leight by Honeywell Impact Sport Sound Amplification Electronic Earmuff, Green (R - 01526)

Working in law enforcement has reinforced the notion that quality hearing protection is essential. Now you could go spend your hard earned money on $300+ premium military contractor earpro (ear protection), or you could devote all that extra cash to range day brass. I run these earpro in my duty gear as well as when I go to the range on my personal time. The speakers enhance the noises around you and I can say that I can hear quieter noises better with these. The speakers seem to have directional microphones so you be specially aware and tell exactly where around you the sound is coming from (not sure why it's not advertised as having such feature). I reccomend these to everyone and I bought the gel earpad replacements for a more comfortable fit as I wear these earpro prescription glasses. I reccomend these to all my buddies/coworkers who are looking for a quality pair. AAA batteries are included.

I have used it to mow my lawn and while using leaf blower. I was able to use my wireless ear pods and had the muffs cover over. I could hardly hear the lawn mower or leaf blower. I love how it looks too! I’m satisfied with the product.

These are pretty decent overall, durable, comfortable (enough), good sound quality and electronic noise reduction. I've had several over the years and try to keep 1 or 2 NIB in storage as back-ups. It's nice to have a 1/8" input jack for a Comms radio/speaker mic or a MP3 player.

I’m reviewing three range headphones, side-by-side, to help you make an informed decision:- Howard Leight Impact Sports by Honeywell Model R-01526 ($52.92, NRR: 22 db)- Walker’s Razor Slim Model GWP-RSEM ($39.08, NRR: 23 db)- Gloryfire Model M8056T ($26.90, NRR: 25 db)Below, I’ve ordered earmuffs from highest to lowest in my assessment of performance per dimension/characteristic. I’m not advocating for you to buy one over another, just trying to provide info. I’m not sponsored to do this, I paid for each of these three products myself out of pocket.--------------------------------------------------COMFORT#1: Walkers: Deep cups with thick pads, does not press down on eye pro (safety glasses), comfortable after 20+ minutes. On the other hand, there is a high level of resistance when opening, putting on, and adjusting.#2: Gloryfire: Has thick pads, but is uncomfortable for the first few minutes because the headband pulls down onto your head. If you adjust to have more room, the cups just slide down you ears. You get used to it quickly though and you stop noticing it within a few minutes. Easy to open and adjust.#3: Howard Leights: Thin pads, difficult to get them to sit right over your ear and eye pro with no air leakage. Either they lift off the bottom of your ear, or you have to make the band so high it doesn’t actually rest on your head/hat. Uncomfortable on the ear as soon as you put them on, but doesn’t hurt the top of your head. Your ear contacts the felt inside the earmuff, which explains why they have “hygiene kits” to replace them. Otherwise, easy to open and adjust.--------------------------------------------------DAMPENING#1: Howard Leights: When volume is off, they have great decibel reduction. When sound is on, they immediately cut to a safe level when you are shooting.#2: Walkers: When volume is off, they have ok (but not great) decibel reduction. When sound is on, they immediately cut to a safe level when you are shooting.#3: Gloryfire: When volume is off, they have great decibel reduction, but when sound is on, they are not that good — you can hear the start of a blast before dampening kicks in and to my ears at least, they don’t seem to dampen as much.--------------------------------------------------AUDIO QUALITY WHEN ONbegrudgingly, #1: Howard Leights: Extremely good fidelity of sound. There is some lag when you turn them on or adjust the volume, but the audio is very good. Input microphones are covered in a felt that protrudes past the plane of the earpiece, could get snagged and will certainly collect dust if out in the wild.#2: Walkers: Sound fidelity is very good, but after a few months, the left headphone cut out completely. Input microphones are covered in a protective metal mesh that sits flush with the plane of the earphone cup, which is a great design.#3: Gloryfire: Fidelity and volume of the sound is not good. Whereas in a quiet room with the other two, you can hear an analog clock ticking in the next room, these barely make out voices. Out of the box, the right ear was noticeably quieter than the left. At higher volumes, I can hear low level static. When playing with music even at full volume for both the media player and the earphones, the sound is relatively quiet (though possibly loud enough for listening to tunes on a range, didn’t actually try that).--------------------------------------------------VOLUME ADJUST AND AUDIO CABLE INPUT#1: Walkers: Volume knob is in an intuitive place and protrudes slightly, so it is easy to find when wearing. Knob is oriented vertically so up means louder (intuitive) and it is very responsive. Input port is also oriented vertically which is convenient. Only drawback is that the input port has a rubber plug that falls out and yet is very difficult to get back into the hole.#2: Gloryfire: Volume knob is in an intuitive place but does not protrude, so there is a little fumbling at first until you get used to where it is. Adjustments are fairly responsive. The input port is located on the edge and is easy to find, plus it has a kind of collar which makes it easy to plug into without taking them off.#3: Howard Leights: Unlike the other two, the volume knob is oriented perpendicularly, so adjustments require left-right turning which is not intuitive. Because the knob is located at the edge of the phone, it’s easy to find. As previously said, there is a a lag when adjusting the sound. The input port is also located on the edge and is pretty easy to find when wearing. Picks up electromagnetic static from a phone when plugged in, which is annoying.--------------------------------------------------COMPACTNESS FOR STORAGE#1: Howard Leights: Collapses easily into a nice, tight form.#2: Gloryfire: Collapses easily into a tight form, but are slightly bulkier than Howard Leights.a distant #3: Walkers: When collapsing, one or both cups do not slide in and you have to fiddle with it to get it collapsed. Pads only make contact at the top, compressing the pads unevenly when not in use.--------------------------------------------------DESIGN AND APPEARANCE#1: Walkers: Sleek, angled design with no curved lines or bulk. Very modern. Wires protrude vertically from the battery cover so replacing batteries doesn’t make you worry about clipping the wire.#2: tie: Howard Leights and Gloryfire have nearly identical lines, and are in my opinion kind of ugly. The wires both protrude out from a corner of the phone and get in the way of the battery cover when changing out batteries.--------------------------------------------------One last thing to note: Gloryfire states in big, bold letters “US Brand Quality” but they are manufactured in China, just designed in the US. Seems intentionally misleading.For me, I am returning the Gloryfires because the sound in the left ear is quiet, my Walkers crapped out after a few months, and the Impacts are what several of the ROs at the range I go to wear — haven’t had them long enough to gauge their reliability.

This is my initial review of the Howard Leight R-01526 Earmuffs, which I've had for a week now, so I will tailor it to my limited usage. That being said, these electronic earmuffs are exactly what I was looking for in my search for quality hearing protection (or "earpro" as we say in the military). I've been frequently going to the gun range for some time now and I found it difficult with regular earpro to hold conversations with the range officers and the other patrons around me. The best ones I could find besides electronic types were the SureFire Sonic Defenders (which I've used for years), however I have pretty touchy sound sensitivity and I had to keep the filter caps closed, which blocked out any hope for normal audible dialogue. I knew electronic was the only way to go, but I was halted by the astounding prices and size of many of these devices. Then, I was introduced to these beauties.Design: This is one of the, if not the slimmest and most compact designs on the market right now. The headband is very slim and the earpads (is that the right word?) are slim as well, but comfortable. I like how it folds up into itself quite compactly, with virtually nothing sticking out. Even the volume control and microphones are made flush with the outer shells so as to mitigate damage or accidental activation, as well as reduce exposure to the environment. The overall feel is very solid and it truly seems like they used quality materials in the construction. I especially like the tough leather upper of the headband, which comes slightly distressed from manufacturing.Performance: The three main topics of concern here are battery life, amplification, and most importantly, attenuation. I've only used this twice, probably for a total of 5 hours, so I will refrain from commenting on the battery life for now. However, this eapro does have a 4-hour auto shutoff to conserve battery power. The amplification is excellent for this earpro. I'm hearing things I really should not be able to hear (like whispers from far away), and crystal clear as well. The quality is so good that if I adjust the volume just right, it almost sounds like I'm listening with my ears exposed. I do want to point out though, that in a quiet environment and on low volume, I do get some white noise, but it is very negligible and I completely forget about it once I actually use the earpro as intended. As for the attenuation, these protect my ears just as well as inserting foam plugs. I am able to notice the gradual return of amplification if someone is talking as a shot is fired, so it is not instant, but too brief to be of any bother.Usability: Like I said these are very slim, so you can wear this under a hood without it bulging out or a specially designed helmet with the ears cut out. I tried wearing this with my Large ACH, but sadly it did not fully agree with the matchup. The cups were pressed a little too tightly on my head and the headband sandwiched on the top wasn't the most comfortable either. Maybe I should shift around my internal pads. The power switch/volume control is perfectly designed. It is just a rotating switch that clicks to let you know if it's on or off and has enough rubbery texture and grip that you can easily adjust it with the touch of a finger. It is not the easiest to find when on your head, but in short time muscle memory will take over and it will not be a problem. Also, this earpro is very light and since I have a large head, it fits really snug, but I had no problem wearing this for hours at a time as it is very comfortable, especially due to the soft earpads (too late to change now).Durability: I haven't had these for that long so I cannot attest to how it stands up to wear and tear. But, it does feel very sturdy and rugged, and seems to be constructed with tough, quality materials.Overall, Howard Leight manufactured a top-notch electronic earmuff that holds its own compared to earpro four times its price (I've personally tried the ComTac II). For the average shooter like myself, I could not find anything else coming close to this earpro in design, performance, and price range. Yes, I did check out the Peltor 6S, but their microphones and volume adjustments jut out from the shell, which some reviewers complain can be accidentally activated in a bag, and it takes 4 batteries, and it's more expensive. The Howard Leights are a steal.