OTTO EngineeringNoizeBarrier Micro, Black, V4-11029

I am a freight train engineer. I bought these because normal hearing protection drown out needed communications between the conductor and i during train movements. Those of you that know, yes this is a rules violation. However with the horn, pop off valves, radio squelch, wheel slip, and all other ambient noises, these are incredible! I even use the for lawn mowing, running the chainsaw, and any average noise related applications. I can turn on the hearing enhancement feature and actually hear all conversations going on around me. These are almost like hearing aids that protect your hearing. I have significant hearing damage from years of abuse to my ears. These will most likely protect what hearing I have left, and still be able to actively engage in normal conversations. To the people who made this, thank you!

I've been a professional shooter since 1986...military spec ops and both local and federal law enforcement. I now run my own shooting school where I shoot indoors and outdoors. I researched like crazy to find the best in-ear hearing protection and landed on the OTTO Engineering NoizeBarriers.Outdoors is where these shine folks, they will handle everything in that environment you can throw at them. The thing I love the most is I forget they are even in my ears; they are that comfortable! I can wear whatever hat or headgear I want, and nothing gets in the way.Indoor shooting ranges are a mixed bag though. To tell you the truth, I have two pair of high-end hearing pro that professionals wear and they struggle indoors as well at times. I didn't expect these to be able to handle indoor shooting at all, but they did just fine if it was just me and a buddy shooting or if I only had 4 or so students and I could stand about 10' behind them. But, when I had more students I had to push back about 20' or more to even be tolerable noise reduction levels. So I set these to the low amplification, threw on my over the ear muffs on top of these and BAM! Perfecto combination. With them doubled up I had very good amplification and perfect noise reduction.People comment about these not being updated over the years and they don't have some of the "bling" that other in-ear devices have...such as bluetooth connection or multiple levels of amplification. These have 2 levels...low and high. The low should be called "normal" because it amplifies to a normal hearing level and makes it seem like you aren't wearing hearing protection at all. This is where I run this pretty much all the time. High is like the high end of a good pair of hearing protection. A bit too high for me for "normal" shooting on the range; I don't need to hear every pebble move as I walk. I could see the High setting great for hunters sitting in a blind or even home protection when you are barricaded and waiting for law enforcement to arrive....you will hear everything in your home!If you shoot a lot, especially outdoors, these are an amazing investment in a quality in-ear hearing pro. The build quality, reliability, and track record of these stand out ahead of all the rest on the market for a reason....they didn't change what works for a trade-off for bling you don't need when shooting.

Product is the real deal! They make shooting much more comfortable, while using a rifle especially. Larger earmuffs make shooting g more cumbersome but these do the job and do it well. Noise suppression is good even for center fire guns. Highly recommend them even at the higher cost compared to earmuffs. Summertime shooting should be more comfortable while using .

Bought these and had them in my ears for hours. No pain, no problems, they simply work great! My ear muffs would press my arms of my safety glasses into my head and after a few hours it would become painful. Now I put these in and can just wear my hat.

Considering the work i do, as a Firearms Instructor, Weapons and Tactics Instructor, Close Protection Agent and combat veteran, i have had my hearing damaged in everywhere and was looking for a compact hearing protection that can stand up to the rigors of my work, while preserving the hearing i still haveI think this is it for me. since i bought this product, i would have to knit pick the details to have something worth mentioning in terms of criticisms. but this product is a damn good one.i can use this product all day, indoor/outdoor and still have enough to keep going past that. its small compact and comfortable. i have even used one side in conjunction with my earpiece that connects to my radio for team comms.the only down side is their choice of ear pieces that came with the product, so i ended up buying aftermarket ear pieces based on the recommendation of my mentor, that comes in three different sizes.i dont have any ear fatigue at the end of the day, and its almost like having bionic hearing, the only other thing i can pick at is that it only has two modes, something in between would have been nice. its hard to tell if the bionic setting is loud in my ears to make it worse or am i just hearing better. tactical hearing aids, can hear conversation just find indoors and outdoors, almost feels like i am eavesdropping on everyone around me. anyways great product, only four stars for me because of the earpieces that came with it, and having to but another product, that are excellent. i highly recommend this product,

Pricy but worth it. Excellent performance and quality. Used as ear protection at gun range. Allows conversation while offering excellent protection. Comfortable to wear. Stays in ear very well. Allows for optimal cheek weld on buttstock unlike muff versions.

Functionally, I love how these things work. However, I cannot recommend due to the absolute failure that is their support. When I purchased these, I noticed that one headphone discharged much faster than the other (appx 25-30 mins). The time for discharge has lowered more since I purchased. I call OTTO today to see what the options are and whether I can get my faulty unit serviced. $150/ear! There's no repair, just replacement. This would put me at $550 in this unit. Do not buy, find some good over-ears.DO NOT BUY. DO NOT BUY.