Travis Olander 12.19.23
We’ve coated noise reduction ratings and why hear safety is so vital while you’re taking pictures: Even rimfire calibers could cause listening to injury after only a quick time frame. However sporting listening to safety could be annoying, particularly if it’s passive – you may’t hear these round you, and your situational consciousness goes down the rain. Lively ear professional is the higher possibility for frequent vary visits. However lively ear professional can get pricey, particularly the most well-liked mannequin in the marketplace right now, PELTOR’s ComTac V. However ComTacs are a few of the most costly lively ear professional muffs you should buy. What for those who may get practically the identical efficiency for a lot much less? That’s what PELTOR’s Sport Tactical 500s are for. Let’s assessment.
Listening to Safety Protection on AllOutdoor
At-a-Look: Peltor Sport Tac 500
The five hundred earmuffs present lively listening to safety by way of two omnidirectional microphones, one constructed into every cup, dealing with ahead. The 500s additionally embody Bluetooth connectivity for taking part in music on any typical BT machine or smartphone.
Specs n’ Options: Peltor Sport Tac 500
- NRR (Noise Discount Score): 26 dB
- Dynamic Suppression Time: Accommodates indoor / out of doors / echo
- Voice Monitoring: Amplifies dialog towards background ambient noise
- Energy: two AAs or PELTOR li-ion rechargeable pack (bought individually)
- Headband: Rubberized, adjustable metal wire body
Actual-World Noise Discount: Peltor Sport Tac 500
As we coated in our information to Noise Discount Rankings, the real-world NRR of any set of ear professional gained’t all the time present sufficient safety while you’re taking pictures. However in testing the Peltor Sport Tac 500 outdoors with supersonic and subsonic 300 Blackout from a ten.5″ SBR, I discovered the 500s present hearing-safe ranges of safety, even when not suppressed. The muffs present a great seal across the ear, with consolation that feels nearly equivalent to that of the ComTac headset.
The froth is satisfactory, and the mesh inside doesn’t scratch or chaff. Breathability is mediocre, although, and on scorching days, you would possibly end up pooling some sweat across the ears for those who put on this headset for longer than half-hour to an hour. Fortunately, the headset doesn’t pinch or squeeze your noggin, and I discovered the rubber-and-steel wire headband to be surprisingly snug.
The band is contoured properly sufficient to cut back any pinch factors, and regardless of its rubber shell, it’s fairly comfortable. The metal wire is springy and skinny, with good adjustability – no complaints on fitment general. I’d, in actual fact, argue that it’d even be a tad extra snug than the ComTac’s headband, which has a bit extra squeeze, and may begin to really feel tight after some time.
Consolation solely goes to date, although – in case your lively ear professional sucks at, properly, being lively, then you definately’ll simply wind up tearing them off in between each spherical of fireplace. However right here is the place the Peltor Sport Tac 500 headset actually does excel. Having worn the ComTac Vs for a couple of years (fairly actually each time I’m going taking pictures), I can say the Peltor Sport Tac 500 are surprisingly shut in high quality on this entrance.
The directional microphones do phenomenally at monitoring voices and ambient background sound. They supply comparable amplification, just like the ComTacs, affording good situational consciousness. Voices come by crisp and, in actual fact, the 500s have a bit extra treble and readability in protecting high-pitch tones, whereas the ComTacs are inclined to sound a bit extra bass-y however muffled when passing by greater tones.
To be clear, the ComTacs nonetheless win relating to amplifying hearing-safe sounds. They’ll decide up quieter noises at better distances. If I needed to put a quantity on it, I’d say the ComTacs are between 35% and 50% extra delicate and succesful at protected sound amplification. However when chopping off gunfire and accounting for reverberation, the 500s are virtually equivalent to the ComTacs. They’re surprisingly good, and I wrestle to seek out any distinction of their lively safety and responsiveness when evaluating them to their costlier accomplice. The 500s aren’t excellent, although. Observe the one downside these earmuffs undergo:
The cups on the 500s are notably bigger than the ComTacs and, for that matter, many different lively ear professional choices. The place consolation and sound high quality excel, compactness suffers and, due to the cups’ sizes, they have a tendency to run into buttstocks and may intrude together with your cheek weld and sight image.
This isn’t a lot of an issue while you’re working with a high-rise pink dot, or another optic. However for those who’re craning your neck to sight down some flip-up irons, you’ll wind up having to push your muffs’ cup upward, cramming it towards your ear to get correct clearance. It is a minor inconvenience, and you’ll nonetheless seize a sight image with correct sight alignment, however it’ll get irritating for those who don’t spend money on some type of rail-mounted optic or pink dot to acquire a extra vertical head place.
Again to the nice: The Peltor Sport Tac 500 present nice battery life. The chunky earmuffs at the least make up for his or her bulk on this class; two AA batteries present about 10 strong hours of steady use – although you’ll shave that quantity right down to about 5 or 6 hours for those who determine to blast some music over Bluetooth steadily (as I do when sporting these for garden mowing).
Although I query why PELTOR didn’t comply with the ComTac’s design (in contrast above), and break up the battery compartment into two smaller casings, one positioned on both muff. This could remedy the problem of huge, cumbersome cups and permit for a extra contoured match towards the everyday buttstock. I’m positive this design is a value saver; it’s unlucky, nonetheless.
Talking of Bluetooth: The controls on the 500s are simple and easy. You get two directional buttons for adjusting the headset’s quantity and for turning on and powering off the items (simply maintain down both button), with the Bluetooth connectivity button within the heart. Press and maintain till the unit beeps, then the muffs ought to pop up on no matter machine you’re attempting to connect with.
The one irritant, right here, is that Bluetooth is risky – every time you energy down the unit, it’ll disconnect from and overlook no matter machine it was linked to. So, every time you determine to attach, you’ll need to undergo the pairing course of.
If that’s bothersome, be happy to depend on the three.5mm AUDIO IN jack tucked beneath the plastic cap on the cup. The USB cable is just for charging the lithium-ion battery pack, bought individually by PELTOR.
Ultimate ideas: Although they’re bigger and bulkier than most over “low-cost” lively ear professional taking pictures muffs, the Peltor Sport Tac 500 from PELTOR present efficiency that’s surprisingly aggressive towards their flagship ComTac sequence of headsets. Good battery life and luxury, glorious sound safety and noise amplification with voice monitoring, in a package well under $150.
Read our review of the ComTac V Defender headset here.
