Caldwell E-MAX Electronic Hearing Protection 21-25 NRR - Adjustable Earmuffs for Shooting, Hunting and Range

The customer support from Caldwell (Battenfeld Technologies, Inc.) is definitely 5 Star! The muffs I received had small cracks on the top of each muff. I see some reviewers experiencing the same thing. I contacted Caldwell and they sent a replacement right away. That's great customer service!The behind the ear design works very well although it may not be for everyone. I found the metal band that rides behind the neck sometimes rubs against my collar and generates a little noise in the muffs but I soon forgot about it. They are not adjustable as far as pressure to keep them in place so if you have a large head you may find them tight. They are fine for me but I don't have a large head.The sound amplification of people talking works great. There are microphones on the front of each muff so the directional perception is good. You turn it on via a small knob on the back of the right muff; you then turn it until you can hear low volume sounds like people talking; you can turn it up a little to increase volume. When a firearm sounds it shuts off the mics and then comes back on. This enables you to hear everyone talking and normal ambient sounds while blocking the loud gunshots. The NPR is 21. You will miss a word or two in the conversation while the mics shut down but that's far better than missing words because of a loud bang. There is a 3.5 mm stereo jack on the top of the right muff and it comes with a cable so you can attach your phone or a music player. I have seen some reviewers complain about it's positioning but it keeps the cord out of the way.When the electronics are on a red LED, on the left muff, is lit. You must remember to turn off the power as there is no auto shut off. The batteries seem to last a while. I put in new batteries with voltage measured at 1.61 volts and after using the muff for 5 hours they measured 1.52 volts.Unlike over the head muffs they don't fold up into a small package so just shoving them in a range bag isn't as easy. You do have to be careful of the foam wind shields on the microphones. They seem to be susceptible to rub wear and damage if not stored properly. I may look for some lavalier mic foam wind covers that i can adapt to these in case they do get damaged.To summarize, other than possibly being tight, small sounds from the metal frame rubbing and having to be careful with the mic covers when storing they are a great product that functions well at a great price and have excellent customer service. I would definitely recommend them for shooting range use, especially at this price.

I own 4 sets of Caldwell muffs, both behind the ear and over the head. I've used for several years without failure. Having a control to turn off that includes an indicator light is a nice feature. No more dead batteries from leaving on. I like ability to adjust volume for normal voice levels. I had a problem with one set so I contacted Caldwell. They fixed the problem without questioning me. They stand behind this excellent product. If you enjoy activities like ranges, buy these. You will not be disappointed.

Ok, so after thinking about these, I'm coming back and giving them an extra star. I think these would work great at the firing range. I have not used them there, so I can not give the 5th star. But they look like they will work as good as my Peltors I bought several years ago. In fact, I will probably buy another pair of these for the firing range. I would recommend these to anyone looking for a pair of hearing protection at the firing range. They look well built, and look like they will work fine.Since all I wanted these for was some lawn mower engine reduction and mp3 player, I have gone in and disabled the mics. The only other problem I'm having with them is when I start to sweat they feel like they want to slide down my head. They haven't fallen off my head, they may just feel like they are going to fall off. I think I'm going to try and find some elastic and attach them to the top, so the band can go over my head for a little more support.First let me say they work like they are suppose to. Would work nice for the firing range. You can hear conversations, but when you hear a loud pop/bang it blocks it out. I was wanting to use these for yard work while mowing the grass. Hoping they would block out the loud engine noises while allowing me to listen to my mp3 player. It does not work like that. When you plug in the headphones the music sounds good. But you can still hear all the noises, like a loud lawn mower. The microphones are still picking up the mower/weed eater sounds. I have a pair of old 3M hearing protectors that had a stereo on them and my mp3 plugs into it. If you want the stereo to work you turn on the volume switch and you can hear the radio. If you want to listen to the mp3 player, you leave the switch off, and control the volume with the mp3 volume up and down.The reason I bought these was I wanted something that I could wear and also have a big brim sun hat on. With my 3M pair there is a big headband that goes over your head and I can only wear ball caps. The other weird thing about these is the ear cups appear to be on upside down. Maybe Caldwell did some research and found this works better for the behind the neck wire. I would have like them to have the thicker part of the ear cup down and the thinner part at the top of my ear. This would also put the plug in at the bottom of the ear cup, like it should be. Again, I have not worn them for any length of time, some maybe Caldwell's research found that the thicker part of the ear cup was better suited for the top of the ear. At least move the audio jack to the bottom. Even if these did work like I wanted them to, I would have to have the mp3 cable plugging into the top of the earphone. It looks like Caldwell took a pair of regular headphones and turned them upside down and mounted the wire to them. Even if you took the sticker off and turned it upside down, it would still fit in the sticker cut out area.All together they work good, if you want to use them at a firing range. I will have to take this pair to a electronic friend and see if he can rig them up so the microphones do not work at all, and the stereo speakers still work.

This product works extremely well. I can have a conversation at the range without worrying about loud noises destroying my hearing. I did have a technical problem with this set of hearing protection. After about 6 months, the microphone stopped picking up ambient noise. I contacted customer service and they had a new pair out to me in less than a week. I couldn't believe it. In today's market there is actually a company that services their customer!

Worked OK when new. Not working as well now that it's been used a bit.

Love the fit of these, I actually wear them with the wire behind the head not the neck. Very comfortable and allows full movement in run and gun.