Hello,

Are there any in-ear comm headsets that provide communications capability with hearing protection and ambient noise amplification?  Any experiences you can share?

Basically looking for Peltors without the bulk and heat build-up. Also I've run into a few issues with running Peltors for my helmet setup so I'm looking for something that is easy on and off.

These are pretty much the cat's meow.  Not cheap though.

http://espamerica.com/shop-now/

Cheap, Good, or Now - pick two.

Wow!  You aren't kidding.

What radios are you looking to be able to hook into?
Something like this for motorolas Link
You can get the in ear portion molded into some of the custom molded ear protection. I used something similar while working security at a nuke plant. Had a custom molded place say they could do it. Just never got around to doing it.

Holy cow. Definitely out of my budget lol



I have a Baofeng UV5R but I would also like to hook it up to my iPhone as well. Thanks for the info I'll look into it!

The baofeng uses a standard kenwood 2 pin setup.

Easy to put on and take off?

In-ear stuff is harder to take off and put on.  Nacre and Silynx stuff is OK, but holy fuck... it hurts my head to just think about it.  The foam for the Nacre and Silynx earplugs sucks balls, it's useless and gives errors when it gets wet or sweaty and it won't seal.
If you don't adjust it "just right" the cable for the earbuds will snag on a buttstock or swivel or seatbelt or antenna and then you have to re-seal and then re-test the system because one of the magic earbuds came out of your fucking head.
That means, power-off, twist up the foam part, race to jamb it into your ear canal without damaging anything, power-up, test, use.

Oh, did I mention that I really like the part where the foam separates from the plastic tube connector?  This has the awesome result of letting the foam sit outside your ear canal while a hypodermic-needle-sized plastic tube is being pushed into your ear canal.

Oh yeah, finding spare foam pieces is a pain in the ass because there are only two pair of each size that come with the headsets.  If supply or commo isn't totally on top of things with ordering non-NSN disposable parts for you, then you're SOL.
If you're a civilian and you're ordering a radio set, getting Comply® Canal Tips is like proving citizenship while getting an audit, everytime you need to order them.  God forbid you ever run out of foam ear canal tips, because if they don't seal , you're gonna hear the world's most amazing sound in your ear, like... incessantly, until you key the PTT and shut down that side.  That's cool, I didn't want to hear out of one ear anyway.  I'm really glad I paid a fuck-ton of money for these, so they won't work because a piece of foam got wet or dirty.  Fuck my life.

You want convenience and reliabillity?  Wear a headset.
If you want convenience, reliability and comfort?  Work in a TOC or just shoot .22 suppressed subsonic all the time... maybe while sitting in an easy chair.

There is a hybrid headset made by Peltor, but that is just an awesome way to torture yourself with earplugs and a metal headband instead of just a metal headband.


The best you can get is a TEA Invisio set, and you'll need a pound of flesh for that shit.

Even the TEA Invisio has some issues.





I bought one with a custom ear mold, and the molded part was very uncomfortable, and required constant adjustment.  And even when the earmolds were in place, it seemed that the active cancellation circuit wasn't doing its job.  Shooting HURT.  I sent it back and they tested it, saying "The noise cancellation circuit is working."  I didn't get it, since the noise reduction was the same whther I had the unit turned on or not.  It was as though the only noise suppression was coming from the fit of the earmolds, which was not good.





To their credit, TEA sent me a new unit with the foam plugs, and let me swap it with the custom unit.  This was after I'd tried it out for a long time.  This one works much better.





Unfortunately, the foam plugs on the new one are not very comfortable either, and the corded in-ear design is an issue for me, as it's tough to keep the cord in place.  I have the same problem with corded ear buds and headphones.





Right now I'm using MSA Pro-X for most work, and keeping the TEA Invisio for any training classes I might take.  I think the noise suppression, and especially the ambient soundfield of the MSA's is far superior.  They aren't too bad in the heat with the gel inserts.  Same radio compatibility as most high-end sets.
 

MSA

http://www.srstactical.com/communications/parts/comms-conversion-kit-for-msa-sordin-supreme-headsets/cs6000.html

My only luck with noise-cancelling radio-capable headsets/earsets was Peltors.  
Even a set of Sordins gave me some grief with a plastic headband breaking (on a mission).

The only way I can stand the Invisios is if I loop a rubber band between the two earpiece wires that run behind my head.
It acts as a sort of shock-absorption function without pulling the earpieces out of my skull.  However, I still hate the foam earpieces... it's a trade-off.

Damn that sucks to hear. I had my Peltors helmet mounted and they did not line up with my ears correctly due to interference with the helmet shell. Also shooting prone sucked.

Guess I'll probably have to stick with the Peltors via headband or something. Thanks all.  

quiet pro

you have fun with that.

You got me curious what they are.



Haha...  have fun even trying to *find* them.  I searched a half dozen ways -- variations on dealer  honeywell quietpro qp100ex,  for sale,  sales, distributor, outlet  ---   <crickets>  



Do they even exist?  All I can locate are Gee-Whiz press releases.  The only other connection was on Honeywell site,  "One of our sales engineers can contact you...."   No Thanks.  Right there that implies they are stupidly expensive, as in "If you have to ask, you can't afford it."  



 

 

Quiet pros? Lol, I agree with many of the above comments. All the Nacres, SIlynx, electronic issued shit was that, Just shit.
Nothing like being near a SMAW and having the electronics take a dump on your hearing pro while screaming static into your ears.

ESPs are pretty good for the buck. THey have a great mil discount if you're on promotive.

TCI and TEA.

Oh yeah, Atlantic Signal does too.

Honeywell bought out Nacre years ago.  Right around around the time the USMC did not renew the QuietPro contract.

I'd start with TCI, they're more open to single small purchases for custom work than the other two, it's kinda how Don Medine got his start.
They do good work.

TCI won't touch quietpro.  I ended up going through a dude in Hong Kong.  The cables are beautiful BTW.  Seriously look like they rolled off a peltor assembly line.  Check EBay, there's always cables and quietpro units on there.

As to where I got my QP units?  UncleSam's actually.

Thus far, the 7 or so of us using these have had zero issues.  Clear comm and awesome attenuation.

My buddy did the leg work and ordered a case of each size plug straight from the current manufacturer (I want to say Howard Leight, but could be wrong) so that's a non-issue.

I'm curious where does one actually buy a Quiet Pro unit. I did a quick google search and couldn't find anyone selling them…hell I don't even know how much they are at this point. I checked Honeywell but they didn't have any clear price for a unit. This QP unit seems like exactly what I was looking for as far as comms and ear protection in one compact little unit.

Contract/issued or second hand.

Well damn…so I take it not too easy to find. Do you happen to know what the round about price point on them is. I don't want to spend a ton of time trying to find some if they're gonna be outta my reach price wise.

About this much.

Did some digging around and saw this. One thing I really like about it is how it has a headband that prevents the ear buds from being pulled out. Unfortunately after contacting Atlantic Signal I found out it is restricted to Federal agency and USSOCOM. I asked if they could make one without whatever technology restricts it to other users and I haven't gotten a reply.

All I want is ambient sound amplification, comms capable, and hearing protection. I don't need that bone conducting stuff lol.

Buy some Peltors.

That's a whole lot better than I thought they'd be. Thanks!

I have Peltors but they don't like up with my ears correctly when they're helmet mounted, the top part of my ear breaks the seal because the helmet shell doesn't allow them to be adjusted higher up.

Having them headband mounted gives me a giant headache.

Since nothing has presented itself as a solution I guess I'll stick with them.

Yup.  We've had them in use for a while now and are working great.

Subbing for later. I have a pair of comtac iii's and an ht1000 on my desk, all I need is a PTT butmy buddy just got the nacre and loves it. So now I'm debating if I want to go with the nacre/silynx or just get a peltor PTT and be done with it.

Here's a  few questions for those in the know:

1: can you run comtac iii's through a quietpro or c4ops if you wanted to?

2: how do the comtac iv's work

3: I have a single radio for inter team comms and dont forsee needing dual comms, if I got a deal on a dual comm unit would I have any extra wires hanging off the unit or is it just an extra 5 pin port?

Thanks guys.

Well said. I used the Silynx ear buds for exactly one day and went back to my Comtac IIIs.

In addition to the problems mentioned above, add excessive wind noise and inability to adjust the volume of ambient sounds to the list of cons.

Holy shit they are selling JUST a peace of moldable silicone with steel shot in them for $220 usd?

Why cant I find a scam like that to sell to people, bet they are made in china for .5 cents each.

I've been making do with the Peltors, just wearing the headband instead of mounting them on rails. This'll do for the moment until something appears that I can actually get my hands on, doesn't suck, and cost out of my budget lol.