Old thread. This new thread supersedes that thread entirely, there is no need to read the old one if you don't want to.
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The MSA Sordin Supreme Pro-X headset is the "top of the line" model of the Sordin line of electronic hearing protection, known well in the shooting world for years. It is available in a range of colors/camo and with two different suspension options - over the head and behind the head. The particular headset pictured here is a Multicam model with behind the head suspension.

Price is typically around $280 with gel ear seals.
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Headset features:

• Uses two AAA batteries, rated battery life of ~600 hours.
• NRR rating of 19
• Waterproofed. Battery compartment is O-ring sealed, circuit boards coated in conformal coating
• Two front facing microphones, one on each earcup
• 5 volume levels
• Battery save feature, headset will turn off after 4 hours with no button presses, warning tone will be heard 2 minutes before turn off
• Sound compression, does not "clip" or turn off the speakers when loud noise is encountered
• Will save last used volume level
• Adjustable for fit
• 3.5mm audio IN port on left (control side) earcup

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The headset: This is my headset with Multicam dipped cups and behind the head suspension. There are gel seals installed on this headset. These headsets are available in a couple other colors, including OD Green, Black, and Blaze Orange Camo.

You can see the two front facing microphones here. The microphones have foam windscreens which are covered by rubber "cages".


Left side earcup. Front (microphone) to the left. The controls are on this side. The power button is in the middle, with volume down to the left and volume up to the right.



Right side earcup. Front (microphone) to the right. The battery compartment is on this side, to the left. You can see the lanyard I've attached to the battery door.



The 3.5mm audio IN port on the left earcup is pictured below.



Let's examine the inside...

The battery compartment is accessed through a metal screw on cap. The battery port is sealed with an O-ring, preventing water and dust ingress.


The battery cap. It is steel and knurled to make unscrewing it easier. The post on the end is for attaching a lanyard to the cap, an example of which can be seen in the photo of the right side earcup above. The other end of the lanyard should be tied to one of the steel suspension wires on the headset. This prevents loss of the battery cap when changing batteries.


Onto the most important part of the headset, the electronics.

Here are the internals of both earcups, seen after removing the ear seals and comfort foam. Both circuit boards are entirely coated in conformal coating, preventing water/dust damage to the boards and the components on them. All seams on the battery compartment are sealed. The battery leads in the inside are also sealed. The circuit boards are held in place with Torx screws. Behind the boards are very thin half sheets of insulating foam.


The other side of the control side circuit board. Here you can see the majority of the small components in this headset. The two IC's (Integrated Circuits) are covered with the same coating used on the internal battery leads. This is a nice thing to see as the IC's are critical components, so I appreciate that they've afforded them some extra protection beyond the clear conformal coating.



As the conformal coating is mostly clear it is difficult to see if it really is applied to all the components. I want to make this clear - ALL components mounted on the circuit boards in Sordin Supreme Pro-X headsets are coated with conformal coating. Conformal coating is a broad term for a variety of electronics coatings used to protect components from water, abrasion, dust, and other environmental hazards.

The coating on this board has a UV tracer and as such can be seen fluorescing under UV light. My camera doesn't handle the UV light well, but as you can see all components are coated and therefore protected from water damage.


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Use as shooting muffs: I'm comfortable firing a range of weapons with this headset, to include 5.56 AR-15's with 16" barrels, 9mm handguns, 12 gauge shotguns, and the like. However, my shooting is done exclusively outdoors in an open space. No deleterious effects were experienced. Experiences shooting indoors or in enclosed spaces may differ however.

The sound compression works flawlessly, even with multiple shooters firing at once. The compression is instant and the headset is very fast at coming out of compression when harmful sound levels have ceased.
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Sound quality: The sound quality of this headset is excellent. There is a slight electronic background "fuzz" or "hiss" that increases as you go up in volume but it is only noticeable in my opinion at the upper two volume levels. It is not loud enough to negatively impact sound quality, all sounds still come in crisp and clear. Wind noise does come through, but I have yet to find a headset that does a spectacular job with wind noise. The most comparable headset, the Peltor ComTac III, seems to be on par with the Sordins for handling of wind noise.

The headset does present a slight high range bias, with bassy or low sounds (foot steps on wood stairs, door closing, etc.) coming through a bit muddled. It does however mean higher pitch/range sounds come through particularly clearly and it makes picking up crunching leaves and similar sounds easy.

Overall the sound reproduction is about as close as you can get to natural human hearing with any electronic hearing protection sans the high range bias which I personally don't find to be particularly bothersome.
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Durability and environmental resistance: This headset is not officially submersion rated as far as I know, but given my knowledge of electronics waterproofing I'd say this headset could indeed survive submersion for a couple minutes at least. As mentioned above the battery compartment is water tight, the circuit boards are coated with all components being sealed from water, the 3.5mm port is water tight, and the control pad forms a gasket against the shell and circuit board which should prevent ingress of dust and water.

The headsets construction in terms of material quality and design choices is top notch. The headset is made in Sweden. The shells are high quality plastic, likely glass reinforced polymer of some sort. The wire pins are steel. The windscreens on the microphones are protected from damage by the rubber cages. The battery cap is steel and features a lanyard point to prevent loss of the cap when changing batteries.

With the circuit boards and all components on them being coated with conformal coating I don't see any way water could damage those components. Even the solder joints are coated. This headset should be durable and reliable through a variety of tough conditions, including extremely wet environments.

The earseals are excellent in terms of construction quality. Their bonding to the plastic backer is seamless and done very well. They feel very durable.
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Operation: Operation of the headset is extremely simple. The only functions are on/off and volume up/down. To turn the headset on simply press the middle (power) button once. To turn it off, hold the button until the headset turns off. To adjust the volume press either the volume up or down buttons once to cycle up/down one level. Tones are heard for each action, including turning the headset on and off. A slightly longer tone is heard when you try to adjust the volume past the upper or lower most levels, alerting you to having reached maximum adjustment.
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Compatibility with consumer electronics: Using any 3.5mm male-to-male cable you can hook up devices such as cellphones to the headset to play audio in the headset. You can also hook most FRS/GMRS radios into the headset provided they have a 3.5mm audio OUT port or an adapter cable with a 3.5mm end to plug into the headset.
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Extra info - purported issues and changes to the battery compartment: Going back before 2014 there are plethora reports of issues with MSA Sordin headsets, with the primary issue being total loss of functionality. It is my opinion that the vast majority of reported issues with MSA Sordin headsets are attributable to two things - headsets shipped as lemons (bad QC/non-functioning) straight out of the factory and battery issues, partly related to the battery compartment.

Before 2012 MSA Sordin Supreme Pro and Supreme Pro-X headsets featured a black battery compartment with a battery cap that lacked the lanyard post. In 2012 this battery compartment was upgraded and is now grey, as seen above in my headset. The old box can be seen below.

I do not have details of what was changed in the new compartments. I contacted SRS Tactical in an attempt to find out more, asking about the battery compartment change and how durable the new boxes are. The full text of the email I received in response to my questions is below:
Reports of problems with these headsets seems to have largely subsided after 2014, likely due to the headsests with the non-upgrade black battery compartments still being in common use up until that time. It is my opinion that these headsets should not fail outside of the headset being improperly assembled from the factory or battery leakage issues. I see no reason water, dust, or some rough handling should damage these headsets.

Photo of the old black battery compartment. Credit to fellow Arfcommer Mg5 for the photo. If you have a headset with a black battery compartment then it is the OLD, PRE-UPGRADE compartment. The upgraded compartments are grey.


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Conclusion: The MSA Sordin Supreme Pro-X is an excellent electronic hearing protection headset. It is durable and built to last, with the sealed battery compartment, conformal coated circuit boards, and protected microphone windscreens. The sound quality is excellent and it is simple to operate. With the 3.5mm audio IN port it is easy to pipe in audio from a variety of consumer electronics. The headset is adaptable for a variety of uses, the fit is adjustable, and it provides adequate hearing protection with excellent reproduction of ambient sounds.

I own the over the head version and agree on all points but one, that it has the best or closest to natural sound reproduction. The Sordin Supreme Pro has not only a high range bias but also amplifies/compresses sound that makes direction able to be determined, but distance not so much. It also seems to lock onto repetative noises like engines and similar sounds. They make generators, motors, or locomotives hundreds of feet away sound like you are right next to them. The Peltor COMTAC III is better than the Sordin Supreme Pro in that aspect, but the latest Peltor Tactical 300/500 is better still and automatically alters the cut off timing for indoor/outdoor. Though the Peltor Tactical 300 or 500 is not in the same class as far as ruggedness and waterproofing. Sordin really needs to update their electronics, IMO, as they have clearly fallen behind.

Also own a set of ComTac III's. I can't say they handle directional and/or distance reproduction any better or worse than the Sordins. Sounds pretty much the same to me sans the the things I mentioned. I don't at all hear the phenomenon you describe of the Sordins being inordinately sensitive to engine or rumbling sounds.

Haven't tried any of the rest of the Peltor line, so can't speak on those headsets.

Thank you for taking the time to do this.  I have been looking to buy a set of Sordins to replace my Peltors.

Thanks for the comment.

Which model of Peltors? ComTacs?

The 6S. They worked good but developed a hissing sound.

Ah. I've heard of quite a few people having issues with the 6S.

In case you were interested in the ComTac III's as well I also have a write up on them. Click me.

I think the Sordins and ComTac III's are both great headsets, can't really go wrong either way unless you want to run some real comms. In that case I'd definitely get the ComTacs.

Great write up on the comtacs.  I don't really have a need for any serious comm use so I think I'm just going to buy a pair of Sordins. The price always kept me from buying them but my hearing or what's left of it is well worth the price.

Your write ups should really be added to one of the tacked threads. I was looking for this type of information for a while.

Iv'e got my pair coming tomorrow after reading how bad your (amongst others) review of the Safariland was. But damn if I couldn't buy a lot of ear plugs for he price of these!

I bought a pair two years ago and we pass them around the family. All day comfortable. You'll be glad you took the leap.

Got them early this AM, man those gel pads feel good. Iv'e got nothing to compare them to except my normal music headphones. Gonna try and get out on Friday and give them a go!

edit: I feel like they don't actually want to fold up though..

If you got the over-the-head suspension I've heard they don't fold too well. They'll fold, but they won't get as compact and tight as a lot of other headsets. I have the behind-the-head suspension model so I don't have hands on experience with the other suspension.

Yeah it's the over head, they fold but kinda iffy on it. Im wondering if a different head piece like the one shot industries would not crinkle up so much? Maybe im just looking for a reason to get a CB color instead of multi cam

From my experience, it's the over-the-head band combined with the use of the gel pads that makes them difficult to fully fold.  The standard ear pads have less bulk, so with the gels it's just enough more to cause issue.

My fix was to discard the headband and mount to my helmet.

@CAKEPWNER  @D_Man

Was messing with them playing music and I noticed i'm only getting sound out of the left cup, obviously these aren't headphones but wanna make sure this isn't a problem and can get them returned ASAP.

Thanks

edit- The cable it came with seems to be faulty, as the one from my regular headphones plays music from both cups

Nothing wrong with the cable, it's working fine. The headset comes with a mono cable. Count the rings on the plug. One ring is mono, two rings is stereo. You need a stereo cable to get audio playback in both earcups.

Sometimes those cables will even have a third ring, which is usually used for a mic or playback controls as often seen on ear buds now.

ETA: Correction/clarification. The cable that comes with the headset is mono on one end, stereo on the other. You'll get mono sound with the mono end plugged into the headset, stereo with the stereo end end plugged into the headset.

How does that work?  An AUX cable needs to be stereo (3 contacts) on both ends to deliver both channels.  Even if the end you plug into the headset has 3 contacts, if the other end you plug into the phone or other device only has mono (2 contacts), all you're going to send down the cable is mono...

My Sordins are radio comm units, so they don't have the AUX jack on them.

Sorry, it was like 1:00am when I wrote that.

I just meant that with the stereo end plugged into the headset you'll get sound in both earcups. Won't be "stereo sound", but it will be play in both earcups. To get actual stereo sound you need a cable that's stereo on both ends.

Mines was purchased in Germany on ebay.

120 euros as surplus with production date of 2015.

Will it be the new one?

If you're asking if my headset was purchased new, yes it was.

Hey Cake, you nailed it. That was the issue, thanks!

Good write-up. I love my Sordin Supreme Pro-X set in every way... except one. Whoever came up with that battery removal method: ffffuucck youuuuu.

You're welcome.

Yeah, the battery compartment could have used a redesign. I get what they were going for, it's one self contained unit which makes sealing it easy and its design helps keep the headset low-profile, plus it makes replacement simple if needed.

It is a bit of a pain getting batteries in and out though and there's not much hope of cleaning the contacts should the batteries pop. However, given the long battery life it doesn't really bother me and I don't actually have that hard of a time getting them out. I use lithiums and leave them in the headset. Been in there since I bought it over 18 months ago now, no issues. Admittedly I have taken them out a couple times while investigating the construction of the compartment but they went back in within 20 minutes each time.

So finally got out to use them. They seem to shut off intermittently, despite there 2018 production date. A bit disappointed, will reach out to the place of purchase.

edit..I think the batt compartment was just loose.

Can you clarify what you mean about the battery compartment being loose? Do you mean the screw-on compartment cap might not have been on all the way?

Yeah, I was reading how it's a major pia to get loose so I was cautious tightening it too much. Ended up removing and putting it back on a bit tighter and it seems like it's remaining on. Was shutting down between 2 and 20 minutes while at the range today. Left it on for roughly 20 minutes and it seemed fine. I hope.

I just tried loosening the battery cap on mine a few turns and shaking/bumping the headset to try and get it to turn off, didn't happen. It'd have to be pretty far off to cause issues I'd think, barring something being out of spec or improperly assembled.

I'd appreciate you keeping us updated, this isn't the first time I've heard of this issue with a new headset. Someone else here had the exact same issue a while back. No idea what was causing it, total mystery.

Will do. Had written SRS before I tried tightening the little knob. I'll dick around with them some more tomorrow, see if I can get them to shut off again.