I always wonder what the folks who complain about muzzle brakes are wearing for hearing protection. I can tell breakes are a little different, there's soms blast, but the noise thru your earplugs shouldn't be a factor.
The 14.5" HBAR is very, very heavy. Bushmaster sells it as a machinegun barrel. The Army is using a similar diameter barrel with some M4A1 carbines (AUTO) but for semi use all you get is more weight. The M4-AK barrel setup is much lighter.
The AK74 design brake works very well.
-- Chuck