Electronic Hearing Protection
After more than two decades spent at shooting ranges with standard earmuffs, mostly from Peltor, I, like many others, have succumbed to the advantages of electronic hearing protection. As long as you’re alone at the range, I'd say regular hearing protection is sufficient, but once there are more people, the ability to hear human speech while wearing earmuffs is priceless. Not to mention group training or instruction…
Title photo: All three models withstood weather fluctuations well throughout the year.
Hearing protection is a crucial part of shooting habits. You can protect your hearing using silicone earplugs, but shooting earmuffs or electronic active hearing protectors are better. There’s no point writing about cotton or improvised plugs, which might barely protect you from your partner’s snoring. But I have seen shooters with 9mm Luger brass cases stuffed in their ears…
The undisputed leader in electronic shooting earmuffs is Peltor. Originally a Swedish company founded in 1950, it has become a household name in hearing protection for shooters and soldiers over the years. It is now owned by the American conglomerate 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company), which—among other things—focuses on comprehensive protection of people from various harmful influences. However, nowadays there are more brands on the market, both cheaper and more expensive.
Over time, I acquired three sets of earmuffs—one from Earmor and two models from Walker’s.
Passive earmuffs, like the Earmor M06A model, reduce sound using dense foam materials. They dampen both loud noise and ordinary ambient sounds. Active hearing protectors are more advanced as they analyze different sounds and block only sudden, very loud ones. Others are amplified, allowing us to talk and hear what’s going on around us. How does it work? The sounds are captured by directional microphones and then played back via the earmuff speakers. Loud noises are suppressed, while speech or commands are amplified if too quiet.
Earmor M32 Plus
Earmor is a brand owned by the Chinese company Guangzhou OPSMEN Tech Co., Ltd., based in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. This is the most populous province in China, with a huge concentration of people, manufacturing, and capital. It lies on the southeastern coast. The company (among other things) specializes in manufacturing professional hearing protectors, and their portfolio also includes other shooting accessories.
The Earmor M32 can also communicate through an add-on microphone, which can be mounted on the right or left side. The NATO Military Standard 7.0 connector cable allows the earmuffs to be used with a radio via an additional PTT module. Key parameters include up to 22 dB noise reduction, speech amplification, and automatic shut-off after four hours. Power is supplied by two AAA batteries, one on each side. They’re said to last up to 350 hours, though that’s hard to verify or calculate. The earmuffs are partially waterproof (IPX5 rated) and should operate in temperatures from -20 to +60 °C.
I chose the helmet-mounted version. However, it fell apart during its first visit to the range. Luckily, the e-shop I bought them from kindly sent a replacement and included another, sturdier mounting variant for external helmet rails.
Earmor M32 have simple control via three buttons on the right earcup. The ear seals are gel-filled, which is significantly more comfortable, especially when wearing shooting glasses. Subjectively, the transmitted sound quality isn’t great—there’s always considerable background noise. Volume adjustments are accompanied by beeping, but it’s hard to tell the exact level or where you are on the scale. Noise reduction is on the borderline of comfort. When shooting a short-barreled rifle in .223 Remington, the protection is barely adequate; I’d recommend supplementing with lightweight earplugs. The full headset (earmuffs, ARC rail mount, and microphone) typically costs around CZK 2,600, while the earmuffs alone are about CZK 400 cheaper.
Earmors are popular among airsoft players, where actual noise reduction isn’t critical, but the communication platform works well and is attractively priced. They’re fairly comfortable and provide sufficient protection for less demanding shooters using live firearms. They appear deliberately styled to resemble the professional-grade Peltor ComTac XPI set—but that one is miles ahead in both specs and pricing, usually around CZK 10,000.
Earmor M32 on ARC (Argun) helmet rails look decent, but they’re far from professional-grade earmuffs. However, they’re significantly cheaper and comfortable to wear.
Walker’s Razor are easy to use and wear. Thanks to their slim ear cups, they’re very compact.Walkerʼs Razor
For this test, which spanned almost the entire last year and part of this one, I added two headsets from Walker’s, based in Irving, Texas.
Razors are compact earmuffs with extremely intuitive controls. There’s just one rotary potentiometer with a click-stop at the off position. Shooters, even while wearing gloves, can easily locate and operate it on the right earcup. The earcups are slim and foldable—folded, they fit into a larger pocket. Claimed NRR is 23 dB, with an electronic limiter that reacts to sudden noise spikes in 0.02 seconds. Ambient sound is captured by two microphones. While hard to verify, the hearing protection is sufficient and works well with any firearm.
They include a 3.5mm audio input, though it's unlikely many users will use it. The target group includes recreational shooters, hunters, and regular range visitors who don’t need premium-grade gear. The earmuffs are lightweight, easy to use, and the hum is, let’s say, acceptable. In Czech stores (mine are from Armed in Prague), they cost around CZK 2,200, which makes them an excellent value-for-money choice.
A dedicated walkie-talkie communicator can be purchased for Walker’s Razor. It attaches directly to the headset shell. Voice-activated transmission enables hands-free communication up to a range of 4.8 km, with access to 22 channels and 99 subchannels. It supports standard GMRS/FRS channels. Rubberized buttons and an LCD display allow easy operation and channel tuning. The communicator connects via a 3.5mm jack and usually costs around CZK 1,500.
Walkie-talkie communicator for Razor earmuffs. A smart add-on for a reasonable price. Walkerʼs XCEL 100 and 500
The XCEL 100 is a very interesting option for shooters who take their hobby seriously and plan to spend a lot of time wearing electronic hearing protection. The XCEL 100 features four microphones and a 28 dB NRR (a 4 dB difference is subjectively about twice as loud). Compared to the Earmors, the attenuation is on a completely different level.
But the main strength lies in the electronics. These earmuffs have four control buttons and four sound profiles. Besides a universal mode, users can select a program with maximum amplification, a high-frequency enhancement mode, and my favorite—“clear voice,” which strongly suppresses background noise. You no longer have to listen to your own breathing or clothing rustle all day; the clear voice program makes all-day wear (even during matches) comfortable. The programming is well done—for example, the clicking of belted ammo into a feed tray is suppressed on the first click, while human speech always remains clearly audible. When switching modes, a pleasant female voice announces the change, helping the shooter stay oriented in the menu. Attenuation is absolutely sufficient—we tested the earmuffs even while firing an FN Minimi machine gun.
The control buttons aren’t quite as intuitive as the rotary knob on the Razors, but you quickly get used to them. The earmuffs remember the last selected program and volume level, even after changing the two AAA batteries. They’re comfortable to wear and come with a padded headband. Rubber bumpers protect the shell from impact damage. The higher-end XCEL 500 model also offers Bluetooth pairing with a mobile phone.
The XCEL series has larger earcups than the Razors, but they’re still slimmer than my older Peltors. Comfort can be further improved by using the original gel ear seals, which are commonly available.
The XCEL 100 is available locally for about CZK 3,800; the XCEL 500 for around CZK 4,300. These earmuffs offer the same or even more than some active sport-oriented Peltors, which cost around CZK 5,000. Walker’s products are imported to the Czech Republic by Strobl.cz (a dealer primarily of reloading supplies), whom I thank for providing the test units.
With the Walker’s XCEL 500, you won’t feel out of place even during full-day shooting. They offer perfect sound reproduction and comfort—you’ll forget you’re wearing earmuffs. I only recommend upgrading to gel ear seals.Conclusion
None of the three earmuff models tested was a disappointment, and aside from a broken mount on the Earmor, none failed during the year. In terms of attenuation and electronics, Walker’s hearing protection is simply in a different league than Chinese Peltor copies, yet priced comparably. The Razors are sometimes even cheaper than the M32s… And the XCEL 100? That’s a clear winner—its comfort and well-tuned electronics completely won me over.
Photo sources: Author's archive
Article author: Michal VYCHODIL
The article originally appeared in the magazine Střelecká revue, April 2025