Author Topic: Who Has Experience With Amplifying Headphones ??  (Read 2671 times)

billt

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Who Has Experience With Amplifying Headphones ??
« on: March 12, 2019, 04:45:29 AM »
I'm talking about those Walker Game Ears headphones, that supposedly amplify surrounding sounds, but will block out gunfire. I'm wondering how well those things would work for watching TV? Would they be better than wearing headphones? Or do they make everything sound "tinny"?

I ask because I now wear headphones, so I don't blast the old lady out of her chair. But every time she talks, (which is all the time), I have to remove them to hear her. The whole thing becomes a Royal PITA.

If these things amplify both the TV and her voice at the same time, it would solve my problem......... Until my dog barks. Even when I'm wearing headphones, he's louder than standing next to the tracks when a 4 engine freight rolls by! I've noticed these things have come down in price quite a bit lately.

crusader rabbit

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Re: Who Has Experience With Amplifying Headphones ??
« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2019, 08:18:04 AM »
I had a pair of the things some years back.  I'm fairly certain they have been improved since then, but when they broke, I didn't replace them. 

To answer your question:  I doubt you would find them satisfactory in improving conversations with the wife while watching TV.  They don't really do all that much to amplify ambient sounds.  What they do well is cut off sudden, sharp noises (like gun fire) before those sounds reach your ear while allowing ambient sounds to be heard relatively normally.  And, they do that in a fairly satisfactory manner.

If you are expecting to hear things crisply while you sit back in your La-Z-Boy with the TV playing at a normal level, I think you're going to be disappointed.

You may be able to determine this for yourself by ordering a set from Amazon and trying them at home.  When/if they don't work, send 'em back for a full refund.  If you have Amazon Prime, you won't even pay postage.

I'm a little hard of hearing and I have a set of wireless headphones connected to the TV.  If Bunny says something I think may be of importance, she will say it more than once and at an increased volume. I take off the headphones and properly respond, "What was that, honey?"  Most of the time when she sees me wearing the headphones, she doesn't bother trying to talk to me.  It took some time to instill this behavior, but it was worth the effort.

Good luck.

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Rastus

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Re: Who Has Experience With Amplifying Headphones ??
« Reply #2 on: March 12, 2019, 08:26:50 AM »
These will amplify:  https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1805652370/howard-leight-impact-sport-electronic-earmuffs-nrr-22-db

I have had several pair for the family.  They aren't the best noise reduction at 22 db, but they are 1) comfortable and 2) work well along with ear plugs.  I use ear plugs and the earmuff.  I turn the earmuff up so I can hear and then when I shoot I have the earplug noise reduction (typically around 30 db) plus a little more help from the earmuff. 

Note that you cannot add the two noise reductions together.  The highest plus several db on to of that is the best you can do....db is a log scale sound level indicator.

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PegLeg45

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Re: Who Has Experience With Amplifying Headphones ??
« Reply #3 on: March 12, 2019, 01:51:46 PM »
These will amplify:  https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1805652370/howard-leight-impact-sport-electronic-earmuffs-nrr-22-db

I have had several pair for the family.  They aren't the best noise reduction at 22 db, but they are 1) comfortable and 2) work well along with ear plugs.  I use ear plugs and the earmuff.  I turn the earmuff up so I can hear and then when I shoot I have the earplug noise reduction (typically around 30 db) plus a little more help from the earmuff. 

Note that you cannot add the two noise reductions together.  The highest plus several db on to of that is the best you can do....db is a log scale sound level indicator.

Ditto what Rastus says.

They work OK in the sound amplification area but the one issue is they amplify all ambient noise, so if watching TV and the wife is doing something in the kitchen or a fan is running it will be noticeable (maybe not an irritant, but noticeable). I used them deer hunting and can hear critters moving in the woods really well but they also amplify wind noise trough the trees.
They have adjustable volume, so you can work with that to find a balance point. They also have a headphone jack that allows audio input.

EDIT:

I just did a test and it didn't work as well with activity going on in the area. It seemed to amplify all sounds equally (as I alluded to above). I could hear the TV but could also hear the running water from the kitchen sink faucet almost equally along with my wife's kitchen activities...which made them all blend together equally. I could concentrate on singling out the TV, but not well enough to really hear what was going on.
This might be much different in an enclosed area such as a den or living room that was apart from other noise inputs.
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billt

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Re: Who Has Experience With Amplifying Headphones ??
« Reply #4 on: March 12, 2019, 03:00:42 PM »

EDIT:

I just did a test and it didn't work as well with activity going on in the area. It seemed to amplify all sounds equally (as I alluded to above). I could hear the TV but could also hear the running water from the kitchen sink faucet almost equally along with my wife's kitchen activities...which made them all blend together equally. I could concentrate on singling out the TV, but not well enough to really hear what was going on.
This might be much different in an enclosed area such as a den or living room that was apart from other noise inputs.

Thanks. This is good to know because our kitchen and family room is connected. So any and all noise coming form the kitchen will most likely get amplified. It was worth a shot.

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Re: Who Has Experience With Amplifying Headphones ??
« Reply #5 on: Today at 11:59:39 PM »

Solus

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Re: Who Has Experience With Amplifying Headphones ??
« Reply #5 on: March 12, 2019, 03:09:35 PM »
If you wear hearing aids, there might be another solution path.

My hearing aids can pair ( through auxiliary deviced ) to my TV sound and my computer sound and the volume is independent  of the "heard" volume. 

Let me know if that might help you.

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billt

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Re: Who Has Experience With Amplifying Headphones ??
« Reply #6 on: March 12, 2019, 06:53:46 PM »
No hearing aids.

Solus

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Re: Who Has Experience With Amplifying Headphones ??
« Reply #7 on: March 12, 2019, 07:31:51 PM »
What a shame!  I can't help you then  ;D ;D ;D

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
—Patrick Henry

"Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters."
— Daniel Webster

Rastus

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Re: Who Has Experience With Amplifying Headphones ??
« Reply #8 on: March 13, 2019, 06:51:52 AM »
Peg is right about the amplified background.  I started to speak to that but I figured they would all do that so I just passed on that comment.  However some models, like the one I have, are equipped with a jack so you can listen to music...which then, if you had headphones why would you need amplified muffs?

Great minds think alike.  Peg I turn mine up while hunting also!   ;D
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
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« Reply #9 on: April 11, 2019, 11:54:49 AM »
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