Pro-Ears hearing protection deal for TBN members

dmccarty · Apr 26, 2002

MChalkley,

Thanks for the update.

GULP! I guess it is time to spend some money. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I have been waiting for the end of the month to put this on the old
Magic Plastic. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Thanks again....
Dan McCarty

kerr · Apr 26, 2002

I knew I shoda finished the 7th grade. Biggest ,and most ol 2 dollar words I ever seen being flung around since me and my hairliped cousin had that grandslam meadow muffin fight!

Granma had some big ol good ens for us fer sure,something about our cloths and hair.

Not being smart but do plane ol soft ear plugs work sufinctlly er "good enough"? Yes or no will do just fine thank you.

Charlie_Iliff · Apr 29, 2002

Got my Pro-Ears on Friday. That night and Saturday, I put about four hours mowing time on them. I found that with the initial factory internal setting, and the volume knobs all the way up, I could barely hear voices of people close to the machine. They couldn't hear me, of course, because of all of the racket the Power Trac 1845 makes. I haven't yet tried moving the internal jumpers.
My impression so far is that the Pro Ears do a better job than the plugs and the completely passive muffs I have. They are particularly good at suppressing the whine of the hydraulic mower deck. As I turn up the volume, I hear more of the rattles and clunks of the mower than I ever could before. Some of the sounds take a little time to identify, since they simply aren't audible without the Pro Ears amplification.
I did not find the Pro Ears more comfortable than a set of Pelton muffs I have, and in fact they may be a little less so. They didn't bother the earpieces of my glasses, but the internal foam actually hit my ears a bit. The discomfort wasn't very troubling, and I only had to pull one side away and let the noise in to realize that a little pressure or chafe isn't bad at all. Like any other muffs, the Pro Ears are hot. During hot weather, they will not be great fun, since I, unlike Mark, have no prospect of an enclosure, let alone an air conditioned one.
My impression so far is that I wish I'd had these things when I was doing more shooting. I can't imagine a much better system. For the Power Trac, I think they're keepers. It is rare that anyone will be around where I'm working, but I will adjust for maximum chance to hear someone holler. Then maybe I'll try some music.

MChalkley · Apr 29, 2002

Charlie - Thanks for your take on the Pro-Ears. As for particulars:

I found that with the initial factory internal setting, and the volume knobs all the way up, I could barely hear voices of people close to the machine. The initial setting is for amplification to be essentially off. Try moving the jumper to M or H. Above those three positions is another jumper, which I don't think is documented in the instructions. That jumper doubles the amount of amplification for low-volume sound sources, but I found that to be too much for equipment usage. Turkey-hunting, probably very useful, but not on equipment...

I did not find the Pro Ears more comfortable than a set of Pelton muffs I have, and in fact they may be a little less so. They didn't bother the earpieces of my glasses, but the internal foam actually hit my ears a bit. The internal foam is something I haven't noticed at all. Did you try pushing it down a bit? I wonder if that would buy you a bit more clearance. It may very well be that they're a little closer to your ears than the Peltors are - it's not something that I've noticed, though.

Like any other muffs, the Pro Ears are hot. During hot weather, they will not be great fun, since I, unlike Mark, have no prospect of an enclosure, let alone an air conditioned one. They're hot, alright - definitely agreed to! If anything, my un-air-conditioned cab is probably hotter than no cab, and definitely hotter than just a canopy, but I'll suffer the added heat of the Pro-Ears gladly to get the hearing benefits...

I'd sure like to hear what you think after playing with the jumpers, too. One thing I really noticed was the effect they have on noises like throwing a chain into a bucket - it was really strange how they clamped down on it. At one point, without thinking, I took a 3-lb hammer and wanged the side of my 24" backhoe bucket, to slide it sideways a bit so the lock pin would fit into place, and both guys who were standing with me flinched and one put his hands over his ears as I drew back to hit it again (but didn't) - it didn't bother me a bit, even though I was standing on the hollow side of the bucket and they were on the solid side - so I got a louder dose of it than they did.

I used the Pro-Ears with an FRS radio quite a bit. Without hooking it up to one ear cup via the wire, I was able to hear the radio pretty well on a volume setting of 3 or 4 (out of 12), no matter what I was doing on the EF-500. With the cord patching the output of the radio directly into an ear cup, I had to turn the radio volume down to 1, though 2 wasn't uncomfortably loud.

I wonder how the loudness level of your 1845 compares with my EF-500...

Charlie_Iliff · Apr 30, 2002

Mark:
It will probably be the weekend before I get back outside. I'll move the jumpers to m and try first.
A friend just bought a bottom of the line dB meter at Radio Shack. If I can work out the schedule, maybe Sunday I can get some readings around the PT1845. I'm not sure whether the readings from one instrument will be anywhere close to those from another, particularly without strict standards for sampling technique, but maybe I can get something to suggest a level within an order of magnitude.
All I can say at this point is that the PT is a lot louder than our old JD 755, 950 or 2240, Kubota B7100 or Jacobsen Turf Cat - all diesel. People in the area know when I'm running it.

Soundguy · Apr 30, 2002

I know this is a bit of an old message to drum up, but it is worthwhile.

Keep in mind that some sound supressors are rated at a certain db at a certain frequency. Other frequencies can be at less of a noise reduction level. Although many sounds are occupying the same bandwidth, and are mixed... some are not. A car *** going off at 6k may make it through a noise reduction device that is very effective at attenuating low frequency sounds in the 400-4k range ( which will include voice as well. )

Soundguy

"""know more about it than I do, but I used them all day today, and I still say they simultaneously amplify quiet sounds while quieting loud ones. I don't know why there's a discrepancy between what you know is impossible, and what I'm hearing in action, but there is one - and it's considerable. I'm paying a lot more attention to what """

Soundguy · Apr 30, 2002

I take it, they have the analog one, and not the digital one.

Both will work.. reading the one with the needle just takes practice. If it has a slow response setting on it, use it. It's accuracy for quick peak noises will be reduced, but it should be fine for a continous drone, etc. If it has an A / C selector, you may want to use A. I believe a is for industrial noise on the units, whereas C is for vocals, and other misc sounds.. hopefully it will come with a manual to explain this.
Also, keep in mind the distance you are at when making comparison readings. Sound pressure level drastically changes as you change distance from the source. Think about dispersion of radiation, and the inverse square law. As you move away from a point source the spl will diminish non-linerally. Of course, your meter is already calibrated in DB which is a log function anyway.
If you want to play with natural compression of sound waves, try a doppler effect expirement. stand at point 'a', have tractor approach and pass you in a straight line, while taking readings at set distances ( marks on the ground ) and compair the reading with what it sounded like.

Soundguy

"A friend just bought a bottom of the line dB meter at Radio Shack. If I can work out the schedule, maybe Sunday I can get some readings around the PT1845. I'm not sure whether the readings from one instrument will be anywhere close to those from another, particularly without strict standards for sampling technique, but "

Charlie_Iliff · Apr 30, 2002

re: dB meter testing
Thanks Soundguy
I take it, they have the analog one, and not the digital one.
I think it's analog. As I recall when they started looking at catalogs, the digital was more expensive by a bit, but neither would break the bank. My assumption, based on nothing, is that the Radio Shack stuff is too cheap to be accurate, but I am aware, as well, that even with the same meter, two loudness readings that match certainly don't mean that the two sounds will seem the same loudness to the ear.
My plan is to take some readings from the seat, with the machine oriented different ways, and then around the machine at, perhaps, 20 ft distance. If I describe it carefully enough, and someone is actually interested in comparing, at least the technique will be described.
I doubt we'd have much debate, on my current quantitative standards. OK - Too Loud - Too [censored] Loud - Way Too [censored] Loud. My Power Trac falls between TDL and WTDL. I'll be interested how that reads in dB.

JATO_RaT · Apr 30, 2002

Holy socks, all I wanted was a semi definitive answer about what ear protection to consider down the road besides what I already have which are nice lightweight Peltors. I think after all the discussion I'm considerably more confused. I don't want to know how the clock works, I just want to know what time it is.

Patrick, what about this pink noise or white noise stuff from BOSE?

The best hearing protection is the one you'll wear, no wait, thats the best exercise for you is the one you'll do.

Rat...

Soundguy · Apr 30, 2002

If I remember correctly, the analog unit is in the $3x.xx, and the digital unit is 8x.xx.

Both work. As far as accuracy, the radio shack model is remarkably accurate for a consumer grade product, but more importantly it produces consistant results. The same sound pressure level will read on the meter as the same db in repetitive tests.
The digital one can be calibrated as well, if you have access to higher quality equipment.

Good luck.

Soundguy

""take it, they have the analog one, and not the digital one.
I think it's analog. As I recall when they started looking at catalogs, the digital was more expensive by a bit, but neither would break the bank. My assumption, based on nothing, is that the Radio Shack stuff is too cheap to be accurate, but I am aware, as well, that even with the same meter, two loudness readings that match certainly don't mean that the two sounds will seem the same loudness to the ear.""