Hearing protection w/bluetooth, looking for recommendations

[waters]

Check out this link from the Woodwhisperer
Mark has a nice solution.
Woodwhisperer

[Howard Acheson]

Be sure you get get sound reduce earphones that attenuate the frequencies produced by woodworking tool. A number of years ago Wood Magazine did an article on sound deadening earphones and found that many were not very effective for the noise produced by woodworking equipment. For example earphones intended for use in gun ranges did not do a particularly effective job in a workshop. There's a big difference in earphone protection from continuous noise like that from a running motor and sharp, short period noise like gun shots.

Talk to the technical folks from the earphone manufacture to see if particular earphones are effective for shop type noise.

As I recall, no earphone then available that played music were a good choice. That may have changed in recent years.

[Mandrake]

I find you are correct about the range and type of noise each type can handle. I have a set of the Bose earbuds that have the noise cancelling feature. They are great for air travel, and they do well with lawn equipment when coupled with muffs. The downside is the cord, the awkwardness of cords under muffs, and the cost.

My current shop muffs have the speakers built into the cups, but they are poor quality and have developed a continuous clicking sound. Also, the dangling cord gets snagged on something about 10 times a day.

I was hoping to find something like the ION pair mentioned above, but the reviews on those are mixed and they only vendors I can find are via the internet. It would be great to handle a pair before purchase.

[BloomingtonMike]

Here is the Bluetooth adapter I bought to use on my motorcycle for my GPS. Also has a built in am/fm radio.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003DQ1...arch_detailpage

Works well and you can use your own headphones.

[Cooler]

I have this Sennheiser wireless headphone for my TV. It can also be used with other devices: http://en-us.sennheiser.com/wireless-hea...reo-rs-165

It is noise isolating and has excellent sound quality. The radio or TV are not built in, but they receive the signal almost anywhere in the house.

It is cheaper on Amazon.com. An excellent device whose only drawback is that they get a bit warm in warm weather.

I've also gone through a few TV Ears devices. The sound is not nearly as good and they are line-of-sight broadcast only. And they break. They are much cooler in the warm weather. When my current TV Ears breaks I will get this Sennheiser unit: http://en-us.sennheiser.com/wireless-tv-...set-830-tv

[Steve N]

Not going to go all hearing loss religious on anyone, but if a person is exposed to loud noise, you can lose your hearing. That said the facts at this site and the little bit of reading you would need to do may keep you form being the guy who always says. Ehhhhh what ya say, couldn't hear you.

Now random testing of headphone music listeners runs anywhere from 55 to 105 Db. OSHA says 85 is warning, 90 is the level you must take action. So if you are trying to drown out machine noise, it's pretty easy to get the music higher than you may want it to be right at your ear.

That is all.

[AlanBienlein]

I'm wondering why anyone would pipe the music thru their hearing protection. The purpose of the hearing protection is to reduce the level of the noise from the machines to a safe level. Adding music to them is a distraction that can keep you from hearing a potential problem with the machines. I have a stereo system in my shop and also where I work but it's never louder than what's comfortable to listen to while the machines aren't running.

[Herebrooks]

Here's a link to what I use. The earbuds are put on and when I have machines going I put on my Leigh 29db earmuffs. you'll also need a BT dangle to plug into your stereo to broadcast the music/ news/ npr within your shop. Works great, and also can answer your cell phone at the same time. If one componant fails you don't have to replace everything as you would if it was all in the headphone.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tone-Ultra-HBS80...zYAAOSwNSxVDg9l

[Cooler]

AlanBienlein said:

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I'm wondering why anyone would pipe the music thru their hearing protection. The purpose of the hearing protection is to reduce the level of the noise from the machines to a safe level. Adding music to them is a distraction that can keep you from hearing a potential problem with the machines. I have a stereo system in my shop and also where I work but it's never louder than what's comfortable to listen to while the machines aren't running.

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There are several types of headphones. There are headphones that allow the ambient noise to intrude. This is useful if you want to hear the phone ring or the doorbell chime.

There are headphones that have electronic noise cancelling capabilities.

And finally there are noise isolating headphones. I prefer the noise isolating headphones. The effectively eliminate outside sound, and while most are not rated for their noise isolating capabilities they eliminate enough outside sound that in my opinion they are fine for woodworking.

This is not about "drowning out" the shop noise with music, it is about isolating the listener so that he can enjoy the music.