I normally wear a pair of Clark 'ear muff' Hearing Protectors - their Model 10AS which was their best one at the store when I bought it - I think it was rated -27 or -29 dB (I understand that these ratings are not sufficient characterization for describing impulse noise attenuation) and it does work very well. It makes the loudest gunfire that I'm around lose all of its 'sting', but it also makes it hard for me to hear what's going on around me and particularly to hear people who are far away from me. Sometimes I'll wear plugs under these muffs (such as when I'm firing a lot of highpower) and then I'm really isolated.
This has bothered me for safety reasons - if something goes wrong I won't be able to hear a shouted warning unless the person is fairly close to me, and I also can't carry on a conversation without difficulty. This makes it hard to work with people, especially people I'm showing around the range or instructing.
So I've been watching the electronic muffs market for some time. The idea sounded interesting, but the prices were formidable. Finally the price of the Tactical 7-S came down enough for me to take the jump. I had long ago decided that I required a stereo unit (a microphone by each ear) because localization of sounds is important to me for my own comfort, and I feel that the safety aspect demands this. Recently Dillon put this unit on sale for $140.95, and I ordered it. (The relatively low price and the fact that Dillon is selling it both helped me feel that the risk wasn't too great for me to take.)
They look like ann ordinary set of earphones, but just a bit larger than my good Clark or RCBS muff sets - perhaps 1/4" larger in diameter and in thickness. They are a bit heavier, but not enough to make a difference for me. The size may be a bit of a problem when firing a long gun, depending on whether one's head position is such as to have the muff case and the stock hit.
These are made in Sweden, the company may be Finnish although only a US address is given (Providence, RI). The small pamphlet which comes with this set gives a table of attenuation values for 9 different frequencies, and says they are measured by the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Helsinki, but doesn't say what these actually are - e.g. are they with the electronics turned off? or do they measure how much is cut out by the electonics? The mean attenuation (whatever it means) is 15.2 dB at 125 Hz, and steadily increases with increasing frequency to 37.2 dB at 8,000 Hz. (No units are given, but I assume that dB and Hz should be used.) The also give the "lower quartile" (again undefined) as going from 11.8 to 37.0.
There are separate adjustments for each ear with each ear being able to be set from +2.5dB to -5.5 dB from the pre-set.
Hygiene is on their minds, as they not only sell a 'hygiene kit' of new ear cushions and foam damping pads which fill the inside, but they also sell a 'comfort pad' of soft absorbant paper which makes a ring and basically goes between your skin and the ear cushions.
I put in a the battery - a regular 9V 'transistor radio' battery which came with it - they specify that an alkaline 6F22 type gives an operating time of approx 50 hours, and put the thing on. I turned up the volume until I could hear normally, and I was able to hear normally. Then I clapped my hands once and the 'clap' part disappeared - I could hear that I was clapping, but it didn't have the impulse sound.
Then I took it to the handgun range. I put it on when I was off the range area and there was little or no difference in hearing what was going on compared to before putting them on. Then I walked over to the firing line - and started to try to figure out what was wrong. It sounded as if I could hear the shots perfectly and that the muffs weren't working. Well, they were working - just the impulse was gone from the shots, I could still hear the shots individually, and all conversation - and there was no 'sting' of the shots. But the psychological perception was that there was no attenuation! Worrying about my sanity, I asked Joe Freeman to try them out. His experience paralleled mine. It is the doggonenest thing - it doesn't feel like there is any protection/attenuation but there is - and all you have to do to feel the difference is to move one muff away from an ear and feel the 'sting' of the shot impulse and see that it is absent with the muff.
I could easily hear conversation even during firing, but there were only 4 or 5 shooters on the line and the firing wasn't continuous. One person wrote to me and said that conversation was difficult to understand during continuous firing at an indoor range - I'll have to wait and try these out during a greater range of conditions before I can say how it affects my hearing.
I've had no opportunity to compare different brands or models. But I'm convinced that this type of technology works well, and recommend that you try out this type of muff if you have a need to combine 'hearing' and 'hearing protection' (which is what Peltor's name for this is supposed to imply.)