Tetra hearing protection

[Bowtie747]

Haven’t found a recent thread on these. Would like to hear from members who have had them for a while. Negatives are welcome too. I work around a ton of loud equipment, tools and I gotta protect my ears from guns/hobbies as well. Thanks!

 

[hikenhunt]

No input, but want to follow this one

 

[huntineveryday]

No bites yet, so I'll throw a comment in to bump this up. I have been interested in some custom electronic hearing protection, but the sticker shock has me waiting.

Last spring I got a pair of the Soundgear universal fit electronic ear plugs at a Pheasants Forever banquet. They have been great so far and I am looking forward to being able to actually hear things in the duck blind or on a group upland hunt and still have some ear protection. I can easily hold a conversation or hear the dog working through grass with them in, but gunfire is muted well. That said, they eat through hearing aid batteries rediculously fast. Like two mornings watching my son shoot trap, then change the batteries. They are reasonably cheap and easy to change, but I am already seeing how a pair of the custom rechargeable would be way more user friendly. The sound quality isn't great either, a little high pitched and crackly, and I can see why earplugs customized to your hearing ranges would be more enjoyable to wear.

With Tetra, Soundgear, and of those custom electronic ear plugs, I am concerned about the lifespan of those rechargeable batteries. How many years can I expect them to hold a decent charge before I have to replace them? Any noticable dropoff in battery life or performance after a couple seasons?

 

[Ohiohuntr]

I have the custom fit tetras, they took me some getting used to, just having them in my ears, they work good but I have some negatives, you really need to take the batteries out when not using them. It was my fault but I left the batteries in em and the battery came out of its holder and was in the main body of the plug and I screwed up the electronic part digging it out, I should have sent them in to be fixed. The custom service is great though, sent them in and got them repaired with no problem

 

[cfounta1]

I bought a pair a couple of years ago and they're better than nothing. I had issues with mine and sent back twice and customer service was good. I am honestly happier with the axil ear buds that cost a whole heck of a lot less than the tetras

 

[JeffP_Or]

... I had issues with mine and sent back twice....

I am following this thread as well - can you elaborate on the issue(s) you experienced with the Tetras?

I just use exterior electronic muffs but at some point they will give up the ghost and I'm always looking for a comfortable in-ear alternative that attains the same levels of protection.

 

[cfounta1]

I am following this thread as well - can you elaborate on the issue(s) you experienced with the Tetras?

I just use exterior electronic muffs but at some point they will give up the ghost and I'm always looking for a comfortable in-ear alternative that attains the same levels of protection.

The first issue was the unit wasn’t turning on at all. Sent back and resolved. The second issue was a constant whistling sound

 

[StupidLightweight]

I had the universal Tetras, and they worked well. My father was so impressed he bought a set and used them for hearing protection as well as a pseudo hearing aids, though he denied it was for that purpose. According to him, he was just "going shooting later." Right....

Tetras work great. I loved 'em. The founders are both avid shooters and audiologists. According to a chat I had with them, lots of older hunters said they had audio quality as well as the high-dollar hearing aids. I'd still have mine but I loaned them to a buddy who does a lot of waterfowling. As great as in-ear protection is, I have a hard time using them when mobile, and that's basically the only way I hunt with shotguns. My rifles almost all wear suppressors, so I don't worry about ear protection there.

 

[TBarron]

I bought a pair a couple of years ago and they're better than nothing. I had issues with mine and sent back twice and customer service was good. I am honestly happier with the axil ear buds that cost a whole heck of a lot less than the tetras

What version of the Axil ear buds do you like?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ditt44]

Would not recommend.

I tried them last year. I have significant hearing loss in both ears, like well over 95% loss from both medical and gun fire issues over numerous years and incidents. I put up a review/comments in another thread somewhere last fall, I think.

My experience:
- Terrible communication. Numerous calls, emails, etc. and waiting several days to well over a week and no returned calls/emails. The excuse? "Out of the office at events". No message on the VM, no message on the website, just a 'we were out of town, sorry', once they finally called me back.
- I bought in for the high end device, figured for the $2,800 it was worth it over $7,000 for 'real' ones at this point for hunting.
- Sent in my doctor's tests, all good to start. Told about two weeks for delivery. That turned into about three.
- Got them. Wow. To say I was disappointed is not saying enough. They were legitimately worse than the $60 Amazon ones I use day to day. They were to be configured for the six custom setting you could choose from. I had talked to one of the staff BEFORE ordering and he told me how to fill out the form, submit it and he noted it with me still on the phone. The six were about four, maybe, in difference.
- I tried listening to the TV, volume so low I could hardly hear it. Tried to talk to my wife who was no more than four feet away... could not understand her worth crap. Outside? Ha! Terrible. Wind noise reduction? Not in the least.
- I sent them back, but only after nearly a week of yet again: 'out of the office' and not one note or way to communicate. Finally got someone to call me back, was begged to give them a chance to reprogram them. Ok, fine, agreed. Sent them back. A week or so later they come back. No change whatsoever, if not worse.
- Restart the 'where the F are these people' email/phone messages. Again, 'please give us a chance, let Dr. whatshisname call you and talk it through'. Absolutely not. Demanded my refund and got it the same day they received the devices back in their office. Give them credit for that, at least.

No idea of how they work out for folks. But with clear feedback from me, they were reprogrammed by Dr. whoever and it just did not work out, I think they actually came back with less 'settings' than originally.

If you are really serious about giving them a go, try to find them at some sort of public event and actually try them out. Maybe my ears are too far gone, but what they advertised was in no way close to what was delivered, twice. Like all things, YMMV.

 

[cfounta1]

What version of the Axil ear buds do you like?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

GS extreme 2.0

 

[willtim]

I have a pair of their top of the line units. Very expensive. They are great...when they work. I've sent both sides in for repairs. It took longer than it should. To be quite frank, their customer service sucks, especially for such a high dollar item.

 

[rjschill]

I would avoid. I ordered the Amp Pods amplifiers and not the hearing protection, but my bad experience is with the company and 30 day return policy. I had to dispute the charge on my credit card after I sent them back and they went radio silent and would not refund my money. They disputed my dispute and sent the credit card company the original shipping/tracking, but luckily I had my last email from them saying they received the items after I sent them back.

I ordered the amp pods, received them, tried them on day 1 and immediately did not like. I emailed them for how to return since they post "30 day trial" all over their website and the response was that I should get them set up for my hearing. It wasn't just that they sounded bad, they didn't fit in my ears and the wind noise was crazy. After a few emails, they finally relented and sent me the return address. A week later I got an email saying they received the return and that was the last communication with them. I attempted to inquire about refunding my money several times after and got no reply. After a month of no refund, I disputed the charge. That's when they sent the credit card the original shipping as proof the charge was legit.

In the end, I got my money back but it took from September 28th until December 11 for that to happen.

Edit: Updating to screen shots instead of PDF's.