Best Safety (Noise Reduction) Ear Muffs 2024: Reviews & Guide

When sound waves hit the outer surface of the cups, two things happen: some of the waves get deflected away; some of the waves transfer their energy to the cup and cause the cup to vibrate.

When the cup vibrates, the air inside the cup is also made to vibrate. This is where the foam comes into action. The main foam acts like a suspension of a car and dampens the sound energy of the air inside the cups.

Then comes the cushion. The importance of this piece of the earmuff is often underestimated.

The cushions not only give a comfortable fit to the wearer but also do two things – First, They seal the edges of the cups so that no gaps are there for outside noise to leak in. Second, they act as a barrier to dampen the vibrations at the edge of the cup which would otherwise be transferred directly onto our skin.

Thus each of the parts of the earmuff combinedly help to reduce the energy of the sound waves that try to reach the ear.

What are active noise cancelling earmuffs?

There are some earmuffs that use some electronics to aid the reduction of sound intensity since these need some electric power to operate, these are termed ‘Active’ and the regular ones are termed ‘Passive’. Read also: Best Ear Muffs & Earplugs For Studying Or Work 2024

Active Earmuffs add a small setup containing a microphone, a circuit board and a speaker into the cups.

The mic hears the outside noise and the circuit board in real-time creates a ‘reversed’ version of that noise and this ‘reversed’ noise signal is played through the speakers.

This, in turn, neutralizes the disturbance caused by the original noise and thus virtually cancels it out before reaching the ears.

This technique is very effective in reducing noise levels but the downside is that earmuffs featuring active noise cancellation are pretty expensive.

What to look for when buying an earmuff?

1. Sound Attenuation
2. Frequency Filtering
3. Usage
4. Durability
5. Comfort
6. Price

1) Sound Attenuation

Earmuffs have a Noise Reduction Ratio (NRR) which tells you the amount of sound intensity that can be reduced by it. This rating is determined by conducting tests based on the American Standard “ANSI S3.19-1974”.

The NRR is given in Decibels (dBA) and since the dBA scale is a Logarithmic Scale it is kind of tricky to know how much decibels of sound level does the concerned earmuff reduce.

For example, suppose you work in an Airport that has an average noise level of 100dB. To bring the noise down to your desired safe noise level of, let’s say, 85dB you may think that you need an earmuff with an NRR of 15dB.

But this won’t work since the dB scale is a logarithmic scale which is unlike measuring length or weight.

Noise Reduction Ratio Calculation

So in order to calculate to NRR rating required on your earmuffs, use this formula:

NRR Required = ((Actual Noise Level – Desired Noise Level) /2) + 7

Subtract the desired noise level (the level you want to have after wearing the muffs) from the actual noise level and divide this value by 2. Now add 7 to the resulting value and now have the minimum NRR that an earmuff must have to satisfy your requirement.

Also be aware of some earmuffs which have their ratings given in ‘SNR’ Sound Noise Ratio.

This rating is used mainly in Europe and it is based on a different standards – “EN352-1/EN 352-4/EN352-6”. The SNR value may be slightly higher than the NRR value so make sure that you get the NRR from the Ear muff manufacturer.

So higher NRR is better?

Technically, yes, higher the NRR more the sound will be reduced. But that is not always the case, the NRR is an average of how the device performs at all frequency ranges.

A device may be super powerful in reducing low frequencies but may allow the mid and high frequencies to pass through.

Such a device then may have a lower NRR than an device which performs moderately at all frequencies.

You’ll find it interesting that many high end earmuff which cost a 100 times more than cheap ones can sometimes have a lower NRR than them.

This leads us to the next factor.

2) Frequency Filteration

Since sounds from machinery, gunshots, airplane, human speech etc fall under different frequency ranges, it is important to know whether your earmuffs are good at cutting the sound that you want to cut and, if required, letting you hear the sound that you want to hear.

For example, a person using an earmuff at a shooting range will want the muff to greatly reduce the sound of the gunshot while at the same time be able to hear his buddies nearby.

So it is wise to find out the frequency range of the sound that you want to block and make sure that your earmuff does it well.

This can be done by reading the earmuff performance data which the manufacturer provides.

To give you an idea, the common frequency of human speech is 85Hz to 255Hz while that of a gun shot is 2KHz to 3KHz.

So make sure that you get your desired level of protection at 2KHz to 3KHz frequencies and, if you want to hear people speaking, make sure that the level of attenuation given in the performance graph is not so much as to block human speech.

3) Usage

Before starting your search for an ear muff, you need to fix its purpose. Related: List Best OSHA Compliant Bluetooth Wireless & Wired Headphones & Earphones 2024

Do you want to use them at the factory?

Or do you need them for a quiet sleep?

There are a variety of earmuffs available for each usage so you can get the best combination of sound attenuation, comfort, weight etc.

If you will be using a safety helmet or any other protective equipment along with your earmuffs make sure that your muff has the provision for it.

Otherwise, you end up with a bad fit and this can severely affect the performance of the earmuffs.

Also, you can checkout earmuffs with built-in radio communication devices if you need to have clear communication with your coworkers.

4) Durability

Most earmuffs are made out of tough material but there are still a good number of manufacturers who care more about making money than about making their product last long.

The visual state of the part can give you cues whether it will last long.

Look for defects in the plastic like flashes and sink marks which are a sign of poor manufacturing processes.

Try your best to get information on whether the product is resistant to flame, electricity, oil or not.

Compatibility with skin is also an important factor to be considered.

5) Comfort

If you are not comfortable wearing you earmuffs, you are very likely to avoid wearing it as much as possible.

And even if you do wear it continuously you may try to adjust the earmuffs in such a way that its sound reduction performance is reduced greatly.

If you are going to use the muff in a hot environment, you may choose the ones with leather ear pads which will keep the ears cool.

The downside is that real leather is less durable than synthetic leather, so you have to make a compromise.

But then, if you manufacturer provides replacement ear pads then this shouldn’t be an issue.

The overall weight, stiffness of the headband and the shape of the cups also affect the comfort level of the muffs.

So, whatever earmuff you choose to buy, make sure that it fits your ear and head well and that it is comfortable to wear as long as you need to wear it.

6) Price

Once you are clear about what kind of experience you need from your ear muff, you can find out easily which ones satisfy your requirement with least cost.

As in any market, you’ll find that there are some earmuffs that are clearly overpriced and there are some which give the most value for money.

Beware that there are still many counterfeit products out there which will cost peanuts compared to the real ones.

So make sure that you buy your muffs from a trusted place.

Even though most earmuffs do their jobs well and still be cheap, there are some interesting features available on expensive ones that you may miss out.