If you’re like a lot of us, you double up your hearing pro, especially when shooting indoors. Some type of in-the-ear plugs under a pair of muffs. On the plus side, it’s a cheap solution that does a good job of protecting your ears and making sure you’ll be able to hear your grandchildren someday. Assuming you want to. But it can be hard to carry on a conversation or hear range instructions. But Essency is has come up with a new solution, GunSonics!, for smart phone owners designed to turn your inexpensive passive ear muffs into active hearing protection that they say outperforms expensive electronic muffs. Basically, you buy their $10 app for your phone, shove standard earbuds in your audio canals, then put your passive hearing pro over the top. We’ll be giving GunSonics! a try to see if it’s worthy of that exclamation point or not. In the mean time, their press release is after the jump . . .
Transform Passive Ear Protectors Into Advanced Electronic Ear Protection
The GunSonics! app for firearms enthusiasts transforms passive ear protectors into advanced electronic ear defenders for under $10.00
Audio app pioneers Essency publish a revealing hearing safety chart to coincide with the release of new ear protection app for firearms, GunSonics. The chart compares the reaction time of electronic ear defenders against the formation of a gun blast to show just how well they perform against the GunSonics! hearing protection app.
The GunSonics! App works with passive ear protectors, worn over the top of standard issue headsets connected to an iPhone or Android handset. This allows shooters to choose passive ear protectors with a higher NRR (Noise Reduction Rating).
Electronic ear defenders sold for shooting, have a microphone on one or both ear cups that feed an internal amplifier, which then transmits ambient sounds to the user with speakers inside the ear cups. When a gun is fired the amplifier temporarily shuts down and hearing protection is dependent on the speed of shut down and the passive attenuation of the ear cups.
The key factor is whether electronic ear defenders act fast enough to prevent harmful sound pressure peaks from reaching the user’s ears, via the internal electronics.
Gunshot blasts generate an ear shattering shockwave that peaks within 1 millisecond (thousandth of a second) and is millions of times louder than the safe listening levels recommended by The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).
The chart, based on manufacturer specifications, reveals how the fastest electronic ear defenders on the market fail to react before gunshot blasts peak. The GunSonics! Ear protection app is the only product on the market to catch and stifle 100% of gunshot blasts.
The sound pressure level (SPL) of a gunshot varies from 144dB for a 0.22 caliber pistol to 170dB for larger revolvers or rifles.
NIOSH state ‘exposure to one gunshot at 140 dB SPL constitutes 100% of a person’s daily allowable noise exposure’. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) permissible exposure limit for impulsive noise is also 140 dB SPL. Exposure to an electronically amplified gunshot can lead to non-reversible noise induced hearing loss or tinnitus.
Essency co-founder, Alex Georgiou said: “The safety comparison chart on www.gunsonics.com shows that the GunSonics! App powered by the advanced audio processing of a modern smartphone, blows away the tech used in the best electronic ear protectors.”
The GunSonics! App has a number of advantages over electronic ear protectors:
Safer audio than any electronic ear defender designed for firearms
Clear iPhone screen interface – easier than trying to find buttons on ear cups
Six presets finely tuned to each gun types sound signature
Smooth audio, speech is never interrupted by gunfire
Amplification of quiet sounds
Weatherproof as long as your iPhone/Android device is under cover
Allows the use of higher NRR passive ear protectors for maximum safety
Hundreds of dollars cheaper than pro electronic ear defenders
GunSonics! the ear protector app is available now on Apple’s iTunes App Store priced at $9.99 USD. Android version to follow soon.
About Essency
Founded in 2008 by audio engineers, Essency specialize in creating cutting-edge mobile apps. The company’s combined knowledge in the fields of music, sound engineering and computing have enabled them to deliver some remarkable real-time audio technology such as Awareness!® The Headphone App and GunSonics!®.
GunSonics! is a registered trademark. Copyright © 2013 Essency. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPad, iPad mini, iPod touch, and Mac are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.