Bluetooth Electronic Noise Reduction Hearing Protection Earmuffs

Hear the job. Take the call. Keep the noise down.

Put a set of plain muffs on and the noise stops — and so does the reversing beeper, the bloke calling you off the load, and your phone. So half the crew ends up wearing them pushed back off one ear, which protects nothing at all. The muffs did not fail. They just made you deaf to the things you needed to hear, so you took them off.

These HD-16 muffs sit on your ears as a physical barrier like any other muff, but each cup carries an outside microphone and an inside speaker. What is happening around you gets fed through instead of shut out, and Bluetooth pairs the same set to your phone for calls and music. Volume up, volume down, power, and a Bluetooth switch, all on the cup.

Here is the part we are not going to dress up. The supplier prints no attenuation rating anywhere — no NRR, no SNR, and no AS/NZS 1270 class, on the cups, the box or a single one of its spec panels. So we publish none. If your site requires rated hearing protection with a class printed on it, this is not that muff. Read the Limits tab first.

What It Does

• Passes outside sound through: a microphone on each cup feeds the world around you to a speaker inside, so you can still hear a shout, a horn or a machine moving.
• Takes calls off your phone: Bluetooth pairs to a mobile. Push the Bluetooth switch up, the blue LED flashes, and you can take calls and play audio on the same headset.
• Mounts to a helmet or a headband: wear it on the padded headband, or pull the headband off and clip the cups to a helmet rail with the adapters in the box.
• Fits two rail standards: Ops Core ARC rail adapters are fitted, and Team Wendy M-LOK transfer plates are included with the tools to swap them over.
• Puts the boom mic on either side: the microphone and the communication cable both swap left to right, so the mic sits where you want it and not in your way.
• Runs off its own battery: built-in lithium cell charged over micro USB — no loose AAAs to carry and lose in a crib bag.

Key Features

• Model HD-16: six colourways — black, grey, tan, green, multicam and multicam black. One headset per order, not a pair of sets.
• Built-in lithium battery: the supplier states 480 mAh, with about 72 hours on Bluetooth standby, about 30 hours with Bluetooth running, and about 48 hours with the noise reduction running.
• Micro USB charging: the charging port sits behind a rubber dust ring on the cup. Charging cable supplied.
• Silicone ear cushions: the supplier states the cushions are silicone rather than the usual foam-filled vinyl, which is what does the physical sealing against your head.
• Detachable boom microphone: plugs into the cup and is locked with a screw so it cannot shake loose. Foam windshield fitted.
• Adjustable metal headband: 34 mm of travel each side, nylon cover, hook-and-loop pads. 220 mm closed, 255 mm fully out.
• Folds down flat: 125 mm × 135 mm folded, so it goes in the crib bag instead of swinging off the outside of it.
• Sealed sockets: the microphone and communication cable sockets take rubber plugs to keep dust and water out of the holes when nothing is connected.
• Carry case and pouch included: a moulded case with a shockproof sponge liner, plus a drawstring pouch for the adapters and small parts.
• Weight 0.53 kg: heavier than a plain passive muff, because it carries electronics, a battery and two rail adapters.

Limits

This is hearing protection, and the number that matters most on hearing protection is the one nobody printed. Read this properly.

• No attenuation rating at all: there is no NRR figure, no SNR figure and no AS/NZS 1270 Class 1–5 anywhere on this product or the supplier artwork. We looked at all 48 supplier images. Hearing loss does not grow back, so we are not going to print a decibel number we cannot source.
• Not rated workplace PPE: if your site, your safety officer or your ticket requires hearing protection with a tested class on it, this muff cannot satisfy that, because there is nothing to check it against.
• Noise reduction is not noise cancelling: the protection comes from the cup physically covering your ear. The electronics feed outside sound in so you are not cut off — they do not delete noise, and the supplier publishes no method or measurement for what its circuitry does.
• No impulse cut-off is published: the supplier does not state at what level or how fast loud sound is limited. Do not assume it handles gunfire, a nail gun or a hammer drill on that basis.
• The battery does not protect you: when the cell goes flat you lose the pass-through audio and the Bluetooth. The cups still sit over your ears, but with nothing rated behind them.
• We will not call it waterproof: the supplier calls the socket plugs waterproof. Those are plugs for two holes. There is no IP rating on the headset, it is not sealed, and it holds a lithium battery — do not submerge it and do not leave it out in the weather.
• It will not fit a hard hat: the adapters supplied are for Ops Core ARC and Team Wendy M-LOK rails on bump-style helmets. There is no slot adapter for a standard industrial hard hat brim.
• No radio or PTT list: a communication cable is supplied, which the supplier labels U174 specification, but no radio compatibility list and no push-to-talk unit is published or included.
• No Bluetooth version or range: neither is stated by the supplier, so we cannot tell you the codec, the version or how far it reaches.
• No warranty you can claim on: the factory warranty sits with BushLine and is not transferable. Returns are for faulty or not-as-described goods only.

Q & A

How many decibels does it actually block?

Unknown, and we are not guessing. No NRR, no SNR and no AS/NZS 1270 class is printed on the product, the packaging or any supplier panel. Buy it for the pass-through audio and the Bluetooth. If you need a number, buy a muff that has one printed on the cup.

Will these clip onto my hard hat?

No. The two adapter types in the box are for Ops Core ARC rails and Team Wendy M-LOK rails on bump-style helmets. There is no hard hat slot adapter, and the headband version sits over the top of your head, so it will not go under a hard hat either.

Are these any good for shooting?

We cannot tell you that. Electronic muffs sold for shooting normally quote an attenuation rating and a compression response for impulse noise. This one publishes neither, so nothing on this page supports using it against gunfire.

Can I take a phone call while I am wearing them?

Yes. It pairs to a mobile over Bluetooth and the boom microphone picks up your voice, so you can take a call and play audio through the same set. The Bluetooth version and range are not stated by the supplier.

How long does the battery last, and how do I charge it?

Micro USB, cable in the box. The supplier states a 480 mAh built-in lithium cell, about 30 hours with Bluetooth running, about 48 hours with the noise reduction running, and about 72 hours on standby. Those are the supplier figures, not our measurements.

Is there a cheaper set that does something similar?

The GEN 6 HD17 headset is the sibling model from the same supplier and sits lower on price. It is a different headset with a different cup and headband, and it publishes no attenuation rating either — so the same warning applies to both.

Specs