When
choosing an earpiece for a specific application, a major consideration will be whether you require noise cancelling or situational awareness. Generally, you cannot have both without getting into high-end, specialized audio accessories.
So, how do you know whether to go with an earpiece that allows for situational awareness or one that blocks noise effectively? Keep reading for an overview of each type.
These earpieces enable you to monitor your radio while maintaining awareness of your surroundings and the ability to identify potentially dangerous external sounds.
For example, picture a traffic police officer at a car accident scene. They have a lot to deal with: talking to victims and witnesses, calling for other services like fire or paramedics, and communicating with their own dispatch, all while making sure they don’t get hit by other cars still driving down the road. In this application, situational awareness is crucial to ensure the officer’s safety.
Our acoustic tube earpieces can be fitted with several different types of situational awareness tips (ME-1, CB-1) as well as other non-acoustic tube earpiece styles.
Noise Blocking or Cancelling EarpiecesNoise cancelling earpieces effectively block out all external sounds so that you can focus completely on the information coming through your earpiece. Cutting out all distractions allows you to give your undivided attention to the task at hand.
Continuing with the police example, noise blocking becomes more desirable in situations like large crowds where riot police are required. There is no real need to talk to the public and all the external noise makes it hard to communicate with fellow officers and dispatch, so they may prefer noise blocking or cancelling audio accessories. Impact offers one-wire and two-wire noise cancelling earpieces and select speaker mics and headsets that block or reduce background noise.
There are select audio accessories that allow for both situational awareness and selective noise blocking. Imagine a SWAT team about to make entry into a house or structure—they need to be able to hear other officers both inside and outside the structure, and listen for suspects hidden in the house (situational awareness). They also need noise cancelling to protect their hearing in case they need to fire their weapon in close quarters or throw flash bangs (small grenades that emit smoke to distract the suspects which make a loud noise when they go off).
Impact offers the PTHS-SPTT bone conduction (temple transducer) tactical headset with standard inline Push-to-Talk (PTT). With bone conduction, you actually hear through vibrations in your temples, meaning you can leave your ears unplugged to hear external sounds.
Read: What is Bone Conduction and How is it used in two-way radio accessories?
Impact also carries a wide variety of ear tips that limit or completely eliminate background noise.
Impact Radio Accessories is your #1 source for two-way radio accessories. We are a world leader in the design and manufacture of communication products including surveillance kits, speaker mics, radio battery chargers, headsets and adapters. Impact’s accessories are trusted by demanding industries and applications such as public safety, security, construction, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, hospitality and beyond. OEM quality radio accessories at aftermarket prices.
Category: Audio Enhancements, Earpieces, LEARNING CENTRE, Public Safety
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