MSA/Sordin ear cups

[OREGUN]

Howdy folks. I’m curious about the MSA ProX ear cups/gel seals. I picked up a pair with the foam ear seals. The only thing I don’t like about them is that the ear cups aren’t that “deep”. I hate it when my ears are smashed against the foam in the “back” of the ear cup....ideally, I want my ear to be surrounded by the cup but not touched by it. Can anyone offer a comparison between the foam and the gel seals? Are the gel seals any thicker? The gel seals get a lot of play on the forums but no one is addressing why. I don’t care if they are “more comfortable” by any metric other than “do they keep the ear cup farther from my ear”. Maybe I’ve got big ears. Maybe it’s the wearing headphones every day at work. I hate having my ears smashed down.
Thanks.

 

[LuvDog]

I don’t think they are thicker, but They don’t collapse/compress as much.

 

[UpSideDown]

I haven't played with the MSA parts. Based on what others have to say, if they aren't that thick, you can consider the below info:

I don't know if they swap over, but there's a chance they will be the right dimension - I have a set of 3m Peltor Tactical Sport 500's that I use now, and I got the Noisefighters universal gel cups, and I got the 3m "hygiene kit" gel cups. I strongly prefer the 3m factory gel cups over the Noisefighters (and they were cheaper). They both appear to have the same dimensions, and the 3m's are thicker. My big ears hit the foam inside the ear pro when I use the Noisefighters. You might see if you can find the 3m hygiene kit with the gel cups and swap those, IF the Sordins use the 'universal' option for the Noisefighters. That would be my indicator there's a good chance they're interchangeable or close.

 

[LawnMM]

The gel is one of the main reasons to go with Sordins. You're buying a Corvette set of earpro and putting Prius tires on it.

 

[Rthur]

Gel, end of story.

R

 

[OREGUN]

Yeah, yeah, the gel are “better”. But if my ears still get smashed by the inside of the ear cup then the sordins are the 1980 California 305 Corvette and they’ll be on the PX for someone else to enjoy. The gel are “better”. Fine. I bought the non-gel model because they were available and I thought I would try them out. I’m sure as shit not spending ANOTHER $50 for the fancy ear seals if they don’t solve the problem of too little depth. So again, the question is not which earseals are better but rather, do the gel seals create more depth than the foam? End of story.

and thanks for the ideas, LuvDog and UpSideDown.

 

[427Cobra]

IMHO no they don’t create anymore space, and really only offer a better seal with eye pro on

 

[OREGUN]

IMHO no they don’t create anymore space, and really only offer a better seal with eye pro on

Awesome. Thanks for that. Decades of wearing aviation headsets, some with foam, some with fancy upgrade foam or gel, had me suspecting that would be the case. I’ve never reall liked aftermarket or “upgrade” gel ear seals on headsets in the airplane but it’s hard to deny the more complete seal. The seal with sunglasses/eye pro is a challenge at work and at the range. I’ll try these in a match and see if I can tolerate the ear-squish for a several hours at a time.

 

[UpSideDown]

That's half the question, is how it feels for you. I never really noticed that the foam stuff was just mediocre until I got the big gel cups. Then I fell in love. It's what I run several hours every day now. That said again though, I feel disappointed with the expensive Noisefighters, and I like the 3m's. I've also seen guys throw in aviation gel cups for even more ear gap and more conformity for sealing.

For sure, the gel cups give better hearing protection than the foam does, because any conformity knocks foam ratings down (safety glasses or ear buds).

 

[hollowoutadime]

Get the MSA/Sordins "neckband" version with the gel cups. You can wear them all all day. Buy once, cry once.

 

[UpSideDown]

Get the MSA/Sordins "neckband" version with the gel cups. You can wear them all all day. Buy once, cry once.

I really like the neckband industrial MSA's that I have. They're more comfortable than I expected.

 

[kwlazycarr]

I don’t think they are thicker, but They don’t collapse/compress as much.

I second this