WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

We live in word due to all types of technology that has become too loud for some people.  Bose revolutionized flying when it introduced that Quiet Comfort headsets that electronically made signals which canceled out certain sounds like the rumble of the plane's engine.  The Bose headsets spawned copycats and created a whole new industry as well as inspiring headset makers to create all kinds of new technology to cancel noise. However, the cost of buying into the Bose fraternity is not cheap, $300 and not easily available to those who are not frequent business class flyers.  

So what's a noise plagued person to do?  Well, regular foam earplugs cut out noise and are fairly cheap, but they can also push wax back into the ears, and in warmer climates ear muffs are just too warm. There is a fairly new invention that is wonderful solution to too much noise - Sensgard ZEM Hearing Protection.

Auditory research authority, Dr. Jozef Zwislocki, Professor Emeritus at Syracuse University created ZEM attenuation technology, after years of research and development.  Basically, ZEM directs sound away from the ears and sonically sealed chambers act as an extension of the ear canal which form a vacuum that pulls harmful sounds away the ears.  Proprietary sound dampening material inside the chamber filters and cancels sound waves.

The result of this fine technology is excellent noise reduction that does not need batteries and works great. We tested the SensGard ZEM Hearing Protection 31DB Rated (MSRP $31.95) and were amazed. The sound reduction effect appeared almost as efficient as Bose and also cut out other frequencies such as high pitched machinery. The ZEMS are not as comfortable as the Bose and if you are wearing them you can not listen to music at the same time.

In our unscientific volume  tests, the noise reduction was between 15 and 20 numbers on the TV volume.  It cut out the sound of helicopters overhead, fans, the refrigerator, the computer fan, rumbling old car noise on the street and freeway buzz.  In comparison to The Thunder 29 by Howard Leight (MSRP $29.99), a heavy duty plastic ear protection muff that just muffles noise, the noise reduction of ZEM Hearing Protection was superior and it was not as heavy on the head.

Besides the obvious price difference, an advantage ZEM has over electronic noise canceling is that there is no humming or hissing noise heard and because it is not electronic it can be exposed to moisture and extreme weather conditions. There are  few minor drawbacks, while wearing  ZEM if you knock or hit it, the knock sound sound is not dampened and it can be a little disconcerting.  Also, when ZEM was worn on the top of the head of petitie person, bending over to get something off the bottom shelf, it caused the ZEM to fall down over her face. To divert if from falling down, ZEM can be worn over the back of the neck.[Sensgard is working on the problem and testing a foam strip under the headband. We tried it out and it didn't flop over any more.]  ZEMs are great for mowing the lawn, over zealous music at the gym,  machinery operations, factories, loud events, and most likely airplanes (we had no flights scheduled in time for this review.)

Robert DiNardo at Sensgard, told us that he's seem instances in factories where staff are plagued with ear infections because the staff places earplugs in their ears with dirty fingers, point out that because ZEM rest outside the ear, it is more hygienic. We noticed that human voices could be easily heard with ZEMs to which DiNardo explained that the attenuation is slightly less in the vocal ranges. So although ZEM will cut out some of that annoying cell phone conversation next to you, you will still be able to understand what they are saying. The dangerous very high and low frequencies will be barely noticeable. We've found that hearing of sound is very subjective, therefore, we suggest that if you need hearing protection, you try out Sensgard ZEM  Hearing Protection to see if it works for you. We believe that you will be pleasantly surprised while enjoying a new sense of peace and quiet.

 

SensGard - ZEM - 31*
Frequency	Attenuation
125Hz	42.0dB
250Hz	42.0dB
500Hz	36.0dB
1000Hz	37.0dB
1500Hz	38.0dB
2000Hz	38.0dB
31000Hz	42.0dB
4000Hz	44.0dB
6000Hz	40.0dB
8000Hz	40.0dB

* Data generated by Institute of Sensory Research, Syracuse University.