Tactical Earplugs – PELTOR TEP-200 vs OTTO’s NoizeBarrier

When I shoot precision rifle, for a long time, I thought about how much my hearing protection sucked and just got in the way. It just seemed that no matter which over the ear hearing protection I used, I would have issues with cheek weld pushing up my ear cup and breaking the seal. Generally, I just couldn’t get comfortable.

So forever, I have been trying different companies attempts at newer in-ear protection. Other than your traditional foamies, they all suck. They all suck so bad that I was considering the pro hearing protection where you go get molds done of your ears and they make custom eartips for you. If you look into this they start at like $1000 and go up to 5k.

Most of the time I just wear the Howard Leight Impact Sports. They have been awesome for $35. Upgrade them with gel ear cups and they are excellent. They are not a set of Peltors but you can hear what’s going on around you. Plus the volume gets loud enough that you can double up with foamies under them for indoor ranges and you are good to go. The batteries last forever and I am still using my OG pair from ages ago.

A few years back I went to a shooting match and was talking to a guy about this problem. He said that Peltore has just come out with a line of in-ear hearing protection. I looked into it and Peltor had a few different varieties based on features. The TEP 100 were the plain jane ones and the TEP 200 could connect to a lanyard that went around your neck via bluetooth for music and calls (not included). They both used to be a lot cheaper and it seems like the TEP 100 are now closer in price to the 200s. During this time Chuck Pressburg of Presscheck Consulting did a video review of the TEP 100 that had a ton of data and made me take a hard look at the TEP 100 / 200:

As of writing Peltor has come out with a pair made more for a regular guy. The EEP 100 (they come in lime green or orange) for $233 and the TEP 100 / 200 are more of their military / tactical version for $450+.  They have recently come out with a TEP 300 but those are near field magnetic induction much like the Ops-Core NFMI Earplugs. Both these are a review for another day.

I have never used or seen the EEP 100 but they may be the star of the show at their price point. Besides the Hi-Viz color of the EEP-100 in-ear pieces, the other differences are:

• The TEP-100 kit is rated IP67. The EEP-100 kit is rated IP 54.
• The TEP-100 only offers a High and low setting for volume adjustments. The EEP-100 offers three settings of High, Medium, and Low for volume adjustments.
• The EEP-100 does not use as much battery life using the Environmental Listening feature as compared to the TEP-100.
• The EEP-100 earpieces take double the time to charge as compared to the TEP-100.

I decided to pull the trigger on a set of TEP 200s. At the time, the 100 and 200 were around the same price and Amazon was definitely getting goofy with the two prices as they were within a few dollars to each other, so I went with the 200s. I also picked up a bag of skull screws as Chuck recommended in the video above. I immediately fell in love. With the skull screws you were good to go in an indoor range. If someone was next to you with an AR and had a break on the end you could feel the concussion but you were OK in the ears although you may want to turn off the microphones.

Outside, the TEP 200s were great. They were comfortable and the microphones pick up dialog ambient sounds without cutout. They are perfect for a two day rifle or pistol class. I was happy with how comfortable they were. They are easy for all day wear. When done you just drop them back in the case and they recharge for tomorrow. I never had an issue with them running out of juice in a full day.

That brings up to part two of todays story. I was at a Steve Fisher Rifle class and I knew Steve used the TEPs as he had posted about them on instagram. We were chatting about them and he said he had an issue with one of the earbuds and he pinged Peltor a few times with no response. So he switched to set from a company called OTTO (found out later that Pressburg has done the same). He said they were worth the switch and he would not be going back. Interesting! I did some research and it looked like OTTO had built a set for the same Army solicitation Peltor had created theirs for (I dont think that solicitation went anywhere – if you know please leave any info in the comments).

OTTO’s set are called the NoizeBarrier Micro. When you look at them, they appear to be a more high-tech version of the Peltors. In reading reviews, people said that they sound better than the Peltors. Also, that their case recharges the ear buds faster, give you a detail view on battery level, but the case itself can feel a little flimsy. Another thing people were saying, is that the sound isolation from the microphones was better and you could hear sounds from different directions. So, if there was a sound behind you and to the right, the OTTOs would tell you that the sound was coming from behind you and to the right. This allows you to have some form of audible situational awareness. This is not the case with the Peltors, they just amplify sound. This seemed like a game changer especially if you were going to use them for hunting. All this being said I was not about to drop another $400 on a second pair. I decided if my Peltors tapped out I would try out the OTTOs.

Randomly one day, through some Amazon gift cards and some credit card miles I decided to pull the trigger on a set and see which was better. I would sell the lesser set.

I can tell you without any doubt that the OTTOs blow the TEPs away. And if you are using the Comply Professional Noise Isolating Earphone Tips (as recommended by a lot of people that use the OTTOs, I mean they blow the TEPs out of the water. I have no issue using them as my only hearing protection indoor and out from pistol to 308 (suppressed or unsuppressed). This was not the case with the TEPs. There were times at an indoor range that the TEPs were uncomfortable. That has not been the case with using the OTTOs for the last 10 months. I have seen no need to get custom ear tips made for the OTTOs. They are super comfortable as is.

With the OTTOs the microphones are better. They charge way faster. The directional detection and presentation is way better. The on / off buttons are better. The volume settings are better with the loud setting being almost too loud and is fantastic for hunting. Just for shits and giggles, I wore them to an all day dove hunt in September and they lasted the whole day with no issue. Also their case is far better, letting you know the current charge of the buds along with the case with its digital readout. The only things that the TEPs have on the OTTOs is the ability to use AA batteries in their case. The TEP case is also a bit more robust but I have had no issue with the OTTO case after beating on it for almost a year. My only wish is that the OTTOs used USB-C instead of the older mini UBS. I would love to only have one cable in my life but it seems that dream is far away.

Should you sell your TEPs? I did. But I did it at a loss just to get rid of them. I would say it’s probably best to let the Peltors die out and then replace with the OTTOs. If you are just starting fresh, skip the TEPs completely and just go with the OTTO’s NoizeBarrier Micros. They are that awesome and with the current price of the Peltors, cheaper.