Warbird made their reputation creating soft body armor. Now they’ve expanded their protective gear offerings with what are among the best sounding earmuffs on the market. Perhaps its not that surprising. Warbird’s founders have decades of experience in the personal protection market; they know what gear works.
The Intrepid has a built in rechargeable battery with approximately an 8hr run time; recharged via a micro-USB port. It features an energy saving auto shut off (though it’s not clear how many hours or minutes it will run before this occurs). It has a 3.5mm audio input port to connect to devices though wired connections are becoming increasingly rare. They also launched with Bluetooth compatible BT version of the Intrepid which looks identical to the ivory colored RC but in a dark grey color scheme.
The Interpid has padded faux leather suede headband, and comes with a velvet lined hard storage case. Like more premium headphones, it comes with gel earpads providing both comfort and a tight audio seal. Its has 4 control buttons; 2 for volume and its power button is thoughtfully recessed so you can identify it by touch and avoid accidentally pressing it. Its 4th button allows you to manually disable ambient amplification on the right or left earphones or both; helpful when the shooter in the lane next to you has an annoyingly loud or ported firearm.
The Intrepid has a NRR rating of 23db and in my testing was able to deliver slightly better than that. The noise cut off and reset is fast at .001 seconds. It’s built in microphones are labeled as omini-directional though this term is often misused in earpro. The Intrepid has realistic quad stereo sound allowing you to discern the direction of the sound source: left, right, front, or behind.
It’s audio performance is where this mid-priced headphone shines. The ambient sounds it amplifies were very clear and realistic. It’s internal speakers sound higher quality with better bass response than any earpro earmuffs I’ve ever tested. When plugged into a device listening to music, they sound as good as the Sony MDR-ZX110. While these are not audiophile quality headsets by any stretch they sound much better than the thin, cheap audio quality of even the boojeest earpro.
Audio quality may not seem important for firearms hearing protection. But realistic sound gives you better situational awareness as well is the ability to discern subtle but important audible details that can be missing on most shooting earmuffs. Soft sounds like safety lever being disengaged, or the direction an ejected shell casing when it lands on gravel. For hunters, this means you can not just identify the direction of moving prey but be able to tell if the rustling came is from a game in the bushes or up a small critter in the canopy.
These headphones come in at a mid-tier price point of $99 for the RC ($149 for the Bluetooth enabled BT). While not as cheap as new budget brands entering the market, the Warbirds sound as good or better than premium headphones two or three times more.
The only negatives I found was a pinching around my ears after 30-40 of wearing them due to my ears pressing up against the inside of the earcup; a problem I’ve found with all low profile earmuffs I’ve ever worn. And whats with the micro-USB port, why not USB-C? I would also like a visible indicator light that stays one while the unit is powered. The power down tone which is a low warble sound is too quiet and a missed opportunity. With the name like “War Bird” they should have used the screech of a hawk.
These headphones are available directly from Warbird using my affiliate link. Get 10% off using discount code Moondog10
Warbird: https://classic.avantlink.com/click.php?tool_type=ml&merchant_link_id=51647f2b-3681-416c-98da-1bc439c63c4d&website_id=23805a2c-a4cb-4870-b1b7-8e7ffb2488ba
SPECS
NRR: 23dB
2x Omnidirectional Microphones
Full Dynamic Range HD Speakers 40mm, 20 ohm
Battery Life: Up to 8hrs
Sound Active Reaction time: 0.01
Audio Input Jack: 3.5mm
TPU Covered Gel Ear Pad
Comfort Headband with Metal Frame
USB-micro charging
