The Isotunes Advance Bt – A New Generation of Ear Pro

Hearing protection is having a resurgence. Back in my day, we had two fingers and a prayer! In reality, the orange squishies were the hearing protection of my youth. We got good electronic hearing protection, and then we had this era of zero innovation. Suddenly, in the last few years, hearing protection has become high-tech, powerful, and quite capable. For example, today, I am looking at the Isotunes Advance Bluetooth headphones.

At first glance, they have more in common with the wireless headphones you’d take to the gym than the muffs you’d take to the range. The Isotunes Advance BT certainly don’t look like ear protection, but they most certainly are. They are the latest in the next generation of hearing protection. Hearing protection that’s lighter, small, and more advanced while remaining perfectly capable of protecting your hearing. 

I’ve been using the Isotunes Advance BT headset for about a month now, and it’s time I share my experiences. 

Inside the Isotunes Advance BT 

The Advance BT design gives shooters a wireless headphone experience, but both headphones are tethered together. This creates a single unit that’s compact but also difficult to lose. At only 23.25 grams, the headset is light and handy. Designs like this are common in the sports world but somewhat uncommon in the firearms world. 

Like most electronic hearing protection, the earphones can amplify external noises while instantly shutting out louder noises, like gunshots. They have a 26NRR rating and are approved to ANSI s3.19-1974 standards. 

isotunes with long gun shouldered
The Isotunes Advance BT stay out of the way when you shoulder your long gun.

What’s that mean? Well, to put it simply, they are built to a standard that keeps you from going deaf. The Isotunes Advance BT headphones don’t just claim to save your hearing. They are built to a standard that saves your hearing. 

The Isotunes Advance BT headphones are a set of wireless headphones that use Bluetooth 5.0 technology as well as external microphones. These external microphones allow you to hear what’s around you, range commands and instructions, and have conversations near and far. The Bluetooth allows you to listen to music, take calls, and do whatever else you may need to. 

isotunes case
The headphones come with a handy little case for carrying.

Battery life limits out to 10 hours, which isn’t bad. That’s all day at the range for me. If they do die, they still offer plenty of protection from gunshots. I just can’t blast the Wu-Tang clan anymore while I shoot and train. The Isotunes Advance BT shuts off automatically after two hours without any sign of a Bluetooth connection. 

Comfort 

The Isotunes Avance BT headset comes with multiple earphones to allow you to best tailor the fit you need for your ears. I like the foam options since they tend to stick in my ears better. Lord forbid they come loose at the range when I’m trying to shoot and focus. I’ve found them to be quite comfortable overall. 

isotunes headhpones tips
The headphones come with multiple tips for comfort and proper fit.

The limited weight of the design keeps the earphones from becoming a distraction, and they are nicely balanced with a remote on one side and a counterweight on the other. The headphones are minimalist and stay out of the way when you shoulder a long gun. You can snap down and get a nice cheek weld on your weapon. 

If you wear the tether behind your neck, you don’t risk getting the tether caught on something on your stock. However, this hasn’t been an issue for me, even when I wear the tether under my neck rather than behind it. The stock also never contacts the earbuds and never causes discomfort or pain due to recoil. 

The Isotunes Advance BT – Save Your Hearing 

The Advance BT headphones will automatically shut off the sound amplification for any noise over 85 dBs. This keeps things quiet and safe for your ears. In practical terms, it shuts off automatically and protects your hearing. At the range, I shoot an odd mix of everything. A friend recently brought his own MK18 clone, and if you know anything about short-barreled ARs, you know the gun is quite loud. 

the advance bt in ears with gun
The Advance BTs work well with guns big and small.

Even the short-barreled 5.56 thrower didn’t ring my bell. These earphones hold tight and provide plenty of protection. I feel confident shooting everything from small to large calibers and not having one of those glorious tinnitus episodes. 

Clear as Crystal 

The audio clarity is pretty impressive. The Bluetooth audio is absolutely fantastic. Being able to listen to Slayer as I shoot or to whatever podcast I feel like while waiting for my turn at the match. It rivals commercial earphones for sound quality, and I use them off the range, in fact. If you catch me mowing my yard, I’ve likely popped these in. 

advance bts in ears
The Advance BTs were super comfy and remained in place.

They drown out the noise of the mower, which is repetitive and annoying, and I can listen to whatever I want. They are that comfortable, and the quality is that good. 

The external mics provide clear sound quality. It wouldn’t be mistaken for excellent, but it’s good enough to hear and have conversations, decipher the range commands from an intercom system, and distinctly hear the beep of a timer. You can amplify external noise eight times or choose to shut it off entirely. 

Mastering Control 

The Isotunes Advance BT has control on the right-hand side. A USB-C adapter also sits here for charging purposes. This remote is deceptively complicated. It’s not a bad thing, but it takes a little practice to get some muscle memory down for each button. Four of the five buttons control volume. 

isotunes headphones controls
One button of this remote does a whole lot to control the headphones.

Two buttons on the side control the amplification of the external mics. Press up and down, and it’s pretty self-explanatory. Another two buttons control the volume of the Bluetooth. In the center sits a ‘multi-function’ button that does a little bit of everything. It’s also where things get complicated. 

Isotunes advance volume control
This little side lever controls your external volume.

This one button turns the Advance BT on and off. It also plays and pauses tracks, skips tracks, and goes back to previous tracks. It also answers the phone. This one button does a lot, and it can be confusing how many presses or how many seconds the button has to be pressed to do each feature. I just use the pause feature, to be honest. 

Advanced For Days 

It’s nice to see improvements in devices that are often underrated to our uses. Ear protection is part of every range trip, and while orange squishies work, they aren’t the end all, be all of ear protection. The Advance BT headphones are an example of how far ear protection has come and how nice it can be. Give it a peek here. 

 

 

Travis Pike is a former Marine Machine Gunner and a lifelong firearms enthusiast. Now that his days of working a 240B like Charlie Parker on the sax are over he's a regular guy who likes to shoot, write, and find ways to combine the two. He holds an NRA certification as a Basic Pistol Instructor and is probably most likely the world's Okayest firearm instructor. He is a simplicisist when it comes to talking about himself in the 3rd person and a self-professed tactical hipster. Hit him up on Instagram, @travis.l.pike, with story ideas.

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