FREE Aware

Disappointing Sound Quality and Situational Awareness for the Price

I purchased the ISOtunes FREE Aware primarily for hearing protection while maintaining situational awareness when working with power tools and equipment. Unfortunately, my experience has been disappointing. My biggest complaint is the constant static or white noise, similar to an old analog television with no signal. When the surrounding environment isn't particularly loud, this noise becomes very noticeable and irritating. Rather than providing clear, natural amplification of my surroundings, the electronic awareness system sounds more like a noisy audio filter. The problem becomes even more pronounced when operating equipment such as an angle grinder. Instead of naturally reproducing or comfortably reducing the noise, the awareness system produces a harsh, staticky, heavily distorted version of the motor's sound. The best way I can describe it is an overmodulated, low-quality 8bit audio recording. The electrical motor noise actually becomes more pronounced and irritating with the earbuds in than without them. It's extremely unpleasant and defeats the purpose of electronic hearing protection with situational awareness. Another frustration is the inability to disable Bluetooth pairing. I purchased these for hearing protection and environmental awareness, not primarily for music or phone calls. While those features are convenient, they're available in inexpensive wireless earbuds and don't justify the premium price. I understand that these earbuds rely on passive noise isolation and electronic sound amplification rather than active noise cancellation. However, the implementation leaves a lot to be desired. I expected the awareness system to provide clear environmental audio while effectively managing loud sounds, not introduce additional noise and distortion. For comparison, I also own a pair of Walker's Razor Slim electronic earmuffs. They provide excellent hearing protection, clear amplification of surrounding sounds, and significantly better situational awareness, all at a fraction of the price. The difference in audio quality and overall experience is substantial. I really wanted to like the ISOtunes FREE Aware, especially because of the convenience of an earbud style design compared to traditional earmuffs. Unfortunately, the sound quality, excessive static, poor handling of loud equipment, and high price make them difficult to recommend. For a product marketed toward hearing protection and situational awareness, I expected considerably better performance. In my experience, the less expensive Walker's earmuffs accomplish the primary purpose far better.

Not was i was hoping for

These ear buds really attracted my attention with the “free aware” aspect, in which they help you still hear “important “ sounds like voices or back up alarms. I have never spent that kind of money on ear buds, but liked the theory behind them, so I figured why not try them out? I like that they had the 30 day money back guarantee, so i bought some. Upon receiving them, i tried out the fit, and they seemed to fit ok. Pairing was no issue, and i went into my workshop to try them out. They seemed to work as good as the foam ear plugs that i sometimes use, so i decided to take them to work. I work construction, and that is why i bought them. While working, i noticed that the volume of the music i was streaming, was maxed out, yet seemed pretty quiet, and i had a hard time hearing the music, with all the typical background noise that commercial construction has. I had many opportunities to talk with others, with them in, and i really didn’t notice a difference from other Bluetooth hearing protection i have used in the past. I then thought, that maybem i didn’t have the right cushions on the earbuds, so I went thru the variety of cushions that isotunes provided , and I found some that were bigger, and fit nicely. These new ones seemed to dull the background noise more, but i didn’t see any improvement in the volume of the music, and people voices. It was for these reasons, that I thought i should return these, given how much They cost. I could buy 4 of the Bluetooth hearing protection types that I was using for the cost of these isotunes one. Returning the headphones was simple enough. I just emailed them, and the replied promptly, giving me the address and instructions on the return process. I did have to pay for return shipping. Once they received the headphones, they promptly gave me a full refund. So all in all, the experience was decent, and the only money i was out was the cost of the return shipping. I guess that isn’t to bad for the 2 weeks i tried them out.

Fan

I am a fan of isoTunes hearing protection. I have several products. As far as the ear pods, Free Aware, I don’t think they as as good as other options and they are very bulky. Also the aware function does not work well, I can’t hearing sounds around me as expected. There is still work to be done on this device.