Now Hear This!

Digital technology is completely changing the hearing-protection industry

By Slaton L. White

Weston Harris has devoted his entire life to hearing protection. He founded SportEAR in 2000 to take advantage of developments in digital technology to enhance hearing protection for target shooters and hunters. Now under AXIL, Harris and company have evolved a comprehensive hearing product line geared for the active outdoor lifestyle. AXIL offers a full line of medical-grade hearing aids with protection and all-in-one earbuds to cover outdoor applications. The company also offers earmuffs, earplugs, and supplements for proper ear care.

SHOT Business: What is AXIL’s mission?

Weston Harris: To do for hearing what Oakley did for eyewear, what UnderArmour did for fitness wear, and what Kuiu did for performance clothing. In other words, to create the most comprehensive brand and innovative offering to cover all of one’s hearing needs from early life to later years for those who pursue outdoor active lifestyles.

SB: The company was originally known as SportEAR. Why the name change?

WH: SportEAR was launched in the sporting-goods marketplace in January 2000. It quickly became recognized as the best technology and product line in its class. But as the company evolved, the name didn’t properly represent what we really offered. Marketplace feedback from audiences outside of the hunting industry told us these consumers simply did not connect with SportEAR. So, AXIL was formed in 2012 to create a far wider reach. In 2017, SportEAR was brought into the AXIL orbit. The marketplace response has been overwhelmingly positive.

SB: How has hearing protection changed in your lifetime?

WH: Back in the 1970s, all that was available was cheap ear muffs and foam ear plugs. Later in that decade the first electronic ear muffs became available, and I used them when I was shooting jackrabbits with my 12-gauge Benelli in Nevada in the summer. Then came large, behind-the ear-hearing aids, followed by improved, more compact, and more affordable electronic ear muffs.

SportEAR featured the first 100-percent digital product lineup, and it took the industry to a whole new level. Now a user could have digital technology that could be programmed exactly to their hearing profile while getting automatic hearing protection against loud noises, such as gun fire.

SB: How do your digital earbuds work?

WH: The digital technology takes the physical sound wave and converts it to binary signals, allowing us to recreate a brand-new sound for the user. Without getting too technical, digital technology screens background noises and filters out unwanted noises in milliseconds, constantly and automatically giving the user a comfortable listening experience. At AXIL, we will custom-make an earbud or hearing aid with this digital technology inside to give a user the very best available hearing technology.

SB: Many older shooters have been told that over-the-ear muffs offer the best protection. Do earbuds offer the same level of protection?

WH: The best approach is to properly seal off the ear canal from oncoming loud sounds, and here an in-ear seal of the ear is the best way to go. Properly sealed in-ear protection will give someone up to 50 percent better protection than traditional head muffs. Head muffs are best used when someone wants to double up on their hearing protection, say at an all-day competition or if you plan to shoot a full course of Sporting Clays.

SB: How do you go about conceiving and designing your products?

WH: I have more than 27 years of experience working directly with thousands of customers and patients from my retail hearing clinics. I take the best of their feedback and the best of my expertise and imagination, and then I look at the most innovative companies on the planet and see how they are doing things. At that point I align myself with engineers and product developers from around the world in order to create cutting-edge products.

Advancements in digital technology are now allowing me to create products that have been in my head for two decades. This is a very exciting time for innovations in the hearing space, and AXIL is leading the way.

SB: How does your online clinic for hearing tests work?

WH: Our online clinic lets you test your hearing in a very simple and affordable way. You go to the Online Hearing Test (found in the navigation bar on the AXIL website), plug in your headphones or earphones to your computer, and follow the on-screen instructions. Then, after saving your hearing test results, you send them to us for evaluation. The last step is to set up an appointment with one of our hearing professionals to find the best solutions for you.

SB: In the shooting sports, there seems to be more emphasis on hearing protection these days. What would you say to a newcomer to the sports in regard to hearing protection?

WH: They say a cure sells far more than prevention. But when it comes to hearing loss, there is no cure. Never take your hearing for granted. Your hearing is so advanced that you essentially have 90,000 “strings on a piano” between your two ears.

Invest in great ear protection now and always wear it when you need it. Do that and you will reap massive rewards with your hearing later in life.  Our products help you enjoy all of the great sounds of life. (goaxil.com)