Personal Isolation System (TM)

1. Consider what you need from your Personal Isolation System.

2. Choose your earphones

3. Choose your Sound Generator Machine

Consider what you need from your Personal Isolation System:

Will you use your system when you are awake, during sleep, or both? If during sleep, you will need to choose the custom molded Challenger S earphones which are the only phones comfortable enough to lie on and wear all night or all day as needed. If you will be using the system just during your waking hours, you will have more choices of earphones that will work. All the earphones we recommend are made to block a significant amount of sound which is critical in achieving the level of isolation from noise that you are seeking.

Will you use your system where radios and music players are not allowed? Though most of the sound generator machines we recommend do not play music, the Sound Oasis Deluxe does include AM/FM radio functions which may not be permitted in some workplaces. Where music is permitted, however, the Sound Oasis Deluxe is a great choice. It features 120 sounds, AM/FM radio, rich full stereo sound plus a subwoofer for a strong low-end, and it has an input port for hooking it to your ipod giving you the ability to fill your room or just your ears, via earphones, with any sound you like.

Will you use your system when you travel? All of the earphones we recommend will make flying more comfortable and all of them can be plugged into an ipod or the intercom so you can listen to music while flying. If you want to use your masking sound generator during travel, we recommend the S-850 machine because it is small, and doubles as a sound generatior with 18 built-in sounds, and as a dual zone programmable alarm clock. The S-850 will work anywhere. It comes equipped with adapters to plug into any kind of power grid in the World, and also can be battery powered for use during trips.

Will you need to move around when using your Personal Isolation System? We suggest our 12' headphone extension cord in all our wired systems, but if you want more freedom than that, we suggest our Wireless BlueTooth Headset which gives you a range of up to 30 feet (unblocked line of sight) in which you can move without being encumbered by a headphone wire. As a bonus, our Wireless BlueTooth Headset can be used with ipods, TV sets and any other music source, for true High Fidelity sound without the wires or the electronic interference you can often get with other kinds of wireless systems.

Choose your earphones:

Do you prefer ear muff style headphones or in-ear style phones? To get adequate noise reduction, muff style headphones need to offer active noise canceling capabilities or at least 15 dB of passive noise reduction, so most headphones will not give satisfactory performance. Similarly, in-earphones must be the type with foam or multi-flanged silicone tips to provide enough noise reduction to do the job. Regular earbuds and canal phones with synthetic rubber tips do not block enough sound to give you the noise isolation you need. Beyond their noise blocking performance, the earphones also need to be comfortable, and this factor becomes more important, the more you plan to use them. Muff style phones muss your hair and they can become hot and uncomfortable if you wear them for over an hour at a time. In-earphones are cooler and lighter to wear, as well as being less conspicuous, and these also tend to offer overall better performance, but you do have to plug them securely into your ear canals, and some folks do not like that. With these thoughts in mine, we recommend the following earphones as one of the critical elements in our personal isolation system:

Our LX18 active noise canceling earphones offer both active noise canceling and passive noise reduction, with pretty good quality sound. In addition to using these with your Personal Isolation System, they are a real treat when flying, whether you use them to just reduce the noise, which they do very well, or to listen to the movie or music during your travels.

Our Wireless BlueTooth Headset, though not quite as good a noise reducer as the LX18, offers very good passive noise reduction and true High Fidelity sound quality, with no wires! They are more expensive, but for many, the freedom of movement is worth it.

Invented specifically to protect the hearing of NASCAR racing fans while they listen to their radios or scanners, RaceQuiet Earphones feature Comply brand foam tips and a noise reduction rating of 20 dB. These inexpensive in-earphones are very small and have pretty good, though not high fidelity, sound.

Our in-ear MicroBuds include triple flange silicone rubber as well as soft foam tips for maximum comfort and the highest noise reduction available in any tip. These tiny little earphones have good, but not high fidelity, sound quality and a really great price.

Our Challenger S full custom molded in-earphones are the most comfortable and effective in-earphones you can buy at any price, and these are our top recommendation for both waking and sleeping applications. We include a free impression kit so you can get full custom molded earpieces without the traditional visit to the audiologist. It is a little more of a hassle, but we guarantee the fit and in the end, you will find the effort well worth the result.

Do you plan to use your earphones for listening to music as well as using them as part of your Personal Isolation System? Although offering very good sound quality, neither the LX18, nor the MicroBuds provide true high fidelity sound. If you want truly excellent sound, we recommend the full custom molded Challenger S for in-ear and our Wireless BlueTooth Headset for an over the ear style High Fidelity earphone.

Choose your Sound Generator Machine:

White noise machine, as these devices are usually called, does not do justice to these ultra modern sound generating marvels. All of the machines listed below offer a variety of masking sounds, an onboard speaker and a headphone jack so you can use the machine with or without your earphones as you wish. In general, the more features, the better the sound quality and the more sounds you can get, the higher the price, but even the lowest priced unit here will do a great job as the heart of your Personal Isolation System. The machines we recommend include the following:

Sound Oasis S550.    The large speaker provides good sound, and the six built in sounds plus 4 optional plug-in sound cards for a total of up to 30 different sounds, and automatic shutoff, make this a very good machine.

Sound Oasis S650.    A high quality speaker, 12 sounds, plus additional optional sounds via sound card technology, plus alarm clock and small footprint make this our top pick for most office and bedroom applications.

Sound Oasis Travel S850.    Smallest of the machines, with dual time zone clock and alarm, plus 19 built in sounds and auto shutoff timer means this machine packs a ton of functionality into its small size. Ideal for the frequent traveler...works great at home too.