Maintenance and lifespan
A headset does not die from its electronics but from its edges: cushions hardening, batteries leaking and a headband left in the sun. Five minutes of attention per season saves you a new purchase.
Ear cushions are wear parts
The cushion is the only part constantly pressed against your skin, absorbing sweat and stretched every time you put the headset on. After a few seasons the foam collapses and the faux leather splits at the fold. Once that happens the cup no longer seals fully, and attenuation leaks away without you noticing.
That is not a trivial matter. A cup that does not seal properly can easily lose five to ten decibels of attenuation, and that is exactly the margin that counts when a shot goes off. Replacement cushions cost a fraction of a new headset, making this the cheapest maintenance there is.
Glasses wearers need extra attention
If you wear shooting glasses, the arm runs straight through your cushion's seal. With standard foam that means a permanent leak along that arm. Gel cushions deform better around an arm and therefore seal noticeably better.
Choose your glasses with that in mind too: thin, straight arms leak less than thick curved ones. It sounds like a detail, but for people wearing both glasses and muffs this is often the biggest unnoticed leak.
Batteries: the most common cause of death
The M31 and M32 series run on two AAA batteries lasting hundreds of hours. That is precisely why people forget to take them out. A battery sitting unused in a cup for months can leak, and that acid eats through the contacts. At that point the muff is electronically dead while nothing else is wrong with it.
The rule is simple: if the headset goes in the cupboard for more than a month, the batteries come out. Store them loose in the bag. It takes ten seconds and it is the most common way these headsets die.
Storage and cleaning
Store the headset dry and not in a closed car in the sun. UV light and heat make faux leather brittle, accelerating exactly the cracks we just discussed. A foldable model in a bag is fine, as long as the cushions are not permanently compressed.
Clean with a slightly damp cloth, no solvents and no alcohol. Those attack the coating on the cushions. If mud gets into the cup, let it dry first and brush it out rather than scrubbing. A cover over the headband catches most sweat and dirt and can be washed separately.
