I’m going to keep this short, this is a wonderful product in that, IF you use headphones it really has a magnificent sound using the technology. That being said, as a mute, it’s meh, about the same as other mutes and as a practice mute it’s going to bother your neighbors as much as the next mute so, I really would rather have an Upmute and try to get more natural airflow and sound without having to deal with zero technology.

I could not believe my ears the first time I tried this. I seriously kept taking out the headphones to make sure my horn was, in fact, muted. It works incredibly well, the reverb makes it sound so realistic. I’m thrilled I can finally practice at home without driving my neighbors crazy!

my daughters high school music director requires all the advanced band members to submit playing videos every week, this is how he gets the kids to practice and verifies they are doing so, their grades depend on the videos.to make the videos sound as crisp as possible I purchased this for my daughters French horn, had to buy some additional accessories to make it work, but now she can plug it all into her computer and record directly and get a crisp sound in the video, rather than having all the house sounds and howling dogs as backup to her videos.it also has helped her playing as wearing earbuds looped through the mute, she can hear what she is playing again without the interference of all outside noises.

This mute is pretty awesome. I usually wait to practice until after our baby and older kids go to sleep, so I had been practicing in my garage. As much fun as it is doing that in the winter or in August, I needed a solution to stay in the house. This Yamaha mute system is perfect. It’s VERY quiet... like you can hardly hear it kind of quiet. And whatever back-pressure that some complain about in the old version is apparently fixed in this new version. The audio through the headphones is of course not a perfect duplication of your sound, but it’s certainly good enough to practice with if it’s your only option for practicing in the house, if you live in an apartment, etc.

UPDATE: 8-31-20. After owning this mute for some time, I have started having MAJOR intonation issues. Issues to the point where I was sharp by a half step.... HALF, on OPEN horn in F. G2 & G3 were was completely out of tune from each other, I didn't know what to do. When I took the mute out to tune it, all open notes were in tune and that the F horn was slightly flat. So I tuned the F horn to the Bb flat horn, hoping that there would be some changes, but unfortunately, the G3 was still 1/2 step sharp. It's time to move on and possibly get the Shhhhhhh mute or move or find a dedicated practice space.... whichever comes first.I received this mute just a few hours ago. It took me a bit to set up, as I originally had issues with the light indicator continuously blinking. After reversing the cable to the mute, I was able to correct my issue. With the earbuds in my ear and running a few scales, I was convinced that this mute wasn't working properly. It sounded as if I didn't have a mute in my bell. The sound was extremely true and clear. I had to take the earbuds out just to confirm that the mute was silent. My spouse, who was in the next room over, wasn't aware that I was even playing. This mute is absolutely amazing. It does offer two options for sound. A standard straight version, where you are hearing yourself naturally and an acoustic version. The acoustic option didn't sound to synthesized. It was as if you were playing in a small concert hall or church. The mute is extremely light. It did fall out of my bell once, but that was due to me not placing it in snug enough. The one issue that I did not like, was the excess of wires and the cheap earbuds that came with the set. Luckily, the earbuds are just an standard aux set, in which you can trade out for a more sturdy pair of your own. I did notice some intonation issues with extremely low and extremely high notes when playing. You definitely will have to adjust your embouchure to achieve these notes. Middle octaves play and feel normal. One complaint that I read about was back pressure from the mute. I didn't not experience this, as I believe this version of the mute was revised to create a less restrictive air flow through the mute. This mute is great if you have to practice in close quarters. I do not recommend solely using this mute for every practice session; as mentioned before, there are embouchure issues with the bottom and high ranges. Overall, this mute is a life saver! If you are thinking about purchasing this mute, please do so. I wish I had not waited so long to buy this. I believe that if I had purchased this mute a few years back, I would have practiced much more than I do now. The cost of this mute, currently $234.09, is a bit much, considering the trumpet version is around $60.00 less and is about the same size. Fi you do not mind the cost and are in need of a truly silent mute, buy this. I don't believe that there is anything better on the market as of right now.

This is a very cool piece of technology if I had one when I was in High School I might have practiced more. This makes the horn silent for everyone in the house but sounds like playing in a large room to the player. There is a slight audio buzz but it is not noticeable while playing.

This works great! Got the French horn version but using it for a mellophone. The mute reduces the external volume comparable to a person humming. A lot of people talk louder than this. In the headphones it sounds fantastic. There's a small condenser mic that feeds into the external pack thru 1/8“ (supplied) then to your headphones. Has choice of 2 reverbs, one short and one with a longer tail, no fx bypass, but they sound great. I imagine the mute output would work great as a line in/D I for recording. There's also an aux input so you can plug your phone in and play along to a metronome or a song, no separate audio control for that, just use the phone volume. Highly recommend this!