Problem with aircooled is that they build up heat in an enclosure whereas a watercooled moves the heat outside. And they can get quite loud at elevated rpms.
As a test I de-fanād a Makita brushless. The difference was amazing in both sound and vibration. Should be even quieter with a watercooled housing.
I would say that if they arenāt OSHA and NIOSH compliant, then donāt wear them for workshop protection. I always thought that BOSE or some business like that would consider OSHA and NIOSH compliance a very good marketing strategy, but they donāt have it.
I first discovered the Plugfones, when looking for hearing protection while riding my motorcycle but also allow easy listening of my com device. This was before all their options, 5 years ago, it was just a wired version with or w/o inline controls 
. I still use them to this day for riding.
Discovered ISOtunes years later (I think due to April Wilkersonās channel) and I bought the ISOtunes Pro last year and have worked well. I only wear them for short bursts 1-3 hours, as it is only when I have the bandsaw or CNC router going in the garage and Iām not in a noisy work environment otherwise. I could see them being bothersome after several more hours of wear, but isnāt an issue in my situation.
I use the provided silicone plugs for both as they are more comfortable for me and supposedly more noise reduction.
Edit:
I donāt really have a preference and got the versions tailored for my use, I wanted wired for my motorcycle, didnāt need inline controls and be as small as possible to allow them to fit with-in my helmet.
I got the ISOtunes bluetooth for the shop, I wanted wireless as a wire down to my pocket (phone) can be annoying. I will say the tether between them is a little annoying at times on the back of my neck (or catches my shirt when I turn my head). The āFREEā version might be nicer in that regard.
Iām wondering if the dust collection of a water cooled spindle is better. It seems it should be as the spindle / router isnāt blowing air down and scattering chips all over the place while fighting the updraft of the vacuum.
Iāve been curious about this for a while now, and had initially wondered if the airflow from a trim router could be used to clear chips/cool the endmill.
Finally got around to experimenting, and it takes a tediously long time to fill a garbage bag with air using the air blown out of a trim router, but if one then sticks a length of hose with a stiff brush into the center of a garbage bag full of air, it is evacuated almost instantly when one turns on the vacuum, so the airflow from an air-cooled unit would seem to be inconsequential.
Related to Willās pondering I have a Tite-CNC dust shoe that redirects the downdraft of the Dewalt router out the side to keep it from competing with the dust collections.
I would say that if they arenāt OSHA and NIOSH compliant, then donāt wear them for workshop protection.
I think thatās very sensible.
I was just commenting on @stutaylo 's previous comment about them having absolutely zero protection. I couldnāt find anything to back up that assertion, but could find plenty of articles to the contrary.
I did considerable research myself after your comments @Gerry (being quite happy to be corrected and remove/edit my post)
I was going off the information the Australian Equivalent of OSHA gave us at my workplace, saying that though the Noise cancelling earphones do produce a soundwave 180Ā° to the background noise to cancel it out, the 180Ā° sound has energy of its own, which impacts your ears along with the background noise, which can cause damage.
All I can find online is articles saying they do decrease hearing loss because they result in your music not being turned up as loud to hear it. I couldnāt find anything saying the āactiveā noise cancelling actually reduces noise induced hearing loss. The āpassiveā noise cancelling of having something jammed in your ear, or over your ear is definitely providing protection to external noises.
Maybe the only difference is that isotunes paid the money to get them certified.
There ya go again. 
(I like to quote President Ronald Reagan!) Iām purty sure that Isotunes obtained the certification, because their sales are enhanced by that certification.
I guess I havenāt seen all noise cancelling earphones, but the ones Iāve seen (over-the-ear) donāt look anything like the passive muffs that Iāve worn most of my life for hearing protection. Iām purty sure they donāt try to produce passive sound reduction in a way that would allow them a 20+ dB rating. In any case, it probably is a negative marketing point for them to offer their devices in competition with passive devices such as Isotunes (or those green and orange foam things); so they donāt.
Sorry for hijacking the thread, but it is what it is.
Hey @stutaylo ! Iām wasnāt 100% sure either, tbhā¦ it was the emboldened āzeroā that caught my eye 
From what I read (similar articles probably), one danger is that because there is latency in the headphones as the determine the background noise, there is a short period where they generate a not-quite-180Ā° wave, which would probably be summed with the outside noise and therefore be louder.
But it does seem from extra reading that the noise cancellation effect is called ādestructive interferenceā and proper glorious and golden silence is indeed the outcome.
As some companies make active noise cancellation headsets for noisy factory floors, Iām guessing that if the specs are correct and up to ācodeā, these things are safe and effective. Maybe (in bold).
@Gerry haha a good bit of formatting always helps to get the [potentially incorrect] message acrossā¦
I have edited my original post to back it off a little.
A lot of the big names do infact make Active noise cancelling headphones for industry or airline pilots, but they are not consumer grade and the cost is pretty significant.
Apologies for getting off topicā¦
Back onto it though - Iād love to see a temperature comparison between the Cooling system on the CW-3000 that Julien is using, and what the Axiom machines use (Not many photos around but there is one below). I like the way Axiom do it, keeping the whole lot on the gantry its a very compact unit with a little pump, radiator and fan. I have read people having issues if the coolant isnāt flushed often, It does look like a pretty small volume relative to what @julien is using.
Iām on it and actually have sourced the coolant pumps they use. I have a strong feeling they will not hold up for long duty cycles based on previous experience.
āISOtunesĀ® XTRA comes with 4 sets of TRILOGYā¢ foam eartips (XS,S,M,L) and 3 sets of silicone eartips (S,M,L). The TRILOGYā¢ foam eartips are designed for superior comfort, superior noise blocking and superior sound quality. Choose the size that ļ¬ ts most snugly in your ear canal. Remember, the snugger the ļ¬t, the better the noise blocking. The silicone eartips are intended for use when NOT in noisy situationsā
Well my knowledge/memory is skewed, was basing that off what I remembered when i bought the Plugfones, which using the Wayback Machine, my remark is still wrong , both the foam and silicone were rated at 25dB noise reduction. Today, their new plugs are rated Foam: 29dB and Slicone: 27dB
ISOtunes statement is intrestinng, the FAQ for the Pro 2.0:
ISOtunesĀ® PRO 2.0 comes with 3 sets of ISOtunes TRILOGYā¢ Foam eartips (S,M,L) and 1 set of rubber triple flange eartips. The foam eartips have been specifically designed by for use with ISOtunes PRO and are made from a heat-activated memory foam which allows long-term, comfortable wear and enhanced sound performance. The foam eartips provide maximum noise reduction while the rubber eartips are recommended for use in less noisy situations.
According to their product page, (supposedly) Foam plugs are rated at 27 dB NRR, which matches Plugphones Silicone plugs rating. The ISOtunes wired version says 29 dB NRR, matching Plugfones Foam plug rating.
Plugfones ratings donāt change between the wired and wireless version as far as I can tell like the ISOtunes do.
Something is better than nothing? 
I of course donāt work an 8 hour shift in a noisy environment either, so my concern is less as long as I have some protection.
A ways upthread, @Julien mentioned Mark Presslingās video on a thermal-switch controlled VFD fan. I had seen that before (and come to the same āwell, Iām not going through all thatā conclusion), but I had another look anyway. The top comment was a guy who said basically āI put the switch on with a binder clip and it worked just fineā and I thought that was an interesting idea.
Then I came back to this thread and saw @gmackās suggestion to use thermal-transfer epoxy and I thought that was a really good idea - so I did it. And it works. I didnāt have to disassemble anything; pop the cover off the fan, pull out the fan, do the thing. It was admittedly a bit fiddly getting the switch spliced in since my fan wires were pretty short, but I got it done inside of about 15 minutes.
After letting the epoxy cure overnight, I tested it using a heat gun and it works perfectly. Iāll have to see how it holds up over time, but Iām not expecting any problems.
Did you go with the 50 degree C switch too? My guess is that the fan will never come on because most of the power (heat) dissipated by the VFD is proportional to the square of the spindle current and very little of the VFDās capability is usable on Shapeokos. But, as @The_real_janderson pointed out, affordable quieter fans (brushless, better bearings, lower CFM, etc.) are readily available.
I went with the 45C switch - that was what Mark used, IIRC and it seemed reasonable to me (based on nothing, Iāll admit. It seemed to me a reasonably low number). I also strongly suspect that, even at 45C, it will not spend a lot of time (if any) on, but Iāll have to see in actual use.
Others might be interested in what you learn, if you care to share.
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