I've had everything from the cheapie muffs to remington-branded electronic noise-cancelling muffs, to quite nice muffs, to the disposable and molded inserts. These days, I tend to run disposables more than anything else, for the relative comfort, and the fact that they don't interfere with cheek weld like giant earmuffs do.

Those look like they'd at least address the bulk issues of headphone-style earmuffs, active or not. I did enjoy the ability of the electronic muffs I've used to pass most normal conversation easily, even while wearing them during cease fires, etc - it was only ever the bulk that turned me away from them.