CMW CQ1 in ear headset

[simtech]

Last week I thought I would order a pair of these after hearing about them here. Currently I have a set of the QT halo and those have become my wife's. I really like the QT's, its light weight, quiet, and sounds good. BUT the mic boom is way to short for my liking!

After talking with CMW I found there mic boom is a full inch longer. That alone made me have to try them. They arrived today and I quickly put them on and dang that mic boom now sits at my mouth instead of my cheek. Im happy for that alone. Side by side they look similar, the CQ1 seems to fit my head better than the halo, not sure why as they both have bendable frames. The wiring on the CMW seems a bit thicker as well and the control box that houses the volume knob is more stout. However, I find the big clunky volume knob a bit corny looking and bulky. But turning the knob it feels very solid.

I haven't tried them inflight yet as I just got them today. So when I do ill give a report but I fully expect them to sound the same as the Halo's.

The CMW is more expensive and I had to pay extra for the hard case where as the halo is cheaper at $375, comes with more ear tips, and a hard case. The CMW CQ1 was $425 and if you buy the case with the headsets the case is reduced to $6. Is the longer boom worth the extra...IDK but for me personally it is. Now I hope they sound good! I currently fly with Sierra's and my wife had Bose X and honestly the Halo's are just as quiet as the ANR and my wife flies exclusively with the Halo's now.

I think both are great products so it comes down to cost and um mic boom. haha

 

[alaskazimm]

I'll jump in on simtech's thread here since my CQ1 arrived today as well. Side by side with the Halo's they seem very similar with only minor differences between them; build quality looks to be about the same but that can only really be confirmed with use. So far my Halo's (four months use ~30 hours) are holding up fine and I expect the CQ1's to fare similarly. Both fit similarly but the CQ1's seem to fit me just a bit better.

Like simetech I found the mic on my Halo's to be short - only came to the corner of my mouth and was fairly easily moved. The CQ1 mic sits more to the middle of my mouth where I prefer and sitting in my living room stays put. Of course, this comes down to personal preference. The tubes on the CQ1's are also shorter, which I like better than the longer ones on the Halo. I found the longer tubes caught on my collar, seat belt . . . bothersome, but not a deal breaker. I suppose I could cut the Halos down but I read that doing so compromises the audio quality. Maybe there's different drivers on the CQ1 that allow the tubes to be shorter?

I have a flight this weekend; I'll update then.

Build quality . . . . tie (so far)
Weight . . . . tie
Microphone length . . . . . CQ1
Audio tubes . . . . CQ1
Audio quality . . . . ?
Comfort in flight . . . . . ?
Customer service . . . . Card Machine Works

So far the CQ1 comes out ahead, but by no means are the Halos a bad product. I've been gaining an appreciation for them over the last several flights.

 

[alaskazimm]

OK, as promised I'm back for a pirep after my flight today - 1.3 hours on the tach. As expected the longer mic boom on the CQ1 felt much better than the shorter one on the Halo. I didn't notice it move around at all during the flight once it was adjusted on the ground - it just stayed put. ATC didn't have to come back with "last transmission unreadable" once. That for me makes the extra cost over the Halos worth it.
Also as expected the in-flight comfort is the same between the two. This isn't surprising since they are so similar in design.
Audio quality was also on par between the two, although the CQ1s didn't seem to need the volume up as high as the Halos.

There is a correction to my post above about the audio tubes being too long on the Halos - I since read about several others cutting the tubes down without any compromise in audio quality; so that catergory should actually a tie. In the end, it comes down to whether for you the longer mic boom is worth the extra price. You really can't go wrong with either.

 

[Raymo]

I think you'll find the key improvement of the CQ1s is that the mic stays where you put it AND it has mic noise filtering - which is a must-have in a noisy airplane. If your plane's engine has a good muffler, you probably won't see an improvement over the Halos.

 

[GBSoren]

Revisiting and old thread. I'm considering purchasing a set of the CQ1's. After almost a year now how have they worked out for you? I have two sets of Lightspeed PFX, work great but chew thru batteries like crazy, tired of it! Also one set of Lightspeed Tango wireless, bulky, and kind of a "tinny" sound quality. And a set of QT Halo's, light weight and simple, noise cancelling not as good as the PFX, but acceptable, but I've had issues with reliability. Seems like if I sweat, I'll often times only get audio out of one ear. Also, as others have mentioned the mic boom is too short and doesn't stay in place well.

I recently installed a PMA450A audio panel, so I have no need for bluetooth headsets, or audio inputs, as I have both as part of the 450A. Trying to eliminate all those damn batteries!

 

[simtech]

Revisiting and old thread. I'm considering purchasing a set of the CQ1's. After almost a year now how have they worked out for you? I have two sets of Lightspeed PFX, work great but chew thru batteries like crazy, tired of it! Also one set of Lightspeed Tango wireless, bulky, and kind of a "tinny" sound quality. And a set of QT Halo's, light weight and simple, noise cancelling not as good as the PFX, but acceptable, but I've had issues with reliability. Seems like if I sweat, I'll often times only get audio out of one ear. Also, as others have mentioned the mic boom is too short and doesn't stay in place well.

I recently installed a PMA450A audio panel, so I have no need for bluetooth headsets, or audio inputs, as I have both as part of the 450A. Trying to eliminate all those damn batteries!

The CQ1's are still my go to, I really like them. The Halo's are my wife's now and she is having a few problems with them and wants a pair of the CQ1's as well. A little more in price but worth it to me.

I have a hard time getting any ear plug in my left ear. So on short flights I just use my lightspeeds but longer flights it's the CQ1 hands down for me.

 

[alaskazimm]

I still use them for the majority of my flying. Every now and then I'll use the DC One-X's just for the bluetooth music, but typically I'll go with the CQ1's.

As far as noise canceling goes, I haven't had much success with the stock yellow tips (with either the Halo's or the CQ1's). The tips that fit me best are the Compley's; which naturally are the most expensive ones. The one difficult thing is that the tips are hard to put in when it's cold. Eventually body heat does warm them up and they fit nicely after that, but it takes a lot longer to get a good fit in the winter.

 

[GBSoren]

The tips that fit me best are the Compley's; which naturally are the most expensive ones. The one difficult thing is that the tips are hard to put in when it's cold.

Do they come with Compley's? If not, where do you get them? I never had much luck with the yellow foam plugs with my Halo's either, used the black, more foam rubber ones, they seemed to work pretty well.

 

[alaskazimm]

They don't come with the Compley's. The one's that worked best were the Compley Professionaly series - they are a little longer than the standard ones which helps with the noise isolation. These are available from amazon. Card Machine Works also sells sample packs of the foam tips.

 

[GBSoren]

Thanks, I went ahead and ordered one, along with a set of med and large Comply tips from Amazon.

 

[GBSoren]

I received my CQ1 headset yesterday. Shipping was prompt and they look well made and sturdy. Quality of the cords seem a little better than my QT Halo set, and I do like the length of the mic boom. I also ordered two sets of Comply ear tips, a large and a medium. I'll try the large set first. The CQ1's come with a couple extra sets of the "straw" plastic tubes for use on other ear plugs, so I used them on the Comply's.

One question/concern I have. My Halo's (and my Lightspeeds) have separate volume controls for left and right ears, the CQ's do not. Has anyone seen this to be an issue? I do hear better out of my left ear than my right so I'm hoping it won't be an issue.

 

[Sinistar]

I received my CQ1 headset yesterday. Shipping was prompt and they look well made and sturdy. Quality of the cords seem a little better than my QT Halo set, and I do like the length of the mic boom. I also ordered two sets of Comply ear tips, a large and a medium. I'll try the large set first. The CQ1's come with a couple extra sets of the "straw" plastic tubes for use on other ear plugs, so I used them on the Comply's.

One question/concern I have. My Halo's (and my Lightspeeds) have separate volume controls for left and right ears, the CQ's do not. Has anyone seen this to be an issue? I do hear better out of my left ear than my right so I'm hoping it won't be an issue.

For the Halos it is nice to have separate r/l volume as i need my left louder than right. But its easy to bump those little dials too. A nice thing about the halo controller is that it's so small I just velcro it on the side panel so it's never dangling or need to stuff in a seat pocket.

I thought there was a question regarding the l/r balance on the CQ1 and that there was a small pot that could be turned. Perhaps I'm thinking of another headset.

For halos I buy the heavy duty orange -30db foam plugs. Poke a hole and voila crazy quiet.

 

[alaskazimm]

For the Halos it is nice to have separate r/l volume as i need my left louder than right. But its easy to bump those little dials too. A nice thing about the halo controller is that it's so small I just velcro it on the side panel so it's never dangling or need to stuff in a seat pocket.

I thought there was a question regarding the l/r balance on the CQ1 and that there was a small pot that could be turned. Perhaps I'm thinking of another headset.

For halos I buy the heavy duty orange -30db foam plugs. Poke a hole and voila crazy quiet.

Found this over on the Van's Air Force forums from the maker of the CQ1 (from here about halfway down the page)

There is balance control on the board to allow for non-symmetrical volume output when in stereo mode. It just requires popping off the back of the control box and a little twist of the balance pot to set it just the way someone wants it.

 

[tcard]

The CQ1's are still my go to, I really like them.

We are always pleased to hear customers are happy with the CQ1 headset. Thanks for giving it a try.

Side by side they look similar, the CQ1 seems to fit my head better than the halo, not sure why as they both have bendable frames.

The frames are actually quite different. The CQ1 frame is a single piece of wire that is stiff without being too rigid, so the ear drop opposite the microphone can be bent and rebent to adjust the size. Once it is fit to the pilot's head, the adjustment doesn't change The Halo has a two-piece design with a hollow frame and a sliding bar to adjust size.

The CQ1's come with a couple extra sets of the "straw" plastic tubes for use on other ear plugs, so I used them on the Comply's

Ear tips are what make or break a good experience with an in-the-ear-headset, both in comfort and noise attenuation. We send the extra plastic tubing for pilots to try out their favorites. They do work well with the Comply Professional series, but it is best if you push and twist (it does require quite a bit of pressure) the plastic tubing at least half way into the core to make the fit more stable and make sure all the space is consumed in the helix core of the ear tip or else it acts as a sound channel and lets in a lot of aircraft noise. For those that like to make their own ear tips out of their favorite ear plugs, we have some DIY tubing and fittings to make that easier. The goal is to make it as easy as possible to find the best solution for each pilot since we all have different preferences.

One question/concern I have. My Halo's (and my Lightspeeds) have separate volume controls for left and right ears, the CQ's do not. Has anyone seen this to be an issue? I do hear better out of my left ear than my right so I'm hoping it won't be an issue.

Brad and Alaskazimm are correct. Balance control can be changed via a trim pot inside the control box. No accidental adjustment of little dials.