Headsets?

wrbix said:
If you reside in the hot and/or humid part of the country, reconsider the in ear comfort of non-headclamps.
With my DCs in the Southeast, I used to sweat like a fat girl.....find my QT Halos oh-so-much-more comfortable.
One quickly gets used to having earplugs in.
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Good point. Unfortunately, where I live, it's only hot and humid for about 5 months max, so that wouldn't be too much of a problem for me. And maybe I just have cheap/bad earbuds, but at my previous job, I had to use them 8 hrs a day and never did get used to them, so I am just super hesitant to consider in-ear options. If I ever move south, I just might decide in-ear is amazing! ;)
 
I’ve always thought about adapting my Bose QC Headphones with a ufly mike https://uflymike.com/ so I could have both headphone for listening to tunes at home or on airline trips but never have done it.

it seems like a good idea to convert the Bose headphone into a Bose Headset for $225 vs $1000. Anyone ever try it?

Cheers
 
X3 Skier said:
it seems like a good idea to convert the Bose headphone into a Bose Headset for $225 vs $1000. Anyone ever try it?

Cheers
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I tried it in 2011 with a Quiet Comfort (II? III?) My plan was to use the hand mike for transmitting. Start up and run up went fine and the ANR worked fantastically. Then it got to the part applying full power for take off. I had to abort 2 seconds into it. The QCs couldn't attenuate the bass of the engine rumble properly and it sounded like an auger in my ears. It's like the sensing mics were clipping and the algorithms were freaking out.

Maybe newer Bose headphones could withstand it.

Me? I just bought the A20. Finally took me 12 years of flying to talk myself into it (and save up for it :rolleyes:) but I'm super glad I have them.
 
X3 Skier said:
I’ve always thought about adapting my Bose QC Headphones with a ufly mike https://uflymike.com/ so I could have both headphone for listening to tunes at home or on airline trips but never have done it.

it seems like a good idea to convert the Bose headphone into a Bose Headset for $225 vs $1000. Anyone ever try it?

Cheers
Click to expand...
Quite a few pilots at my old company use the Uflymike setup and they have no complaints. They like it because they can use it in the cockpit and then when they’re dead heading or non revving back home they can use the same headset and not have to pack another one.
 
cgrab said:
I've been using my David Clarks H-10 for many years. I had the ANR conversion done at Oshkosh a few years back.
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This!

If money is a consideration, the cheapest way to get a good ANR is to first buy a quality over the ear NON-ANR headset and then an ANR conversion kit.

-Skip
 
Headsets are a real personal thing. A lot of it is fit and comfort, many of the ANR units (and the in-the-ear things) have pretty equivalent NR specs. Ideally, you'll go to a well equipped pilot shop or Oshkosh where you can try a bunch.

My wife has the Clarity Aloft which she loves. I've used them but I wasn't big on the in-the-ear nature though that may have changed now that I wear hearing aids. I'm currently using lightspeed Tempos (wireless). I have a pair of Zulu.3's (factory upgraded from my prior Zulu.2s) that I use as a spare/backseat pair.

The problem with converting non-ANR headsets is that any that were decent to begin with are going to have more weight and clamping pressure than an ANR would typically.

I've always found the Lightspeeds to work better for me than the Bose (tried them both).
 
Thanks, guys, for all the info! I appreciate you all taking the time to write it out.

I am thinking I will go for two headsets - a good quality but cheaper set for training and then spring for a Lightspeed or Bose once I get my license. Just because I will probably drop the one during training or something awful will happen to it in my car in the commute to/from the plane...sometimes I think my backseat is actually a blender the way it pulverizes stuff over time!

I am going to see if I can find a place where I can try on some headsets before I get any spendy headsets, but having some idea of what I might like to look at is super helpful. It can be very overwhelming when you don't really know what you are looking at. Thanks again for helping this clueless pilot-to-be get a better grasp on what's out there! :)
 
I can't vouch for the Bose, but frankly unless you drive a car over the lightspeeds you're not likely to mess them up. How important is your hearing to you?
 
I'll toss in one other variable: how they fit YOUR head. I have a larger head (it's an easy straight line, but just let it be!) and had to special order my motorcycle helmet. I can't wear DC passives for more than 1/2 hour without it starting to hurt. DC makes very good headsets and they might be perfect for you. The point being that how a headset fits your head is a crucial part of choosing a headset _and_ how well the headset does it's noise canceling.

You're on the right path to try some out before buying!

John
 
I would like to keep my hearing until I am at least 40. ;) Preferably, a lot longer!

I don't want to get a DC passive, because they don't fit my head well, and they are super uncomfy after a while for me. That much, I know. I've never worn anything else, which is why I wanted to try some on first. It would really suck to spend the money and have them still be uncomfortable, even if they worked great at noise reduction. For that part, though, I would be probably impressed with almost anything, because I've not had an ANR headset yet! LOL
 
SkyChaser said:
I would like to keep my hearing until I am at least 40. ;) Preferably, a lot longer!

I don't want to get a DC passive, because they don't fit my head well, and they are super uncomfy after a while for me. That much, I know. I've never worn anything else, which is why I wanted to try some on first. It would really suck to spend the money and have them still be uncomfortable, even if they worked great at noise reduction. For that part, though, I would be probably impressed with almost anything, because I've not had an ANR headset yet! LOL
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I bought 2 Telex 1st generation ANR headsets off of eBay for ~$65. They both work just fine. They each use 2 9V batteries but I can buy a LOT of batteries for the difference in cost. I will say that they are certainly not as good as the current generation of ANR but the difference when you turn on the ANR is impressive. And they are decent passive sets even when the ANR doesn't work. Check out @pigpenracing for current gen headsets for significantly less. Check out eBay for older ones cheap.
 
I personally don’t have much experience with many. I started off using a David Clark because that is what the flight school offered. Then I decided to get a Bose a20 non Bluetooth version. I’ll admit that I have a thing for Bose and always have. I own several pairs of headphones, wired and Bluetooth. I find the Bose to be very comfortable and the extra electronic noise canceling feature is pretty awesome. I was flying in a DA20-C1 and didn’t hear much of the engine. I first tried it out when it came because it also has a 3mm headphone jack and comes with a wire to attach to your phone to listen to music. I turned on the noise canceling while my wife was talking and I heard nothing, only seen her lips moving.

Keep in mind that I only have a total of 12 flight hours so I haven’t yet worn them for over 1.2 hours at a time, but so far, they seem very comfortable to me.
 
Again with the old school dissenting opinion. One of the advantages of a traditional David Clark H10-XX headset is the huge aftermarket parts and upgrades availability. For example, with ear cushions you can get foam or gel and you can get them in a variety of thicknesses, as well as leather covered ear pads.

The metal frame can also be tweaked a bit to reduce the head vice effect, and if you upgrade it with ANR, you also don't need it to clamp as tightly for as much passive noise reduction.

In other words, don't be too quick to judge it comfort wise, if you haven't played around with one you own and tweaked it to your needs and preferences.

It's also worth noting that one of the reported effects of doing an ANR conversion on an H10-XX headset is a reduction in perceived "head clamp" effect. It appears that reduced low frequency noise helps reduce the perception that the headset is tight.
 
I’m happy with my DC Pro-X. Very lightweight and comfy with good ANR.
 
I have the DC One-X and I like it very much and find it very comfortable. I've also used the Sennheiser 45, Telex 850, and the U-Fly Mike QC25 and the One-X is the best. A co-worker loaned me his Bose A20 and I like the DC One-X better. Before I got the DC One-X the U-Fly Mike was my favorite.
 
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If you're going to be flying for a while (or for a career) I'd pull some strings and get the right headset first, a high quality ANR model. For serious every-day work I (and most of the industry) favor the Bose A20 for durability and all-round superior performance, but you do pay for it. The Lightspeed Zulu models are very nice but less durable, albeit with a commensurately lower cost of acquisition. I'd probably pick one of those two depending on the health of my pocketbook.

I'm in the "absolutely can't stand things jammed in my ears" crowd so I've never been a fan of that style of headset. We do have a pilot in my operation who uses them and likes them, though. I think they're Clarity Aloft.

Find one that feels comfortable to you. I actually wear a Bose QC25 with uflymike when I fly for work, but those are quiet flight decks. I have done checkrides with them in little airplanes when I was traveling and didn't have room to pack my Bose A20s in my suitcase, but they're not quite as suitable in the piston environment. They work fine in a pinch though.
 
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