New headset offering from DC

They are 'on ear' rather than 'over ear' design. Nicer for glasses, but if they kept the infamous DC vise tight clamp strap, they'll be painfully as all hell, I can't wear DCs for more than an hour.
 
Henning said:
They are 'on ear' rather than 'over ear' design. Nicer for glasses, but if they kept the infamous DC vise tight clamp strap, they'll be painfully as all hell, I can't wear DCs for more than an hour.
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I concur. David Clamps give me a splitting headache!
 
DC is embarrassing. It is a shame they don't compete in the high end ANR space with something credible. This could be a nice headset IF IF IF it doesn't clamp like their usual offerings. I use my A20 in the Lear but we have some on-ear Telex headsets and I am not a big fan.
 
Inverted said:
DC is embarrassing. It is a shame they don't compete in the high end ANR space with something credible. This could be a nice headset IF IF IF it doesn't clamp like their usual offerings. I use my A20 in the Lear but we have some on-ear Telex headsets and I am not a big fan.
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I agree. No technological advances in 50 years practically. Great company that just stuck with "tried and true" and are just now realizing they need to step their game up. Too late for many, I'm afraid.

Also, on ear sets as opposed to over ear, just don't work for many. I know I'm uncomfy in them.
 
In the interest of being fair and balanced: I love my Dave Clarks. They don't clamp, bind, squeeze and are more robust than my friends Bose headset, which goes back for repairs twice or more a year.
My wife has no problems with her DCs, either.
I'd buy another set, without a doubt.

I prefer the "Mickey Mouse" ears to the smaller style. They help cut down on bone conduction, which is a good thing.
Depending on who I fly with I'm either a fathead or a bonehead. :)
 
Who's David Clark?

:)

Oh,yeah.

Didn't he play in a band called Journey?
 
Ok let me be the first to comment about DC customer service.

I have no idea - never had to use them once in ten years.

I'm sure that Bose and Lightspeed have excellent and well-exercised returns and repair departments.
 
alaskaflyer said:
Ok let me be the first to comment about DC customer service.

I have no idea - never had to use them once in ten years.

I'm sure that Bose and Lightspeed have excellent and well-exercised returns and repair departments.
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Yeah, but I can't wear DCs for more than an hour at a time so I'd never use their service either since I wouldn't use their headsets. Haven't had to do anything to my Zulus yet.:dunno:
 
If anyone goes to SunNFun, why not try them on and post a PIREP?

From what I can see, they have a different type of headband which to me looks like it won't clamp as much.

Personally, if they can build a headset to their manufacturing/life quality standards, that offers a competitive feature set with ANR and Bluetooth, and is comfortable, I think they'll give Lightspeed and Bose some good competition.

I've always been thrilled with the sheer bulletproof-ness of DC products. The joke is that soldiers/sailors/airmen can break ANYTHING, which explains the DC popularity with the military.

At the moment, I've misplaced my DC 13.4 headset which was my "guest" headset for years. I'm missing it.
 
Shepherd said:
I...my friends Bose headset, which goes back for repairs twice or more a year...
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Really? You wouldn't be making that up or exaggerating for effect would you? Eight years with my Bose X and they have been back for repair once when I stepped out of the plane with the chord wrapped around my foot. The repair was free and they even put on new ear cushions for me.
 
My X's (2 sets) are at least as old with zero problems. The Bose booth at OSH usually gives me new pads if I remember to ask for them.
Silvaire said:
Really? You wouldn't be making that up or exaggerating for effect would you? Eight years with my Bose X and they have been back for repair once when I stepped out of the plane with the chord wrapped around my foot. The repair was free and they even put on new ear cushions for me.
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My X had problems with the power cord which ended up being a recall issue. Thru sent a new cord and I've had zero problems with it since. I used to just throw ear seals on every few months and that's it. My Zulu went in twice. Both times because I shredded the cord when I ran over it with my seat. My A20 has had zero problems as well. You have to account for an intricate electronic device which is used and abused to have problems. Their customer service is fantastic too.
 
Silvaire said:
Really? You wouldn't be making that up or exaggerating for effect would you? Eight years with my Bose X and they have been back for repair once when I stepped out of the plane with the chord wrapped around my foot. The repair was free and they even put on new ear cushions for me.
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Same here with lightspeed. One return, because I closed the door on the cord and left it for a week. They repaired, no charge, and installed new gel seals. The headset was way out of warranty when this happened. Not that it should have been warranty anyway...
 
When there's a 2000% markup on your product, it's easy to give good service lol.
 
I can tell from the pictures that the plug cords aren't as beefy as the ones on my DC 13.4's. That is a little bit of a disappointment.

From a design standpoint, I like the classic look of DC headsets, I own three of them for my passengers, but I personally fly with Zulu.2's for their quiet and relative comfort. DC 13.4's hurt my head after about 4 hours or so and they aren't as quiet as they could be. They should have a layer of insulation around the the outside of the plastic shell.....

dcprox-headset-full.png
 
How much cheaper should they have been priced to achieve a reasonable market share?

Henning said:
When there's a 2000% markup on your product, it's easy to give good service lol.
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Henning said:
When there's a 2000% markup on your product, it's easy to give good service lol.
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You would be surprised. I bet it isn't even close to 100%. Plus my hearing, comfort and sanity is completely worth it.
 
Inverted said:
You would be surprised. I bet it isn't even close to 100%. Plus my hearing, comfort and sanity is completely worth it.
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I can't imagine it costs $500+ to build these headsets, sorry. From the looks of parts, I'm betting between $50-$100.
 
Henning said:
They are 'on ear' rather than 'over ear' design. Nicer for glasses, but if they kept the infamous DC vise tight clamp strap, they'll be painfully as all hell, I can't wear DCs for more than an hour.
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the more relaxed fit was 100% of the reason I went with ANR.
 
Henning said:
They are 'on ear' rather than 'over ear' design. Nicer for glasses, but if they kept the infamous DC vise tight clamp strap, they'll be painfully as all hell, I can't wear DCs for more than an hour.
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:yes:

David Clarks? Really? :mad2:
 
And I'll bet that $36 steak at Ruth Chris didn't cost anywhere near $18. And everybody knows the cost of parts is all that matters in determining profitability.

Henning said:
I can't imagine it costs $500+ to build these headsets, sorry. From the looks of parts, I'm betting between $50-$100.
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I'm using my dad's H10-14's. They are 25 years old. Put $30 gel seals on them.

I'm either going to get a QT Halo set or buy the $150 ANR conversion for the DC's. Zulu's are great but I don't think they are worth the money. Yes, I have flown with a pair.
 
dell30rb said:
I'm using my dad's H10-14's. They are 25 years old. Put $30 gel seals on them.

I'm either going to get a QT Halo set or buy the $150 ANR conversion for the DC's. Zulu's are great but I don't think they are worth the money. Yes, I have flown with a pair.
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You'll love the Halos if you've been flying with DCs, especially if you fly long trips.
 
Henning said:
I can't imagine it costs $500+ to build these headsets, sorry. From the looks of parts, I'm betting between $50-$100.
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Well the 16gb iphone 5 costs 200 bucks to build. They sold 27.4 million of them last quarter. An ANR aviation headset that had to go through the TSO process costing 500 dollars doesn't sound crazy to me at all.
 
dell30rb said:
I'm using my dad's H10-14's. They are 25 years old. Put $30 gel seals on them.

I'm either going to get a QT Halo set or buy the $150 ANR conversion for the DC's. Zulu's are great but I don't think they are worth the money. Yes, I have flown with a pair.
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I have converted about 30 Headsets over to the Headsets Inc ANR kit. http://www.headsetsinc.com/index.html
The kit works extremely well for the price. It's worth consideration.

I think DC is getting back into the game rather late. There is quite a gamut of headsets at various price points and are loaded with features.

The DC X11 dubbed the Bose killer was a flop! Maybe this new offering from DC will be something decent....
 
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Inverted said:
Well the 16gb iphone 5 costs 200 bucks to build. They sold 27.4 million of them last quarter. An ANR aviation headset that had to go through the TSO process costing 500 dollars doesn't sound crazy to me at all.
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As reported from Mashable:

The 16 GB iPhone 5 costs Apple slightly more to build than it retails for with a two-year contract, according to a new report from IHS iSuppli.
The market research firm conducted a virtual teardown of the latest iPhone and estimates that the parts used in the 16 GB version cost Apple $199 while the manufacturing cost is another $8, meaning Apple pays about $207 to build the entry-level iPhone 5.
Not only is that more expensive than the phone's $199 price tag with a two-year contract, it's also more than the iPhone 4S was estimated to cost Apple to build. A previous report from iSuppli found that the materials used in the 16 GB version of the iPhone 4s cost Apple $188.
The two biggest factors driving up the cost of the latest iPhone are 4G LTE and the new in-cell touchscreen technology that essentially eliminates a layer from the display to make the smartphone that much thinner. The use of 4G LTE is estimated to cost Apple $34 per device, up from $24 per device for the wireless component costs in the iPhone 4s. Likewise, the in-cell technology increased Apple's display costs to $44 for each iPhone 5 compared to $37 for each iPhone 4s.
Apple was able to offset some of this by bringing the cost of other parts down, including the price of NAND Flash, which is estimated to have been almost halved from the previous year to $10.40.
As iSuppli points out, these estimates only factor in the cost of hardware parts and manufacturing, but omit the cost of research and development, licensing fees and royalties, among others, so the overall price tag for Apple could be higher.
Even if the phone does cost more $207 or more to build, it's worth noting that the actual starting price of the iPhone 5 is $649 — that cost gets subsidized by the wireless companies with your contract — so Apple still has a huge profit margin here.
Here's the full breakdown of what it costs to make each version of the iPhone 5 from iSuppli:

http://mashable.com/2012/09/19/iphone-5-manufacturing-cost/#http://mashable.com/2012/09/19/iphone-5-manufacturing-cost/#http://mashable.com/2012/09/19/iphone-5-manufacturing-cost/#http://mashable.com/2012/09/19/iphone-5-manufacturing-cost/#

 
I'm not sure why all the dumping. When I learned to fly it was w/o headsets at all. Just the overhead speaker in the 150, only because I didn't know any better. My first pair of passive DCs had me thinking I was in heaven. Several years later Bose came out with the X and I didn't think it could get any better than that. I bought a pair of DC X11s but really couldn't tell the difference from my Bose.

I guess when you start with nothing you appreciate just still having your hearing at my age.
 
Inverted said:
Well the 16gb iphone 5 costs 200 bucks to build. They sold 27.4 million of them last quarter. An ANR aviation headset that had to go through the TSO process costing 500 dollars doesn't sound crazy to me at all.
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What is involved in the TSO process that is onerous? Do headsets even go through TSO? Many radios don't.
 
Gerhardt said:
I'm not sure why all the dumping. When I learned to fly it was w/o headsets at all. Just the overhead speaker in the 150, only because I didn't know any better. My first pair of passive DCs had me thinking I was in heaven. Several years later Bose came out with the X and I didn't think it could get any better than that. I bought a pair of DC X11s but really couldn't tell the difference from my Bose.

I guess when you start with nothing you appreciate just still having your hearing at my age.
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When I first started flying I called my great uncle, a pilot from WWII on who gave me my first small plane ride and shouted it to him. His words to me, "Great, go get the best headset you can find and wear it every flight or you'll end up like me."
 
Henning said:
What is involved in the TSO process that is onerous? Do headsets even go through TSO? Many radios don't.
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TSO, FCC, CE endorsements are all very expensive -- tens of thousands of dollars and many months of testing, preparing documents, etc.
 
Henning said:
What is involved in the TSO process that is onerous? Do headsets even go through TSO? Many radios don't.
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TSO is an FAA certification process. It is very expensive. I won't say it will justify why my Bose were almost as much as a monthly mortgage payment, but it isn't cheap.
 
Inverted said:
TSO is an FAA certification process. It is very expensive. I won't say it will justify why my Bose were almost as much as a monthly mortgage payment, but it isn't cheap.
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All things Bose are not cheap. Even non-aviation is expensive. QC-15's $300? Yup!

David
 
Seanaldinho said:
I dont understand the "headclamp" claim they are easily adjusted to a much looser setting.
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I must have a tiny head. Bought a DC with ANR for my son, frequently borrow it as it is sturdier than any of my other headsets.
 
Seanaldinho said:
I dont understand the "headclamp" claim they are easily adjusted to a much looser setting.
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+1


I have a old pair of DC 56s, got them for free, old as dirt so I put some gel seals with fabric on and the DC "comfort kit" as everything but the mic and muffs was falling apart due to neglect, manhandled the metal part a bit (nothing noticeable) and they work fine.

Should say I wear my Zulus for work, but these DCs have been my backups/forgot my headset in the other plane/pax set, for YEARS now and they work great even for long durations.

Really dont understand the "david clamp" thing, just bend em a little, seems to work great for almost every other pilot that works with me and I have a big head (in more then one way too, or so I've been told :lol: )
 
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I'd love to get headsets that are comfortable, lightweight and stylish like the Bose A20 and sturdy, reliable and rock-solid like the David Clark...

My David Clark H 10-60 still look and work like brand new ( they're 13 years old...) but my Bose A-20 are about 100 times more comfortable...

Nothing is perfect in this world I guess...:rolleyes:
 
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