OK, the jury's in and it's a winner!
I had two sets of DC H10-40 headsets, given me by a friend of my Dad who had suspended all aviation operations on account of advancing age, and they were just sitting around gathering dust, so I decided, "what the heck," and ordered up the Headsets, Inc. ANR kit. I also ordered the auto shutoff box, and the integrated cord.
All was received as ordered, and I installed the kit per the included instructions. In all, it took me about two hours, but I did take my time.
After that, I put them on my head and flipped the switch, and it was sort of eerie, how all the low-frequency background noise of life sort of "slurped" away. Still, I had to test 'em in the plane for sure.
In the plane, I hooked 'em up and went flying (no, I did not fly just to test the headset, I was going somewhere anyway). I left them off until I was done with my initial climb, then flipped them on, and was extremely impressed with the level of noise reduction. ATC was impressed with the noise reduction- that is, the reduction of noise from my mouth, as the microphone on the headsets stopped working. Oops! I swapped back to my old standby Telex headset (I did not fly the first time with a newly-modified headset as my only available unit).
Back home (after aging the headset for a couple of weeks), I opened up the headsets to find out where I screwed up to make the mic quit working, and determined... I didn't. The mic was just flaky (whereupon I remembered, that was why I stopped using that headset a couple of years ago anyway). So, I procured the microphone from the other old pair of H10-40s, and all was well, again, and this time, they worked without hiccup.
Now, after a couple of trips with them, I am very satisfied, and I have one other observation. I had always heard, and had to generally agree, that the DC's had enough clamping pressure to be uncomfortable- yet, with the NC switched on, they somehow manage not to be uncomfortable anymore. It is true: good NC headphones truly do reduce your fatigue. In addition, it is amazing how much more clearly I hear ATC calls.
Now, someday I intend to get some Bose or Zulus, but the Headsets, Inc. mod is an excellent upgrade, giving me good performing ANC headsets for about $225.00, plus the donor headset. I am next putting the mod into Tommy's Red Baron headset, and (perhaps) into one of the sets of Telex (although HS, Inc. says that this is a tight fit).
On balance, if you have decent electronic assembly skills, I heartily recommend the Headsets, Inc. ANR upgrade.
I had two sets of DC H10-40 headsets, given me by a friend of my Dad who had suspended all aviation operations on account of advancing age, and they were just sitting around gathering dust, so I decided, "what the heck," and ordered up the Headsets, Inc. ANR kit. I also ordered the auto shutoff box, and the integrated cord.
All was received as ordered, and I installed the kit per the included instructions. In all, it took me about two hours, but I did take my time.
After that, I put them on my head and flipped the switch, and it was sort of eerie, how all the low-frequency background noise of life sort of "slurped" away. Still, I had to test 'em in the plane for sure.
In the plane, I hooked 'em up and went flying (no, I did not fly just to test the headset, I was going somewhere anyway). I left them off until I was done with my initial climb, then flipped them on, and was extremely impressed with the level of noise reduction. ATC was impressed with the noise reduction- that is, the reduction of noise from my mouth, as the microphone on the headsets stopped working. Oops! I swapped back to my old standby Telex headset (I did not fly the first time with a newly-modified headset as my only available unit).
Back home (after aging the headset for a couple of weeks), I opened up the headsets to find out where I screwed up to make the mic quit working, and determined... I didn't. The mic was just flaky (whereupon I remembered, that was why I stopped using that headset a couple of years ago anyway). So, I procured the microphone from the other old pair of H10-40s, and all was well, again, and this time, they worked without hiccup.
Now, after a couple of trips with them, I am very satisfied, and I have one other observation. I had always heard, and had to generally agree, that the DC's had enough clamping pressure to be uncomfortable- yet, with the NC switched on, they somehow manage not to be uncomfortable anymore. It is true: good NC headphones truly do reduce your fatigue. In addition, it is amazing how much more clearly I hear ATC calls.
Now, someday I intend to get some Bose or Zulus, but the Headsets, Inc. mod is an excellent upgrade, giving me good performing ANC headsets for about $225.00, plus the donor headset. I am next putting the mod into Tommy's Red Baron headset, and (perhaps) into one of the sets of Telex (although HS, Inc. says that this is a tight fit).
On balance, if you have decent electronic assembly skills, I heartily recommend the Headsets, Inc. ANR upgrade.
