I've tried to order a QT Halo for quite awhile now. On the suggestion of someone here I contacted them and got on list. After OSH I got an e-mail saying they had some in stock and I could call to order one, which I did.
By way of background, I'm a long-time Lightspeed user, most recently the Zulu.2. (I'm not a big fan of the PFX.) I also have a Bose A20 which I've been using in the jet mainly because the power cord could be moved to the right ear cup, which puts the cord on the correct side for First Office plugs on the right side of the jet. The Bose is great, but not quite as good as the Lightspeed. But I was interested in getting something even more compact that would allow me to pop a hat on when I needed it for sun blocking purposes. I looked at both the Clarity Aloft and the QT Halo, but the lower price and audio tube design of the QT pushed me that direction.
After ordering it arrived in two days, as promised. It seems reasonably well-built, although the cord seems really thin. That has pluses and minuses. It makes it more compact but I'm wondering about durability. Time will tell.
I'm currently using the fat foam ear plugs. I need to try the others but these seems to make sense from the get-go. I flew two 2-day trips with them this week so got a pretty good work out. So, here are my initial impressions:
- Incoming audio quality is excellent. I could hear as well as with my LS or Bose ANR headsets.
- Outgoing audio quality was reported as good by my Captain, but for me the ear plug design makes my fairly deep base resonate REALLY loudly in my head when coupled with the sidetone audio. It took a couple of days to adjust to that change and still find it a bit annoying.
- Our audio alert tones are OBNOXIOUSLY...almost painfully...loud coming through these. It's WAY louder than coming through my ANR headsets. I'm thinking part of it is the mic picking up on that tone which comes over our cabin speakers as well as the audio panel. I'm adjusting to it but the volume of those concerns me a bit.
- My inner ears itch after while with the plugs. I was afraid this might be an issue. Maybe I'll get used to it. I hope so. But it's annoying.
- Overall noise cancelling seems to be slightly less than with my ANRs, but that's really subjective. The CRJ cockpit isn't overly loud....you don't have the low freq rumble of a piston, but you have more high-pitch noise from all the fans, wind noise and whistling windshield wipers in cruise.
- I like the lightweight aspect.
- They're convenient to stow between legs because i can hang them anywhere...often over my Surface EFB! I couldn't do that with the ANRs.
- Donning them takes slightly longer than the traditional headsets. I'm sure with time and practice I'll get quicker at it, but it's definitely more work to get the plugs compressed and properly inserted.
- Small size makes them convenient to store in my flight bag. I'm currently dragging the Bose along, too, just in case an issue surfaces. But in time I suspect I'll feel comfortable enough to ditch the backup headset.
So, those are my initial impressions. One of these days I'll try them in one of the piston airplanes I fly, but for not I purchased them mainly for the jet. I'll continue to use them and see if I can overcome some of the minor frustrations.
By way of background, I'm a long-time Lightspeed user, most recently the Zulu.2. (I'm not a big fan of the PFX.) I also have a Bose A20 which I've been using in the jet mainly because the power cord could be moved to the right ear cup, which puts the cord on the correct side for First Office plugs on the right side of the jet. The Bose is great, but not quite as good as the Lightspeed. But I was interested in getting something even more compact that would allow me to pop a hat on when I needed it for sun blocking purposes. I looked at both the Clarity Aloft and the QT Halo, but the lower price and audio tube design of the QT pushed me that direction.
After ordering it arrived in two days, as promised. It seems reasonably well-built, although the cord seems really thin. That has pluses and minuses. It makes it more compact but I'm wondering about durability. Time will tell.
I'm currently using the fat foam ear plugs. I need to try the others but these seems to make sense from the get-go. I flew two 2-day trips with them this week so got a pretty good work out. So, here are my initial impressions:
- Incoming audio quality is excellent. I could hear as well as with my LS or Bose ANR headsets.
- Outgoing audio quality was reported as good by my Captain, but for me the ear plug design makes my fairly deep base resonate REALLY loudly in my head when coupled with the sidetone audio. It took a couple of days to adjust to that change and still find it a bit annoying.
- Our audio alert tones are OBNOXIOUSLY...almost painfully...loud coming through these. It's WAY louder than coming through my ANR headsets. I'm thinking part of it is the mic picking up on that tone which comes over our cabin speakers as well as the audio panel. I'm adjusting to it but the volume of those concerns me a bit.
- My inner ears itch after while with the plugs. I was afraid this might be an issue. Maybe I'll get used to it. I hope so. But it's annoying.
- Overall noise cancelling seems to be slightly less than with my ANRs, but that's really subjective. The CRJ cockpit isn't overly loud....you don't have the low freq rumble of a piston, but you have more high-pitch noise from all the fans, wind noise and whistling windshield wipers in cruise.
- I like the lightweight aspect.
- They're convenient to stow between legs because i can hang them anywhere...often over my Surface EFB! I couldn't do that with the ANRs.
- Donning them takes slightly longer than the traditional headsets. I'm sure with time and practice I'll get quicker at it, but it's definitely more work to get the plugs compressed and properly inserted.
- Small size makes them convenient to store in my flight bag. I'm currently dragging the Bose along, too, just in case an issue surfaces. But in time I suspect I'll feel comfortable enough to ditch the backup headset.
So, those are my initial impressions. One of these days I'll try them in one of the piston airplanes I fly, but for not I purchased them mainly for the jet. I'll continue to use them and see if I can overcome some of the minor frustrations.
