So what's the go-to headset these days?

CJones

CJones

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Back when I first started flying 21 years ago :)yikes:), there was constant banter about headsets and the spanking new ANR technology becoming more widespread. I picked up a Telex Echelon ANR 150 right after passing my checkride and I've been using it ever since. My dad has a couple Lightspeeds and a couple different versions of the in-ear headsets that I have had mixed results with. The Telex is starting to show its age with the boom getting loose and the plastic and foam overall just finally reaching it's end of life so I figure it's about time to upgrade/replace.

What is the 'headset du jour' these days? Any new bells and whistles to look for or stay away from?
 
I grabbed a pair of the David Clark pro x on the ear. Light weight and work reasonably well in little airplanes and jets. There are sets better for some applications but I’m to cheap to have more than on set of ears.
 
I’ve been using my Sierra’s for over a year now. I’m satisfied.
 
Picked up a set of Zulu 3s yesterday. Have two pairs of Zulu 2s and one A20. Prefer Zulus.
 
Are there any out there that fully engulf the ear - i.e. I don't want ear seals, more like skull/cheek seals. I have Bose QC35 headset for my music, and if something like that came in aviation, I would be all up ons.
 
I have A20s and PFXs (top of the line Lightspeed). Much prefer the A20s. The mic is soooo much better
 
I have:
- A20 w/Bluetooth for me - love them but $$$$$$$$$$$
- Lightspeed Sierra w/Bluetooth for VIP - I don’t like the clamp on these; Zulus are better.
- 2x Bose QC25s with the NflightMics for kids and other non-VIP - they work well enough for pax but it’s a bit of a spiderweb of wires.

Next purchase will probably be Zulus because I’m not buying A20s ($$$) for anyone other than me.
 
One thing I don't particularly like is the external battery pack on the Telex set I have now. It looks like some of the headsets are able to power through the panel now? Anybody have experience with any of those?
 
The Bose/Lightspeed thing is kind of Chevy/Ford. The DC ANR is completely different. MY CFII loves his because they are so light and he is in them 4-6 hours a day most days. Of course if the battery dies you have basically no NR.

I think everyone offers "LEMO"...panel powered, but of course you have to have the plugs installed, and you have to have an adapter to use them in someone else's plane as they aren't very common. The battery packs aren't too obtrusive; I think Bose & LS both use 2AA now. There's a little clip that I hook to my lap belt, and let it fall down by the seat and forget it's there.

EdFred said:
Are there any out there that fully engulf the ear - i.e. I don't want ear seals, more like skull/cheek seals. I have Bose QC35 headset for my music, and if something like that came in aviation, I would be all up ons.
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The LS Zulu's have the largest earcup, and seal nicely even on my big melon. The passive NR is at least as good as the DC 13.4's, and then you have the active NR on top of that.
 
Bought Zulu 3 from @pigpenracing and they are great. Bought a used pair of A20's and although they were: lighter, liked the mic better (sound and dual sided) and nicer music quality...they just weren't quiet enough to the Zulu 3 in the 182. Sold the A20's. Still like in-ear passive (Halo, etc) for long trips.
 
No one can tell you what’s best for your head in your airplane. All you can do is buy some from Sporty’s or Marv Golden and send them back if you don’t like them. Returns are easy.

FWIW, I don’t like any of them much, and I’ve had them all. Zulu 3’s have probably worked the best, but when the batteries die, they have such terrible passive noise reduction that it gets quieter when you take them off. That can’t be good, as you rely on passive reduction for high frequencies, which is where the damage happens. DC One-X have better passive noise reduction than Bose or Zulu. The ANR is different, but not better or worse.

Like I said, I don’t like any of them much, but I probably wear the Zulus more than any.
 
Actually, most audio energy is in the lower frequencies. However, the high frequency cilia are the most fragile so they are damaged first. The brain compensates for the missing frequencies so your tinnitus is high pitched. Ask me how I know.
 
My last headset (now sitting on the bookshelf for the foreseeable future) was a Bose A20 that I used in the MU-2. I really liked it and it worked great, very comfortable. I didn't like the original Bose headset, but the A20 is nice. I loved the lemo plug and not having to ever replace the batteries.

Laurie has the DC One-X that she uses in the Challenger and loves it. I tried it once and it was nice, although I liked the A20 better personally. She tried the A20 and liked the DC a lot more.

I had a Clarity Aloft and I liked it for comfort (especially in hot planes in the summer), but for me it definitely didn't do as much for noise reduction.
 
Our plane has five sets of headphones:

My Lightspeed Tangos.
Margy's Clarity Alofts
A Zulu.3 I got for trading in a junker Dave Clark pair that was sitting around for the express purpose of the tradein when LS had an extra $50 in the promotion.
A Zulu.3 that was converted from my broken Zulu.2's last time they broke (My fault, must have kicked the plug when getting out of the plane and snapped it).
A pair of Pilot Avionics kids headsets for the grandson.
 
I've used passive DCs and Lightspeeds (QFR) and ANR Lightspeeds (older version) and the newer Lightspeeds on the way to SnF and I haven't found anything that is as quiet as my Clarity Aloft headset. But to work you must have the correct tips and they have to be properly inserted. It took me a few tries to get it correct ...
 
I have a Lightspeed PFX. It is a real POS. The control box is huge and it eats batteries like M&Ms. I also get a lot of feedback, chirping and buzzing that I don’t get with other headsets. The nice people at Lightspeed checked it out said nothing was wrong, etc. And to think I could have bought an A20 for less money.
 
Lightspeed is a durable headset with excellent noise reduction and the company has excellent service.
 
We’re 18 posts into this thread and nobody has mentioned the Quiet Technologies Halo?!? Wow. Just…wow.

They’re great. Not ANR but still very effective at cutting noise. They’re also not $1K. They’re in-the-ear, which isn’t hard at all to adapt to. And they’re not a head vise - which is REALLY not hard to adapt to. My original set is 9 years old, I think, and still going strong. Newer models have better electronics from what I gather. I know no small number of people who have given up Zulus and Boses for them over the years.
 
I have both a DC One-X and a Pro-X. I use the Pro-X in the work airplane, and the One-X in the fun airplane. Both are awesome headsets, but I would recommend the One-X for use in piston aircraft. Very well made, and their customer service is second to none. Bonus points, they are made in the USA.
 
Llewtrah381 said:
We’re 18 posts into this thread and nobody has mentioned the Quiet Technologies Halo?!? Wow. Just…wow.

They’re great. Not ANR but still very effective at cutting noise. They’re also not $1K. They’re in-the-ear, which isn’t hard at all to adapt to. And they’re not a head vise - which is REALLY not hard to adapt to. My original set is 9 years old, I think, and still going strong. Newer models have better electronics from what I gather. I know no small number of people who have given up Zulus and Boses for them over the years.
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nope. nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. Can't stand anything in my ears. not ear plugs, not ear buds...not gonna happen.
 
I tend to be cheap, so resisted buying the Bose A20 for a long time. When I did eventually buy it, my biggest regret was why I didn't invest in this sooner.
 
I have used both the CA and the QT in-ear with mixed results. Possibly because I didn't have the right tips (I was using whatever unused spares were available in the pack at the time). I did like the ability to wear sunglasses and a hat without having to deal with it breaking the seal of the ear cup, though. I haven't tried them for a long period of time.. Not sure how I would deal with something jammed in my ear for a long time. Definitely pros and cons to all of them.
 
EdFred said:
Are there any out there that fully engulf the ear - i.e. I don't want ear seals, more like skull/cheek seals. I have Bose QC35 headset for my music, and if something like that came in aviation, I would be all up ons.
Click to expand...

Lightspeed uses a much larger earcup than Bose, and for that reason I find the LS better for me (I have a Zulu and an older Sierra). I give Bose the nod on slightly better sound quality though.
 
ktup-flyer said:
I have A20s and PFXs (top of the line Lightspeed). Much prefer the A20s. The mic is soooo much better
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Have you played with the adjustable mic gain on the Lightspeed? I think opposite and think the Bose mic sucks but my applications may be different. I noticed even in the 172 with the window open the Bose mic would pick up the wind and it is non adjustable.
I keep my Lightspeed mic gain all the way down and love it. I fly mu Cub with the window open and door down, I have flown the Stearman and a couple open cockpit Pitts... My communications are clear with no wind interference.
I gave up on the Bose and even quit selling their stuff. But again, each to their own... I am sure the Bose works ok in a quiet regular plane with the windows closed :)
 
Llewtrah381 said:
We’re 18 posts into this thread and nobody has mentioned the Quiet Technologies Halo?!? Wow. Just…wow.

They’re great. Not ANR but still very effective at cutting noise. They’re also not $1K. They’re in-the-ear, which isn’t hard at all to adapt to. And they’re not a head vise - which is REALLY not hard to adapt to. My original set is 9 years old, I think, and still going strong. Newer models have better electronics from what I gather. I know no small number of people who have given up Zulus and Boses for them over the years.
Click to expand...

If we are talking in ear the Clarity Aloft and the Card Machine are waaaayyy better than the Halo..
 
+1 Clarity Aloft. I’ve had Halos and didn’t like them at all.

How are the Card Machine ones better? They’re always in stock, which is an obvious plus. They look identical and cost $100 more.
 
pigpenracing said:
If we are talking in ear the Clarity Aloft and the Card Machine are waaaayyy better than the Halo..
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That probably gets down to personal choice. I tried the Clarity Aloft and didn’t care for them. It’s been a good while, so I don’t recall the specifics.

Had not heard of Card Machines. They look to be clones of the Halos and, as OneCharlieTango notes, they’re $100 more. What’s better about them?

Service by Quiet Technologies has been excellent over the years. They did have a manufacturing problem early on with the insulation around the plugs failing prematurely but he was really good about managing that.

In any case, the real point is to consider in-the-ear ones. They’re much more comfortable for all-day cross-country flying than a head vise.
 
Haven’t tried Clarity, but have had QT Halos about ten years and have one flight so far on the CMW CQ1. CQs definitely are beefier. The audio fidelity is a bit off. Mic is longer which I think is a win for others but not me. I liked they had the comply foam inserts but that actually caused me pain in one ear after a long day. Sealing seemed equal between comply and the yellow ones, requiring a few nudges to seal. I will give it a few more flights but I think they are more equal than different outside of the beefiness.
 
And I am about 30 hours in on the CQ1s and no real change vs QT Halos. Comply inserts are nice. Beefier. The rest is a wash.

Might do the QC35 route just to have the option of not having something in my ear and better noise rejection. But, how are they with glasses? How about locking heat in?
 
masloki said:
And I am about 30 hours in on the CQ1s and no real change vs QT Halos. Comply inserts are nice. Beefier. The rest is a wash.

Might do the QC35 route just to have the option of not having something in my ear and better noise rejection. But, how are they with glasses? How about locking heat in?
Click to expand...

I have super thin glasses frames and don't like them with ANY headset I've had, including the QC35s. Same goes for hats. So what I do is the hat comes off, the glasses come off, headset goes on and then the earpieces of the glasses sit on the earcups of the headset. Been doing it that way since I started flying with glasses.
 
Lately it's been the Bose X, but I like the QT Halos too. But I do notice that my transmission quality is a little better with the Bose X, and the ANR does make it a little quieter.
 
Llewtrah381 said:
Had not heard of Card Machines. They look to be clones of the Halos and, as OneCharlieTango notes, they’re $100 more. What’s better about them?

.
Click to expand...

you can actually get them, for one. I feel like the audio is slightly better as well but maybe my Halos were just having difficulties after nearly 10yrs.
 
I think when it comes to light speed vs Bose, it may be depend on what you started with. I purchased Zulu 1's for the BT feature and have owned 2's 3's and PFX's. I like them all. For long flights I always use the Zulu's, I do think they are a little more comfortable, we think nothing of flying 6-8 hours in a day and never have a problem.

All the talk of the Halo and Clarity has me wondering if I should check them out. I always assumed they would not block as much noise as a full cup model and still expect that is the case, however about 50% or more of my flying is in the 421, which is probably one of the quietest planes ever made and I am guessing the the Clarity's or Halos would be perfect in that application, most of the rest is in the 310 and occasionally in a Cessna 400. I would love any feedback from the twin drivers how they like them and if they prefer one type in a piston single vs piston twin?
 
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