Which headsets to buy??

[Bruno Silva]

Hi there, I´m doing my PPL and decided to buy my own headsets. Problem is I dont know which to buy.
All opinions are very welcome!!

Thanx alot guys!!!!!!!!!:ok:

[Bruno Silva]

by the way I hope to do the CPL etc after the PPL is done... maybe this is important to your opinions!

Cheers

[TheChiefPilot]

I have used DC 13.4s for nine years they are very good, but I have just purchased the Bose x anr headset although it is expensive they are very good and well worth the investment.

TheChiefPilot

[Capt. Crocodile]

I got myself a set of David Clark 13xl (active noise reduction) when I was doing my cpl training. They are excellent. They cut out noise at the same frequency as the engine noise so you pretty much can't hear the engines. I have found some distortion though when I turn 90 degrees left or right and don't know why this is happening. I also used a friends Bose headsets once and they were really good too. Stay away from cheap headsets!! I did my first 200 hours of flying with a cheaper brand and often found it difficult to understand controllers and other pilots. :)

[BEagle]

DC 13.4 - excellent!

[GASH !]

I used the DC 13.4 for 5 years, a fine headset for the money. I now use the Bose X which is an excellent headset but overpriced.

[The Yank]

13 years and over 3000 hours in light aircraft DC 13.4... and never had a glitch!!!

[chrisbl]

Bose x without a doubt, discovered how good they were after doing 50 hours in a 182 in 7 days. Apart from the damage to hearing noise causes fatigue and I found that after 8 hours in a plane, I still felt pretty fresh.

If you are doing intensive training, take every opportunity to give yourself an edge.

[Bruno Silva]

Seems DC and Bose are the best!
Problem is their cost :ugh:
I´ve been told to get the Avcom 900 as they are good and less expensive than DC but I´m not sure if it´s the right choice!!

Do you know any good headsets from other brands than DC or Bose?? Telex or senheiser seem to be interesting! Any thoughts?

[lovejoy]

Get yourself a dc 10 30 second hand on ebay. Not too pricey but bomb proof and you can allways get spares for them. Problem with the 13.4 is the mic boom goes a bit floppy and you need to adjust it a lot. But apart from that I can't fault them.

[theschultx]

Id be interested to find out what lightspeed head sets are like? has any one used them?? Ive seen the pictures and they look really comfy, but Id like to know someones opinion on them....anybody?

[Pilotdom]

DC H10-30,Bought them off ebay for £140 and they are superb,cheaper than 13.4 but have the same David Clark quality!

[buzeyga]

I would see if you can track down some people that own different types and try them out. I love my DCs. Everyone I know loves their bose if they have them but on a long flight I find them very uncomfortable for my head and the DCs I dont even notice. Just personal preference...maybe I have an odd head. Who knows.

[combineharvester]

I purchased a second hand set of DC10-60's on ebay for £110. I got on that well with them so when i started instructing i got myself a brand new set and my old pair is now my student headset and seems to take the punishment and lack of respect they all give to them. All the instructors where i work use a DC headset of some description. The school being thee school have 5 Cheapo Peltor sets, these are rubbish by comparison!

Hope this helps!

[mpcosta]

Bruno, I bought myself a David Clark 10.30.
Magnificent.

MC

PS: Da um saltinho ao site da FlyBy e ficas com uma ideia dos precos e de que material ha a venda por ca pelo burgo :)

[PAPI-74]

I got a set of DC H10-60 for my CPL. If you go for the noise cancelling ones, the only down side is the battery life and the agro when they go and the fact that when you are flying, throttle and prop adjustments are best done by feel at first, then fine adjusted. My point is that the guages don't tell you when the props are in sync. (twins). Of you can't hear the props properly, you will find it hard. Further, how can you tell if the engine is labouring, missfiring or loosing power. The noise isn't that loud and the standard headsets are fine. Avoid Peltor as they will fail after a few years and I find the Sennheiser brand painful around the ears after an hour (yes I do have nornal ears...).
DC are by far the best investment
H10-13.4 or H10-60
Ebay.....good bargains. Don't pay Transair prices.

[PAPI-74]

Oh! I forgot. It depends on the aircraft, so I am told. If you spend half your life in 150's get the older style H10-30 as the Dynamic mic is better in that aircraft, otherwise get the better Electric mic models 13.4 / 60

[acuba 290]

SENNHEISER HME100

[PAPI-74]

IN THE BIN!:D

[femaleWannabe]

Anyone know of a shop (preferrably somewhere in scotland) where I can go and try a few headsets? Or, a website which does free returns so i could order a few and send back the ones I don't want? Most sites seem to want you to pay the return postage....:ugh:

[IO540]

Headset Services at Shoreham airport should be able to let you test their stock, with a suitable noise source in the background.

I warn you however - when you have done this there is only one headset which you will walk out with: the Bose X.

Still, in flying there isn't a lot of stuff to buy. You need a decent headset (£800), a decent GPS (say £1100 for the Avmap EKP IV) and that's about it, and provided you don't lend it out it will last you many years. All the junk used in training can go on Ebay.

[rustle]

I agree with IO540 that the Bose-X is the one you should buy.

I used the DC13.4s for years until I thought better of it and bought the Bose-X -- there's no point waiting until you're old or your hearing has started to go before buying something that will protect it; and GA is noisy.

[DB6]

If you're going to spend a few quid on a noise-cancelling headset (which I would, on balance, recommend) then you should wait a couple of weeks and take a look at the David Clark X11 when it comes out. The Bose is overpriced for what it does and has little passive ability, the Sennheiser HMEC 400/450 is good but may be a bit tight for some; this X11 looks the biz: http://www.davidclark.com/X11/index.html .
If you're looking for good non-ANR gear I would look at the Sennheiser HME100, possibly the Special Edition, or for a bit more dosh DC13.4s.

[PAPI-74]

Really!
I admit the BOSE is a nice headset, but it is nothing special and as for it's price tag.....
It's not worth spending any more than £300 on a headset, in my opinion. The BOSE is a gimmick for people with too much money to spend. Put the money towards a trip into France and go for a robust DC. Speak to everyone at your flying club and try their headsets out, especially if there is a BOSE there to play with, then compare it to a DC....you decide if the extra £450 plus is worth it. (if the guy drives a Porshe and minces around the airfield, don't believe him. His ears could bleed at 6000', but if he looks cool, he's happy):D

[IO540]

Rustle agrees with me! Must be my birthday... actually my birthday was last week, so something else must be going on here :confused:

There is an absolutely vast range of headsets. Crudely speaking, and ignoring pricing, they fall into two categories:

1. Those that clamp your head pretty firmly, and after a few hours you really feel it, and some of them, like the top-end D-C models and some others, are very good

2. The Bose X, which can be worn for (in my experience) over 6 hours without the slightest discomfort. It's passive attenuation is not that bad; it's about comparable to the usual sh*tty flying school headset. It is certainly usable with a duff battery, but anybody used to it will notice the huge difference instantly.

Whether 1. matters is a matter of budget. A lot of people say they can't fly for more than an hour or two because of fuel or bladder limitations, but the latter is easily taken care of with a little plastic bottle (with some additional considerations for the gurls :) ) and that transforms the sort of trips one can do, and one's enjoyment of flying. So I wouldn't skimp on the headset for flight duration reasons alone.

The point about hearing damage is a very good one too. The stuff about the man with a Porsche is bo11ocks. This is your hearing. Look at the average old airline pilot: deaf as a wooden post. And a decent D-C is priced pretty close to a Bose anyway.

[femaleWannabe]

This is may be a stupid question, but does an ANR (with batteries, not powered by the aircraft) headset work ok with a normal ("passive" is it?) headset over the intercom? I don't want to spend a great deal on a headset and am happy with the club supplied ones just now, but it's something I need to think about at some point - and I want to protect my hearing!