Another headset recommendation thread ?

[SAW77]

Hello,

As I've done a few hours now and really enjoying it I'd like to buy my own headset. I do prefer the more modern look ones to the usual David Clark style also is it worth me spending the extra on noise reduction ones ?

For standard ones I quite like these,

Denali 30 Passive Headset - Flightcom from Flightstore UK (http://www.flightstore.co.uk/pilot-supplies-c1/pilot-headsets-c65/denali-headsets-c599/denali-30-passive-headset-p3870) or any Sennheiser ones.

Any suggestions ?

[fwjc]

I definitely recommend spending extra on ANR equipped headsets. The particular one you buy is up to you, whichever you can afford. If price isn't an issue, go for the most comfortable. I have a DC that I've modified using the Headsets Inc. kit to ANR spec, and I swear by it. I've also flown with Lightspeeds which are much lighter, and initially more comfortable, but over longer flights I still prefer the DC. I think they're all pretty good (Bose, Sennheiser, Lightspeed etc) but the comfort and fit is key.

[wood73]

I bought a cheap passive headset which ive used for 10 months, and it did what it said on the tin!
I have just bought a pilot pa18-50 anr and the difference is quite remarkable.
So I would say buy anr, the pilot cost £250 so not expensive when compared to bose etc. but it depends on your budget.

[Pirke]

I have an ANR David Clark, very useful in the old Lyco C172, but I find myself not using ANR in a Rotax light aircraft as they make much less noise to begin with. When the battery died I simply didn't take the effort to replace it, even though I always bring a spare...

[SAW77]

Hello,

So I've been looking at some ANR headsets and couple I do like the look of are the Lightspeed Sierra and the Flightcom Denali 90, any thoughts on these two headsets ?

I'd like to try them on but I don't seem to have and stores that stock both close to my home. Also the Sierra is the absolute maximum I want to spend ! Less would be better :-)

[dirkdj]

I have a Sierra headset and I also use a Zulu headset in my friends aircraft. Both are very comfortable even for hours on end. The Sierra has less noise reduction than the Zulu and is less expensive. I cannot stream Bluetooth music as on the Zulu, only telephone. You can input music from your tablet via a supplied mini-jack cable.
I have been using Lightspeed since the 20K, then 30-3G and now Sierra. There is a marked improvement in each generation. All problems I had (usually busted cables) were fixed free of charge (you pay one way postage to Germany).

[Steve6443]

The best recommendation I can give is to actually try the headsets on because some will feel more comfortable than others - I was set up to buy a pair of Sennheisers and found they sort of "perched" on my head, the Zulus fitted perfectly. If you're only ever going to be flying for half an hour or so at a time, you can possibly get away with uncomfortable headsets but I can still fly for hours on end, remove my headset and not have the DC Headache that others have.....

So: try before you buy, if you can......

[ChickenHouse]

First, congrats for the decision to buy your own headset! It is a nice thing to have and reliefs one from feeling strange on all the hygienic may-be's ...

As flying is not cheap anyways and we talk about your hearing aids -> go for the most expensive one you can afford! Save on other things and focus on one. Once you have done damage to your ears, almost no money of the world brings back what you lost. My advice, go get an ANR one. Their protection is quite remarkably better. Only if you are really and absolutely short on money, but with a perspective for earning more, you could get a passive one and use it for passengers later on.

[Shoestring Flyer]

You say you have done a few hours now? Do I assume you mean post PPL or are you still in the training environment?
The reason being that if still training there can be the possibility of compatibility issues with whatever headset your instructor is wearing or the intercom setup in the aircraft you are training in. Different makes of headset don't always get along with each other.

If you are post PPL then I suggest you try and visit one of the shows and try a few different sets out before parting with your hard earned. Personally I can't get on with Bose because the earcups are too small for me and I much prefer Lightspeed Zulu.

[SAW77]

Hello,

I'm still training/learning towards my ppl and I'm learning in a piper warrior if that makes any differance to headset choice ?

[Shoestring Flyer]

SAW77
It isn't the type/model of aircraft that is the potential compatibility issue.
It is if you and your Instructor are using different make/brands of headset that compatibilily issues can arise. They don't always but in a good many instances it can and will cause problems.
If I were in your shoes I would continue using the training school headsets untill you have your licence.
Then if/when you have joined a group or bought your own aircraft you can then do your own thing and buy a nice headset....Just my opinion of course.

[SAW77]

Hi,

I was at my flying school today couldn't fly due to weather though but asked about headsets. Most of the instructors were not using ANR sets and preferred a standard set. :confused:

Now I'm not sure if I should just buy a standard set while I'm learning or buy an ANR set and turn off the ANR if I don't like the way it sounds or not sounds ;) ? but that seems a waste of money !

[ChickenHouse]

Instructors are sometimes from the old hard cowboy gene-pool ... On many ANR headsets the passive dampening, when power is cut off, is less then a standard passive headset could provide. Some older instructors therefore prefer passive headsets, because they don't have to think of carrying batteries for the ANR - as training machines usually have only standard plugs without integrated power supply.

As a private pilot you either fly less then an instructor, so batteries are not such big issue, or frequently use a plane where power supply for the headset may be available. If you own a plane, most probably you add the headset power supply very quickly ;-) as ANR is a big advantage.

[SAW77]

Does the Zulu headset also allow you to wear the mic on your left or right like the Sierra ?

[Steve6443]

No, the Mic is ALWAYS on the left. However I've never seen this as an issue, even when sitting right..... This applies to the original Zulu and the Zulu.2

[SAW77]

Quick question before I order, coiled or stright cable ?

[ChickenHouse]

I would go coiled, but it depends a bit on the planes you intend to fly.

[SAW77]

I'm learning in a Piper Warrior.

I was all set to order some Zulu's but keep looking at DC H10-13.4 :ugh:

[EchoSierra]

I used one of the clubs ASA headsets for most of my training, then bought a Sennheiser passive one. The Sennheiser was okay for a bit, but now I am flying quite a bit more during my hour building and also wanting to protect my ears and stop getting the "headset headache", so I bought a set of Bose A20's. They are amazing, and I wish I'd bought them to start with.

Lightspeeds are also very good, don't think you'll be disappointed with either.

[ChickenHouse]

@SAW77: have you tried out Zulu and DC in direct comparison? If not, do so! They have quite different focus on wearing and my experience is that one of'em will fit and the other not - no way to predict which one in advance, though.

[thborchert]

A few personal observations:

- ANR is, in the words of Richard Collins, the greatest thing since seat cushions when it comes to comfort in GA aircraft. It has also improved tons over the years.
- before you spend any "medium" amount of money on a low-end ANR headset, try a Bose A20 or Lightspeed Zulu.2 or something in that league. In an airplane, if at all possible. Only after that make a decision how much more quiet is worth to you.
-I have never understood why so often students are told to start out with crappy headsets. Many PPLers will never again fly as much in as short a time as during their training. Why suffer through it?
- it's not that some headsets don't match. It's that some intercoms are total cr*p. A good intercom should handle any mix.

IMHO, friends don't let friends use passive headsets. ;-)

[SAW77]

Thanks for the replies, after lots head scratching between the Zulu's and H10-13.4's I went with DC not sure if that's the right choice but my thinking is it's saved me £400 which will pay for more flying, books etc and they must be more comfy and sound better than the schools headset ?

I've told myself once I've completed my PPL I'll treat myself to the Zulu's and then I've got the DC's for a passenger :)

[vandereydt]

when I upgrade from the Bose A10 to the A20
I started the engine on the SR20, saw the prop moving but missed the engine noise which you do hear when wearing the A10. So I cut the engine and restarted. Nothing was wrong with the engine, the Bose A20 is working so much better

The Bose A20, you need to try it on in a long flight, is very comfortable

Goodluck
Ronny

[londonblue]

I have a very old Echelon ANR headset, that I actually still like. (I didn't buy it, I was given it by a friend who had given up flying.)

However, not long ago my wife bought me a trial lesson in a helicopter (loved it), and the instructor gave me an Bose A20 to wear.

Wow, what a difference. I instantly fell in love with it, if not the price. Since then I have been trying to justify the cost, but haven't managed that bit yet!

[londonblue]

A very coincidental update. My wife has just bought me a present. She has bought me a DC H20-10.


However, this doesn't have ANR. I'm interested to know peoples' opinions of that headset, and whether people would recommend me "upgrading".

[Genghis the Engineer]

I have a Bose-X and a Harry Mendelssohn HM40.

The Bose is more comfortable with better noise attenuation - however, it also belongs to work, and I'm often test flying GA types so prefer less noise attenuation.

So work flying that isn't test flying, or long ferry trips: I mostly use the Bose. My own aeroplane, vintage types, test flying, instructing, I mostly use the HM40.


The DC10-13.4 is generally accepted to be the best passive headset on the market. We also use those at work, mainly we issue them to hamfisted crewmembers who keep breaking the relatively fragile Bose headsets.

I tried an experiment a while ago where I took a work DC10-13.4 and my own HM40s on a long trip (Cranfield to Exeter and back in an AA5 iirc) and swapped them over a couple of times. Couldn't tell the difference, on which grounds I will continue to use the HM40s and actually am about to buy a spare set.

At work we trialled multiple headsets for our very noisy work aeroplane a few years ago. The best by a small margin was the Bose-X (this was before the A20 came out), then the DC10-13.4, then a large gap before a selection of other headsets, both active and passive. That was one particular environment, but a very severe one - the scoring was by about 30 users over about 35 flying hours covering sound quality, comfort and a few other things.

My own HM40 set worked fine for 10 years, then misbehaved, and a complete overhaul cost £50.


So, from all of that, I'd say Bose if you can afford it and don't have my personal need to hear all the funny noises, then HM40. DC10-13.4 if you can get a bargain, or prefer to own stuff from a big brand. Personally I'd not look at other brands - Bose are the best in active, and DC and HM budget neck-and-neck on passive. Everybody else is "also ran".

G

[thborchert]

...The DC10-13.4 is generally accepted to be the best passive headset on the market.

...

At work we trialled multiple headsets for our very noisy work aeroplane a few years ago.

...

So, from all of that, I'd say Bose if you can afford it and don't have my personal need to hear all the funny noises, then HM40. DC10-13.4 if you can get a bargain, or prefer to own stuff from a big brand. Personally I'd not look at other brands - Bose are the best in active, and DC and HM budget neck-and-neck on passive. Everybody else is "also ran".

Truly, I mean no offense. But since this is such typical pprune/Internet behavior, I feel compelled to comment.

The simple fact is this: us humans cannot possibly know everything about anything. Sometimes, it behooves us to just admit that - or at least keep quiet on a subject.

Yet here we have this post, making bold, sweeping statements about how one brand is "it" and the others are "also ran". The post is based on a product that is THREE product generations back and not even available anymore. Not only has the brand mentioned since come out with a new and substantially different model, but other brands have introduced substantially different technology.

I just have to wonder: why post? And was any thought given to the fact that a reader might infer the same principles of what personal knowledge a post is based on are applied to any other subjects the poster writes about? Hmm.

[9 lives]

on a long trip (Cranfield to Exeter and back in an AA5 iirc) :D

Someone once said to me: England, where 100 miles is a far, and Canada, where 100 years is old.... ;)

[A and C]

Cranfield to Exeter & back being a long trip just about sums up UK GA !

To return to the subject I have been in conversation with the CEO of a company that makes aircraft audio panels and intercoms one of these I am about to have fitted to my aircraft. I wanted to know what headset would work best with the companys audio system.

The reply was that lightspeed, Senhiser, Bose and most other headsets are all satisfactory and it is largely down to personal preference.

My reading of the situation is that most of the leading players in the market are using more or less the same technology for the active sound supprestion, but the comfort issue depends mostly on the shape of the individuals head so untill you have put all the options on your head you wont know the answer as to what is best for you.

I intend to be replacing my twenty year old DC's with Bose A20's as I think the comfort provided by these is likely to match the 6 hour endurance of my aircraft.

[Steve6443]

I have to concur with thborchert but would add a little to this - and it's all about your own personal comfort. Too many buy headsets online or based on someone else's recommendation instead of trying them for size.

I went to my local retailer, intent on buying a Sennheiser S1 passive - I didn't want to spend more on an active headset. I then tried it on and it felt "perched" on the top of my head - no doubt after a few hours flying, it would have felt "the norm" but as I was there, I tried out all the headsets he had. The DCs really felt as if my head was in a vice. No wonder the passive performance is so good if the headphones are pressed with so much force against my head, but at what price? Headaches after an hour?

I tried all headsets they had there - more than 30 different brands and models - including active with a sound generator to compare the performance and my personal choice, the headset which fitted me best, was the Lightspeed Zulu. I tried to rationalise not needing active, not needing to spend so much money, but once I'd decided to splash out for active, I also thought about spending a bit more to buy the Bose as a few had said it's active performance was "years" ahead of anything else - but in the sound chamber, I couldn't hear ANY difference....

Also, reading various forums, I'd heard about the poor customer service from Bose when discussing defects, I'd also heard about how good Lightspeed is, that defects, even out of warranty, were repaired without cost. So, I'm not here to say "this is the best, the others are also rans", I'd recommend everyone to try before they buy. All I can say is that my Zulu.2 headset is not an "also-ran", but for me the optimum headset.