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Old 24th Aug 2018, 07:13
  #14 (permalink)  
smoothwings
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Italy
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I have to agree with most things that red snail has described in the previous post.

Having tried both headsets I do find as well a slightly higher "complexity" in hopping on your headset before departure. Although we are talking only of a few more seconds, I do get that people may find it annoying. However you do compensate this when you need to talk to cabin crew for example, as with the ProFlight you only need to tap twice on the earbud and you'll de-activate its ANC.
No one can't deny that you need some time to get used to the "in-ear" nature of the headset, as we've basically always been costumed to over-ear or around-ear types in this industry. My strictly personal view is that it is not that bad, once you've tried them for a few times (I know also of people getting their own personalized ear shape impressions, to create specific-fit earbuds for the headset). The problem I had with the A20's is that when wearing a pair of sunglasses (bear in mind I have the RayBan Aviators, which are specifically made with a very thin frame for this exact reason) they will feel squished from the headset. This has given me unbearable headaches after a day of work.

The ANC function on the ProFlight is pretty good, nearly as good as the one in the A20's. Again I must say I prefer the ProFlight because they still give you an excellent noise reduction level and at the same time don't completely isolate you from the aircraft. You can still hear the engines spooling, which I find immensely important for our situational awareness.

The frame of the ProFlight is really really light, and it happened to me on a few occasions that I forgot I was wearing one. Having said this, there is no doubt that the A20's provide a better stability and I have heard of a colleague having issues with the ProFlight slipping off in the flight deck. Personally I never had any issues and found them very firm on my head, but that is something you'll have to try on yourself.

Case wise I rather have the ProFlight in my flight bag simply because I can manage to fit them in. I tried to squeeze in the A20 case and hardly found any space for them. The con about the latter case is that it is not rigid as the ProFlight one is. We all know our flight bags do have some rough days, and I rather have my headset in a smaller and hard case to ensure its protection.

This is pretty much all I have for the time being. I will be giving extra-updates as time goes by to help you guys with this difficult and expensive choice. I would just like to remember that the above opinions are purely personal. I don't feel like I can give a better rating to one of the two. They are both high quality pieces of technological equipment. The only thing is to find your best fit, and evaluate yourself the pro's and con's and how you feel they are impacting your normal day-to-day work.

Please don't hesitate to ask and share your opinions! This community is great because everyone gets to say their own personal view on this wonderful industry.

In the meanwhile, fly safe!
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