Originally Posted by
A and C
Back in 1992 I got a DC headset, at the time I was wondering if I had spent too much money however the headset has excellent audio qualities and the durability of a main battle tank, my guess is it has spent well over 4500 hours GA flying and apart from replacing the ear pads and the foam over the microphone the headset has had no maintenance.
Just recently for my professional flying I have got a Bose A20, the ANR is very good and the headset seems to be durable and as you would expect first class audio but I doubt it has the longevity of the DC.
From a student pilot point of view the better the headset the less likelihood of repeated lessons due to misunderstandings during training and noise fatigue effecting performance. So while a Bose or top of the range DC might seem expensive the audio quality and durability are likely to make them cheaper than budget headsets in the long run.
As above, the Bose is far and away the best performing and comfortable ANR headset. Expensive yes, but as they say, you get what you pay for. Helped if you got them in USA sometime ago good £/$, and brought them in operating as crew. I notice now standard fit in RAF Transports, and just as effective in a C182.
Definitely not as robust as a DC, but treated normally, long lasting. 5 years so far in my case, pun intended. so far I have only had a frayed cord, repaired under Warranty by Headset Supplies, and recently bought and fitted new ear cups.