Ray, as per your request here goes my preliminary field report.
The build quality and the feel of the headset really are top notch. Although the earpieces are made of a hard plastic with a rough surface they surprisingly are absolutely comfortable and I forget I wear them as soon as I get busy operating the helicopter. Inserting and removing them goes really smoothly and easily with a bit of practice. The noise attenuation really is superb. The ambient blend feature as well as the signal attenuation both are really smart and work just as imagined.
I only got to try it in a 269 and two different 355's. It worked like a charm in the 355's. Also in the 269 but only when flying alone. Unfortunately I couldn't get it to work together with other headsets in the 269. When combining with a Sennheiser ANR, the Sennheiser's mic gets low and distorted. When combining with DC ANR, the DC's mic gets cut out entirely. But this 269 only has the most basic intercom, it does have a squelch of some sort but no control panel or other means of adjustment.
It was a big downer at first but then again this helicopter has issues in this direction anyway, the Sennheiser and the DC don't work together properly either (but less problems then with the Phonak in the mix). I know it's probaly not a problem with the Phonak but more with the helicopter but it does prevent me from always using it. So far I'm bound to using the terrible Sennheiser's whenever taking a PAX along.
I wanted to try it out in more aircraft and also contact Phonak about the issue before sharing my experiences but since you asked...
Bottom line, if I can figure out this one problem I will be absolutely satisfied with this lovely piece of equipment. Until then it's always painful (literally) having to go back the Sennheiser's.
Regarding the music/phone interface, the
Vx ASX-2B appears to me like the way to go. But this is not a pnp device but just a single bare IC. Obviously it requires a little bit of work to complete but seems promising. I might have to get around to building it at some point. Basically all you need is an enclosure, a battery or other power supply and some connectors, maybe a pot for adjustment. Should make for a really nice ultra-low budget solution if you like getting crafty.