Anyone recommend a good headset?

[Happy Wanderer]

Hi chaps,

I'm well into my PPL now and thought it would probably be a good idea to get my own headset. Before parting company with the hard-earned readies, just wondered whether there were any recommendations out there? I'm not necessarily looking to buy new (eBay etc), but just want a good, reliable (and comfortable) set. Are they all much of a muchness, or is it a case of you get what you pay for?

Many thanks in anticipation.

HW

[IO540]

Bose X without a doubt. Nothing gets close for comfort and performance. Just be careful who you lend it to :O

If you want to look at something different try the new Mach 1

http://www.anrheadsets.com/products-mach1.asp

[Say again s l o w l y]

Now they look interesting. Does anyone have any feedback on them yet?

[IO540]

Just ordered one from the USA. Should know when it arrives; there is a backlog of 1-2 months.

Informal reviews from the USA suggest that the mach1 will be better than any non-ANR headset (which it is, believe it or not) and as good as the majority of ANR headsets.

Anything which goes right inside the ear has the potential to be very very good, on every front.

One can also fit specialised custom-made earplugs to this. There are outlets in the USA doing these.

ANR is also very easy to implement and would be much more effective, due to the very small cavity that's left.

[dwshimoda]

But if loads of cash is not readily available, I picked up a David Clarke on ebay that had barely been used, and for £70 less than in the shops. It's unispiring, but does a fantastic job.

There must be something about David Clarke quality, as virtually all the schools I've been to use them!

[Yorks.ppl]

Beware when buying second hand headsets. I bought a second hand david clarke H10 30 from an instructor who was moving on to pastures new. I thought it would be good to have a spare pair.

I dont know exactly whats wrong with them but all is well until you get some engine power on then you get horendous noise and distortion which stops you being able to talk to ATC, this is true even if a pasenger is wearing them.

needless to say, the person I purchased them from is no where to be found, I wish I had paid a bit more and got new instead.

Incedentally the instructor was from america, so I guess was the headset, could that be the problem?

[Say again s l o w l y]

I will definately be interested in a pair of those IO, a modern and sensible approach to saving your hearing.

My 3000hr old DC's are stating to get a bit past it!

[J.A.F.O.]

It's often, I believe, the aircraft intercom that causes problems. I've got an old DC headset which I love and which works perfectly well except on one or two aircraft when you plug something different into the right hand set of plugs.

[IO540]

I am an electronics engineer with tons of audio analog design experience (including 400W power amps with 0.01% THD) but the way aircraft "intercoms" are often bodged baffles me completely.

The proper intercoms are also incredibly expensive. Retail about 20x the manufacturing cost.

[DB6]

If you want a passive set, probably one of the DC H10-13.4s on ebay just now are your best bet.
If you want an ANR set, then definitely try before you buy if possible. I recently bought a Bose X set and got rid of it within a month (sorry IO540) because I thought it massively overpriced for what it did. Sennheiser are probably worth looking at but DCs pretty much cover all the bases. On a direct comparison (swapped headsets with copilot in the cruise) there really wasn't much difference between the Bose X and the DC H10-13X. Bose slightly lighter, DCs better passive attenuation.

[High Wing Drifter]

DCs are fab, but don't work very well on Vagabonds nor Super Cubs. The sound is heavily distorted, by ATC seem to hear me fine. My super cheapo AvComs work great, but aren't as comfy.

[Rod1]

This is probably the most discussed subject on the BBS. Use the search engine, then buy the Bose.

Rod1

[markflyer6580]

Got some sennheiser HMEC25's ANR. they are the dogs,changed becuase my pilot communications headset gave me a headache.Sennheisers are light as a feather and although they are for jet cockpits the ANR makes them quiter than my old ones when flying GA.:ok:

[IO540]

Just an update on the Lightspeed Mach 1 headset. Mine arrived this week.

Pluses:

Very light, hardly know it's there. The best sound quality of ANY headset, and the mike quality is even better. There is an adjustment for mike gain which is really handy. Mike noise cancellation is the best I've seen by far. Glasses don't affect the attenuation. Very well made, not a cheap job.

Minuses:

As expected, attenuation is critically dependent on correct insertion of the earplugs. One can play with different types (they are easy to change) and I haven't really done that. But catching the cable on something will easily dislodge the earplug(s) and suddenly you get a load of engine noise. So one needs to get the cable sorted out, clipped to the seat belt with the clip provided, etc, so nothing is pulling on the headset. This is much less of a problem for a passenger than for the pilot, and this will be especially relevant for a "lady passenger"; I am sure they will really like this headset.

Quite damage-prone (due to various parts which stick out) so needs to be carried in the hard plastic carry case provided. Definitely not something one wants to lend out, even before considering the earplug hygiene aspect.


Overall, attenuation with the standard earplugs is about the same as most headsets, but nothing as good as the Bose X. I am sticking to the Bose X but my girlfriend is going to like the Mach 1.

I am sure one could improve the attenuation past even the Bose, using proper custom-made earplugs, but the issue of it getting pulled out as one moves about in the cockpit will always remain.

[Lister Noble]

After much deliberation and borrowing different headsets I have ordered a Pilot 17-79 DNC-XL headset.
I have had a set on permanent loan since September and they are the best I have tried.
This will be my Christmas present from Mrs N,probably my birthday as well!
Lister:D

[Hireandhire]

Don't want to offend anybody but.............back in the real world

It's hard for me to understand why people waste so much money on headsets.

My original Harry Mendellssons (sp?) are ten years old, have always worked perfectly in any a/c . Never even had to clean the plugs. Perfect hearing protection and good sound quality even in the noisier cockpits. Cost the minimum. I bought a second pair a couple of years back, same story so far.

If you're not doing thousands of hours a year, why not spend the saved money on flying?

regards
HnH

[Say again s l o w l y]

If you do a lot of flying (^50hrs/yr) then buying a very good headset is not a waste of money in any way. There are appreciable differences between the "budget" models and the ridiculously expensive versions.

I value my hearing and my sanity and whilst I do significanlty more than 50hrs a month, the same applies to all pilots.

With Hire rates generally over £100/hr even something as expensive as the Bose X is not that far away and in the long run your ears will thank you!

[ShyTorque]

We use Bose-X, as a replacement for the DCs we used to have in our helis.

From experience: The Bose-X is not nearly as robust as the DC. Mine is presently away for repair to the plug at the aircraft end of the pigtail, which fractured internally. Looking at the remains, there isn't much strength or size in the plastic material where mine broke.

I have been obliged to go back to using a DC for a couple of weeks. It is nowhere near as quiet and at the end of my 13 sectors my headache told me I definitely missed the Bose-X.

[High Wing Drifter]

...and at the end of my 13 sectors my headache...
Just 13, you lazy so and so :oh:

[IO540]

Hireandhire - you obviously haven't tried a decent headset, and you must have bionic ears which will never degrade through long term noise exposure :O

It's true the Bose X (aircraft powered version) has flimsy plugs. They are made by LEMO who make a huge range of connectors; I use them in products I design. Some plastic, most metal. The very specific plug that Bose use is part of a standard LEMO range (with varying pin numbers available) but the plug with that exact number of pins is not available from anywhere I've looked. I wonder if Bose did a deal with LEMO to not sell that plug to anybody else... anyway, it should have been a metal version. Other than the plug, the Bose can't be faulted. However - we are talking about the aircraft powered version here, most Bose X users will have the standard twin jack version which doesn't have this problem.

[ShyTorque]

True, it's the aircraft powered version wot broke. ;)

[Onan the Clumsy]

not read the thread, but if anyone hasn't mentioned Lighspeed ANR, then I will

You can run an IPOD through them :ok:

good customer service too.



If you want an ANR set, then definitely try before you buy if possible. I recently bought a Bose X set and got rid of it within a month (sorry IO540) because I thought it massively overpriced for what it did. did you remember to switch 'em on? :}

[Hireandhire]

WR thanks - welcome support for us normal private pilots.

IO540 - well, you wouldn't know, but I've tried a few more expensive passive types over the years and I'm not sold on the value-add.

I am content with my 50 hours a year, and my other hobbies are much more potentially damaging to my hearing (Guns and Series One Land-Rovers since you ask) . I take the right precautions for them, and know what it feels like to get it a bit wrong.
Even after a 5 flying-hour day this summer, I was comfortable and relaxed in my cheepies.

Sure - if you fly loads, indulge yourself. Buy a big watch too. My point was that for the flying I do, anything more expensive is a waste of money.
A pair of £800 Bose equates to 64 hours in the Condor......

Thinks - if you are doing 50 hours a month and 14 sectors a day, should you be in another forum?

regards
HnH

[Say again s l o w l y]

Naah, Talking about commercial aviation is too boring! Proper a/c are far more interesting.

[ShyTorque]

"Thinks - if you are doing 50 hours a month and 14 sectors a day, should you be in another forum?"

Not necessarily. I fly that much in a privately owned aircraft.

[IO540]

I've tried a few more expensive passive types over the years and I'm not sold on the value-add

In that case you may as well buy a flashy watch. No conventionally shaped passive headset is ever going to be much good, unless it clamps onto your head like a vice. ANR is the only way to go. Unfortunately the cheap ANRs aren't much good, which is why so many people go around saying that all fancy headsets are a waste of money.

[Hireandhire]

I'm gonna stop heckling now and defer to the greater experience on offer,

but my advice to any newly qualified PPL is still to spend as little as possible on headsets whilst you work out the best solution for your own circumstances.

Does a pair of BoseX really cost more than a Florida IMC rating and which would be the wiser investment?

regards
HnH

[Monocock]

I think we are comparing the requirement sof pilots who fly 1000hrs + each year to those who are flying 20hrs per year.

For those flying heaps of hours I agree that the best is required. For those who are training, I can't help feeling that ANR etc is like buying a pair of £150 Nike running shoes for that "i'm gonna get fit" run around Hammersmith.

Horses for courses?

I fly 170 hrs per annum (measly I know) and I have just bought some used Flightcoms on Ebay for £35. They're great and will last me until 2010 hopefully.

[IO540]

Hireandhire

"but my advice to any newly qualified PPL is still to spend as little as possible on headsets whilst you work out the best solution for your own circumstances. "

My advice to any newly qualified PPL is to buy the best possible moving map GPS :O No better way to advance one's flying, in confidence.

But slightly less tongue in cheek: when you have your PPL, there are exactly 2 ways you can go. You can carry on flying, or you can do what most new PPLs do and you pack it in. If the former, you WILL want a decent headset eventually. If the latter, well, why did you blow away £8000 or so in the first place??

Early on, I wasted £300 on a Pilot 17-79 headset, which I now think is cr*p. Even at the price there are far better headsets. The ANR barely did anything (when pushed, the manufacturer finally confirmed this, with attenuation graphs) and the mike was poor. If I bought the Bose X right away I would have saved this money.

"Does a pair of BoseX really cost more than a Florida IMC rating and which would be the wiser investment?"

Little point in having an IMC Rating unless you already own the best possible moving map GPS :O Which will cost about a grand. In the UK, Class G, one can be outside the range of a navaid much of the time.

Flying IFR is just not a dirt cheap club to join. If you want dirt cheap flying, you need to get a strap-on parachute and a lawn mower engine :O

[DB6]

After flogging my Bose X's (which I did remember to switch on as they actually seemed to amplify ambient noise when off) and looking at Lightspeed 30-3Gs (too big and can only have the mike on the left) and Sennheiser HMEC 25KAs (too flimsy, very thin plastic headband) I bought a set of Sennheiser HMEC 400 from Harry Mendelssohn for less than half the price of the Bose X (£346). So far I prefer them although this is very subjective.
Minuses: 15 hour battery life quoted which is probably about right or even a little optimistic (however rechargeables get around that), big battery pack (4 AAs rather than 2 on other sets) however it's on a reasonably long cable so can be hung up out of the way, more clamping force than Bose however this also means they don't fall off if you like to pull a few g now and then :E .
Pluses: good passive attenuation so cuts down hiss which the Bose didn't, slimmer headband which doesn't catch on things so easily, can be powered from batteries or the aircraft supply without changing cables, cost half Bose price, 10 year warranty!
Try before you buy!

[ChewyTheWookie]

I bought Lightspeed's QFR SOLOc for my private. Got them in the states and they were the equivalent of about £70-80. They're not the most inspiring in terms of looks but they are very tough and do the job perfectly. They also cut out much more background noise than any others I've used, they seem to be a cross between a headset and ear defenders!

Highly recommended and excellent value , but then I don't fly often.

[IO540]

DB6

I think your Bose X was duff. Quite possible. Probably got taken back to the shop; they couldn't see a fault so put it back on the shelf :O

[DB6]

IO540,
I thought that at first but tried another chap's and it was just the same. As I say they're OK but only (to me) worth about half what they cost. Overall the Sennheisers are better for what I need (airline/instructing/aerobatics).

[soay]

ANR technonology only attenuates low frequencies, whereas high frequencies (hissing) are passively blocked by mechanical means. The Sennheiser HMEC 400 is very good at both, but the passive attenuation is achieved by squeezing the earcups uncomfortably hard against your head. Bose X are much more comfortable, but at the expense of letting high frequencies through. Some people work around this deficiency by wearing foam earplugs inside the earcups, and turning the volume up so that they can still hear the important stuff. Personally, I'd rather just wear the earplugs of my Clarity Aloft headset, and not have anything clamping my head.

[muffin]

I have tried various ANR headsets at different times (my company actually sell headsets into the non aviation comms market so I have a good selection available) but I must confess I have never tried Bose (because we don't sell them). I have never really found any that I like, mainly because of the hassle of powering them by whatever means.

So I have wound up for the last year with two sets of basic Pilot ones in my PFA aircraft and two sets of cheap Peltors in my helicopter. Actually I usually find that because most of my flying is short local trips, I don't wear any at all as I don't bother to switch the radio on. I would rather put up with having to shout to the passenger if there is one than clamp my ears in a vice for 20 minutes.

[IO540]

One can say only so much on headsets, but it does amaze me how many very similar headsets there are in the pilot shops.

I did once try a large number of them against an aircraft noise source and found most of the £200-£300 ones very similar in performance, differing in comfort but most fairly awful, the Bose X (£800 then) and the David Clark 13-30 (about £500) way ahead but with the DC having much higher pressure than the Bose.

For a renter (i.e. no aircraft power option) there is no solution to the ANR power issue other than a headset which uses off the shelf (AA or AAA or PP3) batteries, and carry a spare. So an ANR headset with a built-in non-removable rechargeable battery is IMHO useless unless one charges it before each flight.

[PPRuNe Dispatcher]

A good source of headsets might be your flying club or other aviation friends... I bought my Dave Clark 10-40s second-hand from another PPRuNer for a very fair price and they are excellent. They aren't the most modern of headsets but the audio quality is great, they are comfortable if a tad heavy, and they will probably last forever.

Mik

[IO540]

Just for the avoidance of doubt :O I am not suggesting that a Bose X is good value for money.

The thing retails for around £700. The cost of making one is, at most, £40. Yes, £40.

But one could say the same for most avionics. I am looking at a small component right now. Cost to make, £2. Retail cost of non-aviation version £30. End user list price of aviation version £290 (this includes an 8130-3 form).

One can see similar ratios for popular panel mount IFR GPSs. Cost to make c. £300. List price £7000.

It should be possible for somone to make a headset better than the Bose, and retail it for say £200. Maybe someone will. They will have lots of fun getting pilot shops to carry it though, because there are 3 things that matter in retailing:

margin
margin
margin

:O

[ChampChump]

Like Mono and many others, I can't get to more than about 150 hours a year. I don't consider an expensive headset to be on the wish list; the Telex 3500 set I bought myself when I received my PPL was then about £240 and chosen because it was the best I could afford and looked better than others available at around the same price.

It's worked well in any aeroplane I've climbed into, proving compatible with other brands and I've bought another, cheaper Telex set since for the very occasional occupant of the second seat. Obviously, without expereince of Bose or other state of the art wizardry, I don't know what I'm missing, but the point of the purchase was to enable necessary comms, no more.

I'm with the 'spend it on Avgas' faction. Of course, there' are probably quite a few expensive, unused headsets available at bargain prices from all those PPLs that give up, if those who advocate them have sufficient influence.....;):E :O

[Rod1]

I with ChampChump, get a set form an ex pilot. The point is you can have your cake and eat it. My Bose was secondhand from ebay, used once; it was in as new condition and is still working very well. I tried a large number of different headsets and the Bose was by far the best, get the cost down to 4-500 and it really is a very good buy.

My last headset is still going strong after 6 years of service. My Bose should last me for at least 700 hours and the comfort, improved concentration and ability to fly longer legs is fully proven as far as I am concerned.

Rod1

[S-Works]

I fly over 350hrs a year, I have had a Bose-X for the last thousand hours, prior to that I tried every type and the market and have a graveyard of them to attest. The bose have been superb, never missed a beat and look as good now as day one. I changed the cable to the new AA battery version when it came out and get around 40hrs use from a set of batteries.

The intercom in my aircraft is a Garmin 340 and is wired in stereo so even the iPod sounds great!

If you are a regular flyer with a bit of spare cash they are worth every penny. If you are a shoestring flyer then they are a lot of money. You takes your choices and get what you pay for.

[Happy Wanderer]

Well, as I started this thread way back in early December, I may as well finish it . . . .

Just to let everyone know that as of last night, I'm the very proud owner of a David Clark H10-13.4 Passive Headset, courtesy of our old friends at eBay. The sets nearly-new (20 hrs old) and I got it for a lot less than you'd pay at Transair etc.

Thanks for the sound advice btw. The budget couldn't quite stretch to a Bose - not that you see many on eBay anyway. Apparently, I won't be disappointed with the DCs - I just hope they turn up, that's all!.

Over and out.

HW

[S-Works]

well if I had known you wanted DC you could have the set I have here, with the ANR box. Hated them, heavy and uncomfortable and not compatible with anything other than other DC's!

[Happy Wanderer]

Strange that - they do seem very popular elsewhere (this particular DC model comes highly recommended for the student pilot/PPL). If I could afford the BOSE X, I'd probably buy them - but I can't, so I won't.

HW

[bentleg]

Bose are good, expensive, but not robust.

For me a David Clark 20-10 - reasonably priced when imported from the USA from Pilotmall www.pilotmall.com - much cheaper then airport pilotshop.

[S205-18F]

I have a secondhand set of DC H10-56 and I can honestly say they look like brand new and work very well I paid about a 1/3rd of the new price for them and would jump at another set if offered them. I have used other sets while training but very early in my flying decided the DCs were for me. I use the adaptor cable to convert from the single plug to the more conventional twin plugs and never had a compatability problem. I aggree that I would rather use the extra cash for filling up with Avgas there again I am a tight Scot;)

[Alynt]

Glad you chose the right ones for you. The DC10-13.4 are a good, simple and effective set for the type of flying you will be doing, at least initially.

I fly about 100 hours per year so my needs are not quite so simple.

I have chosen to have the Telex Stratus 50D for a simple reason, although a bit bulky (though very light on the head), the ANR function is second to none, and I include the Bose X.

They are ideal for your family/passengers who are unused to the ambient noise in most of our GA planes...I fly Mooney-231 and Arrow IV. Makes my life much easier as no "I'll have a headache" complaints for the odd two to four hour flight to French France!

Not cheap at about £550/each but so much beter than the non ANR stuff kicking about!

Up font, I use the DC 10-13.4 ANRs which work well together and with the Stratus units.

All in all, tried the others and went for what i could afford, as we all do eventually!

Cheers :D