Lightspeed Thirty 3G or alternative

[weis]

Nearly finishing off my PPL and need some advice on headsets, wondering if anyone has experience of using Lightspeeds Thirty 3G http://www.anrheadsets.com/products30-3g.asp or perhaps the Mach 1 http://www.anrheadsets.com/products-mach1Detail.asp My budgets around $600. Any advice would be appreciated. Reviews on the web seem to be fairly vague.

Thanks

[Dave Gittins]

If you are looking for a first headset after getting your PPL, I would humbly suggest that cellphone and CD player compatability are not what you want to spend your money on as you are not likely to spend hours quietly sitting in an IR cruise.

I would also humbly suggest that the Mach One contraption may be good in a Boeing but will be as much use as t*ts on a bull in the average club Piper or Cessna.

My suggestion would be a bog standard set of David Clarks and save $200 but you won't have to search far on this forum to find many different opinions.

[mm_flynn]

I have a Clarity Aloft in-ear headset that is similar to the Mach 1. I find it is fantastically comfortable and more effective than anything other than the Bose-X - which is marginally better at reducing low end noise. The in-ear sets are no good for sharing though and some people are not comfortable with the earplugs.

[BlueRobin]

iirc Lightspeeds have small output and smaller product support.

ANR is the way to go.

A set of David Clarks with ANR will last you a very long time and product support even out of warranty (5 years) is good.

[neilcharlton]

i got this one :
http://www.anrheadsets.com/productsqfrx2.asp
very good it is too

[michaelthewannabe]

I have a Clarity Aloft in-ear headset that is similar to the Mach 1. I find it is fantastically comfortable and more effective than anything other than the Bose-X - which is marginally better at reducing low end noise. The in-ear sets are no good for sharing though and some people are not comfortable with the earplugs.

Brilliant. In one of my other lives I'm a sound engineer and very familiar with professional in-ear monitors, with their amazing ambient sound rejection and high sound quality, and I've been thinking for a while "wouldn't it be great to take professional in-ear buds and turn them into an aviation headset".

And of course, someone has done it. I think I'll get one.

[dirkdj]

I have two Lightspeed 30-3G and find them very comfortable and quiet. After sales support is very good, I send them to Germany and they come back repaired with new batteries, new covers and free of charge, even if the cable was damaged by abuse.

Why not start with a good set of ANR headphones that you will keep for a long time. I find the David Clark headsets very uncomfortable after about 20 minutes, I can wear the Lightspeed all day.

Everybody's head is different, so try before you buy or at least buy with a money-back way-out. I wouldn't spend any money on non-ANR stuff, your hearing is worth much more than that.

[Charley]

Hi Weis

I use Lightspeed 30-3G's when I'm flying piston twins and singles, they're incredibly comfortable and the ANR is good. Before I owned these I owned the older Lightspeeds (15XL's) and throughout my seven-plus years of flying and owning Lightspeeds have never had any issues with the customer service. Yet, having said that, I've only need to use the aftersales service three times and only once was it for a repair (necessitated by my own ham-fistedness).

When I'm flying on the turbines or on jump aircraft I have a pair of non-ANR Dave Clark's and - like dirkdj - find them uncomfortable after a few hours without a break.

Since a goodly part of my flying is for the purpose of my work, I have been exposed to a number of other types of headsets - and I always end up taking my own into work because I don't find them up to snuff. These include Telex's and DC's (not the very newest ones mind).

The only downside to the Lightspeeds is that they are somewhat larger than some of their contemporaries (although not discernably heavier and certainly no less comfortable).

HTH
Charley

[7120]

For your needs this coiuld well be the cheapest option:
1. Buy a set of DCs on ebay.
2. Do an ANR upgrade yourself: http://www.headsetsinc.com/

[weis]

Thanks for the replies guys, some pretty useful stuff there, Dave i totally agree with you regarding cost but i'm going straight on to CPL/ME/IR after this so i think it should be worthwhile.

Regards

[Dave Gittins]

Aha ..... more information than in the first post. Sorry if I made the assumption you were going to be flying short trips in spamcans and the like for a while.

:)

[54.98N]

Have used David Clark passive (found them too tight), Peltor passive, very comfortable, Lightspeed (15XL, 20XL, 30G) excellent piece of kit, very comfortable, but found them a bit tight after long (3+hour trips).

I now have Bose X's which I use for about 4 hours a day and have never had any problems with comfort (I have sensitive ears!), worth every penny and a good buy at the moment from the US of A with the $/£ rate.

Battery life on the Bose is about 100 hours on Duracells.

54.98n

[IO540]

I bought the Lightspeed Mach 1 and didn't like it. It easily falls out (even if just partially) by tugging on the cable. Very likely it works better with custom-moulded earplugs (some US pilots have reported as much) but with the standard ones it was useless for serious use.

I would be OK for passengers, especially female ones that don't like their hair messed up :)

Nothing beats the Bose X, which I've had for 5 years now, for performance and comfort on 6hr flights. Their only drawback (apart from possibly the cost) is that they are not built like a tank so not suitable for club/shared use, and you have to brief passengers that these things do NOT cost £20 so they need to take care of them. I do the "headset briefing" along the briefings on the liferaft, the EPIRB, lifejackets, etc.

[nigelisom]

After a while on club Peltors my lightspeed 30/3G's were absolute bliss, but, I went for a test flight wearing Bose X and I am now the very happy owner of 2 pairs (1 for the wife).
In short the Lightspeeds are very good but the Bose are better.
Think of the price as an investment in the future, you will end up wishing you had bought the Bose X in the first place if you don't.

Nigel

[Jodelman]

Just come back from Sun n Fun where Bose were offering to let you take a pair home (even to the UK) and try them for 30 days. If you didn't like them you had to pay only to send them back.

Still ended up buying the Lightspeed though.

[n5296s]

Another vote for the 30G - this is my principal headset in my own plane. Light, comfortable, good NR (both passive and active). I also have a couple of Lightspeed XCs for passengers, which they generally like and find comfortable.

I also have the DC ANR headset. I use it for acro in the Pitts, but for normal flying it is heavy and uncomfortable on long flights. (The 30G is no use at all in the Pitts, the high ambient noise level upsets the ANR and the mike picks up a lot of ambient noise too).

n5296s

[tangovictor]

anyone know a UK stockist ? I'd prefer to at least try some on, before purchasing ?