Headset choice

[bigbloke]

Hi

My first post on here, I've been lurking for a few weeks and found it a useful source of information, opinions, humour.

Anyway, I have a simple question, I am a student PPL, now on my third attempt over the years but now I can actually afford it (sort of). I'm not going to be a professional pilot but would see maybe a hundred or so hours per year to do what I want to with my PPL.

I want to buy a headset and see them ranging from less than 100 quid to nearly 700. I understand about ANR etc and have used it for years for train and airline travel. I can completely understand why someone who makes their living flying for thousands of hours per year would go for top of the range but ...

What would folk recommend as a suitable headset for my needs and why ?

I know there are threads on here that cover the choice of headsets but they are pretty much focussed on the needs of the professional or wannabe professional pilot.

Thanks

Paul

[Lasiorhinus]

Get the best you can afford.

Whether you're flying your 900 hours a year, or just 20, hearing loss is irreversible.

You might want to consider getting a 'simple' headset now, but putting aside some money every year, and in three years or so, buying the absolute top-of-the-range headset. This way, its not a huge financial outlay all at once, but you will get what you need reasonably soon.

And once you buy the better one, your current headset becomes your spare, or for a passenger, etc.

[sternone]

David Clark H10-13.4

Medium priced, top quality!

[tangovictor]

Get the best you can afford.

Whether you're flying your 900 hours a year, or just 20, hearing loss is irreversible.

You might want to consider getting a 'simple' headset now, but putting aside some money every year, and in three years or so, buying the absolute top-of-the-range headset. This way, its not a huge financial outlay all at once, but you will get what you need reasonably soon.

And once you buy the better one, your current headset becomes your spare, or for a passenger, etc.

Sound advise, nothing worse than crap headsets, detracting from learning

[michaelthewannabe]

hey Paul.

I'm in exactly your position, and decided that spending money on a decent headset would be worthwhile. So I got a Clarity Aloft...

http://www.clarityaloft.com

It's a bit unconventional, but I cannot recommend it highly enough. Amazingly comfortable, very effective isolation from cockpit noise, superb sound quality. Check out some of the comments on the interweb - seems like everyone else is as pleased with it as I am.

mtw

[gcolyer]

I also have a Clarityaloft set...very very good.

I also have some DC 10-13.4..i cant complain at them either.

I also have a set of ASA's..for a budget set they are also very good.

[Fuji Abound]

Bose-X

Here is why:

I know they are one of the most expensive and it is hard to see how they justify the price, however:

they are really comfortable,

the ANR is excellent,

the design works really well.

If you are going to fly for a few years IMHO they well worth the extra cost, and will probably hold their resale value as well,

and I have tried them all !

[tmmorris]

Plus you can have good arguments with them on PPRuNe...

Tim

[744FO]

Bose Aviation X anyday. I used a 3/4s of a months paycheck to pay for them but they're well worth it. Theres nothing worse than having an uncomfortable pair of muffs on you head. Oh and the sound quality...superb!

A must for the GA Pilot. :ok:

[high-hopes]

Sound quality also depends on what you plug them in to...

A great headset plugged into a crap COM box will still sound crap...

If you're gonna be flying a rusty spamcam with WWII avionics, your bose-x will probably not make it much better, although ANR and comfort will still be there

[744FO]

That's true - but I dont have that problem in the planes I fly.

[Mark1234]

Recently got a set of DC 13.4's, found them comfortable, clear and it's improved my R/t considerably - I don't know if that's cos I'm getting used to the Rt, or because I can now hear/understand vs the school's rather knackered loan set.

Figuring I can get an ANR kit for them if required, and as mentioned elsewhere, the bose x type doesn't provide much passive NR.

[IO540]

Bose X

Light, extremely comfortable and very good quality sound.

Not suitable for lending to clumsy passengers though - for that, get a £100 David Clarke :)

[Pianorak]

Another endorsement of Bose X - light, comfortable, crystal clear communications. :O

[PompeyPaul]

My instructor said

"PompeyPaul, buy a decent headset. Save up and buy it, it's the cheapest way of doing it. Otherwise you'll be cheap, throw it away, buy mid range, throw it away, then buy expensive at the end. Borrow the club headsets, then when you've saved buy a decent headset"

I bought the DC10 13.4 (with ANR) and have not had to change headset (although I've only been flying for a year).

Make sure you buy off ebay, you'll get your headset almost half price.

[172driver]

bigbloke if you really intend to fly 100 hours per year (which would be way above the PPL average), then don't even dream of buying anything else but either a Bose-X or perhaps a Clarity Aloft. I have the Bose-X and am VERY happy with it. Others here have said good things about the Clarity, which is about half the price. I didn't get a chance to try them but was tempted.

To reiterate: hearing loss is irreversible.

[bigbloke]

Thanks for the replies and advice folks.

Bose X it is then.

Ordered them this morning.

Thanks again.

Paul

[Droopystop]

To reiterate: hearing loss is irreversible.

Which is why I don't use Bose X

A good passive headset (with or without ANR) and custom molded ear plugs.

The ONLY guarenteed means of protecting your ears.

[Lasiorhinus]

Dont ear plugs also cut out the noise from the radio.. ie, the noise you actually WANT to hear?

[Droopystop]

Las,

No, since they have a filter that allows the voice frequencies to be less attenuated. As far as I know, they come in two levels, 9db and 15 db. I have the 9s and they make a huge difference.

[IO540]

Sticking earplugs in your ears and turning up the volume is a very effective old trick, which works superbly in a car (esp. if driving fast). It also works really well in a nightclub where the sound level is right up against the ear's dynamic range.

It works with any headset but not all headsets will handle the high volume which may then be needed. Also, a simple earplug will kill off the high frequencies more than the lower ones, which is bad for speech and also bad for engine noise which is mostly low frequency. One has to get custom earplugs which have a more flat attenuation spectrum.

The Bose X is the only headset which I have come across which can be worn for several hours nonstop. Even a £500 David Clarke will be like having your head in a vice after that time.

What amazes me is that the Bose is still the best, after all these years. I've been doing audio circuit design since the 1970s and it really isn't rocket science. I guess that anybody who has developed something as good will try to sell it at a similar price (you never bomb the price which the market will clearly pay) but they can't penetrate the very loyal distribution channel.

[night_rider]

So here goes my 6 cents...


DC10 13.4 <--- Excellent head sets!!!!!!

I use Avcomm AC-900 , with gel ear pads. These are great, I would have bought the DC's but as a instructor i LOVE the PTT on the head sets! so I am happy....

Similar question as "which car is the best" , anyway remember you get what you pay....

so dont complain when u buy cheap and they are *turd*

[Droopystop]

IO,

I am not talking about the bog standard dayglo coloured sponge jobs. These are specially designed for the attenuation of all sound, but less attenuation for the voice frequencies. I don't have to change the volume of my headset/intercom since the reduction of other noise means I can hear the radio /intercom more clearly.

To my mind, stopping noise energy getting to the inner ear has to be better than adding to it to cancel it out.

The fancy headsets do sound great, but when testing scientifically in the environment I fly in (which I hasten to add is not sat behind a Lycoming) they do not meet statutory requirements.

[IO540]

Just wish to point out that

To my mind, stopping noise energy getting to the inner ear has to be better than adding to it to cancel it out.

is not what an ANR headset does.

The headset earcup (each one) contains a miniature mike, which detects the instantaneous sound pressure level in the earcup, and there is a little amplifier (this is why you need a power source) which drives the speaker in antiphase, so as to cancel out the sound pressure.

So, it isn't a case of emitting extra sound to cancel out the external noise. The sound pressure level inside the earcup is lower, not higher.

Due to limitations caused chiefly by the chamber volume being quite large (the thing has to go over one's ear, after all) together with the speed of sound not being all that great, the cancellation works only at low frequencies, which is fine for attenuating piston engine noise.

The best ANR is achieved with in-ear systems, where you have a tiny air volume and a nice short distance to the eardrum... but then you don't really need ANR because you can mould a shape which jams nicely into the ear so external noise doesn't get in in the first place.

I gather a lot of aerobatic pilots use in-ear headsets, because standard headsets fall off. I was talking to one of these the other day; he was using the Clarity headset. I've tried the Lightspeed Mach 1 and got rid of it because it is useless without custom earplugs and I didn't want to mess around with it.

[rdt7]

I've been flying my Cessna 421 with a Bose X for several years. I always thought it was the best money could buy. I flew with the Clarity Aloft set today and I'm sold on it. Look for the Bose on Ebay!

There is some subjectivity involved, but for me, the CA is superior not just in comfort but in sound quality and overall noise reduction. Believe it or not, there is only slightly more low freq noise with the CA even though it doesn't have noise cancelling circuits. It's really negligible. For the mid range and higher frequencies the CA is MUCH quieter. One caveat...you have to be comfortable with in-the-ear devices. Some people aren't.

[dom462]

Consider importing a headset from the USA. They are much cheaper than in the UK. I got a David Clark H20-10 in perfect condition for £150 including delivery on ebay. They are £230 in shops over here.