New headset

[Rishy]

Hi All,

Newbie here - first post so please don't rip the p155.....

I'm at lesson 11 of my PPL at Northumbria Flying School from Newcastle Airport (and thoroughly enjoying it I might add). The time has come for me to invest in my own headset - the school ones are pretty rubbish and often I'm struggling to hear clearly.

Can anybody suggest a decent pair to get me going? My instructor tells me I shouldn't need to spend any more than about £200. Any recommendations anybody? David Clark seems to be a top brand.

Sorry if this topic has been done before. If so please point me in the direction of that thread.

Cheers

Tim

:ok:

[Pilotdom]

I cant praise these enough...

http://shop.beyerdynamic.de/oxid.php/sid/2d112c4a945946fdd92fb5c473809991/cl/details/cnid/4814714cf740be8f9.96763181/anid/d944709e37d3ba864.99297122

[davidd]

One set of ears...
I wouldnt wear anything else, once you try you have to buy.

Bose - X everytime

[dom175b]

Yes I would say either Bose X but or I am using David Clark X11 and they are great too!

Look on ebay, you'll save loads!

[Zulu Alpha]

Yes, look on ebay. David Clarkes are very robust so second hand ones are normally very good.

Why not put a wanted advert on your flying club noticeboard. Then you can look and try before you buy.

You should pay about half price.

ZA

[Applecore]

Since I got my pair of Bose X my flying has improved loads..

[Duchess_Driver]

Bose are very good - but very expensive in comparison.

If you've money to burn - buy Bose. Even second hand they'll still set you back double what a decent pair of DC's would.

I've had my DC's for 6 years now without any problems whatsoever. They've been well used - daily for the last year or so.

[Spruit]

Bose X are a good headset but let's be realistic here, for someone training to fly there's no need for them and at roughly £400 on Ebay that's atleast £250 more that a decent pair of David Clarke H10-13.4's which are more than suitable for all pleasure flying.

Just my 2p's worth!

Spru!

[mark sicknote]

I have to say I am disappointed with my DC X11s. I paid 800US plus shipping and wish I'd paid the extra 200 US for the Bose x instead.

True, compared to the ASAs I used previously they are a big improvement. But the audio clarity and comfort of The Boses surpasses them easily.

I think it will be difficult to find a pair of secondhand Bose x as they are too good to be replaced.

Best,

Sicknote:ok:

[znww5]

Strongly recommend you try and get to a decent pilot shop and spend plenty of time trying on the various contenders. Don't just buy brand X because everybody else does - headsets are very personal things and what may suit one person may be most uncomfortable for somebody else.

With a budget of £200 you will be looking at passive headsets (ie they don't use clever electronics to reduce noise) so the effectiveness of the ear seal is important - especially with glasses. Avoid headsets which have a high clamping pressure to achieve the seal, look for comfort and gel-filled or soft foam seals.

Bear in mind that a plastic seal next to your skin will be sweaty in warm weather, you can get cotton covers which help - but at the cost of reducing the effectiveness of the seal. Some headsets have soft leather over soft foam options (Sennheiser and I believe Beyer), which is my personal preference, but you need to decide which you prefer.

Once you have decided on a specific headset, there is the question of a source - eBay is good for secondhand ones as long as you don't get carried away with the bidding and your local club noticeboard is a possibility too. Alternatively, with the dollar at nearly $2=£1 it may be worth looking at a supplier in the USA, especially if you or a friend are visiting, otherwise add about 20% to the delivered price for import duty etc.


For the record, I use a Sennheiser HME100 SE-2 headset - the SE being the special edition with soft leather ear seals and a bit more headband padding. I'm perfectly happy with that, but of course you may much prefer something entirely different. Final advice - don't rush the decision :)

[DB6]

I haven't tried this one, or even seen it, but I seem to remember reading a review which said it was quite good, and at £80 you can probably afford to take the chance http://www.firefly-aviation.co.uk/product.php?productid=5&cat=0&page=1

[bonniejack]

A second vote here for the Sennheiser SE 2. Comfortable, good sound and does good job of cuting down the external noise. In fact Sennheiser claim 40 db, more than is claimed for some ANR sets. Have sent you pm.

[k12479]

I'd also strongly suggest you pop to a shop and try some on. I found DC's a bit overrated and not as comfy or balanced (weight-wise) as the Sennheiser HME100 which I got & have been very happy with.

[Rishy]

Thanks for all the advice people :ok:

Whereas Bose X would be the obvious choice if money were no object I don't want an "all the gear, no idea" situation.

Good suggestion re. trying out as many as I can before I buy, I'll make that a priority.

Thanks again.

Tim

[UncleNobby]

Get passive DC's - when you have a few hundred hrs in the logbook and know you will keep flying then splash out on a ANR set if you so wish - the DC's will come in handy then for your passengers! I paid $316 for my DC's and only got them after I got my PPL - used a free (ghetto!) set from the school before that.
Just my 2cents!

[172driver]

Kinda similar advice to above. Get whatever works for you now and use the money to fly - but once you've decided to keep flying get Boses - they simply *are* the best.

[kalleh]

In threads like these, many people often give the advice to buy a cheap headset, and buy a better one "after a few hundred hours".

I switched from a cheap headset to a Lightspeed 25XL when I had flown about 15 hours. And the difference was very noticeable. The lower noise levels and the higher clarity in the RT traffic made me much less stressed in the cockpit. I felt less exhausted after my lessons and could pick up the RT much more easily.

So maybe it's the opposite, use a great headset to start with, and use a poor one once you become experienced?

I've tried many headsets and I really like the better Lightspeed ones (25XL and up). And in my contact with Lightspeed they've been great.

[Frank Furillo]

Could not agree more with Lightspeed, I got mine in the states. I think the Bose are great but have one or two drawbacks, no Passive noise reduction, for when your batteries fail and they look a bit flimsy and are expensive.
I have the lightspeed 30 3G for me it does the trick, very comforatable, made of plastic and therfore light and no clamping, my old dc10-13's gave me a headache after an hour or two of flight.

lightspeed are here: http://www.lightspeedaviation.com/products30-3g.asp

[Asrian]

What about the Sennheiser HME 95? The local flying club offers them in the starter package for student pilots...

Noob question: whats the different between active and passive headsets?

[mezpot]

I also agree with Lightspeed - they do a model with both passive and active sound management and, for me, it represents the best f both worlds. I think it is called CC or crosscountry..

I bought mine in the states (through a friend) and saved loads

regards

[mezpot]

http://www.lightspeedaviation.com/productsqfrx2.asp

Called the QFRXCc Headset

active - uses electronics to attenuate the sound; passive - uses physical barriers (earmuffs/padding) to attenuate the sound

Plenty of info out there on the net

[squidie]

I use a Sennhieser HME100, and that works wonders. You should be able to pick one up for around £110 now.

[Rightbase]

It's all to do with how they keep the engine noise out. Passive headsets form a sound-tight seal around your ears, which can be sweaty and uncomfortable.

Active headsets use fancy battery-powered electronics to feed negative engine noise into your ears, cancelling the real engine noise, with no need for the seal. But they do need batteries.

You probably wouldn't want to fly with an unreliable headset, so if you go for an active set, carry a spare set of batteries and learn how to change them on the fly.

Or better still, change them on the ground before you need to.

[IFollowRailways]

I can't speak for any other brands, but the Bose warns you with a fast blinking Amber light when you are down to 8 hours battery remaining and from 2 hours remaining turns to a flashing red light. There is absolutely no excuse for running out of battery whilst airborne!

I probably need my head testing, but I have four of them, one for each seat, and they are FANTASTIC.

[Pudnucker]

Started with a cheap pooley's set which were ok while learning and then bought myself a Bose in the USA. Totally superb in every way. Worth the money but buy in the US. Also bought a lightspeed for the other half (who doesn't fly as much as me) and she always ends up swapping with mine as she finds them more comfortable and a lot quieter..

[michaelthewannabe]

FWIW, my vote is for Clarity Aloft. A lot cheaper than Bose-X, though still clearly a luxurious choice at a bit over £300. They're in-ear types, passive but with phenomenal isolation, they weigh almost nothing, and they're so comfortable that I forget I'm wearing them until I turn the master off after shutdown, and realise the instructor's lips are moving but I can't hear anything.

I got mine just after I started circuits, and the difference it made was phenomenal - RT just seemed so much easier, substantially improving my brain overload management and thereby actually making flying easier.

[Woodenwonder]

DCs are expensive for what they are (paying for the name?)

Go Sennheiser HM100 - light, soft on the ear clamping, good quality sound.

[poss]

I can't speak for any other brands, but the Bose warns you with a fast blinking Amber light when you are down to 8 hours battery remaining and from 2 hours remaining turns to a flashing red light. There is absolutely no excuse for running out of battery whilst airborne!

Some Bose were sent out with a faulty battery compartment that was draining a lot of battery life leaving you with around an hours worth of usage. They are in the process of sending out new ones to the affected Bose users; so if you were unaware of this and you went without batteries, just because the light wasn't blinking, you'd have to put up no ANR for the rest of the flight.

[Ken Wells]

Go on ebay get a bargin

[mixture]

Rishy,

I'll summarise in one phrase :

Hearing loss is not recoverable

Unless you want to be on hearing aids earlier than necessary, if you can afford to spend money on a good headset, then you should do so.

My first recommendation would be to make sure you buy an ANR headset rather passive. After that, choice of brand is largely down to preference and budget, but DC and Seinheisser (spelling ?) are the two most common.

Also of note, if you wear glasses (or intend to wear your favourite pair of sunglasses when summer eventually appears), try to get the opportunity to test the fit. There's nothing worse than frames being uncomfortably your temples during long XC outings.


By the way, unless Bose units work differently to others I've used, this ...

There is absolutely no excuse for running out of battery whilst airborne!

Is a load of rubbish. (to put it politely).

Good ANR headsets become passive headsets when the batteries run out ... they don't suddenly cease to be and become ex-headsets .....

[gasman123]

If you're prepared to wait for ebay bargains you can do well - I managed to pick up a Pilot PA17-72 ANR headset new for £125 so you don't need to pay the earth for an ANR headset. Its pretty good,, but doesn't sit that well with sunglasses, cant afford a second mortgage for the Bose ones though.
Its funny though that now I have more hours I sometimes forget to turn on the ANR & don't notice! I don't panic when the battery runs out anymore either. My instructor uses a very battered pair of passive Dave Clarkes (seemingly on principle) & still hears 1000 things I don't.. seems the main trick is to actually listen!!

[JOE-FBS]

Although I am a year (I guess) away from qualifying, when I do, I will need to equip the small boy and the other half with headsets.

The other half has very poor hearing which is deteriorating rapidly with age so presumably I should splash out on the best possible ANR kit to both protect what hearing she has and allow her to hear what's going on?

Presumably, similar logic for the ten / eleven year old as he needs all the protection he can get at that age?

Looks like I'll be stuck with club kit after buying that lot!

Any advice on this appreciated, thanks.

[mixture]

Joe,

ANR are very good at cutting out background noise, better than any passive set will ever be ... so for people such as your other half, an ANR set should help them focus on what they need to listen to rather than trying to distinguish against background noise that creeps in.

I do see where you're coming from on the budget side of things ... I guess there are two options, second hand ANR or an "expensive" passive headset for someone .... which is likely to be cheaper than an ANR set but still give better protection than a cheapie.

Up to you in the end ....your cash, not mine.

[JOE-FBS]

That's it, I'm convinced. We were given Bose ANR headsets for the IFE on a flight back from Dallas this morning and I was hugely impressed. With ANR on, I could have my ipod at about 3/4 the volume I need it at with conventional headphones with similar earpieces (not the crummy ones that came with the ipod).

[IFollowRailways]

There is absolutely no excuse for running out of battery whilst airborne!

Mixture.

Is a load of rubbish. (to put it politely).


I assume you did'nt read the post before you stated this.

The Bose is different to most other brands. As stated, the battery warning flashes amber for 8 HOURS before it goes flat. The last 2 HOURS it flashes RED.

I will repeat my posting -

(With a Bose).....There is absolutely no excuse for running out of battery whilst airborne.

In several hundred hours I have never had an ANR failure in a Bose headset. By watching the warning light as you turn it on you can decide when to change the battery with total accuracy.

If this facility is not installed on the other brands available, I agree that ANR failure is probably inevitable at some point due to a flat battery.

(And yes, I know there were some faulty Bose where the warning did'nt work, but this was a fault, not a design feature)

[RVFlyer]

A budget solution that works incredibly well is to bye a cheapy £50 set & get some gel filled earmuffs and exchange them for the nasty plastic ones.

I use two of these for the back seat pasengers, so when you know which flashy noise cancelling ones you want the cheapies still have a purpose.

My pref. for noise cancelling (6yrs trouble free operaration) are the pilot dnc range.