Bose X on jets?

[bucket_and_spade]

Hi guys,

I ran a search on the Bose X aviation headset - there's quite a bit on Proon from the GA crowd and I've had a good read.

It's a pretty obscene amount of money to spend on a headset but I can just about stomach it as an investment if it's as good as some say it is.

Can any commercial flyers who use the X post any feedback? I fly a Boeing and currently use a company provided Sennheiser HMEC 46 with NoiseGard (ANR). The ANR seems to change the type of background sound rather than the overall volume and it can get uncomfy after a few hours. Works OK though.

Very subjective I know but - do you think the Bose X is worth £700 (with the pound's relative weakness against the dollar the saving when buying in the US seems to be only a few tens of pounds)?

I hope to occasionally fly GA a/c as well so it would save me having two headsets too.

Cheers,

B&S

[Capt Claret]

bucket_and_spade

I used a Bose X for my last year on the 146. It had (and often needed) a pilot intercom system. I found the Bose an excellent headset.

On the 717 with no real need of an intercom system, I grew sick og having one ear cup on the side of my head so went to a Plantronics MS250, though it doesn't have any noise attenuation.

[jetopa]

Well, I started flying the Legacy just recently and some of our airplanes are equipped with Bose headsets. The reason for this is the apparent higher noise level in this cockpit. Most other jets that I know do not need a headset - at least during the cruise portion of flight.

I must say, they're unusually quiet.

Coming from F2000s and the CE750 where cockpit noise is not a factor, these active noise cancelling headsets make me wonder whether the engines back there somewhere are running at all (the only hint during engine-start is the gentle shaking of the entire airplane). This is unusual. But hey: they're working and doing what they're being paid for.

In my opinion probably just perfect for a turboprop, chopper or piston engine airplane.

[SNS3Guppy]

I wore a Bose X in a Lear 35. It's not necessary...I just happened to get a good deal on the bose and took it along to try out.

You didn't say what aircraft it is in which you want to use the headset. I usually use a lightweight Airman 750, which works just fine. Some airplanes are louder than others. In the 747, the little telex is enough...and I see more of those in use than anything else.

[bucket_and_spade]

Thanks for the replies so far - the aircraft is a B757. It can be pretty noisy on the flightdeck. Personally I wouldn't want to have the headset off during the cruise, although some do. 99% of the conversation is over the intercom, unless there's someone else on the FD.

Rainboe,

Interesting story - I'll have a gander at the the Lightspeed Zulu now...my only slight concern would be that I haven't come across the brand before but that's probably my shortcoming!

B&S

[rjtjrt]

Don't overlook the Zulu. From a very good company, they have been making ANR headsets for probably 10 years, and have an outstanding customer service dept if any issues. The Zulu is every bit as good as Bose and debatably a bit better. Having said that Bose are excellent to.
John

[Winston]

I've got a Bose X and fly the B737/757 and it's well worth the investment, wouldn't be without it!

[Vee1Kut]

I think I have tried them all...and at the end of the day, for me it's not so much about about trying to quiet down a loud cockpit, but simply getting it so quiet that the communications are clear and concise and I can start catching vibrations, issues, ect. Caught a number one bearing failure wearing the Bose X, that I don't know if I would have picked up with another headset. In a GIV, Citations, and Turboprops it's my choice.

[Vee1Kut]

Why would you wear headsets flying a Lear 35 on your PC?

[Genghis the Engineer]

I work with a big jet modified as a research aeroplane - normally flying with a crew of 16-20 (2 pilots, 1 CCM, others mostly scientists). Recently we did an in-flight assessment of alternative headsets - covering the DC H10-34, Bose-X, Lightspeed 20XLC, Lightspeed Zulu, Senheisser 460 and an old Telex passive.

By a large margin the Bose-X came out top after a parallel assessment over 8 5ish hour flights, followed by the DC. The other ANRs all had problems which made them unacceptable for the task (although I'm sure they're fine in other aeroplanes), and the Telex were poor but just about okay.

So we bought Bose-X for everybody except the two pilots (who have stuck with a preference for DC) and they've worked extremely well in about 75 hours of operating flying since. The 27 Bose-X headsets we bought probably made for a good Christmas bonus for the salesman, but they were worth it. (Yes we did get some discount, but only about £50/headset).

G

[bucket_and_spade]

Great - all good stuff. I agree that an X is certainly not needed for a modern (ish!) jet by any stretch but is one headset, amongst a few, that might make you feel warm and fuzzy inside and go a long way to keep any potential hearing loss to a minimum.

If money wasn't an issue, I'd get one frankly. Shame that's not the case...!

B&S :ok:

[JustAnotherVictim]

Can somebody let me know what aftersales support/warranty is available if purchasing one in the UK?

[FlyingRat]

I use the Aviation X on a B738 and would not be without it. I feel much less tired after a long day and I can have the RT and Intercom volumes turned down much lower than without it.

It must be much better for your hearing. It can get a little uncomfortable after 9-10 hours but most headsets will.

[ooizcalling]

There was a headset shown at the oshkosh airshow last July which was IMPRESSIVE ! It was a modification to the Bose 'Comfort 2' headset, the mod being the fitting of a quality microphone to an otherwise 'listening only' headset designed for pax in jet aircraft.

Being a 'mod' done to another parties product there were no specific attenuation data available but subjectively it was GREAT !

The Bose 'Comfort 2' has some pretty good reviews from the audiofiles who like listening to their stereo music etc so the quality of the headset is GOOD. Its ANR performance, once again subjectively, was very good.

Its wearing comfort was excellent. Wearing glasses was also not an issue.

The earpieces turn sideways to slip into a slim carrying case when not in use.

The downside ; 'Batteries Not Included' ! , so you're going to have to feed it batteries from time to time. the other negative was that it requires battery power to operate at all ! Thus No batteries > No audio ! and of course they're going to run out at the most inconvenient time aren't they, unless you're a boy scout !

But they were VERY IMPRESSIVE in my humble subjective opinion, and I had checked out both the Bose X and the Lightspeed ZULU for comparison (and of those two I prefered the ZULU over the X ). If I hadn't forked out about $ 600 for the Lighspeed Mach 1 'In the ear' headset just a few months earlier I would have bought a 'Comfort 2'.

The product is marketed as UFlyMike.

[Loose rivets]

I wonder if Essex Uni ever got any return on their investment into noise cancellation. They had motherboard sized circuits effecting a sloooooow cancellation of a fairly constant noise. I spent a while with them, and they doubted that we could make it work in aircraft.

Date, around 1979-80

[pilotmike]

I use the Bose X on a variety of aircraft, chiefly the BAe146, but also 737, piston singles (Cessna 152 / 172) and helicopters. They are excellent in every respect, and very comfortable. As a pilot and an electronics design engineer specialising in audio / acoustics, I cannot recommend them highly enough.

Loose rivets, did I meet you at the Wolfson Centre, Essex Uni? I did postgraduate research in acoustics, resonances and echo deconvolution with Prof Malcolm Hawksford next door in the 1980s, and knew Owen Jones and Mark Trinder who were the proponents of noise and vibration cancellation there at the time. The noise cancellation that the Wolfson Centre specialised in was on a far greater scale, using an array of KEF B139 drive units around exhaust stacks for big diesel engines, driven by up to 1,000W of power amps. The Bose seems to be a perfect evolution of such technology, with its beautifully applied technology, running for 40 hours on a couple of AA batteries.

[flynorth]

I had a problem with my Bose headset and got in touch with them. Told me to send it off to Headset Services down at Shoreham( I think) who were excellent. Replaced the various bits and sent them back as good as new at no cost. Well pleased with both service and after care.

Like most things in this world, you get what you pay for!!:ok:

[pilot_wood]

Interesting topic about Bose X and airliners,

was thinking of the same, but in the Airbus 320, has anyones done this, although guessing it's the same in the 73 / 146 etc...

Where in the UK can you buy the adapters, i.e. six plug for the bus?

And does this ever cause a stur, eg, if your flying with an awkward Capt, or F/O for that matter? as it's not really the norm?

thanks.

[Mister Geezer]

Been using Bose headsets for nearly 6 years now and I am on my second pair.

I really like them and I certainly think they are good. An old colleague tried mine one day and he was hooked as well. I have used them on piston singles, turboprops and now on the BAe 146.

The good things I like are that they generate less white noise on the intercom on the old BAe 146 and the audio quality of the PA is far superior to any other headset.

[student88]

Skipper I know made a Bose/Airbus adapter himself, doubt that helps you though.

[boeingboy737]

I have used the Ufly mike set up IT IS BY FAR THE BEST HEADSET OUT THERE. It is a QC2 with a fully TSO'd mike attached to it. SEE the uflymike website for details. For me the bose 10 is to big and too bulky where as the QC2 is lighter and less bulky. It has great noise cancelling ability and is light on the head. plus for commuting its great in the back for just getting some quiet or listining to music. check out the web site and look IT is GREAT!!!

[saucy jack]

Pilot wood,

Try Headsetservices.com at Shoreham Airport...I've had one of their Airbus Adapters for the last 5 years and it has worked faultlessly.

Cost was around £35 pounds when I bought it, maybe a bit more now.

I think Transair sell one too, but I recall they charged substantially more for it.

[KingAir77]

Used a Bose X for 2 years now on jet, turboprop and some piston singles. Though I first thought it was overkill on the Boeing, I would not go without it now. Adaptersto XLR5 single plug: Bought one from my local pilot shop, I think it was built by Pilot Avionics), lost it and got another one that actually came from Sennheiser. They have them for their HMEC 45's, but they work fine with the Bose.

[ask26]

For a cheaper and just as effective an option - get some custom-made earplugs with filters built in. I got a pair of Specsavers with 25dB filters for £99 from their hearing centres - get a free audiogram from it too, you can get ones at a higher price with variable filters as well.

But I just wear a standard ANR headset on top (HNC-46 I think) and can hardly hear a thing, except the guy next door. This is on a 737 Classic and NG. Makes the walkaround easy too!

[Welle]

hello

I am using the Bose headset now since 4 years on the CRJ, as it has a quite noisy flightdeck..., I won´t miss it anymore.

pro: excellent noise reduction, taxman refunded 50% of costs, light weight
excellent maint. service, changed parts after warranty period for free, no shipment costs! very good.

con: no squelch control on my aircraft, only adjustment via volume control, sometimes U need to turn volume down, to stop whistling noise from collegue´s headset.


I sometimes still use the telex750 with additional earplugs and I had a couple of flights with the new telex850ANR, but I was not impressed so much.

silent flights
welle

[IRRenewal]

I have used the Ufly mike set up IT IS BY FAR THE BEST HEADSET OUT THERE. It is a QC2 with a fully TSO'd mike attached to it. SEE the uflymike website for details. For me the bose 10 is to big and too bulky where as the QC2 is lighter and less bulky. It has great noise cancelling ability and is light on the head. plus for commuting its great in the back for just getting some quiet or listining to music. check out the web site and look IT is GREAT!!!

This thing has been mentioned a few times in this thread now.

Be careful if you decide to go this route. When the batteries run out, you don't only lose your ANR but your normal audio as well.

Ps: if it is so quiet, WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING?

[IRRenewal]

FlyerGuy

Thanks for confirming that.

If you wait until your batteries run out then yes, you will lose all audio

So, after reading your reply, let me rephrase my previous response:

DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!!! (yes, I am shouting on purpose)

They are inherently unsafe and an accident waiting to happen.

[IRRenewal]

Been using Bose headsets for nearly 6 years now and I am on my second pair.

If I paid that much for a headset I'd expect them to last. What happened?

[V1650]

My little bit of experience, I have used both Bose X and the light speed zulus.

Both are excellent, I have used the Bose on the Cl-605 which has a quiet cockpit (I think). The cockpit with the bose on almost becomes "too quiet". One downside is when the flighty come and talks to you, you usually wont notice they are there until you get a tap on the shoulder - are you listening !.

Light speed zulu in my opinion are a little quieter than the bose head set. The bonus with the Zulus is you can plug a MP3 player into the headset controller and listen to music - much more comfortable than sticking earbuds under you headset. The 80% automatic volume reduction of music whenever a radio call or just chating is very handy.

The other great feature is the bluetooth function to join your mobile to your headset.

The only negative of the Zulus is perhaps slighty greater clamping pressure - hardly anything.

I bought the Zulus, I was almost ready to by bose but the extra features and being slightly quieter won me over on the Zulus.

[mblackey]

IRRenewal,

Hope you have someone watching your fuel, oil and oxygen for you.

Point-of-order: the TSO'd configuration includes an earbud which provides audio independently of the QC2 for those that can't manage finite resources.

[SNS3Guppy]

I tried the Uflymike on the bose II headsets this last December. I was flying with an individual who owned one, and he let me try it for part of the flight. I was quite impressed with it.