First Headset Help

[TMPilot]

Hi all,

I recently got my PPL and now I'm looking at buying a headset. However, I'm not sure which is best and what the differences are.

What is the difference between Passive, Active and Student headsets?

I'm looking for something around the £150 mark, just for pleasure flying and generally practising nav.

Could any offer any advice?

Thanks,
Rhys.

[TheOptimist]

Your budget is tiny. You should be doubling that really. The David Clark H10-13.4 is the most well known basic headset around, and that's £260ish.

Personally when I buy my first headset it'll be ANR and at least £400.

I also suggest you do entirely your own research. The more reading you do, the more you understand what you want and the easier it is to buy something to suit you. What you don't want is someone saying 'buy this one' and then you run off and buy a headset from an online shop without ever trying it on.

But yeah. The main point is that your budget is tiny, even for low-end headsets.

[Fitter2]

To some extent it depends on the type of aircraft you fly, and how much you value your hearing in years to come.

But mainly, the 'best' headset is the best one you can afford that suits you.

Go to a decent pilot shop, try them, see if you can borrow one you think you like for a decent length trip - a set that seems comfortable for a few minutes can be an instrument of torture after 2 hours - and then you stand a chance of making a wise decision.

[BRL]

You might get some old DC's off ebay for around £150 if you are lucky. What you do need to do is go into a pilot shop and try them on, keep them on for a while see how they feel.

As mentioned, a lot of people will offer advice on what they have but you must go and get some 'hands on' really before shelling out a lot of money.

Use your clubs headsets for a while if you can't get to a shop, you don't need them right now so take your time before buying.

[destinationsky]

Im a new PPL and i bought a sennheiser HME95.
It was a little over £150. It is light, comfortable and the sound quality is very good. It has an inline volume control where you can control the volume of the left and right ear piece independently. It has an aux input for an ipod or mobile phone (though im not sure if this is such a good idea!) and stereo or mono output.
The headset is cleverly designed to fold down to fit in the small case which is supplied.
I would recommend this headset. It will do me until i can afford a Bose anyway!

[BackPacker]

What is the difference between Passive, Active and Student headsets?

Passive, or "Passive Noise Reduction" (PNR): loads of foam to dampen the sound. Simple really.

Active, or "Active Noise Reduction" (ANR): Electronic wizardry that listens to outside noise and then generates the exact same noise but in opposite phase, effectively canceling the outside noise. It's something you've got to hear before you believe it. It works very well but the main disadvantage (apart from the price tag) is that an active unit always needs a power supply. The standard two-lead connector doesn't supply this so you either need to have a battery unit integrated in the headset lead, with finite life before the battery runs out, or a special (round five-pin?) connector in the panel, wired into the aircrafts power system.

Some headsets such as the Bose-X are active only. Meaning that if they lose the power supply their passive insulation is very low. Others, such as some Sennheisers and DC Clarks, combine active and passive: Loads of foam and ANR. Should the ANR quit, either due to a technical malfunction or a loss of power, you are left with a pretty good passive headset.

Because of this the clamping force on passive or passive+active headsets is usually more than active-only: On active-only getting a proper seal around your ears is less important.

Student headset - simply a low-budget passive headset.

I personally own a (passive) SkyLite SL-900 bought over the internet (eBay) from an outfit in Hongkong. Including taxes, shipping and everything I spent about 130 euros. Very happy with that one. My first headset was an Avcomm AC-200PNR which I bought at a US pilot shop while I did my training there, for a little over 100 dollars I think. Also a very reasonable unit. It's my backup unit and used for passengers. The difference between the two is marginal and comes down to comfort, really. Very much a personal thing.

[TMPilot]

Thanks for the replies.

I think I will go to some supplies shops rather than buy online, following the advice, to make sure I buy the right pair. Thanks for helping me understand the difference between active and passive.

Rhys.

[BroomstickPilot]

Hi TMPilot,

There is a mass of information on headsets on this website as the subject of headsets comes up over and over again.

All you have to do is to use the 'search' facility.

Broomstick.

[Retired Redcap]

You might consider the Beyerdynamic HS200 at just under the £200 mark.
After I gained my PPL I purchased a set from Pooleys. I find them light and comfortable with good noise reduction and excellent sound quality.

[Unusual Attitude]

Consider the type of aircraft your flying in, if its bloomin noisy you can have all the ANR you like but without decent passive attenuation it wont be worth much.

I've been using a Pilot 17-79 ANR set for about the last 7 or 8 years for general spam can types (cessna / piper et all) and they are very comfortable and the ANR works great. In my Tipsy Niper however they are flaming useless as the noise overcomes the ANR, I have a Microavionics set for that which has much better passive attenuation and is a great improvement.

Seem to remember my first set was from Harry Mendhelsons, think they were £99 or something (15 years ago now!) but they reminded me of a hammer house of horror film where this bloke put on a helmet thing which kept getting tighter and tighter until his head went pop, not cofortable for long periods at all!

Longest sector I've done with the 17-79's was about 4hrs and they were still comfortable at the end of the flight.

[mractive]

mate you can buy dc 13.4 off ebay for 100 pounds as long as you don't mind waiting a week or so. they are not as good as the anr ones but its basically the industry standard.

They are comfy, cheap to repair, robust and if you only need them for pleasure flying there really good, additionally what was your instructor wearing? probably dc 13.4. that should tell you something.

If after this you then want to buy an anr set wait till the pound is strong against the euro/dollar prices should come down.

P.s my instructor had his dc's for over 15 years

[sternone]

Get the David Clark H10-13.4, for some reason there is not a big difference for me with the bose X. At least not to justify the huge price difference

[PH-SCP]

I have a David Clark H10-13.4, a very good headset indeed and it will last. It might be worth extending your budget a little if you can.

You can also buy cotton ear covers for the gel ear seals for around £4 a pair, this makes them even more comfortable.

If you're buying second hand, try to look for one with the newer style larger head pad, if not you can always buy one of these separately for around £37 (just had a look at Transair). Although this does push the price up a bit.

As said earlier, you should be able to pick up a good used H10-13.4 for around £150 (maybe a little less).

Congratulations on getting your PPL

I started flying with this same headset (DC H10-13.4) in 1992 and it has performed flawless over the years. Truly worth the investment. As suggested, try to buy a used one and replace the earcups with gel ones. You may also want to replace the microphone muff for hygenic reasons. Great headset. I recently upgraded to a DC H10-13X ANR headset. I bought two of these shortly before they introduced the X11. Love every minute of ANR listening. Switching on the ANR function takes all the low rumble away and creates a far less fatiguing cockpit enviroment. It really works and my experience is such that I am now much less tired after flying. You may want to take a close look at your aircraft and its systems. Critics say that an ANR headset may dampen oral warning signals and hints from the engine on its wellbeing. My airplane is an experimental without audible warning signals and a great engine monotoring system so these restrictions play no role for me.... And no, I'm not selling my H10-13.4, I'm keeping it as a back-up.
Good luck !

[sandbagsteve]

another vote for the DC 13.4's

Was using the schools Sennheisers but didn't like them due to my big ears... The 13.4's fit my big lugs nice, and despite having a large head, I don't find them too tight as some people say. Plus, if you want to upgrade them to ANR later you can, by using the kit from anrworks.com - which is what I'll do If I fly anything noisier.