David clark headsets v the others...

[Tupperware Pilot]

.....need to get my own headsets now. have been usign DC's for years, but second hand on ebay are going for well over £100 and can't aford new ones....So does anyone use any of the cheaper ones? Like ASA AirClassics HS1A Headset : ASA - Airplan Flight Equipment (http://www.afeonline.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=183)

Cheers
damien

[rich_g85]

Damien,
I picked up a Peltor 8006 second hand off Ebay for £100 + postage. It's a hell of a lot more comfortable than the head-clampers I used to borrow from the flying school (which looked extremely similar to the link you suggested).

After an hour wearing that ASA set or the Pooleys budget equivalent, I frequently had a headache and sore ears not long after takeoff and would have to fold my ears back to their original shape in the car on the way home.

However after taking the Peltor off, after a few minutes I wouldn't know I'd been wearing it. Worth considering, if you can stretch your budget slightly.

[NazgulAir]

I had a set of Peltors in my old plane and used them without trouble.
My ears were nver sore but during long flights the top of my head would get a little uncomfortable by the headset's pressure. An extra bit of cushioning cloth velcro'ed in place solved that problem.

[jxc]

My thoughts would be to save a little bit more and get the best you can afford

The 1st pair I bought were Sennheiser HME100 very light very good

Sennheiser HME 100 Passive Headset with included Sennheiser Case £194.99 (http://www.flightstore.co.uk/HME100.asp)
a 2nd hand pair on flee bay

Pilot/Aviation Headset Sennheiser HME100 on eBay (end time 07-Aug-10 20:13:05 BST) (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pilot-Aviation-Headset-Sennheiser-HME100-/170521414949?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_CPV_Aviation_SM&hash=item27b3de4d25#ht_500wt_1154)

I then bought a Clarity Alfot in the ear thingies and love them to bits

Cheers

[Heliplane]

I'm still using the DC H10-20s I bought 20 years ago, without any problems.

I briefly flirted with a Sennheiser noise cancelling headset (based on the old style Peltor model) but it was nowhere near as robust as the DCs.

[Tupperware Pilot]

Cheers guys...
anyone used these..."Pilot Aviation Aircraft Knight-tec Headset"

[rich_g85]

No, but looking at it (presumably the one that's on Ebay at the moment) it looks the same (if not worse) as the ASA one in your first post!

You'll regret scrimping on a headset, trust me. Buy cheap, buy twice and all that.

[IO540]

There should be a few bose-x ones going on Ebay soon. I have just watched one on US Ebay going for $600 and no bids at all...

A bose-x is way way better than anything D-C made at any price, ever. I once did a comparison (against an aircraft noise source) of the X against the top D-C headsets, and there was no comparison on comfort.

Unless you are going to sit on it, stand on it, lend it to people, etc, in which case buy a D-C.

[subsonicsubic]

All my mates bought Bose X and I felt I needed to do something different. I bought DC X11...the supposed competitor. I have flown with both and I have to say the Bose X has much better ANR, is more comfortable and I can actually hear ATC ( A problem I have with the DCs).

Having said that, the DCs appear to be very well built and were 200 USD less than the Bose X.

My mate has dropped, run a seat over and generally abused my DCs and they still work. I'm not convinced the Bose would stand up to the battering the DCs have taken.

I'll hang onto my X11s as they are mine. If I were borrowing a headset, I'd choose the Bose anyday....

Best,

SSS

[W2k]

Another Bose-X alternative for those with a slightly smaller budget is Lightspeed Zulu. I haven't compared them with the boses but I have a mate who "upgraded" from Zulu to Bose-X and promptly switched back to Zulus. Anectdotal evidence of course, YMMV. :ok:

I bought a used pair for about half of retail price and they've served me well even though I'm utterly careless with them.

[mad_jock]

X11's are utter ****e.

I did play around with a few of the other types but came back to DC H10-13X.

I will agree that some of the others beat them slightly in performance but...

You can tweak and fix DC's when things get slack.

You can get spares world wide locally eg gel seals, mic socks etc.

They work exceptionally well as a passive headset if you have the ANRs and bat runs out.

And another huge factor is that Headset Services do such a cracking customer support in the UK. There is no mucking around, you get to speak to the bloke thats going to fix it. The 2 times in 10 years I have sent stuff in it has always been turned round quickly with the minimum of fuss and came back as good as new for a very reasonable price. I might add both times it wasn't a DC failure it was me being stupid that caused them to need fixed.

[Pilot DAR]

In 35 years, I had never regretted owning David Clarks. You get what you pay for, and it's your hearing forever.... I would agree that there are better ANR systems, but I doubt there are tougher!

[Cows getting bigger]

DC10s have to be the best value for money, by far. Why else would the majority of flying schools use them? Being rather decadent, I have Bose (just upgraded to the A20) but at $1100 a pop you have to be willing to fork out that much money and then take care of them.

Go and find yourself another nice set of DC10s.

[hugh flung_dung]

I bought second-hand DC10-40s about 15-20 years ago and fitted an ANR kit (with the PP3 battery clipped to one ear-cup to avoid dangling cables and boxes). They have worked faultlessly, have never fallen-off in aeros and the ANR is great in noisy twins and aerobatic aircraft.

(Edited to confess that before the DC10-40s I had an Airlite 62:uhoh:)

HFD

[Captain Smithy]

I've had a good experience with a passive KnightTec. Think it's about £100 new. Good NR, good Mic and comfortable. Seems durable enough, even by a ham-fisted/clumsy Smithy's standards.

[Retired Redcap]

I bought Knight Tech when I was learning to fly. I was quite happy with them although they are a bit heavy. Post PPL I now have been using Beyerdynamics HS200 which I bought from Pooleys. Light, extremely comfortable, good protection and clear sound. I am very happy with them and price is good.

[JTN]

My two pennies as I haven't seen it mentioned yet...

I used Peltors, 8006 from memory, during student days, and found them absolutely fine. BUT (and this may just have been my bad luck) I did have some compatibility issues with some of the mixed bag of headsets the instructors used. So I switched to DC10's, because that's what everybody else had. No complaints about those either, and no compatability problems. And they are very sturdy :ok: Sorry if this was just too obvious for anyone else to mention, but I guess the advice is to make sure whatever you buy will work with whatever else there is in the plane.

I know the OP talks about "after many years" so apologies if this is a bit of thread-drift, but would the ANR advice be the same for a new / less experienced pilot? Or would you recommend passive until more able to recognise a "sick" engine note?

[mad_jock]

Well I have a perm hearing damage after having done 700 hours without ANR.

I find it makes me less tired.
I am able to turn the volume down on the radios.
I don't get tinitus


Now I think I got my pair o DC10 for 350 quid which i got the VAt back on through the school and also got a tax rebate as well while applying for my Proffessional pilots tax code thingy. So all in the cost me about 200 quid or as at the time 20 hours of instructing.

Now that set has done me for 4000 hours so in Captial costs its at 5p an hour and decreasing.

So including batterys call it 20p.

You can't put a price on your hearing. They do work, they do reduce the damage. Its very easy to get a student to purchase a pair of ANR DC's I just lend them my spare pair (which i have cause the aircraft spares are rank) then after a couple of lessons forget to bring them. Usually it comes up quite quickly in the debrief the question "where is the cheapest place to get a pair of them DC's"

Ther daft thing is if you get more than 5 of you together you can get a bulk discount from suppliers.

[Ultra long hauler]

I´m considering buying the Sennheiser HMEC 460.
Expensive, but (hopefully) worth it.

Any feedback anyone?
I intend to use them for my new Kit Plane:

Patriot (http://www.can-zacaviation.com/patriot.htm)


Cheers,

###Ultra Long Hauler###

[hugh flung_dung]

MJ - I did rather too much glider towing in PA18-180 and other similarly noisy beasts, sometimes without headset or ear defenders - so I also have mid-range hearing damage.

It seemed such a good idea at the time:(

HFD

[PAPI-74]

I have used Peltor and the sound is hollow and very poor. One side will always end up cutting out.
Bose just don't last - the mic's fail and things snap.

DC's every time -
I got mine 2nd hand 5 years ago and the only thing I have done is relplace the gel seals after they covered me in gooo. I have used these every day either instructing or flying turboprops.

2nd hand they are not expensive - don't make a mistake.

[Kolibear]

Lightspeed Zulus....




Just one step up from DC H13.4

[mad_jock]

Can i just put the point across again about the X11's

They are utter utter ****e.

The DC's we are talking about are the old style DC10's with ANR fitted in the factory.

[kalleh]

People in other forums are reporting very good results with these:

Halo Headset® (http://www.anr-headsets.com/Html_folder/QT-HLO.html)


Anyone here tried them? Note that these ones are not the "jetliner-flighdeck" type but made for noisy GA cockpits.

[Tupperware Pilot]

after some good advice i went for the DC's...cheers