Are there any likely negative implications of using an ANR headset?

[BlackandBrown]

Could the system in an ANR headset (the electrics in the ear piece) cause any health issues long term for an airline pilot? It can't be good to have coils and magnets pushed against the head!

Thanks in advance for any inputs.

[Air Soul]

I would imagine that they're far worse than passive headsets that just push coils and magnets up against your head.

[Fostex]

A modern ANR headset is a signal processing solution and requires no change to the transducers in your headset except perhaps for an additional microphone. I very much doubt there is any danger from the E and B fields from the small low power moving coils in a modern headset.

Few if any crew use ANR any way as all modern aircraft have both passive and active acoustic cancellation and damping in the cockpit. Having said that they may be useful if you spend your days flying SEP/MEP or rotary wing.

[redsnail]

All of us at NetJets Europe have been issued Telex 850 ANR or Bose A20 headsets.
I had been using the Sennheiser HMEC 25s but now use a Bose A20 ANR. Pricey but well worth it.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Most test pilots elect not to use ANR, because whilst they need a quiet operating environment to maintain concentration (and protect their hearing) they value being able to hear all the funny noises that reach the cockpit. DCs seem the usual preference.

I can't think of any other reason not to wear a good ANR if it's available to you however - what's on your ear is at the end of the day just a speaker, a bit of soundproofing, and some electronics. (Just!, yes there's a hell of a lot of R&D went into getting those right.)

I must admit to mostly using a passive in my vintage aeroplane, and when test flying - because I want to be sensitive to the funny noises. For long trips, or on board our research aircraft, I really like the Bose-X option, because it's not really required that I'm all that sensitive to stuff! In microlights I use a high attenuation passive, because that's all that's available - but also the Lynx and Communica passives I own are much better than most GA or airline systems at dealing with high ambient noise.

I look forward to trying an A20 sometime soon!

Why do I own seven headsets, and have an eighth issued at work? Goodness knows - basically there isn't a universally right answer I suppose.

G

[BBK]

Genghis

I knew of at least one TP who always used ANR, 'GT' at Dunsfold. His comments on its effectiveness were always appreciated as we sought to get it into operational service.

B and B

I would strongly recommend using ANR as the benefits in, hopefully, preserving your hearing are enormous. The point about not being able to hear when something technical is malfunctioning is IMHO likely incorrect. ANR, by reducing overall noise levels, will probably allow you to hear something that would otherwise be masked especially by prop/blade noise. An American Army helo pilot experienced exactly that. He was flying with ANR on and said he heard a problem with the gearbox that he felt he would have missed without it.

[Genghis the Engineer]

I knew of at least one TP who always used ANR, 'GT' at Dunsfold. His comments on its effectiveness were always appreciated as we sought to get it into operational service.

Interesting, GT is one of the best regarded of the VTOL TP community - so an opinion I'd take as pretty weighty.

G

[blue up]

Few if any crew use ANR any way as all modern aircraft have both passive and active acoustic cancellation and damping in the cockpit

Exactly the opposite, in my experience. Of circa 850 pilots in our company I'd say we have 800 using ANR. Not sure what the other 50 use but there have been some compatibility issues. Our spare flightdeck headsets are about 50/50 split but going towards ANR as the old ones die out.
Couldn't live without mine. 2 x 6hr sectors per day will rapidly wear you out without good ANR. Maybe 757/767/321/738 are not 'modern'?

Bose-X leaves my ears quite sore, though.

[Denti]

I was kinda surprised about that comment as well. I don't know of any aircraft that uses active noise dampening inside the flightdeck, as far as i know that is a task that has to be done by a headset. But then i do fly a jurassic area aircraft, the 737 series (classic and NG). Sadly boeing is pretty good at designing aircraft, but absolutely awful at designing a quiet aircon and equipment cooling solution.