Headset Recommendations Sought

[Pronto]

After nearly a quarter of a century my trusty Peltor 7003 has just failed on me in that the plastic surround which holds the microphone to the boom has broken up. Headset Services at Shoreham have advised that the cost makes it almost beyond economic repair.

I'm now on the market for a replacement headset but not one which will break the bank. I'm a PPL holder and don't aspire to a commercial licence. I fly about 15 to 20 hours a year in a SEP and from an aerodrome where there is no ATC at weekends so often just make standard circuit calls to tell others where I am.

I'm wondering if a David Clark clone would suit and wonder if anyone would offer an opinion on the current crop?

KRs

P

['Chuffer' Dandridge]

I've had David Clarke headsets for the last 30 years, Not all pilots like them but I cant fault them. They last forever. I have 4, two new H10-60X for my smart aeroplane and 2 others that I've owned for 30 years (which are a bit scruffy!):ok:

[Cows getting bigger]

The answer is simple:

if you are a weekend bimbler then nothing beats DC13.4 - it is a fantastically good and robust headset.

If you are a professional (i.e. someone who flies on a daily basis), then it has to be the Bose A20. It will die long before the DC13.4 but then again you justify the cost as a work expense.

[RTN11]

Get a David Clarke and close the thread.

[mrmum]

Hi Pronto,

For the situation you describe, I'm pretty much going to echo the previous posts. If you want a replacement headset for your Peltor, that'll serve you well for another few decades of regular flying in a normal light aircraft, then I wouldn't look any further than the DC H10-13.4. You don't really need the benefits (or costs!) of ANR for teens of hours a year, a good quality passive will be fine.
I bought a couple of sets over 20 years ago, when I started instructing, I've replaced the spongy bits a few times, but other than that they've been faultless.

[Pilot DAR]

Get a David Clarke and close the thread.

Well, I won't close the thread just yet ;), but I agree with the advice, I still use my first, bought in 1984.

Pronto, I encourage you to search this topic, you'll find lots of previous posts on headsets.

[Dan Dare]

I always found Peltor to be very comfortable and have brilliant passive noise attenuation. DCs were never comfortable for me, but that is personal taste.

Assuming your 7003 is beyond economical repair by the pros have you considered doing it yourself with parts direct from 3M Peltor? If you can't find the right mic new then sacrifice another dead headset from e-bay?

[Pronto]

Thanks for the input everyone.

@Dan Dare, the necessary part -- a replacement microphone and boom -- is available but is nearly £74 with VAT. I don't know if it's a screw connection internally or needs soldering and past experience says I'm no good with a soldering iron. Replacement headsets--some 'little used'--are available second-hand for less than the cost of a boom...

I'm weighing up the pros and cons.

P

[Zulu Alpha]

Loads on ebay, save over 50%

[A and C]

It all depends how much you want to pay, my DC'shave been almost indistructable with the 10-40 surviving thirty years of GA flying, a lot of this was instructing so lots of unplugging and moving to another aircraft. The DC is still going strong but due to my work Sennheiser looking like it was about to fail ( the wire started to fall apart after ten years and about 7000 hours flying ) I have just got a Bose A20.

The Bose brings a new and very welcome silence to the 737 cockpit.

While I have not yet used the Bose in my light aircraft it will get approaching 900 hours use a year in the 737 and so to me is worth the (tax deductible ) expence, I would suspect that the very high quality Bose is a bit too expensive for all but the high use end of the GA market.

There is a company in the USA that has an after market kit to fit active noise suppression to DC headsets, this has got very good reviews in the press. It is my opinion that a DC with this anti noise kit fitted would be give the best value per hour flown for the average GA pilot.

[Pronto]

@Zulu Alpha: I'm assiduously watching eBay at the moment :ok:

@A and C: Thanks for your input. There's a (rather costly) set of ANR converted DCs on eBay at the moment but for possibly rather more than I'd like to pay. Bearing in mind I've done without ANR for a quarter of a century, and only do fifteen to twenty hours a year, it's probably not worthwhile getting them.

Thanks to all for the advice though!

[A and C]

Now knowing the annual hours flown is 20 hours a year ( a week of flying for me ) the advice would be a second hand DC H10-13.4, it is a very good and robust headset.

eBay is your friend, for another project that needed eight DC's all were sourced second hand on eBay for about 25% of the new price and all in almost new condition.

[Crash one]

I bought two sets from EBay , (Kathy Jean?) DC ex mil new, modified to GA spec.
Can't fault them.

[taybird]

I have a Peltor headset, also suffering from the mike shroud disintegrating. It is definitely a comfortable headset and much of my early flying was with this headset.

I then went onto the DC H10-13.4 and agree that as a standard headset, you can't beat it for durability. It's s good solid headset and would recommend happily for those who are strapped for cash but serious about flying. I kept this pair to use for my students when instructing, because poor communication doesn't help learning. More on this later.

My next headset was a standard DC that I modified myself using the Headset Services Inc kit to ANR. I was flying high power sport biplanes by this time and found that the noise attenuation wasn't just nice, it was necessary. I still use this headset for this purpose.

A previous company provided Lightspeed Zulus for work. They're good for the money, and feel very light to wear. Initially they felt very comfortable, but I found they didn't fit my head as comfortably as my modified DCs, so despite the fact the DCs were heavier, I found I preferred them. Other people much preferred the Zulus, I think it's just a matter of personal fit.

In my current role, I have been loaned a pair of Bose A20s. These are by far the most comfortable headset I have used. On the downside, the built quality on both the Lightspeeds and the Bose is not a patch on the DCs. That said, I will stick with the Bose for work and anything non-aerobatic and keep my modified DCs for aeros and as a spare headset.

The one thing I would say is that I personally think its worth buying the best headset you can afford, preferably ANR if you can. It's not just the long term protection of your hearing. It's also the fact that on longer flights you suffer less fatiguing. As a PPL who flies relatively infrequently, each flight will be reasonably high workload as you compensate for lower currency. So reducing fatigue is worthwhile.
Finally there's the significantly improved clarity of communication. With ANR, the ability to hear more of what is being said on the radio - not just to you but to and by other people, all increases your situational awareness of what's going on around you.
If you really can't afford ANR, get the best non-ANR you can (DC) and then save up for the kit and modify it yourself when you can. It's so worth doing.

[memories of px]

hi, if the microphone is still working all you need to do is put a large microphone sock over the whole lot and use a small zip fastener to hold it on, the socks can be obtained from pilot communications of bognor regis, the david clark ones are too small.

[Cheneyjawa]

I am only a meagre PPL:O, however i researched headsets quite extensively when i decided to buy a set of my own.

I ended up taking a deep intake of breath and buying a set of Bose A20:ooh:

They are absolutely amazing!, the ANR is something to behold coming from using PNR headsets and i don't think now i could possibly go back to using PNR's.

People go on about the build quality of them but my personal view is looking at them they look sturdy and as long as i take care of them i would hope they will last me years.

I therefore would recommend a nice set of Bose A20:ok::ok:

[Andy_P]

I watch this thread with baited breath.

I have used the BOSE, didn't like the fit. Ended up with a Telex Stratus 50D, absolutely brilliant, except the ear cups are splitting again, seems you only get about 50 hours use out of them. I am off to the US next week, so hoping I can get to a decent pilot store and trial some others. I would be interested to hear any comments on the Lightspeed Zulu headsets.

[Baikonour]

If you are happy to have buds in your ears, I would recommend one of the in-ear types.

Their (passive) noise attenuation is similar to Bose or other ANR, but their light weight and price make them well worth looking at.

No more clamping force on your skull, no more bulk to carry around, no issues with seal around glasses, no more sweaty ears or itchy earlobes. But you need to be used to wearing buds.

I use Quiet Technologies' Halo and am very pleased with them (although I invested in a better case to keep them in...).
Clarity Aloft seem to be the 'luxury' brand and also has good reviews - but I'm not quite sure what makes it twice the price of the Halo.

There are other models out there as well - well worth looking into.

B.

[tmmorris]

Just a word in favour of Sennheiser; though I think they are more comfortable than durable (the cable on mine required replacement after something like 400hrs, and cost uncomfortably close to the price of a new headset...) But the comfort is superb. And yes, I did try the DC first. Perhaps my head is an odd shape.

[Genghis the Engineer]

I have used the same own-brand HM40 for about 12 years. 2 years ago they went wrong - £50 got me a complete overhaul from Mendellsons.

DC13.4 are good headsets, but they are twice the price of what I wear, I've tried them back to back in the same aeroplane and couldn't tell the difference in wear.

If you can afford them, Bose are fantastic headsets - I use Bose-X for work flying, used a work set for my CPL, and the reduced noise levels massively reduce stress and improve concentration. But, they're expensive and I don't use them for a lot of my SEP flying for the simple reason that I prefer to hear any funny noises that the aeroplane makes.


I have had a few compatibility issues across intercoms with DCs that don't seem to occur with other headsets, but if you have DC both sides of a cockpit, those issues seem to go away.

mike shroud disintegrating.
Transair used to sell stuff called "mic sock tape", which was great. When they stopped stocking it, I went hunting, and eventually discovered that you could buy it as "vet wrap" - I use that rather than fragile and expensive foam socks on my headsets.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/wrap-Cohesive-Bandage-dressing-Blue/dp/B005FWDS48/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1430673102&sr=8-6&keywords=vet+wrap


G

[300hrWannaB]

David Clarke H10-13.4 as stated above.
You only need to buy noise cancelling if you fly several times a week. But if you did you wouldn't be asking.

Buy new - on special offer at various places from time to time.
Buy second hand on ebay - but only the newest model (do your own homework here) - and expect to have to have it serviced, thereby bringing the cost up to the same as new......

You can get some folks to convert the trusty H10-13.4 into ANR capability. If you want to.

[India Four Two]

David Clarke H10-13.4 as stated above.

Except if it doesn't fit your head!

I have a Lightspeed Zulu 2 and really like it. I've just had to buy a new one, because my original one was stolen. I looked briefly at the PFX, but declined. It is more expensive, takes four batteries and the dealer told me the battery life was shorter. However, the main reason I decided to stick with the Zulu 2 was that the battery/control box on the PFX is about twice the size of the one on the Zulu 2 - it's like a brick.

[27/09]

I would recommend David Clarkes. They're robust and reliable. Mine have about 7000 hours on them, much of that instructing. Like the Eveready Bunny they just keep going and going and going.......

What ever you do, DON"T even think about the many DC look a likes. Nearly everyone I've seen is crap.

[cessnapete]

No contest, Bose every time for noisy GA aircraft. Expensive but worth it for the reduction in noise fatigue. Need a bit more TLC than a pair of clunky heavy old DCs, but very reliable.

[yamazaki]

I want to buy these headsets...
Where can I find them in Dubai?

[Steve6443]

I would be interested to hear any comments on the Lightspeed Zulu headsets.

The best thing you can do is actually GO somewhere and try them out. My local dealer had a sound cabinet to simulate different environments (GA open cabin, 1 Mot, 2 Mot, turbine, Heli etc) and you could then judge the individual sets.

I went there thinking to buy a Sennheiser or perhaps Bose but the Lightspeed Zulu fitted best to my head, the Sennheiser sort of "perched" on it, DCs clamped my head tight and Bose seemed to crush my ears. I ended up buying the Lightspeed Zulu, have since upgraded to Zulu.2 but didn't see much difference to the Bose - except when viewing cost and Bluetooth capabilities.....

[RyanLee024]

While I was being trained to fly I used the rental David Clark H10-13.4 and the ASA AirClassics HS-1A headset, and between the two, the David Clark is just a lot more comfortable when I was on navigation training.

After I earned my license though, I bought the Sennheiser S1 Passive headset while Sennheiser had a discount on the headset. The Sennheiser was a bit more comfortable then the David Clark H10-13.4, but then I'm paying a good $30 more then the David Clark.

It's all really your choice. You just have to pop in to your aviation club and try the headsets out (if they sell them), or just find a nearby aviation store. I got lucky with the Sennheiser because I didn't try it before and there's a decent chance it doesn't fit well to my head.