Another headset question

[sketchy]

I am in need of a new headset, as the cheap 80 quid one I brought a few months ago has packed up. I am unable to decide between David Clark H10-13.4 (£200) or the Sennheiser HME95/HME100 (£150-£170).

Any advice would be greatly received. Thanks

[Fright Level]

Headsets are like shoes, you really need to try them on before you buy. Personally I find DC's too vice like around my head and get a headache 10 mins after wearing them. No, my head isn't bigger than normal either

[172driver]

In that price bracket I don't think you'll find a huge difference in sound quality, it's more the comfort (or lack thereof) wearing the thing that counts. Try as many as you can and, if possible, leave them on for a few minutes.

[Lister Noble]

I found the club Peltor set very comfortable and with good clarity when I first started learning.

[Pilot DAR]

I have never tried a Stennheisser, so cannot comment on that.

I have a David Clark heatset, which I bought nearly 30 years ago, which still serves me very well. I have a David Clark helicopter heatset/helmet which I bought more than 25 years ago, for which I just received extensive warrany assistance from David Clark staff. Nothing was wrong with it, it just needed a wiring change to update it to newer systems.

I could not be more happy with the quality of the David Clark products, and in particular, their excellent after sales (25 years) service!

And the vice head thing, it's what is needed to get the good seal required to keep the noise out. The headsets which don't have a firm grip of your head, probably are not keeping the noise out as well. The alternative is noise cancelling, though even those do not work properly without a good seal around your ears.

I learned to fly in an era which predated the use of headsets, but very quickly became the odd one out by buying and using one. Many pilots senior to me seem to now have hearing problems. Thanks to David Clark quality, I do not!

I highly recommend David Clark products...

Pilot DAR

[Rishy]

Sketchy,

I bought the Sennheiser HME 100 Special Edition 2 headset back in March and would definitely recommend them. Comfortable and great sound quality.

I posted a similar question to you before I bought and replies were similar to the ones you're getting - it's all about personal choice. Worth trying before you buy.

£169.99 delivered in 3 days from Flightstore ("Other online pilot shops are available.")

Tim

[wired2fly]

Just bought the H10-13.4 myself and very pleased with it so far, its very lightweight and it doesn't clamp my head like some of the others (even older David Clarkes I've tried).
I bought mine online from the US and paid about £160 with a headset case as well. Some online shops will mark it as a gift so you won't get customs charges also.

[jxc]

I bought the Sennheiser around Febuary time and was very pleased with them, now use them for passengers as i bought a pair of in the ear sets. Bought my Sennheiser from Garmin Aviation GPS, David Clark Headsets, Pilot Supplies from SkyGeek.com in the states but like said b4 other shops around

Cheers

[johankytt]

I've just had bad experience with the Sennheiser HME 95 and definitely wouldn't recommend it if you want to keep your hearing. I bought the headset last week and sent it back to Transair today.

It's specs are similar to other headsets in the price range, but in reality the ear cups block almost no noise at all. Even the cheapest uncomfortable headsets protect your ears better (tried both of them on same flight). The ear cups are too thin to work properly and there was also a small gap left between the padding and my skin so extra noise could reach the ear that way.

If you're after comfort then yes, the HME 95 is very light and comfortable to wear. Also the microphone is quite good and the passive noise attenuation is definitely working, but as you get so much noise through the headset itself, it doesn't really matter what kind of microphone you have.

If the headset is going to be used in anything else than the small and noisy SEPs disregard my comments as it might work very well in quieter cockpits.

[eharding]

Originally Posted by Sketchy

I am in need of a new headset, as the cheap 80 quid one I brought a few months ago has packed up.

Packed up in what sense? Probably nothing that can't be fixed with £30 of parts and a soldering iron....unless of course they were in your flight bag which was inadvertantly reversed over by a fire-truck, in which case I'd recommend a set of DCs - because if the same thing happened again the fire-truck would probably come off worse.