Passive and ANR headsets

[transducer]

Thanks Rainboe

I take it then that albeit for the weak design for the ear piece you like the headsets? Had a similar problem with a set of Airman 750's, thought they would have sorted that out by now! Finally found the other threads, thanks.

[cardinal1]

headsets

chesty are you a woman or do you need some benylin.
seriously i think bose make noise canceling head sets that will stand up to
hard use. or google arrse the british army rumour site.
you will find offers for new and second hand mil spec kit

[Nearly There]

I purchased a set of Flightcoms Classic ANR only 2 weeks ago, cost £240, similar price to some Passive DC models.

I had a DC10-30s prior to this and the difference is outstanding, Im plodding around in SEPs on the FI course, so for pure comfort whilst spending the day in a noisy environment I would not or could not go back to my old passive DCs.

[DeathStar-Alpha]

I would get some cheapos from Ebay and get some earplugs to go with, et voila!

BTW I got an X-11 flying SE turbine. nice light headset (stops the compression on the temples) but the seal on my head isn't always up to scratch and can be painfully noisy. anyone else have that???...not to veer away from the topic or anything

[ahramin]

Yes. Common problem with the X11s.

[dash6]

Peltor still making headsets? Cheaper, lighter, less headcrushing than DCs.

[Firestorm]

I used a DC on turbo-props, and on the Twin Otter I used ear plugs under them, as described by Reddo. It worked a treat. On the 733 I used a non-cancelling Sennheiser, but found I was getting very hoarse from shouting, and very tired just from the high ambient noise coupled with the full volume required for the 'ear-off' technique of head set use that was championed by my earstwhile employers. I bought a Sennheiser noise cancelling headset, and I estimate that I was 20% less tired after a domestic rotation followed by a Med rotation (4 sectors). There was a sort of 'underground' movement at the airline that some people began to use the intercom, and 2 ears on which worked well, until the airline imposed a totalitarian ban on using the intercom. The noise cancelling headset was I believe a real contribution to reducing fatigue, and therefore a significant contribution to safety, and cockpit communication.

[Capt W E Johns]

I've only flown with them once, and found they deadened the ambient noise level nicely, but I note that a poster reports they have been known to attenuate audio alerts to the point they are not audible to the pilot. Can anyone corroborate?

And is it possible they would reduce the chance of picking up a change in engine note or other spurious noises which might warn of impending trouble?

[PAPI-74]

DC Passive - C150 to Turbo Prop.
Had mine 4 years and were 2nd hand from ebay when I started my CPL/IR.
Bullet Proof and the best value for money.
The only thing that I have had to do is replace the gel seals - but I do wear that for 8hrs a day 4-6days a week. Not bad - and the sould is great.
Get some knickers though as sweaty ears are a drag.

[seejonfly]

Passive v ANR

I've found the passive headsets are effective for all but the largest piston engine aircraft but not suffeciently effective (even with earplugs) in turbo-props. In light to medium piston engine passive DC, higher end Telex, Peltors etc. work pretty good but try them on in the shop for more than a few minutes and if possible try them in the aircraft.

I flew Beech1900d's and found the passive DC (10-30) were not effective. When earplugs were added the discomfort level went up tremendously but there was little change in attenuation. Then I tried the active DC and WOW what an improvement!!! Flew with several folks who had other headsets and found the BOSE was the best, my DC's were second, and everything else was a distant to very distant third.

Also flew D-328 and was amazed at how quiet they were except take-off and in reverse during landing. Kept using DC ANR headset but probably could have done just as well with a good passive headset but already had the DC's.

If you're just starting out buy a good quality passive headset then when you step up to turbo-props step up to an ANR headset. Unless you really just want to loose your hearing.

Best of luck to you,

Jon

[werbil]

I generally find speaker audio alerts and headphone radio transmissions are easier to hear with ANR vs passive only. With the Telex D50's with the ANR on you hear different things far more readily - people talking behind you, wind noise and aircraft noises that you've never heard before.

I normally leaver the ANR off in the C208 (single turboprop) to save the batteries for the DHC-2 (single piston radial). With ANR headsets if you exceed their noise handling capability they are crap - the Telex work well in the DHC-2 where the Bose and DC ANR headsets aren't worth a pinch of s... The DCs do work very well in the C208 and are a lot lighter. It all comes down to the noise characteristics of the aircraft you are going to fly - and the ONLY way to find out what works best is to try a number of headsets.