ANR Headsets

[RavenII]

Bose is the way to go!

I had an DC and a Lightspeed, both ANR, until my Boss gave me a brandnew Bose.......

I don't wanna go back! It's not just about the noise, it's just so freakin' comfortable on the head.......

It's a little bit more expensive than the other headsets, but u can't beat it!!! Worth every penny!

Even if the batteries die, u can still hear fine. (But i have to admit it gets quite loud)

[Bladestrike]

The 61 is probally a low-impedance mic (ours were, and our Pumas are), and Bose offers a conversion, but it replaces the cord, mic and the volume control thingy. Super easy to swap but pricey. I used my BOSE for 2 years then went back to a helmet and those cep-usa ear thingys, far quieter IMO, and I'll put a set in an older regular DC for the summer. I never liked the wind noise in either the 61 or the Puma with the Bose ANR, especially with a window open.

[Stoey]

I tried the Bose before buying my lightspeed ZULU, I wouldn’t pay a lot of money, for a little sign saying BOSE, I would rather by the ZULU that has better noise reduction when the battery dies, and also fits better to my head
I also like the Bluetooth feature so my phone are coupled to the headset, and listening to music over the Bluetooth is also nice. The headset has an inbuilt priority that levels down the music whenever there is someone speaking on the radio.

But that's just me, everyone has different taste, some like men, other like women.

[JUL]

Does anyone know where to buy the Zulu headset in UK? Have been trying different places but they all seem to be out of stock.

[Stoey]

Here is a couple of dealers.

U.K.
Commander School - Europe
Hermes House, Saumarez St.
St. Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 2PU
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]

Harry Mendelssohn
Harry Mendelssohn Sales, (GPS Europe Ltd.)
49-51 Colinton Road, EDINBURGH, EH10 5DH.
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Website: www.harrymendelssohn.com
Email: [email protected]

But if you want it to be with a helicopter plug, wait a month or so, then they come out with spiral cord and helicopter plug. Or buy it now and get it changed in a month or to for 25$ (it was what the dealer said where i bough mine)

Støy.

[JUL]

Mendelssohn is out os stock. I will try calling Commander school on monday.

Where did you get yours from?

[Stoey]

Some pilot store in aurora in Oregon, can't remember the name. But they had a testing "divice" where you could turn on some speakers to represent background noise så you could try different headsets under the same circumstanses.

Støy

[krobar]

DC 13H with earplugs is the way to go.

The less parts, the better.
I've got a DC 13HXL. Really nice, but flying for flying 8 hours a day, ANR using batteries is not practical. It is however a excellent passive headset.
I found them to be better value for fixed-wing.
Bose X is the best noise cancelling.

[albatross]

BOSE "Popping" Problem Advice Please

I am having a problem with my Bose.
I get "popping" and then lose the audio - I can still transmit however.
It usualy comes back after 10 or 15 secs or if you turn off the ANR.
Changed batteries a couple of times - no joy there.
Poked and prodded to make sure the little holes ( TriPort openings) in the earcups are clear ect. Checked the Optional Operation Switches. Tried varying the volumn both on the headset and the audio panel. All looks OK but the problem persists.
Someone told me to send it back to Bose as they have a "fix".
The headset was built in Oct 2004.
Does anyone else have the same problem? (S-76 and S-92)
Before I open fire in Bose's direction does anyone have some good advice?
Thanks for any help or suggestions.

[tu154]

Headset recommendation.

I'm in the market for an ANR headset. Spending most of my time in R22s so need one that will work with the other headset in the 22 (seems to be a bit of an issue with mismatched headsets in the 22 in particular, my passive DCs will work with some but only some). Any recommendations? I like the DCs. Not a huge fan of the comfort of the Bose Xs. Hate passive Peltors.

[rick1128]

tu154,

I tried the Bose when they first came out. While they were nice, I really don't like the price. I went with the Telex ANR4000 \. I was flying Metroliners and B100 King Airs. I was quite pleased with them. The difference between them and the Bose was almost indistinguishable and the price was about 1/3 the price of the Bose. Last year, I upgraded to the Telex Heli-XT headset. I have been quite happy with it. Telex's support is as good as David Clark's support. Telex uses AA batteries which makes it a better choice than units that use special rechargeable batteries. The only units better in these regard are the ones that get their power directly from the radios. Due to a couple of features of the Telex, it appears that this was not possible.

[Pandalet]

I've used my Lightspeed Zulu in a number of different Robinsons, and am very happy with it. It's comfortable and clear. I have run into a particular R22 which didn't work with one ANR and one basic, training school standard non-ANR (same behavior with a Bose or LS ANR), but was fine with 2 ANRs. I've also seen an R22 which refused to work with any ANRs at all, in any combination. I suspect this is more an audio system thing than an R22 thing.

[tu154]

Hmmm, managed to try both the new bose and the lightspeed today. Both excellent headsets, which you would expect for the cost. Chap with the lightspeed reports no issues with it in any of the 22s he's tried it in...

[rjtjrt]

I have been watching this thread and not keen to get involved as I find the R-22 headset problem depressing. But I guess I should as in my experience I haven't had an R-22 that haven't had issues with Lightspeed.
I am a great advocate of Lightspeed and their headsets, but not in my R-22.
I have had a Zulu in my R-22 and have had enough problems with it to make me not be willing to fly with the Zulu.
I have had 3 Lightspeed ANR headsets, since the original 20XL, and cosider Lightspeed to be a great company with great products.
The Zulu in my 22 had an intermittent loud sound (not at all like the transient sound if an ear cup shifts on the ear as you turn head - I have seen this occassionally and it is a non issue for me). The loud sound prevents hearing ATC comms and lasts a couple of seconds.
I sent my first Zulu back to factory and it was returned with no improvement (and no communucation from factory as to if the found anything wrong so I assume they tested it and found no fault with headset).
As prob continued I complained to the factory and they arranghed for me to swap my Zulu over at local dealer for a slightly used later serial number set. This was much better but did not eliminate the problem.
So from my view Zulu is a GREAT headset but as is well known the R-22 can be a cantankerous beast when it comes to headsets.

Just out of interest my original Lightspeed 20XL mic would not work at all with the first R-22 I flew. Lightspeed suggested it was that some R-22's are wired so the Lightspeed mic does not get power and I should make up my own short adaptor (NATO plug to the Lightspeed 2 jacks) but reverse the mic wires. Immediately this fixed the problem and mic worked perfectly. I have never seen an authoratative explaination as to why some R-22's have so much prob with headsets but anecdotal info is ?some R-22's have a wiring prob as per above.

Of interest I have never had a problem with DC headset in R-22. Seem to work every time.

John

[perfrej]

Another good one...

I got myself a Lightspeed Zulu (Lightspeed Aviation - ANR, Passive and In-the-ear pilot headsets - Home) with Bluetooth connectivity and it really works well. Price was OK, delivery also, and the best part is that people can't hear the wine and the thump of the Bell 206 as I speak on the phone!

ANR is good too.

I am very impressed with this product!

/per

[VFRIFR]

ANR Bose X fitted with DC earcups.

Love the headset but just hate those flimsy earcups. A bit too small for us guys with big ears and they usually only last for 6 months or so in hot and humid conditions.

Recently I decided to fit a pair of David Clarks gel-filled ear cups onto my Bose and it was just great. They fit my ears much better as they are much bigger and the passive noise reduction was even better.

[Foggy Bottom]

More Protection

I am not an audiologist, but as I understand ANR all they do is "mask" the sounds so that you no longer hear them. I would suggest that if you are looking to protect your hearing, ANR alone will not do that. You might want to look at adding the Oregon Aero hush kit to your headset. You need passive noise reduction as well as active noise reduction. I have been flying with an older DC set modified by that outfit in Amarillo for ANR and then added the "Hush Kit" from Oregon Aero and if my batt's fail, I hardly notice. Oregon Aero's passive is awesome!

[otter712]

Selling my Zulu

I have flown a lot with Bose. Don't care for them too much. Nice but not very strong for hard use. Also they press on my ears after a while. The earcups are too shallow (I like to think my ears are normal size, lol)

I bought a Zulu. Same quality of sound reduction as Bose but nicer additional features such as : audio in, bluetooth and deeper, nicer fitting earcups. Either way, still not impressed.

Nothing, nothing nothing IMHU comes even close to a HGU-56 with ANR kit. If you want a headset and a helmet is not an option, go Zulu. I will never use anything different then my Gentex ever again.

In fact, I have a HGU-56 (size large) dual visor (without ANR), nice paint job and civilian mic and speakers. Used it for a while and bought another (size medium) to fit a little better.

[perfrej]

ANR

Foggy,

I am not an audiologist either, but if we just concentrate on what's entering the ear itself, ANR really does cancel the air movements by applying counter waves with the speaker. Given that the audio "signal" (noise) is fairly complex in waveform, this is probably not an easy thing to do. It appears that today, however, many companies have the technology and the knowledge to do this very efficiently.

The rest of the noise that ruins your hearing and gives you a nice headache reaches the ear drums via other routes, like the cranium and on via the soft tissue inside of it. That's where the helmet comes into play.

In response to your "masking" statement, which is true in a sense, I would say that if the airwaves are gone, then the noise is gone and the result is harmless since it produces no movement of the ear drum.

Anyway, a helmet with ANR-cups in it must be the optimal solution.

[That lights normal!]

Anyway, a helmet with ANR-cups in it must be the optimal solution.
Yesterday 10:11

Any comments on ANR and CEPs?

I’ve just added CEPs to my ANR (aftermarket) equipped Gentex.

I’m not sure if I wired it correctly, or more precisely the ramifications of wiring the CEPs in parallel with ANR speakers. I assume the noise reduction is inbuilt (self contained in the speakers) and the conventional connections would be “non ANR”.

It seems to work, but I’ve only used it once in an unfamiliar AC. I have a work supplied Alpha (No ANR, or CEPs) for most flights.

I found the CEPs uncomfortable (But foam earplugs are fine, except for ICS/Radio, of course)