Thx guys for all the replies, sounds reassuring to me.
I'll try that test wednesday at my next lessen, provided I get the Bose to enjoy ;)

Been using the A20 with bluetooth option, all I can say it is an amazing quiet headset, light, really a joy to wear after years of wearing helmets and David Clarks...

And being to receive/make a phone call via Bluetooth is a super tool

Fly safe

Hi,

I tried a set out the other week and have just ordered a set of A20s tonight. Can't wait.

As to where- Sporty's do a good deal, and the exchange rate is pretty good for us Brits at the moment.

The A20 is really two parts. The ANR and speaker top part, and the cord/controller/mic unit. It's a great idea, because you can but the part to go with your aircraft and choose Bluetooth or not for most applications and not have to pay a huge amount to do this.

Very clever design.

I currently use Sennheisers, and to be honest, as our fleet runs low on HMEC25-HA and the new 26 units appear, it's has led me to save u pfor my own set. I sold my HMEC25 earlier this year as it was pointless when all I needed to carry to work was a pair of batteries and a mic sock, but the 26 is absolutely crap! Uncomfortable, very cheap mic unit and just horrid to use.

What is it with manufacturers now?

My old DC 10-40 had the M4 mic that was superb, despite the weight and head clamping of the design, but the later 13-4 used the M7, a newer mic that was far worse for sound quality. Sennheiser, old mic good- new mic bad., Same deal.

Anyway, needed doing, I am fed up of going deaf flying turboprops....

old bose headset support
 

slightly off track--does anybody know where I might/ could get the replacement old style gell earpads for the aviation headset series 2---I have tried Headset Services (UK) with no sucess--

Bose A20 aviation headset
 

Dave
Most people try headset services without success
maybe one year Bose will learn that and get a better service agent And provide customer service not disservice ,maybe they may take a look at what DC provide in the states( not uk they use headset service too )

As stated on the first page of posts there is a major design fault and I would suggest not to buy until they fix it.

That is the ship powered version has to be manually switched on every flight.

After a while people forget to do this so they fly around with no active noise reduction.

How such a famous firm could make such a serious error is mind boggling.

Imagine if you are flying Bill Gates or the Queen around. You have to tell them each time how to turn on the headset.

Did a demo in the latest Bell twin and the pilot forgot to tell everyone how to turn on the headsets. Everyone commented on landing how noisy it was. Only then did the pilot admit that he forgot to tell all the passengers that they had to turn on the headset themselves.

So ... do you remember to start the engine before flight? :E

Bose A20 aviation headset
 

I thought I was the only one with the switch off fault on the A20 I have spoken to both headset services and Bose they both sounded as if I was the only one with the fault ,headset services i can understand, but I would have thought I could trust Bose. Obviously i was wrong I Belive DC have made a new bc headset I may try that in future purchases

En48. A pilot does not need a passenger to operate a switch to start the helicopter.

With the Bose headset every passenger has to be instructed to press the power switch for every flight.

It's pathetic design. Hundreds have complained and no action. I would suggest another brand of headset until Bose make a proper professional product.

I have talked to various BOSE folks about this problem and they keep hinting they have a fix coming later this year.

Every pax also has to secure their seat belt. Should this also be automatic? I would agree that automatic power on would provide a measure of convenience, but in the overall scheme of things, this is a very minor concern with this excellent product. Should not discourage anyone from buying the A20. In my experience, the A20 is in a different league when it comes to noise cancelling effectiveness and audio quality. None of the other headsets I have used come close.

I agree, the Bose A20s are a great product. I have tried literally every other ANR headset and none of them are as comfortable or have as much noise reduction as the A20s. The lack of the auto power on is just a pain or annoying.

Here is the minor problem with your seatbelt analogy from my point of view. In my 7 seat helicopter, I help everyone with their seat belts BEFORE I start the engine. If I could turn on their headphones at the same time I would, but you can't. They can't be switched on until I am buckled in and I apply the avionics power. At that point you have to turn around and teach everyone to find the control panel and tell them which button to turn on. It is not always easy to get them to do this. I fly hundreds and hundreds of new passengers every year in a charter operation and in Young Eagles. I can tell you it is a pain, that I would love to lose. That being said, the A20s are so good otherwise, that I will use them in spite of the auto switching on problem.

the A20 I use can be turned on before main power is applied

Battery not ship powered I presume ?

Yawn,

For the brave amongst you try here.

mine wont switch off automatically

"mine wont switch off automatically "


"auto off" switch in correct position?

I have the same problem they won't switch off automatically and yes the switch is in the correct position, it is just a bit of a pain.

I have been considering this headset for a while, but it falls slightly short.

If you are in contact, there are three things that I would really like.

• Bluetooth Audio streaming (asked for a lot)
• Folding Wing Screws to replace the tiny screws to move the mic from left to right. I fly a lot from all three seats (left/right/obs) and it would be great to be able to move the mike assembly more easily.
• A simple headphone connector to replace the entire mike assembly to use when commuting.

I've sent mine back recently, they fixed the auto off issue. Awesome after sales service, very impressed!

I sent mine too for the repairs on some noise in the right earphone ...they did an amazing job with new ear pads , clips and shipped it back for Free .....

Very impressed with their after sales service ....

Holding stock
 

I'm heading to New York from the UK next week (22nd January) and wondered if anyone would know if the New York Bose stores hold stock of the Bose A20 headset. In particular the dual plug non Bluetooth version. I have tried emailing Bose to ask but have heard nothing back.

I know asking this is a long shot but thought I'd ask in case anyone lives locally or has been over recently.

Cheers

Yes, the New York City stores (SoHo and Columbus Circle) both stock the A20. Not sure which model(s) though. Best to call ahead! I've demo'ed the A20 at the SoHo store, but didn't end up purchasing, so I'm not sure what options they have there.

Bluetooth stopped working
 

I got mine just a month ago. The Bluetooth pairing with phone worked without a problem.

Then, out of the blue (excuse the pun) the Bluetooth stopped working. The blue LED on the headset controller would not come on, regardless how long or short I pressed the Bluetooth button. :confused:

The local reseller opened the battery pack, took out one battery and flicked the two micro switches in the battery compartment (for "AutoOff", and for "Mono/Stereo") back and forth. Then he put back the battery and - voila - everything was working again!

While this is not documented anywhere in the 'trouble shooting' section of the A20 manual, this procedure seem to work like a reboot for dreaded Microsoft computers. It may well be the taking out of the batteries in itself that did a 'soft reset' - not sure what toggling of switches can help with no power source present. But then again, I don't really understand how these things work.

Hello Jober Jober and welcome to PPrune. I guess you didn't realise your first post was on the rotary forum?

We prefer to keep focused on long duties by staring at the fuel guage, the weather radar, the T's and P's and praying to any god that we think might be capable of keeping the Jesus nut nice and tight. lol

;)

Hey guys!

Can any of you A20 users confirm, that its not possible to regulate the volume of an AUX audio source with the A20 Volume Control (or is it ONLY to regulate intercom volume)?

Thanks!

you can ask the customer support, they are quick and you will get accurate answers.

Where can I find them in Dubai?or should I buy them overseas?

Actual answer
 

1. Can't listen to music over Bluetooth, only through aux cable.

2. Music volume is controlled by your music playing device, not by the A20 itself.

3. IMHO the Bluetooth isn't worth the extra money. It can be quite useful to talk on your mobile (to Ops/despatcher/duty manager) via your headset which keeps you in the loop about what's going on in the aircraft, but its only a very, very minor benefit on an occasional basis.

Actually with new cable after July2015 you can listen to music over Bluetooth

just got the new A20 and can now bluetooth the music and control volume from the A20, its awesome :D
the bluetooth now is worth it, I agree it wasn't really before, plus they are a bit cheaper than they were before.

Hello
I tested about one week ago the Bose A20 during a flight : i was thrilled by the ANR and the music capability. I was literally dancing in my aircraft, although that was also due to the heavy turbulences of that day :p

I still have one question though : when I put on my headset in a calm environment, with the ANR on, i can hear a small sizzling sound. It's like a very light white noise, like this video but very light
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMThO1Nq-f0

Is it normal for any ANR headset to produce that kind of small noise when anr is active ?

What do you think about using your ANR headset to listen to music, at home ? Audio quality with a 1/4" jack to 1/8" jack adapter is terrible..

Thank you

KayPam

Is your ANR specific to your aircraft type? It is around 15 years since generic broadband ANR systems were rendered obsolescent by programmable ones.

Remember, an ANR headset or helmet is no longer just an Aircrew Equipment Assembly, it now also forms an integral part of the Intercom/Comms System and must be designed to match it. In practice most will "work" in the sense you will notice a reduction in background noise, but it will be a compromise. This may manifest itself in odd noises. Also, ANR is designed to reduce damaging noise, not necessarily annoying noise.

Background noise
 

Wow, it is amazing to see that there are people who live in a parallel universe that seem to have no similarity with the world I live in.

I have no doubt that your world, tecumseh, appears as real to you as mine to me.

But, KayPam, rest assured, the non-programmable "generic broadband" 1,000 $ Bose A20 is the best ANR headset that any of the hundreds of private and commercial pilots I know (including myself) have ever had the privilege to own. It's works brilliantly, and certainly perfectly does the job of protecting your ears in even very noisy (e.g., helicopter) cockpits.

I am afraid, yours is broken though. Mine has no considerable white noise when switched on, even in a totally silent ambience. Any noise, be it just the avionics fans or gyros, will - while substantially muted by the ANR - mask any very low noise the active headset may generate.

All this seems to become completely irrelevant once the engines are running. Here it is all about how much of the annoying engine roar is filtered out, regardless of head position, or spectacles worn, how well you can still discern changes in relevant noise (e.g., warning horns, changes in engine note), and how clearly you hear the voices of other pax and ATC. In all this the Bose is "the boss".

Hot and Hi

Not sure where that came from. I attended the final trials in 2000 for the upgraded, progammable system that rendered the analog system obsolescent. As the programme manager in MoD (UK), for both analog and digital systems, I signed off on them, thus initiating the production phase. MoD was, by definition, the lead, as it owns the Intellectual Property Rights to the latter. The aim of that upgrade was to meet the new legal limit of 75dB(A). Analog had reached its practical limit of about 83dB(A), against the old legal requirement of 85dB(A).

There are many ways of expressing noise exposure and effects. Reams of decibel notation doesn't work. To acquire the funding for the upgrade, I simply pointed out that (in the lead aircraft at the time) aircrew were limited to 59 flying hours per year, before damage set in. The threat of litigation is powerful. The operational requirement was 600. It so happened that, if we achieved 75dB(A), this permitted 600+ hours. That was a happy coincidence.

I cannot say what aircrew here fly in or what their noise dose is. But what is simple fact is that, to design a 75dB(A) system you need to measure the noise in each aircraft type and design the ANR to attack the damaging frequencies without masking audio cues. Separately, a pilot may assess his dose/usage and decide if he needs a system. For example (again, MoD UK), a Sea King ANR happens to work perfectly well in a Harrier, despite the noise sources being different (epicyclic gears vs engine). But it is almost entirely useless, in fact quite dangerous, in a Lynx, because the pilot can no longer hear certain critical audio cues. My point was, very few "commercial" ANRs are truly transferable between types. They must be a compromise. In analog days that meant multi-type pilots had a range of helmets. With digital systems, you plug into a work station and blow an EPROM, depending on type to be flown that day. I do of course concede technology may have moved on since then, but passive attenuation hasn't.

Parallel universes
 

OK, I see now. The one is called "Military"; the other one "General Aviation". Very interesting account though, by all means.

The Bose, like its competitors from Sennheiser or Lightspeed, is targeted at the GA market. And yes, ANR technology has vastly improved since I bought my first ANR headset around the year 2000. There is simply no comparison.

Dear A20 owners,

Does, by any chance, any of you own a Bose QC35 headseat (general multimedia headset) on the top of your A20 ?

I have read that the QC35 has a "music sharing" feature which allows 2 headsets to share the same bluetooth stream (two people can listen to the same thing), of course there is no notes about any A20 compatibility, but I just wondered if anyone could confirm that it does not work ?

As a little bonus, how would you compare the audio and ANR quality between the 2 headsets ?

Thank you very much !

Adapter Plug Heli (U-174) to Lemo
 

Does anybody know where I can get an adapter like the one in the link? Cheaper would be great too :ok:

Helicopter-Stecker U174 zu Lemo-Adapter - Avionik Zentrale - cockpit favourites

Greetings

Cheap, at Sportys: Helicopter Plug (U174) to Lemo Plug Adapter - from Sporty's Pilot Shop