If anyone would know. Why dont you contact these folks.

http://www.bose.com/

newbie questions
 

Seems absolutely amazing just how many people come on here and do one of three things,
1) the same q this bloke did

2) where can I learn to fly and who will give me a job

3) respond hotly to the last statement made on any particular subject without going maybe just three or four entries back, let alone a page or two.

I must be missing something but isn't either a potential or licenced helo pilot supposed to be observant - and resourceful???

good job they use a nom-de-plume as their names would be recorded for their posterity (not) by many.

I know some other forums have those spoon-feeding topics up close at the beginning but I think it is belittling of everyone to have to do that. Must be frustrating to the moderators from time to time.

Enthusiasm is different, easily noticed by other traits and applauded by me anyways.

FAQ's
 

Our moderator is obviously 1)observant 2) resourceful 3) not at all belittling - as per the excellent sticky - and 4) enthusiastic.

He has also had the last laugh on me for sure where the OZZIE GUIDE TO STATES is posted by that clown Ned, a Kiwi.

I am thinking about using the Clarity Aloft headset in the S76 (offshore) has anybody got any experience with this? And does it supress the noice enough (S76 is pretty loud in the offshore configuration)?

I'm using AuriComms in the S76, and they're pretty similar to the Clarity Aloft; they use disposable foam earplugs which are very similar. I don't like the included earplugs, but it's easy enough to make your own from standard earplugs. I've used several brands, but prefer the Howard Leight Laser Lights. I use some plastic tubing, pushed through the plug, to attach to the headset. IME these provide much better noise suppression than either passive or ENC standard dome headsets. The Laser Lights advertise a NRR of 32, and much better at higher frequencies. I've used them while standing outside the S76 and Bell 412, loading pax and baggage and other stuff, and they work very well. I love the lightweight headset, because my ears don't sweat and break out from the heat and sweat, I can use any sunglasses I want, and I don't have to remove the button from my cap. Even after a long day they're comfortable. I don't expect to ever go back to dome headsets.

Quiet Technologies, which manufactures the AuriComm, has a model very similar to the Clarity Aloft, which I didn't see before I bought the Auri 2.5, and the main differences I see from the Clarity Aloft are that it doesn't have a cell phone/mp3 input, and is about half the price.

NOISE CANCELLATION HEADSETS
 

I am looking for feedback from pilots on current noise cancellation headsets.

What are your gripes?
Prefer battery operated or hard wired?

Thanks

I use the Bose headset. I recently got it and I love it. It is by far the most comfortable headset I have ever worn.

Good: Light weight, comfortable, noise cancellation works great.

Bad: Offers zero protection when the batteries die (just keep extras on hand), have to wear thin sunglasses or wear sunglasses at weird angle in an effort not to break the seal around your ears.

Sennheisers at work, Bose private; when only the best will suffice, protecting your hearing is not a matter of price :ok:

I too am just about to purchase my first headset - i was going to go down the DC h10-56hxl but having seen this thread and done some research i am not so sure now :sad: .
Hearing protection is of vital importance to me as i have one ear close to the limit already. Are there any comparisons anywhere between the DC's/ Bose style headsets and the in ear systems?
Disregarding price what are peoples opinions on the best system on the market for helicopters?
Has anyone experience of the lightspeed in ear system?

I want to get this right from the off, so you guys with the years of experience whats your thoughts?

...:uhoh: .....

All the headsets will have an overall NRR (Noise Reduction Rating, bigger numbers are better) and most should have a dB reduction rating for various frequencies. Check the websites and/or mfr's specs, and see the numbers for yourself. The in-ear headsets have the highest overall numbers I've seen, and are far better for higher frequencies. All these numbers depend on a proper fit for the headset, of course.

Personally I am very dissapointed with Bose.

Though they are terrific when they work, but the quality of their materials is lousy.
A friend bought 4 for his helicopter. Very low use over 3 years - less than 150 hrs, 2 of them have less than 50 hrs on them - earcups falling off, 3 of the 4 mics had to be replaced. Leather on the earcups is fizzling off - you have black ears after you use them :=

Also when you run out of battery, their performance is really bad.

I am in a tropical environment, but for the price of a Bose this shouldn't matter.

Most around here are going for the Lightspeed Thirty 3G.

Another option is Headset Inc.,
http://www.headsetsinc.com/

If you are around a big place, there should be plenty of scrap-headsets around - buy a kit and build your own, it is very easy. Use David Clark hardware...
Or buy they ready to go headset.

Very good noise cancelling, if the batteries go, you are back to regular DC-quality, still a lot better than Bose without power...

Not really bashing Bose, as long as they last they are great, but Quality, Endurance and price don't match up nor to they match Lightspeed, DC, HeadsetInc. in the same department....

3top

Is there any truth in the "rumour" that the noise cancelling headsets are as worse than actually having the noise in the first place. These devices cancel the noise by creating an opposite and equal fequency which then cancels out the noise. You therefore have twice the "stuff" entering the ears. Any truth in this ?

Not true. They amplify the ambient noise and replay it inside the phones out of phase. Any noise that leaks into the phones remains 'in phase'. The 2 signals 'in phase' and 'out of phase' then cancel each other out. Net result is (ideally) zero noise level arrives at the ears.

Telex Stratus 50D, claimed to be on par with the Bose, though no personal experience for comparison. Overall very comfortable 5-6 hours straight, but eats batteries (I use rechargeable) unfortunately, unless you have the panel powered version. Either way, it'll do a very good job as a passive headset also.

Minor gripes other than the battery life, occasionally the mic senses the noise slightly off (for example when having one window open in the cockpit during taxi etc., yeah I know, no pressurized a/c for me yet...) causing a minor vibration in one earphone, until the "system" figures out the correct balance. That's as far as I can go with this digital-noice-cancellation-technology-mambojambo.

I'll measure the bang-for-the-buck when I'm 60 and hopefully not wearing a hearing aid. Worth the top-dolla for me so far, highly recommend them.

T

I'll give Bose the thumbs up too. The only downsides I've found is that the mic sidetone isn't very strong (it's loud and clear, but sounds a bit "hollow" for lack of a better word) and that I have to tilt my thick-armed sunnies up at a weird angle to get 100% of the cancellation. You look strange, but it is worth it. :ok:
If you use decent rechargeable batteries, they last a long time too.

I have to say that for standard headsets, David Clark is the standard for durability and customer service. If it breaks, they fix it, but they seldom break. They may not be the most comfortable headsets in the world, but there ain't no free lunch, and durability isn't always completely compatible with comfort.

Headsets
 

We use the Pilot PA 17-79 DNC XL in the 500 and find them great, still hear background noise, Batteries re chargable built in we get 30 + hours in the turbine enviroment, cord plugs in so easy to change for different plugs, mono and stereo on some configerations, phone socket if required have not managed to break them yet 4 sets in the 500 18 months, they have sheep skin type pad over the top and we find the comfort good.

I read the whole thread and found nothing on the specific type. My company is thinking about buying DavidClark H10-66XL to use with our 109/206/212/412 fleet. Any thoughts about this headset compared to 56XL and 76 type. We are on DC from the start and switching to Bose isn't an option.

Is there any problems with 66XL headset if used on two bladed rotor like 206/212?

I own the David Clarks. They are great for a couple of hours then they start to hurt a little, bit like squeezing your head, however as Gomer Pylot said DC service is great. My set had a problem so I sent them back to DC and they tried to repair them. In the end rather than waste the time fixing, they just sent me a brand new set. Great service!!
On the other hand, I just did a ferry flight where the owner had Bose headsets. Two of us flew for 13 hours and I didn't even feel like I had them on! Not sure they could take abuse like DC, not that I do abuse them that is ;)

You can compare features on the DC website. The H10-66XL has a high/low impedance switch, so it should work in any helicopter. I've never known of any DC headset that wouldn't work, and that had durability problems. If they won't work in your helicopter for some reason, I'm sure DC will fix the problem or replace the headsets. I wouldn't worry about it.

Thank you guys! Any info is welcome. Keep'em comming!:}

Thank you, did that.

Have to agree with your comment re the Peltors.

I ended up buying a BoseX with a High impedance mike for use in Squirrels and an old DauphinC, and had another low impedance mike and power lead made up that works in my usual Dauphin N2.

If you find that you have a common system between the two types you will be in luck!!!
If not, then you may have problems with a Peltor - I don't think the mics are that easy to change - The Bose is a two minute job to undo two screws and swap the complete assembly - plus you get ANR !!!

Cheers

The BoseX will work as long as you know whether your particulat aircraft is fitted with a high or low impedance i/c system and you buy the appropriate headset.
Not all aircraft types are fitted with the same avionics fit so I think it's impossible to say S61Ns are all high impedance or are all low impedance.

hm... until now I never heard of any impedance differences in headsets vs. avionics; neither was anything mentioned when I bought my BoseX.:confused:
May somebody please give me advice how the impedance affects the quality and what do I hear (or not hear) when the wrong impedances are matched? Thanks!

Phil


P.S.: I do had some funny half second long low freq. tone in my headset - at that very second the mike as well as the the radio was cut off! Not so nice if that happens while ATC is giving u traffic adice! :ouch:
Only happend a few times after I got the headset and not for the last 25 hours or so.

That must be a European thing - I've never seen a low-impedance system in any civilian aircraft in the US. As for the tone and cutoff, that sounds like a short in the headset somewhere, or else a fault in the aircraft avionics system.

...since nobody else with a bose had this problem in that very aircraft it must be my headset :(

thanks anyway

About the impedance mismatch - if you use a low-impedance headset in a high-impedance aircraft, the symptoms will be relatively low volume in the earphones, and your transmissions will be very weak, unreadable except at very short range, on the order of a few hundred feet. I've tried that, using a military headset in a civilian helicopter, and it didn't work very well. Carter Engineering sells (or at least used to) adapters for the mike, which converts the standard 8-ohm military mike to 300 ohms, and it works ok. With that conversion, a low-impedance headset is usable in a civilian helicopter. I never tried using a high-impedance headset in a military helicopter, so I can't say for sure what the results would be, but I would expect about the same thing. The only thing that really has to change is the mike impedance, because the earphones will work well enough to use, although the volume will be relatively low. I've built my own headset, using standard lightweight stereo earphones, and resorted to buying an audio transformer from Radio Shack which matched the earphone impedance well enough to be very usable. Without it, the volume was very low.

Sennheiser HME-120
 

Hi all,
I've got a Sennheiser HME-120 that I bought, but for some reason the microphone refuses to work in several of the helicopters i've tried it in. I've tried it in several R22's, an R44 and a JetRanger 206. I can hear audio fine, but the mic is just dead.

It has only worked in one of the R22's i've tried which was an earlier Alpha model.

Has anyone else had any experience with this headset?

Thanks!

Are you certain it has a high impedance setup? If you try a low impedance headset (such as military stuff) in a civilian setup, the mic doesn't work... I seem to remember my low imp one working on one or two civ helicopters but not all of em.

Could be a bad part too, but if it works in some but not all, that would be my best guess. I believe they make adapters out there, tho it might set you back a few bones.

-Mike

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the info. According to Sennheiser's technical data the headset has "150 Ohm-mono/300 Ohm-stereo".

Its a super comfy headset, but I may just swap it for something else. Are the Bose headsets any good?

Cheers,
Jeremy

I bought a Bose-X after a couple of flight lessons and the money was really worth it. Flying without it is a totally different experience and they are really comfortable to wear too.

Thanks for that. What are you learning on?

I did learn (*hint* ;) ) on R22 and R44. Ok, still learning, but now i am allowed to do so without an FI next to me....

I got a Bose X series to after a few hours training...... Best $1K i ever spent........

One of the instructors at the airfield, droped his and ran over it in the golf cart, was a bag of bita after that, sent all the peices back to bose and they sent him a bran new one for $175.......

Now thats worth it!!!!!

Headset recommendation
 

Looking to get a new headset. Any recommendation on what to look into and what to stay away from would be appreciated.

If you've got the cash, Bose X.

End of. :ok:

Looking to spend up to $500. Headset it only going to be used on a part-time basis so I think a Bose is going to be out of my price range.

I went for the Clarity Aloft ($450). No need to get the TSO version. I found that in the Jetranger the sound reduction was better than the Bose X (yes I did check the ANR was working). I find that the lack of weight and the clamping force (even the Bose hurt after about 90 minutes) make it feel much more natural. I've had my head clear out the door with an external load and they felt glued to my head.

The only disadvantage that I've had is that they take about 30 seconds to put on to really achieve the good sound reduction.

Feel free to PM me.

Bobby

I've used a David Clark H10-56HXL with ANR since 2005, I love it - built tough, great passive NR when the battery dies etc, it's a great working headset. Regular H10-56 without ANR is $300, with ANR it goes up to $700.