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POSTING RULES

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Today's Posts
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View Poll Results: Which headset do you prefer?
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Clarity Aloft
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67 |
37.64% |
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QT Halo
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85 |
47.75% |
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Neither
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26 |
14.61% |

01-29-2011, 09:01 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: MN
Posts: 2,269
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Rubber Trees
Just like Canadian Joy, I was never crazy about replacing the foam tips on the CA's so I adopted the the Shure silicone "rubber trees"
Get 3 sets here for $7.79 and replace them once a year - clean when needed. They are the same hot or cold. A little hearing aid lube or spit makes them go right in.
We have a set of CA's and a homebrew set. Pretty much a mission scrub if we can't use the in the ear headsets now.
4 years and ~800 hours on the CA's - holding up fine.
Never tried the halos - I'm sure they are nice,too!
Selected text from Canadian Joy....
2) the CA's require the use of expensive COMPLY foam tips. I have oily ears and the Comply tips just don't last very long, even though I wash them to extend their life. Since I'm cheap I prefer the less expensive tips on the Halo, and you'll find another thread here were Ironflight started making his own tips for next to nothing.
3) speaking of making your own tips, I like the idea of being able to make ear tips from earplugs of my own choosing. The Halos make this easier to accomplish, although I'm sure it would take only slightly more ingenuity to produce a similar result for the CA's.
Although I haven't tried a set of real CA's in my airplane I can say the Halo's offer poorer shielding against RF feedback than do my David Clark headsets.
Oh, one other point worthy of note. Doesn't matter which you choose, CA or QT Halo, you'll HATE them if you only buy one set. You'll hate 'em because every time your "significant other" flies with you, she'll be wearing the "in the ear" headset and you'll be back to the old melon-squeezer headset that you thought you'd relegated to passenger use! Don't ask how I know this...
Seems my last point is never my last point as I just thought of another one. Or two. In these parts the OAT's are dropping like a greased Steinway. With either QT or CA you have to roll the foam earplugs to compress them prior to insertion in the ear. This contact with your fingers warms them up. This is waaaaaay better than the brain freeze that comes from donning frozen stiff David Clarks! And you can wear a toque on yer noggin when wearing an in-the-ear headset, and that's a major improvement in in-flight comfort in this part of the world.
__________________
Cheers,
Pete
Amateur Plane - RV-9A N789PH - 2350+ Hrs
Amateur Radio - KD0CVN
Doggies Delivered - 25+
St. Paul, MN
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01-30-2011, 08:14 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Ruston, Louisiana
Posts: 879
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Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by petehowell
Just like Canadian Joy, I was never crazy about replacing the foam tips on the CA's so I adopted the the Shure silicone "rubber trees"
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Pete,
Thanks for the tip on the "rubber trees".
Do they block out the noise as well as the Comply tips?
Thanks,
Mark
__________________
Mark Burns
Ruston, Louisiana
RV-7A N781CM 1,650+ hrs
FFI FL-24
A&P
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01-30-2011, 11:48 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: MN
Posts: 2,269
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Hi Mark
Mark,
I have not used the comply tips in a while, but my recollection is they are not quite as quiet, but still at a very comfortable level. I actually liked that I could hear the engine a bit better
This is all personal preference stuff. The good new is for less than $10 you can try them out. If you don't like them - send them to me  !!
Good Luck!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Burns
Pete,
Thanks for the tip on the "rubber trees".
Do they block out the noise as well as the Comply tips?
Thanks,
Mark
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__________________
Cheers,
Pete
Amateur Plane - RV-9A N789PH - 2350+ Hrs
Amateur Radio - KD0CVN
Doggies Delivered - 25+
St. Paul, MN
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01-31-2011, 02:30 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 2,291
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Just as a side note on ear tips.
1) COMPLY tips are somewhat pricey, and they do need replacement as they accumulate ear oils. They provide good hearing protection. I'm basing this on my experience with a homebrew headset made to resemble the Clarity Aloft headset. Also, they screw on to the audio transducer, so they don't fall off.
2) The basic yellow foam tips that come with the Halo also gum up with ear oils, and they also provide good hearing protection. As a result of the different mechanical designs of the Halo and CA's, these two sets of earplugs seem to provide about equal noise attenuation, but over slightly different frequency ranges. The Halo yellow foamies can be pulled off their stems pretty easily in cold weather. Also, both Halo and CA ear tips will degrade fairly rapidly if left exposed to ultraviolet light (the get harder and don't comply to your ear as well).
3) the silicone "trees" are my very favourite earplug - I use them for everything. Everything, that is, except for flying. They just don't offer enough noise attenuation for me. I've tried them on my Halo's and just can't live with them, even though they are the most comfortable style of earplug for me. I use them when using power tools, running the tractor, shooting, etc, so I have a lot of experience with them. Just can't seem to make them block out enough noise in the airplane.
4) both the CA and Halo yellow foam earplugs provide significantly better noise reduction than my David Clark H10-13.4's with gel ear seals. And they're WAY more comfortable to wear. This coming from a self-confessed absolute David Clark zealot!
5) for winter use I've found it too hard to get the Halo yellow foamies to comply to my ears. As a result I purchased a set of custom-molded earplugs. They aren't quite as quiet as the yellow foamies in warm weather, but are definitely better for me in cold weather (I mean cold - -10C and colder, like real winter! LoL)
Even though I love my David Clarks, I only wear them when my daughter is flying with me. She insists on wearing my Halos since they don't get caught in her hair. Smart girl!
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02-01-2011, 04:53 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Indiana
Posts: 67
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Based on what I read in a later post, I contacted Clarity Aloft and told them why I posted below. Mr. Waterman rapidly responded in a very courteous and thoughtful manner, and made and effort to regain me as a happy client. He succeeded.
My Clarity Aloft headset was damaged in an accident. I thought I could have fixed it myself, since the wires were merely cut between the plugs and the headset. But I figured I'd get a "factory repair". I sent the headset to CA in August 2009.
Steve Anderson at the factory said my headset was "totally beyond repair", but that they would sell me another one at the "Oshkosh price".
They didn't return the headset.
As much as I liked the headset, they lost a customer.
Last edited by DocThrock : 02-04-2011 at 01:58 PM.
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02-01-2011, 06:43 AM
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VAF Moderator / Line Boy
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Dayton, NV
Posts: 12,256
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DocThrock
My Clarity Aloft headset was damaged in an accident. I thought I could have fixed it myself, since the wires were merely cut between the plugs and the headset. But I figured I'd get a "factory repair".
The factory said they "could not" repair my headset, but that they would sell me another one at the "Oshkosh price".
They didn't return the headset.
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Interesting.
We stopped by the QT booth a couple of years ago at OSH with one of our Halo's that had a canopy closed on the cord - certainly not QT's fault! Yet Phil (owner, manufacturer, chief bottle washer....) fixed it on the spot. Now THAT'S customer service.....
__________________
Paul F. Dye
Editor at Large - KITPLANES Magazine
RV-8 - N188PD - "Valkyrie"
RV-6 (By Marriage) - N164MS - "Mikey"
RV-3B - N13PL - "Tsamsiyu"
A&P, EAA Tech Counselor/Flight Advisor
Dayton Valley Airpark (A34)
http://Ironflight.com
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02-02-2011, 04:41 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Arizona
Posts: 387
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Clarity Aloft Response
As a Clarity Aloft owner, I was concerned about DocThrock?s response, so I forwarded Doc?s post to Clarity Aloft. Below is the response I received from Clarity Aloft?s president, Bill Waterman. (Doc, you might want to contact him directly.)
Note: I really like my Clarity Aloft: very light and comfortable with an excellent mike, super noise reduction, and superb fidelity (clarity).
Bill Palmer
Clarity Aloft?s Response:
Hello, Bill
We were sorry to read that posting. Without knowing the actual name of the person posting it, we have no way of tracing and verifying or responding to his comments. We are very proud of our customer service and have many pleasant emails attesting to our service. If a main cable is broken, we can and do repair it, although the repair does look like a splice, and it is about an hour's effort. If the headset was smashed it could be beyond repairing. Even though such breakage is not covered by warranty, our policy is, if the headset is less than a year old we simply repair or replace it at no charge, over a year we charge for the cost of labor if repairs are possible. We have replaced headsets where animals have chewed the cables, usually at no charge. In no case would we not return a customers' property. Again, if we knew the name of the person who is unhappy with us we could respond to him directly.
Our headset is not at all fragile, and we have over 12,000 in service, some have been in service for over 6 years. As any other piece of electronics it can be damaged, but we make every attempt to be fair and reasonable with all of our customers.
If you have any further questions, please let me know.
Best Regards,
Bill Waterman, President
Aloft Technologies
16364 84th Avenue North
Maple Grove, MN 55311
Phone: 612 747-3197
Fax: 763 420-9949
service@clarityaloft.com
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02-02-2011, 08:33 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Schaumburg, IL
Posts: 2,053
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I have both the CA and Halo. I first was using the Halo and thought it was the "cat's meow" compared to all the head clampers that I had used for over 20 years of flying. At OSH last year I bought a CA. Now, it's all I use. Both are great. However, the Halo is tricky to get the microphone to stay put. It doesn't seem to like to stay in one place for very long. Also, I have had complaints from the tower that I was "unreadable" and to "have my radio checked". No such complaints about the CA. The halo does seem to fit in my ear better and I am going to try Pete Howell's plugs to see if I can get my CA to fit better.
__________________
Tony Phillips
N524AP, RV 9 (tail wheel)
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02-04-2011, 01:53 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Indiana
Posts: 67
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Note to Mr. Palmer: I did what you suggested and contacted Mr. Waterman about my 2009 headset repair issue.
Mr. Waterman responded promptly in a most professional and positive manner, and made an exceptional effort to regain me as a customer. I was very pleased with what he offered and I think it's safe to say that I will be flying under a Clarity Aloft headset again very soon.
Thanks to Mr. Waterman and Clarity Aloft, and to Bill Palmer for getting in the middle and helping clear the air. 
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05-04-2012, 10:32 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Vul, VA
Posts: 316
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Phone/music input on Halo?
Does the Halo have a jack for a phone, or external music?
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