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Quiet Technologies Halo

Mel

Legacy Member
Mentor
Thinking seriously about trying the QT Halo headset.
Last discussion showed pretty good reviews. Any recent good or bad news?
Everyone still happy with them?
 
My wife and I flew 9 hours over two days with them in June. We should have flown about 5 or 6, but it was in a 172. Anyway... both pleased as punch with them. The only thing I'd ask for is a little heavier or shorter cable... REALLY easy to get it wrapped around one's foot getting out of the plane. But, I have a DC headset that I never even think about using... other than the taxi from the ramp to the T-hangar. It takes 2 seconds to pop a DC over your head, and at least 10 to get the Halo set up. :)
 
Just bought a pair....

Hi Mel,

I just bought the Halos and have used them to fly to Daytona, New Orleans, and Columbia MO in mymRv-10. I love them! I have been using my trusty 20 year old DCs with Oregeon Aero mods.

The Halos make the radio transmission much clearer, and at the end of the flight I can hear the strobes firing when I take them off versus not being able to hear them when I took the DCs off. I also do not have a low grade headache like I usually do after long XCs.

The do take longer to put on to make sure you have a good seal but are very comfortable for 6+hour days. No more head in a vise feeling. I also think they give superior protection over the DCs and I like them better than my sons Sierras ...and no batteries. I am old school and do not want blue tooth etc, just a good comfortable headset that provides clear 2 way comm.

TJ
 
My wife and I both love them.....much nicer than the "old" days. Prior experience has been with DC ANR, Telex ANR, Bose 1st and 2nd generation, lightspeed zulu, and more.
 
+2 for us

Mel -

My wife got me to buy her a Halo because she didn't like "clamping" headsets and, if momma wants it in order to fly comfortably, momma gets it. I was very happy with my Zulu. However, I eventually tried her Halo and was shocked that the noise reduction was so good - noticeably better than the ANR Zulu. When I was still flying a rental 172, I liked the bluetooth connection on the Zulu. But when I got a bluetooth audio panel in the -10, I started flying with her Halos more and more. Then I got my own Halo, and he accidentally sent me two shipments. So I loaned the extra pair to a friend, told him to buy it if he liked it...and he did. I've recommended them to several people and, to my knowledge, they've all liked them and bought them.

Some things you might want to know:

The Halo (and the competitor, I suspect) are so light and thin that they can get knocked off or moved more so than a traditional headset - not terrible, but just a difference. However, the Halo owner advised me to just bend the h*ll out of the wire in the headset to get it to fit. There are at least three different ways to get it to fit. I soon found a good fit and it works great. Momma and I much use the Halos all the time and the Zulu goes to the favorite passenger.

The earplugs on the Halo work great. However, they also get "old" after some hours, and don't work as well when it's hot. They "squish" and stay better until you get them in the ear when it's cold, but you can make them work fine no matter the weather if you want. I haven't measured the life on the plugs but they're so cheap I just bought a bag and replace them when they start to leak noise. Probably 20-40 hours of flying I'm guessing.

Paul Dye loves them, and recommended them to me.

Oh, and I suspect that, as good as the customer service has been, the owner would let you try them and send them back if you didn't like them. In fact, if you are going to the fly in in SD, you can try one of ours.
 
I bought a set of Halos a couple months ago and I'm quite pleased with them. As a pretty tall guy, it's nice to not have a band going across the top of my head...I'm already headroom-limited, and I don't need any help there.

My partner is also pleased with the Halo purchase, because now when we fly she gets to wear my Sierras instead of one of the el cheapo sets we have. :)
 
I have had Halos for years. Last year at OSH got the wife to try them at there booth she instantly fell in love with them. Our Zulu and Zulu 2 sit in the back as spares.
 
QT Halos. Love them

I have used Halos for several years and about 600 hours in my RV-8 and love them. Radio transmissions are clear and undistorted, comfort level is unmatched, and I can wear a broad-brimmed hat to keep sun off my neck. I have 2 LS headsets that I never use. As mentioned by another poster, the foam plugs lose their resiliency after some time. I make my own replacements (search for thread on this by Paul Dye).

Dan Miller
RV-8 N3TU. 1285 hours of fun!
Battle Ground, WA
 
Five for Five

Hey Mel - we have five Halos - one for each of our five RV seats, so that we don't have to swap them around when we swap planes.

I tell everyone that some might not like them right away - but use them or five or ten hours to get used to how different they are from a big headset before giving up. I liked them right away.
 
I love mine. I bought them after I made my first trip from FL to ID and endured the head-clamps for 35 hours flying in a week. The next year I used the Halo's and they were wonderful, plus I could wear a wide brimmed hat to get better sun protection.

The ONLY thing I wish is that the mike boom was a little longer. I guess my ears are too far back on my head as I can't get the mike exactly where I want it. But other than it is a wonderful headset.
 
A friend and RV9 builder/pilot just swapped to using a set of these from the Lightspeed ANR's. He is constantly raving about them. He is happy happy happy with em.
 
Any idea how they work in a J3 Cub environment?

Does anyone have the experience of using these in a piper J 3 Cub type environment also?
 
I have a Clarity Aloft. A friend tried them but they did not fit his "large" head. He went with the Quiet Technology Halo and they fit him much better.
 
As folks have eluded to, the key to getting them to work well for you is all in the ear fit. I didn't care for the foam plugs very much and had trouble with them giving me a tight fit on one of my ear canals. That's when I found the rubber plugs in the kit. Tried them and it was magic.

I suspect that much of what people don't like about them has to do with getting them to fit in their ear well. Solve that problem and you will like them a lot.
 
The ONLY thing I wish is that the mike boom was a little longer. I guess my ears are too far back on my head as I can't get the mike exactly where I want it. But other than it is a wonderful headset.

You're not the only one. About the best I can do is get the mike to where it sits just at the corner of my mouth. It concerned me at first when I tried the thing, but no one's had trouble hearing me talk, so apparently it's fine. Still feels kind of odd though.
 
Which one do you like better and why?

This is just one opinion based on visiting both OSH booths twice and giving companies both the opportunity to explain why they're superior. The sound quality of both is excellent and reportedly the noise reduction of both is superior to ANR (I've been using Bose X and before that Lightspeed 3G). Both the Halo's and Clarity Aloft's are so light weight as to be barely noticeable. As I recall Halo said their set weighed less than an ounce.

If you need or want bluetooth or the ability to plug music into your headset, Clarity Aloft is your only choice.

The technology used is different between the headsets. CA puts a hearing aid speaker in your ear and uses a somewhat better foam (both companies agreed on this - I couldn't tell a difference, so it is probably minor). Halo has the speaker (and amplifier?) behind your head and has hollow tubes to port the sound to your ears. Both companies agreed that the Clarity Aloft mike is higher quality...CA thinks that's important and Halo said in the noisy airplane environment it doesn't matter....but the difference would show up if you're recording a symphony.

I could not tell any difference in sound quality between the two. My ears used to be really sensitive to sound quality...now I'd just say they're pretty good. The AOPA apparently ran an article that said they couldn't distinguish between them in terms of sound quality (here say from both booths). As I recall the Halo headset was $330 at the show and the CA's were $495 (bluetooth was more). $165 seemed like a lot of money for a music input jack.

I figured since I'll soon be able to plug music into my audio panel, I'd save the $165 and I ordered a set of the Halo's. The fact that my ears produce a lot of wax and the Halo's sell replacement ear tubes for $10 vs. sending the headset back to CA to clean or replace the speakers (not sure of the cost), was a small plus for Halo.

In a totally subjective realm, the gentlemen at the Clarity Aloft booth were knowledgeable about their product and I think fair about the differences but they were salesmen. Phil owns and runs Halo and ran the booth for the QT headset. He too is a salesman but he's also an audiologist and I felt like he gave better explanations about the engineering compromises made in the design of both sets.

Finally, while I was quizzing Phil on the Halo headset, Louise Hose brought a damaged Halo set back for repair. It looked to me like she and Paul had a tug of war going on and stretched the headset until bare wire was showing (since Paul says they have 5 sets, I'm guessing they were not fighting over who'd wear the set). As near as I could tell Phil was going to either fix or replace them at no cost. I don't know the details but he didn't seem the least bit phased about standing behind the product and that was a plus in my book.

My personal opinion is, if you like either one of these headsets, you'll like the other one, too. I can't imagine that you'd be unhappy with one and happy with they other - they're just too similar in performance. If you are comfortable with the "in the ear" headset then decide what features you need/want and get the set that suits you best.

This evaluation is based on visiting both booths twice during Oshkosh. My new Halo headset should arrive this week or next and I'm looking forward to trying them in a real cockpit environment.
 
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My new Halo headset should arrive this week or next and I'm looking forward to trying them in a real cockpit environment.

I ordered two on Thursday of AirVenture and they came in the mail Saturday 8/10. Good comparison Don. I too floated between the two booths.
 
Have both...

Have flown a few years with a Halo. Bought a Clarity Aloft at Osh this year, and have a dozen hours or so with them now.

Short answer... they are both good, and very similar. I prefer the CA's, but not sure from a value perspective it makes up the extra cost.

Mentioned before, but the Halo mic boom is a bit short. Works fine but feels wrong. The tubes the Halo uses can transmit sound to your ear if they bang or rub on things, though from a practical nature this isn't a big deal, and mostly noticeable only before engine start when things are quiet.

The CA foam tips are more expensive too, but I like them better. Easier to attach to the headset, and I think they last a little longer.

For now, my girlfriend is inheriting the Halo's and I'll use the CA's, but I'd be happy with either. They are both loads better than my old passive DC "head clamps".
 
Not as quiet as my Bose, but they are pretty good. Only problem I have is keeping the mic close to my mouth when I move my head around.
 
And you can wear your cowboy hat!

Mel,
I think the compelling argument for you would be that the Halos (or CAs) allow you to wear any type of hat! If you canopy is high enough, you can keep your signature cowboy hat on while flying. :p

P.S. I love our Halos but it did take me a couple of frustrated hours to get the right "buds" and bends to properly fit my head and ears. In addition, Phil's customer service is unsurpassed.
 
I love the QT

So light, plenty quiet and I can hear the controllers and other pilots much better at lower volume (vs our passive DC units). Once you learn how to insert the foam ear plugs, they are simple and quick to install. I have a long cross country coming up this weekend and I know my wife is going to steal them from me! We need to order a 2nd set soon.

also, no batteries to worry about!
 
For those that would want to have one pair and take them out of their RV and go to work at an airline, the Clarities are the only ones that have a TSO'd version. At least at my airline QT's are illegal to use.

Mark
 
Wind in the cub

I was wondering how wind noise affected them or if it does. The cub with the doors open can get a little windy inside. Somebody mentioned that the Halo tubes generate some sound if they rub on things they are next to, the wind in the cub may have them rubbing A lot ?


Well I flew with them in the RV-1 for about ten hours, and that was plenty noisy inside....
 
I wore my CA's in a Cub not connected to anything (there was no radio) and did not think anything negative that I recall. Can't comment on the mic performance, and probably louder than a canopied airplane, but it did not bother me. Of course it was my first ever cub flight and maybe I was thinking of other things! (Like wanting to remove the doors from my C-140 at the time)

Mark
 
HALO

Howdy Mel

I bought a halo when we started flying the -8. Wishing I would have bought them sooner. Jerry bought the Clarity since he was hoping to fly commuters. He loves the Clarity's too, but when I told him how much the Halo's were, he got a big sour look on his face. :D
 
quiet technologies halo

I loved the comfort of my Halo head set. It was cool and had good noise dampening. Since I wear a hat instead of a hot cap, the Halos worked great. Now on the down side, which is probably due to my age: I can hear but cannot understand if there is background noise. The Halo did not suppress enough low HZ to let me understand a lot of controllers without constant repeating. I am trying a set of DRE 6000 which are anr. The anr seem to help since they cancel low HZ. The best thing to do is borrow a buddies and see if you like them. If I could hear better I would never go back to brain clamps.
G.P.
 
Bought the Halos years ago and tried them for a couple of months but have not worn them since. I find all that ear plug fitting is just too fiddly and in my opinion they are not as quiet as good ANR headsets.

Fin
9A
 
I use that type of foam earplugs while mowing, tractor work and shooting, so I think I shouldn't have much difficulty getting used to them.
 
Halos for us!

We fly our -7 with Halos and love them. We can wear any hat we choose and don't have any interference with the canopy. 2 hr+ flights and you don't even realize that you have them on.

I tried my Halos while towing gliders the other day in a Pawnee and had to switch to my good old DC 'clamp on' units. My DC H10-30 provided better noise reduction in the noisy PA-25 cockpit. I may try different foam inserts in my Halos next time in the tow plane to see if there's any improvement. I will be bringing my DC unit with me, just in case.
 
Hi Mel, I really really like my Halo but I still keep a David Clark set in the plane. I use the David Clark if I'm just going to fly for 30 minutes or so. It is just easier to throw on a regular headset than fitting the foam plugs in my ears. On longer trips the Halo is the only way to go. My hearing is not as good as it used to be and the Halo lets me hear better and more clear. You are going to love them.
 
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