Looking forward to the March 28 unveiling of the new or improved Bose aviation headset. We'll see what they come up with.
We'll see what they come up with.
AVWEB review https://youtu.be/wHJuxDJRB58 I have four A20s. I'll upgrade at least two and maybe all four depending on what they offer in their upgrade/turn-in program. I'll definitely be checking them out this week at S'nF.
Some nice evolutionary tweaks certainly, but for many of us in GA, nothing revolutionary and there don't appear to be any compelling reasons to take the upgrade hit and put our A20's in the classifieds. The real beneficiaries are going the be new pilots who might be looking for a good quality ANR headset and can now avail themselves of all the used A20s (along with the flock of Zulu 3's) that will soon be out there.
For me, 2 of my A20s are getting a bit long in the tooth and while they still work just fine if the trade in program is descent, I see this as the time to upgrade vs later. YMMV....
IMO it's not a huge change--evolutionary vs revolutionary. Some ergonomic changes, easier to swap the boom mic (I like that feature), better battery life (really like that), and the switchable ANR (don't give a **** about that). It's also an all-digital design with built-in capability for future expansion -- not sure what expansion there might be but anything that increases the longevity of the headset would be a bonus. As I have 12-year old gen 1 A20s that aren't music bluetooth capable, this is an opportunity to get that feature if the trade-in program is worthwhile. If I had later gen A20s that were still working fine, nothing in the A30 specs alone would compel me to upgrade.
IMO it's not a huge change--evolutionary vs revolutionary. Some ergonomic changes, easier to swap the boom mic (I like that feature), better battery life (really like that),
How often do you swap the boom mic? I have only done it once to put the cord on the right side of my front seat passenger, which made it on the same side as my lemo plug. Better battery is a possible bonus if you don't have lemo plugs, but I won't race to replace my A-20s.
One review I read said that the A-30 had "a lot of plastic components". OK, that's kinda the way manufacturing is leaning these days. The amount of tupperware in my 2021 Rav4 Hybrid is surprising.
-Marc
Yeah, I agree. My A20's do have bluetooth. I don't care about music but I do like the ability to make and receive telephone calls.
If it was me and my A20s needed replacing, my consideration would be the overall cost-accounting of selling my A20's in the classifieds and buying a couple Delta Zulus vs selling the A20's and buying A30s, or going for the upgrade trade-in.
Paul B has a good review:
Paul B has a good review:
It's telling that they lead off in the interview talking about the esthetics of the thing, instead of the capabilities.
And "future enhancements"? Wow...13 years did he say of noise cancelling headsets, and they couldn't think of any "enhancements" to add to this next generation *now*? LOL!
Ah, well...if they want to rest on their laurels, let 'em.
Based on the Bose website (snippet reproduced below), it appears that there is a USB connection in the control module that can be used to provide external power (for those of us that don't have LEMO plugs) except none of the photos show it and the one review I read does not mention it either. That would be a nice feature since having the batteries die at a critical time is not a fun experience! Not to mention, it would lower the cost of ownership!
"Power sources
Headset can be powered from multiple battery chemistry types, including rechargeables. Aircraft-powered units will bypass batteries when aircraft power is applied. USB connection in the control module can also power the headset."
Yes, there is a USB connector (Micro-USB?) in the control module. But using it for power is not mentioned in the manual.
Yeah...I like Paul Bertorelli a lot, but the A30 upgrade is kind of a yawner. A nice "upgrade", but IMHO more of a "A25" than an actual A30. MSRP of $1249.....I'd be looking hard, feature-for-feature, at the Lightspeed Delta Zulu for $1099. I think that the inclusion of CO monitoring in a headset is brilliant.
The biggest feature to me (and what makes it an A30) is system architecture that allows for expansion modules to be plugged in the opposite side from where the boom mic is plugged in.
I **THINK** the connector is reported as having 17 pins. That will allow for a lot to added in the future. So it is what the headset CAN be in the future that creates a lot of its value in my opinion.
So we went by the Bose pavilion again and asked about the usb port one more time. It can power the headset but it’s not designed as a primary power input. The reason it can power the headset is when doing a firmware update the headset has to be powered on and to access the port you have to remove the batteries hence the port powers the headset for that reason.
Thanks, Todd! That's definitely a strange design choice. If it can power the headset, it shouldn't have been too difficult to put it in a place where it would be accessible from the outside. Perhaps the reason is that the USB port can provide enough power for the device to be upgraded but not enough for the noise cancellation circuitry.... Regardless, it means that the description on the website appears to be wrong.
After talking to the 2nd guy I’m convinced the usb port will power all the features of the headset it’s just the port isn’t designed to do that routinely. For that, Bose expects you to use batteries or a LEMO/XLR plug despite what the website says. IOW using the usb port would be akin to an emergency procedure which is why I think it’s not mentioned in the owners manual. YMMV….
If my headset ran out of juice in flight (it has) and I didn't have any spare batteries (I didn't), I'd most likely just press on (I did) and forgo using the secret bluetooth socket.
If my headset ran out of juice in flight (it has) and I didn't have any spare batteries (I didn't), I'd most likely just press on (I did) and forgo using the secret bluetooth socket.
Since the seventies I have always been highly suspicious of Bose and their self proclaimed wonderfulness, the 401 speakers were a joke.
I don't trust products that are so heavily advertised.
Help me out here with my lack of imagination....what kind of accessories or add-in modules would I want to add to my aviation headset? What additional capabilities could such an expandability feature provide?
If one takes a look at the leadership that Lightspeed has taken and added a CO detector that you are always wearing, then that is an easy one to imagine.
(I have **NO FACTS** to this end!!)
Next, one could imagine a "cordless" headset where a transmitter/receiver is plugged into the current sockets and a receiver/transmitter is a module that goes into the headset. The pilot may chose to KEEEP cables but the passengers may want to "comfort" of not having such.
Just two things that come to mind for me.
Both are excellent examples of the only real points of contention....features. I have a couple of A20's and some old H-model David Clarks from decades ago. I wouldn't buy another set of Bose headphones. Today, it would be Delta Zulus.