In the Ear headset

[RV6_flyer]

I already know that pilots are the cheapest thing about flying so figured someone flying will know the answer to this.

Has anyone used this inexpensive in the ear headset? How about a report on using them.

https://www.crazedpilot.com/crazedpi...e-ear-headset/

What I want to know is how well is the noise reduction in the RV plus are they as comfortable as the more expensive "brand" name units?

[Climb3zero]

I bought one like it but a different brand a couple of years ago with the foam ear buds. Very light and comfortable and you hardly know its there. Mine takes a little longer to properly put on than regular headsets but work good. For some reason I hardly ever wear them as I seem to prefer my full size ANR Lightspeeds. Probably because they are faster to put on. The lightweights ride in the baggage as backups.

[Taltruda]

I recently bought a Clarity Aloft, and hated it. I forced myself to try them for 2 separate flights, maybe about an hour each.. I couldn't wait to get them off. Would have thrown them in the garbage if it wasn't for the price. My friend loves them and bought them from me. No thank you!

[Bicyclops]

Howdy Gary,

It's all about how well it fits in the ear canal. I love my Halo headset, but can't always get it in the ear right - smaller than normal ear canals. When the foam plugs are in there correctly, it is superior to over the ear noise canceling in both noise reduction and audio clarity. When I don't get it in right, it is horrible. RVs are loud. I gave up and bought Bose.

I can't comment on the quality of the Crazed Pilot in ear headset, but I was less than impressed with one of their passive over the ear headsets that we bought for the school.

Ed Holyoke

Originally Posted by RV6_flyer

I already know that pilots are the cheapest thing about flying so figured someone flying will know the answer to this.

Has anyone used this inexpensive in the ear headset? How about a report on using them.

https://www.crazedpilot.com/crazedpi...e-ear-headset/

What I want to know is how well is the noise reduction in the RV plus are they as comfortable as the more expensive "brand" name units?

[RVbySDI]

Originally Posted by Taltruda

I recently bought a Clarity Aloft, and hated it. I forced myself to try them for 2 separate flights, maybe about an hour each.. I couldn't wait to get them off. Would have thrown them in the garbage if it wasn't for the price. My friend loves them and bought them from me. No thank you!

Originally Posted by Bicyclops

Howdy Gary,

It's all about how well it fits in the ear canal. I love my Halo headset, but can't always get it in the ear right - smaller than normal ear canals. When the foam plugs are in there correctly, it is superior to over the ear noise canceling in both noise reduction and audio clarity. When I don't get it in right, it is horrible. RVs are loud. I gave up and bought Bose.

I can't comment on the quality of the Crazed Pilot in ear headset, but I was less than impressed with one of their passive over the ear headsets that we bought for the school.

Ed Holyoke

No one should ever think there is a 'One Size Fits All' solution for anything. This fits into that category as well. I have the Halo in the ear and love them. However, the headset did come with several different styles of ear pieces. I can tell you there was really only one of the styles that fit me well and made it all worth wearing. The others were basically worthless for noise reduction or for comfort.

So in my case, I would not replace the in the ear with anything else. I have used the Bose X and do not like them at all. They really did knock out the ambient noise but also made it difficult to hear the radio compared to what I hear with the in the ear headset.

My .02. Your mileage may vary.

[Ironflight]

Hey Condor - remember the old saying “you get what you pay for”.....

We have five Halo’s spread around the RV’s we own, and one Clarity. Obviously, we like the Halo’s. But like anything different, you have to try them and give them a few hours before deciding yeah or nea. I would be very leery of cheap copies - I am pretty sure that if Phil could make and sell them for less money and still maintain the audio quality, he would. But he hasn’t.

I hadn’t used a traditional headset regularly for more than ten years, but we recently acquired a couple of pairs of David Clark One-X’s for use in our Tundra when we were sharing it with a partner. They are really a huge step up from the old David Clark’s in terms of comfort and light weight, as well as noise canceling capability. Not cheap, but a good solution for somethign traditional.

[rv7charlie]

Hi Gary,

As you've probably noticed by now, it really is a very personal decision. I hate having my head & ears clamped in a vise; even a padded vise. The 1st thing I tried was a little in-ear gaming headset you could buy for well under $20 at the time. Actually worked fairly well for me; others complained about low volume & tried all kinds of 'hacks' to make them usable. You've probably seen the thread(s) here and elsewhere on building your own, as well.

I finally broke down & bought a QT Halo, & offered to let my wife try it before I did. Never got it back, so had to buy another for myself. We both use the silicone inserts. I find them easier to get into my (small canal) ears than the foam, at the expense of slightly poorer noise reduction. (Still much better than my 1st gen and 2nd gen Lightspeeds.) Even the foam isn't that big a deal; just takes a minute or two extra to insert, and as I said, the noise reduction is better due to the conforming seal and damping of the foam.

Never seen or touched the one you linked. Unknown is how heavy and how irritating the little box behind one ear would be; again, personal tolerance would play a big factor. The earpieces look like they'd be difficult to insert and possibly not designed to seal up your ear canal, but no way to tell without actually trying them. They should offer multiple sizes/styles of 'plugs' for varied ear shapes/sizes. As others have said, it is *critical* to get a good seal in your ear canal for the noise reduction to work properly. (Same goes for 'vise style' headsets too; wearing glasses degrades the performance more than most people realize.)

To get a rough idea of your own tolerance, wear some foam earplugs for a couple of hours while doing yard work, etc. If ear plugs don't bother you, you'll probably tolerate the in-ear headsets also.

You could always 'get your feet wet' by trying an in-ear gaming headset with mic. Lots of them on the market now for <$50, but be sure they seal the ear canal. Many of the new ones appear to vent to the outside; great if you're sitting at your computer but defeats the purpose for a/c.

Charlie

[Taltruda]

I tried different size ear plugs, couldn?t stand it. I didn?t like the coat hangar hooking on my ears, and it was annoying to turn my head and feel the cord twisting the headset around. I tried using the clip, routing the cable behind me.. I don?t understand how anybody could like those torture devices! Haha. The bose are ok, but I prefer the lightspeed Zulu the best. Definitely see if you could try the in ear garbage before you buy them.

[Canadian_JOY]

Don't forget that many places will pour custom-molded earplugs for use as just plain old noise-reducing earplugs or as plugs for audio devices. I used the foam earplugs with my QT Halos and they were good, but my custom-molded plugs are far better in my "oddly-shaped" ears, and they are so much easier to put in place. I'd say it takes me longer to ensure the audio tubes of the Halo aren't twisted around something than it takes to actually install the earplugs in my ears.

Oh, as far as noise reduction, I've tried traditional David Clarks (H10-13.4), Bose and the Halos, literally rotating between them on a single flight in a noisy airplane. The DC's were the worst in terms of comfort and noise reduction. The Bose and Halos were about equal for noise reduction, but the Halos won hands-down for comfort for me.

Yeah, my wife got ahold of my Halos and I've had to buy another pair. Some gals don't like the way "over the ear" muffs get snagged in their hair. Can't say as I blame them.

[Spiderman]

If I'm just jumping in for a flight around the patch or quick jump to another airport I clamp on my LS Zulu. However, when going XC I really like my QT Halos. (For me)..they are so comfortable that I've tried to get out of the plane not realizing that they were still on my head.