D

Dave Cogan

Member
Hi
For 10 years I have been using passive Dave Clarks and they are good. There strong and work well.

I will have my first RV in a couple of months and want to cut out that background nose.

If money isn't the deciding factor, what brand/model ANR type battery powered headphones are the best?
 
Go Bose

I have tried almost every type of ANR headset for my squadron and honestly I did not like most, either due to bulky battery pack, bad noise reduction or just uncomfortable. I don?t believe that the most expensive is always the best but hands down the Bose X ROCKED! Now I also got a pretty good deal on them (but I did buy 175 headsets).

I have over 700 hours on my Bose X and no complaints. They only take 2 AA and they last me over 50 hours per battery change. They are the most comfortable headset I have used, never flown with the ?in the ear? type but tried them at sun and fun and I am interested to try them in the air.

On the downside I don?t like the flashing green led but duck tape fixes that, and the other downfall is the headset has NO passive noise reduction so if the ANR goes out then it will get really loud.

Oh and one last note when trying all the ANR headsets, I had best results without using ear plugs.

Good Luck!
 
I love my Bose X headsets too. Just watch the indicator light..it'll tell ya when the batteries are getting low. Very light, very durable (headband's made of magnesium or some such metal I think) - no issues.

Well, they don't stay on all that well during more than 4g aerobatics if you're moving your head around. Tradeoff though - they don't clamp very hard on your head which makes them very comfortable the rest of the time. Love 'em.
 
A lot of airline guys use this setup. It has all the technology of the BoseX for half the cost and in a tighter package that stores nicely in a flightbag. www.uflymike.com It is smaller, lighter, and more comfortable than the X and will run a full four day trip on a single AAA battery.

There is some controversy involved which should particularly appeal to experimental types. Bose is fighting this because it costs them sales of their expensive X. They put a sticker on the QC2 box that says that they weren't engineered for aviation use, yet they have testified in court that the technology is identical. Bose is suing Ufly so get one quick while you can. Some dimwit in the FAA tried to stop them in airline use because they aren't TSO'd but as it turns out, there is no requirement for a headset to be TSO'd and now several FEDS use these themselves. The mic itself has passed all TSO standards and should be issued a TSO soon. Bose won't submit the QC2 for TSO, but they don't have to because technically, it is just a headband support for the mic.

It is a great setup that not only makes a great headset, but also many other uses. I use it for my Polaris Ranger as well. Also, you can plug an mp3 player right into it.

I have tried them all and this is my favorite by far, and close to a thousand SWA pilots agree. During the FAA controversy, the company tried to ban them, but the ensuing poopoostorm from the pilots who love these things was so great that the company backed off.
 
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As much as I know they cost, I'm with everyone who says Bose. In the Cessna 310 I fly, they are the only headset I can where and really be comfortable.

Buy them, cry once when you get the bill, and then enjoy a great headset forever :)
 
For those who don't like the one big bill, Bose has a no interest, 12 payment option. I used it and probably will on my second set.

As for the G issue, I have flown in an Extra 300 with the Bose headsets, the owner had a velcro strap the went under the chin to keep them on.
 
groucho said:
I love my Bose X headsets too. Just watch the indicator light..it'll tell ya when the batteries are getting low. Very light, very durable (headband's made of magnesium or some such metal I think) - no issues.

Well, they don't stay on all that well during more than 4g aerobatics if you're moving your head around. Tradeoff though - they don't clamp very hard on your head which makes them very comfortable the rest of the time. Love 'em.
Click to expand...

Bose has several strengths of clamping force springs they can use on their headsets. If your headsets is coming off during acro flights you might want to talk to them about changing the clamping force spring. They changed mine for some reason when I sent it in for repairs. It is just a tad snug (on long flights) and I will probably change it back, but for you it might be the ticket.
 
Another prospective on the uflymike setup. I have the QC2 headphones and use them regularly including airline flights. I tried the uflymike, but didn't like it much. I did a direct comparison between it and a Lightspeed 20 3G set. I much preferred the Lightspeeds.

On a customer service note, the mike volume on the uflymike was too low so they fixed them at no cost. They had tried a different resistor value that made the volume too low. They later contacted me to make sure they were working OK. I told them I had sold the adapter and they asked for contact information for the buyer so they could provide him support. Pretty good in my book.

As a qualifier, I don't use ANR headsets anymore. I just couldn't get use to the change in sound. I now use the Clarity Aloft headset and love it even doing aerobatics. There was nothing to get used to after wearing foamies in my ears for 20 years in the Navy.
 
Clarity Aloft

Ok... here is what I've found after using both Bose and Clarity aloft...
Bose
1. Flashing green light is irritating to me at night
2. no music input
3. Requires a battery to operate
4. If Battery is dead.... the headphones dont quiet the noise much.
5. When they work... they work pretty good
6 Volume control
7 clamp to your head so ball cap button on top of hat may be pressure point
8. May scratch your canopy during turbulance
Cost = 1000.00

Clarity Aloft
1. Dont need a Battery
2. They have a switch for stereo and mono
3. They have a volume control
4 They have music input
5.The speakers are actually Bose speakers
6. No head clamp
7 Very Lightweight
8. Dont need ANR... I'd say they work better than the bose at noise reduction
9 I've flown 500 hrs in helicopters with the clarity aloft CEP's and they are the best thing I've found.... and believe me... a 4000hp helicopter.... is SUPER DUPER LOUD!
10 I've found that I can hear better with the clarity aloft than the Bose
11.they are super comfortable
12. they are 500 bucks instead of a thousand.... 500 left over buys a lot of gas....
13 they dont give the GF headphone hair... or those large circles around your ears


Best
Brian Wallis
 
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My wife would agree with Brian on the Clarity Aloft! Don't necessarily confine yourself to ANR, with headsets like the CA around. And don't confuse the passiveness of the CA with your current passive headsets.

My advice would be to try various headsets yourself and look for FIT and SOUND. It would be best to do this in a sound booth generating aircraft noise or in an actual plane. I don't think you will ever find a headset that satisfies ALL pilots, so your individual preference based on FIT and SOUND are what is most important. Case in point: My flight instructor has used David Clarks for decades. He decided to purchase the latest and greatest DC (H20-10) and decided he did not like it. It pinched his head too much over longer flights; he preferred the added weight, but more comfortable, attributes of his older DCs.

I was able compare headsets in a soundbooth at Oshkosh and compared several different headsets over quite a period of time. The BOSE are no doubt good, as you can tell from the previous posts. However, my personal choice was the Lightspeed 3G series. It sounded as good as the BOSE, fit as well, and was hundreds of dollars less expensive. I haven't tried the newest Lightspeed, which is the Zulu.
 
brianwallis said:
...7 clamp to your head so ball cap button on top of hat may be pressure point...

Best
Brian Wallis
Click to expand...

I remove the top button on all my ballcaps with a pair of sidecutters, they come off very easily.

_________________________

Been using the Lightspeeds for over eight years, great value and super customer service. The passive noise reduction isn't the best, and it was a minor issue in the Maule that I used to own, especially with the windows open (wind noise is in the wrong frequency range for ANR). The passive reduction does appear to be adequate for the RV though. The music input is nice and the sound quality is very good.

I'll probably be trying on the Clarity Aloft product one of these days just to see what all the hubbub is about.
 
Quiet Technologies Halo

And also worthy of your consideration is the Quiet Technologies Halo.

http://www.quiettechnologies.com/

They offer a lot of bang for the buck and have three different choices for earplugs.

If you want to see them in use, look at the photo of Doug (our webmaster) in his RV-6 in today's issue (Oct. 3) of VAF web page.

dougreevesoct32007xt2.jpg


About the only negative I can offer about them is it takes maybe 15 seconds total to get them inserted. Not a big deal in my book. After 10 minutes of flight, I don't know I have them on. And the little speakers are always crisp and clear. I flew 3 hours non-stop last Saturday and arrived more refreshed than if I had been wearing one of those "torture clamps" on my head.

Consider a Halo...Angels and Good Pilots wear Halos! :D

Don
 
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I like the CA's

Dave,

I started essentially the same thread a couple of months ago and was almost sold on Bose due their reputation. I had recently used the entire Lightspeed ANR line and I had also used the Bose headset for a short flight in a friend?s Husky. The frames of my sunglasses sometimes breaks the seal in the ear cups which intermittently causes the ANR to freak out when something changes like a power setting (this has happened in every Lightspeed model I have ever tried). Admittedly, this does not happen often but it is usually at an inconvenient time and it is always distracting.

Also like this thread, a lot of folks were suggesting CA. Since they have a 30 day trial period I gave them a shot. They are the best headsets I have ever used in terms of clarity and comfort. They also don?t slip off your head when doing acro. They are not perfect; it takes some effort to get the seal just right. Because of this, I still use traditional headsets when just doinking around the patch. At half the price of the Bose, the CA sets are worth a shot.

WARNING CHEAP SHOT: Bose advertises their clock radio which can be purchased with six easy payments. Nuff said about being overpriced.
 
And definatly NOT at -2G

groucho said:
I love my Bose X headsets too. Just watch the indicator light..it'll tell ya when the batteries are getting low. Very light, very durable (headband's made of magnesium or some such metal I think) - no issues.

Well, they don't stay on all that well during more than 4g aerobatics if you're moving your head around. Tradeoff though - they don't clamp very hard on your head which makes them very comfortable the rest of the time. Love 'em.
Click to expand...

In ear Holophones are just incredible and to me at least every bit as good as the Bose's.

frank
 
Try Zulu

I have been using Sigtronics for 25 years and have had no problems. I wanted noise cancelling for my RV6A and went to Oshkosh with the intent of buying the new David Clark. Then I saw and tried Zulu. It blew everybody else away. My biggest complaint with Lightspeed is the size of the ear cuffs. In a 6A I bang the canopy. The Zulu is very small, comfortable and very quite. I sat in the sound booth at OSH and knew that when these are available ( the end of this month) I would own one. Expensive at $850 but like everything else good, what isn't. Maybe we could get a group purchase and save a few bucks. :)
 
rv7boy said:
...About the only negative I can offer about them is it takes maybe 15 seconds total to get them inserted. Not a big deal in my book. After 10 minutes of flight, I don't know I have them on. And the little speakers are always crisp and clear. I flew 3 hours non-stop last Saturday and arrived more refreshed than if I had been wearing one of those "torture clamps" on my head.

Consider a halo...angels and good pilots wear halos! :D

Don
Click to expand...
My 2 cents on the Halo;

I tried the Halo on three flights. When I first saw the hollow tubes from the speakers to the earplugs, I was reminded of those crappy old headsets the airlines used to use, but I was very impressed by the sound quality which actually allowed me to lower the volume of my radio. Also the owner of the company is a real class act and he couldn?t have been more helpful.

I?m a big proponent of foam plugs, I?ve been using them for years, but I had to return it because I couldn?t get a good seal on my right ear. I believe this was due to the much shorter length of the plugs compared to the ones I usually use.

Due to the ?green house? effect in my -4, I?m not ready to give up on this type as I want to wear my Tilley hat (outback style) which offers much more protection than a Baseball hat. So I will try the Clarity Aloft, their ear plugs look about 50% longer than the ones QT uses.
 
No - the best are Sennheisser HMEC25 - KA's

This doesn't have any bearing on the fact that they are on ebay at present :rolleyes:
 
Headsets

Just sent my DC X11's back......
- poor noise reduction...my DC 13.4's had more noise reduction (and about 1/4 the cost)
- cell phone feature did not work in the air (worked while on the ground sitting in airplane though...??)
Getting Lightspeed 30-3G's.....end of story...

I might buy another pair someday when their engineers sharpen their pencils and get it right....for the money they otta work.
 
I still love my Bose after 3.5 years of flying. I've worn them on several 8 hr cross country flights and have yet to feel anything but quiet comfort. I have the hardwired panel powered ones that have only one cable and NO batteries.

BOSE RULES!!!!!

Roberta
 
Low n Slow said:
My 2 cents on the Halo;

Due to the ?green house? effect in my -4, I?m not ready to give up on this type as I want to wear my Tilley hat (outback style) which offers much more protection than a Baseball hat. So I will try the Clarity Aloft, their ear plugs look about 50% longer than the ones QT uses.
Click to expand...

Clarity Aloft also has extra large foam pieces that can be screwed onto the ear plugs. I got some from them at Oshkosh to try. The standard size let too much engine noise through for me. With the extra large foam pieces, it works much better for me. Your ears might vary.:)
 
Other options

I know you said battery powered ANR, but you should really try the "in your ear" headsets. My Lightspeed ANRs were a great improvement over the older David Clarks, but the clamping force kills me after about 3 hours. I bought the Quiet Tech "Halo" (similar to Clarity) and love them. Don't even know they are on, and seem quieter than the ANRs. The Halos are $360, Clarity $500, and Lightspeed version $625.
 
Another thought for the Ufly/QC2 combo. If you are a dedicated BOSE X user, the Ufly makes a nice set for passengers on the intercom at half the cost. Plus they can tune out and listen to their own music if they want. The UFLY mic, phones, IPOD, all fit nicely into the flat QC case which fits nicely into seat back pouches. One of the reasons they are so popular with the airline guys is because the case fits perfectly alongside a Jepp binder in a brain bag (flight bag). Also if something breaks, you only have to replace the broken part, (phones or mic) although I've never heard of Ufly charging for a replacement even after the warranty.

I won't put anything into my ears after a very nasty experience with impacted wax in one of my gestaution (sp?) tubes from those little expanding foam jobbies. I thought my head was going to implode on descent and landing. It was a misery I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy and took an after hours visit to a dive ER on the road to fix.
 
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Bose is the winner

I started with the Bose (series 1) a long time ago, and kept up with their advances. Today I have two X's. I once tried the Peltor and, while they were quite good, became uncomfortable about 2 hrs into a flight. Recently I tried Clarity Aloft on a 5 hr flight in my 7A and sent it back. I'm sticking with Bose X (although I'm not happy with their charges for a fix once you are out of warranty.)
 
ANR

Just my vote for the DC headsets with the Headsets Inc. ANR conversion. I tried a pair of these, and was blown away by the great noise reduction, and superb passive noise canceling offered by the David Clark muffs. Every bit as good as the Bose in terms of noise canceling and great stereo music reproduction, but not as comfortable. Hard to beat for durability too. Batteries go about 20 hours max, and uses 9 volt on the headband. A way for us poor folk to fly quiet!! Had both of my DC's converted by HI for $530.00 total including shipping. Great folks to work with.

My 2.....Chris
 
Lightspeed.....

I have the Lightspeed QFR Cross country. I've flown them for about 100hrs or so and hardly give them a thought. Comfortable for 3+ hrs and very good ANR. One reason I bought them was because their passive NRR was close to some of the best passive sets and they were only $300 or so.

I've only flown the Bose once and they are nice and all but you don't have to spend $1k /headset to get a good ANR set.

John
 
Geico266 said:
Bose has several strengths of clamping force springs they can use on their headsets. If your headsets is coming off during acro flights you might want to talk to them about changing the clamping force spring.
Click to expand...
Awesome - I'll give 'em a call! My wife loves the low clamping force, but I don't mind a little more than what I have now on my Bose if they'll stay put while I'm flopping around.
 
Bose......Lightspeed .....I like them the same

The Bose feel better, but can have an annoying noise leak when wearing glasses. My Lightspeed 3Gs sound better than the Bose, and work with glasses better, but on long flights they are less comfortable and can end up around your neck in acro.

The new ones coming out from Lightspeed (Zulu) look promising. They shaved the weight and clamping force (like Bose), but we will see if that invites annoying noise leaks. As soon as some one test drives the new Zulu, Please give us your thoughts.:confused:

http://www.zuluseries.com/
 
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