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N316RV

Well Known Member
I turned 50 last week. My wife surprised me with a Zulu headset for my birthday (great wife, pilot, rivet bucker, and best friend!). I tried them out on Saturday. I already had a set of 20Gs. Zulus are built better, sound better, and are quieter than the 20Gs. Nothing but good things to say about the Zulus except I do have one question. If I turn my head quick, I hear a thump in the headsets. Takes a pretty quick jerk of the head. Not something you would do regularly, but none the less it is something I did notice. Any of you guys with Zulus notice this?

Thanks
Alan Jackson
Hartselle, AL
 
Yep, Mine do this as well. Must be where the mic is for the ANR.

It will also do it if you open and close your yaw really fast and wide..

At first it bothered me but I slowly learned not to do whatever movement that was causing it and now it is not noticable.

My Zulu is now close to the same place in my heart as my pneumatic squeezer...It ain't going anywhere anytime soon!!!
 
The only time I get to use mine...

...is if my wife is not along:)

Same deal with my?? iPad!! I got to use it yesterday because we had a cross-country to do.:)

Best,
 
Yup....

I noticed this when I first started to use them...but it isn't a problem. They are well worth the occasional odd hum. I wonder if the Bose headsets have a similar issue....
 
I Have both the Bose and the Zulu headsets, so I can speak to this. I do notice the quirk on the Zulu's mentioned here, and I thought it strange at first, but then realized what was causing it, and it doesn't seem to bother me anymore, although I only have about 9 flights on them, after having used the Bose for 10 years. Here are some differences I've noticed:

The Zulus seem to fit around the ears better than the Bose. (Of course, I was told as a kid that I was born with full-size ears and grew into them. I still hate Disney for bringing out Dumbo when I was a kid!) So, I have noticed 2 things--- they seem more comfortable around the ears than the Bose, and on takeoff at full power, they remain quiet. The Bose will sometimes break the seal at full power and I get a lot of noise unless I remember to adjust them properly and make them tight, which of course I forget to do more often than not.

The Zulu's seem to have a more senistive mic, and pick up extra cabin noise, more so than the Bose. However, I did notice that the mic gain looks adjustable on the Zulu's and I will try to adjust it this week end.

The mic boom is a little shorter than the Bose and other headsets. It seems to sit off to the side of my lips rather than directly in front.

The "Front row center" button on the Zulu dramatically increases the music experience.

The bluetooth on the lightspeed is wonderful, especially for receiving a clearance while on the ground at a remote airport, and for calling Carol to open the hangar door when I taxi in. :)

Is there a major difference between the two of them? Can't tell yet. We traded one of the Lightspeed 30G's for the Zulu, which is a nice deal. Carol and I traded headsets on an Angel Flight this week end and when I asked her if we should trade the other Lightspeed in for a Zulu, she said let's wait and see.

I assure you that both of them are a great experience. The Zulu's are jsut newer generation with some nice features.

Vic
 
I have two sets of Zulu's and have never noticed the problem described. Next time I go up I will have to try to make the thump,,,,,,,:confused: I DO love the Zulu's!
 
Stick your finger over the sensor port on the Bose during flight....all kinds of weird noises...Mess with the sensor on any ANR headset and I suspect you will get similar results.
 
Both Great but...

I had the Lightspeed Thirty 3G and switched to the Bose solely because as an instructor, I went from airplane to airplane and the Bose fit in my flight bag better. The Bose has the hinged headband, and is smaller overall.
 
Bose v Zulu

I've had a Zulu for over two years and I love it. Ditto what Vic says about the features. However, I know what you mean about the buzz/thrum/hum. Whatever you want to call it. I wore a Bose for a short while and noticed the same thing with them, but my experience was only 3-4 flights. I notice the problem with the Zulu is worse by far when taxiing with a window open and occasionally when turning your head in flight. My Zulus did go completely haywire, eventually ceased working altogether about 4 months ago. I sent them in and they promptly got fixed. No complaints. There also seems to be a possible correlation between the thrum and a low battery. My $0.02.
 
I've found that mine does make a buzz if I turn my head quite a bit in flight, as in checking my 6 or doing a clearance check before some aerobatics. But for more normal sitting and flying, it doesn't make a peep.

My wife has tried the Zulu and reports that she doesn't like it because it doesn't go small enough... Apparently there is an optional head pad for the Zulu, anyone know how to get one?
 
hum

My zulu's are on order. I just have to take the time to package up the trade-in set to send in.

With the Bose, I notice a hum, that may be similar to that described, when the head is turned to (approx) 90 degrees or beyond. I am not sure this is the same that you are describing with the zulu. However, with the bose, I attribute it to the uni-directional nature of the active noise reduction. For the same reason, the headset cannot be worn on opposite ears.
 
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