A few weeks ago, I finally got a chance to start flying with a CQ1 Headset from Card Machine Works (thanks Tanya!), and I've got to say - I am really liking it! The best measure of the perfect headset (in my opinion) is that I simply don't notice it at all - and this one comes pretty close to that. It just does everything it is supposed to do, and you don't know it is doing it.
I’ve been flying with Halo Headsets for close to fifteen years now, and between Louise and I we own five of them. So I am obviously pretty happy with the concept of the “lightweight headset”. Why five? because we have one for every RV seat we own (between three airplanes). The Tundra has DC Ones because, well, it does....and I fly the jet with a helmet - otherwise, it is all about light weight! The CQ1 fits much more securely on the head than the Halo, without giving any indication of being there, or clamping. The microphone boom is fully adjustable, yet it holds its adjustment much better than the Halo. I guess I have gotten used to compensating for the Halo's mic wandering around - with the CQ1, I don't have to compensate.
One of the problem areas we have in maintaining the Halo's is the volume knob - the internal potentiometers get dirty in spots, creating "dead spots" in the volume control. This means we have to do a cleaning with spray once a year. The CQ1 uses a different type of knob that looks to be more closed up- and certainly works perfectly out of the box ... big improvement.
Lightweight headsets have always been something that some love and others don't. I always tell people they need to fly with one for five to ten hours before deciding - they are different enough that you might not like the first or second time you use them. But they grow on you - if you let them. One caution is that one "sizing" does not fit all - you probably need to do a little bending to get them, just like you want them. In addition to the Halos, we've got a Clarity Aloft, and the same is true. In fact, Louise tried on the CQ1 and didn't like the way it fit the back of her head, even though it fit me great - so some adjustment is required.
Overall, I think the CQ1 is a great evolutionary step in the history of lightweight headsets, and we might have to look at getting a couple more for the fleet!
Paul
I’ve been flying with Halo Headsets for close to fifteen years now, and between Louise and I we own five of them. So I am obviously pretty happy with the concept of the “lightweight headset”. Why five? because we have one for every RV seat we own (between three airplanes). The Tundra has DC Ones because, well, it does....and I fly the jet with a helmet - otherwise, it is all about light weight! The CQ1 fits much more securely on the head than the Halo, without giving any indication of being there, or clamping. The microphone boom is fully adjustable, yet it holds its adjustment much better than the Halo. I guess I have gotten used to compensating for the Halo's mic wandering around - with the CQ1, I don't have to compensate.
One of the problem areas we have in maintaining the Halo's is the volume knob - the internal potentiometers get dirty in spots, creating "dead spots" in the volume control. This means we have to do a cleaning with spray once a year. The CQ1 uses a different type of knob that looks to be more closed up- and certainly works perfectly out of the box ... big improvement.
Lightweight headsets have always been something that some love and others don't. I always tell people they need to fly with one for five to ten hours before deciding - they are different enough that you might not like the first or second time you use them. But they grow on you - if you let them. One caution is that one "sizing" does not fit all - you probably need to do a little bending to get them, just like you want them. In addition to the Halos, we've got a Clarity Aloft, and the same is true. In fact, Louise tried on the CQ1 and didn't like the way it fit the back of her head, even though it fit me great - so some adjustment is required.
Overall, I think the CQ1 is a great evolutionary step in the history of lightweight headsets, and we might have to look at getting a couple more for the fleet!
Paul