AND WHY??
I currently use the DC's that the flight school provided. However I'm about to order a set of Bose. Why the Bose you ask. Easy I'm a self employed contractor on a project at Bose in Boston and can get them with an employee discount. The other option I looked at was the DC X11's. While I have not been able to use either one in flight, I have tried them on the ground. I liked the feel of the Bose better. I was put off by the lack of a aux input on the Bose, The DC X11 does have one, with several adapters for MP3 players and Cell phones included. There is an after market adapter that will let you plug in an MP3 Player to the Bose's and I will probably get it later on.
I use a set of "Soft Comm" that I got a "Whoa!! What a deal" on from a seller on eBay, in 2005. He gave up flying... Er.... learning to. (Brown drawers syndrome, I believe) They came with a second set of the same, a 4 station intercom, Nice flight bag, a bunch of other accessories, plotter, E6B, fuel tester, etc. but... Fortunately... no drawers. Why?? Obviously ......I wanted to hear ATC, and local traffic radio calls, over the engine noise..... Will I spend a thousand bucks for anudder (different brand) set? Sure! As soon as I purchase my first 747 Fleet, with the warp engines. For now, these work well so, I'm gonna keep them. If it ain't broke...... Don't fix it!
David Clark...one of the mos used head sets in the world....works just great!!! Plus I get to see it everytime I see a movie on TV...they all use this type of headset.... http://www.transair.co.uk/product4.asp?SID=2&Product_ID=1096
David Clarks get my vote, hands down. Many of the other brand headsets, i.e. softcomm, pilot, etc. are known as David Clark clones. You'll notice that the head band and earcups are identical to the D/C's A patent must have run out some years ago. That's where the difference ends. The David Clarks have far better quality and reliability microphones and better transducers in the earcups for listening clarity. They are considered the standard when it comes to professional and military flying in both fixed and rotary wing aircraft. Immitation is the sincerest form of flattery. A bargain headset may be no bargain. you pays your money and you takes your choices. The panacea today is in the area of noise cancelling headphones. Noise cancelling headphones provide a degree of improvement to be sure, but in my humble opinion the cost of a Bose, Lightspeed or other noise cancelling headset does not justify the outrageous prices being asked. Not even close! They are good, just not that good to justify the cost. A headset with 24 - 28dB of attenuation will protect your ears indefinately and if they have quality microphones and transducers neither you nor ATC will miss a word. All that being said, there is a middleground alternative I can recommend. A company called Headsets, Inc. will sell you a kit to update any David Clark or clone to a noise cancelling headset. They provide you with the new transducers and electronics and you (or your avionics shop) install them. I installed a kit into my David Clark H10-40 many years ago and it works as advertized. It has been trouble free and sound quality is quite improved over the original non-noise cancelling product. And it didn't cost $1000.00! Find yourself a used set of David Clarks from someone who pitched $1000.00 for a Bose and laugh all the way to the bank. (and if you dont go that route, let me know who has one and I'll buy it!) Planeflyr
Lightspeeds here. Comfortable. Lightweight. Noise cancelling. I have also a ligherweight Telex that is quite comfortable. I have a Dave Clark H10-13.4 and an H10-20. Built like tanks, but give me a headache no matter how the headband tension is adjust(maybe my BIG head). N Dennis
david Clarks are great though I know the softoms are great also I have two sets of David Clarks that I had in flight school in 1988 I still have them and use them. I have used them and rented them to students. I would say that each set has about 9000 Hour Plus on them I only had to replace the ear seals. Plus i think you can send them back no matter how old they are and they will fix them if there ever is a problem. I have never heard of a problem with david Clarks
David Clarks. I had a set that was several years old. They were long out of warranty and needed some work. I sent them into DC's in and they menioned that the headset were out of warranty but they fixed them anyway free of charge. I'll always use DC headsets. Bob Wassam
What do I use? DC's (Two of them - Stereo models) Why? Because my flight instructor, years ago, told me so. I love 'em!
I use a pair of Lightspeed QFR Solo SSc and love them. The price seemed to be ok (about $170 at an airshow or $195 at sportys) and they work fine for single/multi non pressurized cabins. I tryed on just about every brand and every model from $100 to the famous Bose $1,000 ones. It seems that unless you want to spend $1,000 to get the real deal you don't need to spend anymore then about $200. It seems that all the other electronic noise cancelling types/models out there are just a bad copy of the Bose. I flew from Ft Myers, Fl to the North Carolina's using the bose headset and aboslutely loved them. Nothing comes close, period. However, I don't have $1,000 to spend on a headset so I chose the lightspeeds which are very light (=comfort), have very soft earseals (=comfort and noise reduction) and have very clear speakers. ATC seems to hear me just fine so I am assuming that the mike is fine too. Oh yeah, almost forgot it has an input for a cell phone too. Not that I need another distraction in the cockpit but for those of you who can't go without the darn thing for a little while its a nice feature to have I am sure. Till then Marc
I started out wearing a set of 10.34 david clarks that were loaned to me by a friend who is going to "finish learning someday" When I got my PP I bought myself an Avcomm set. I purchased the higher end model with a push to talk on the left ear and independent speaker control in each head phone. I find them to be more comfortable than any of the headsets I wore during my training and they are easier on your pocket book than other comparable headsets.
I have one of the Pilot headsets. I'm looking to upgrade soon and hang on to the Pilot for passengers, and I've been eyeing the Lightspeed sets. A FBO who sells Lightspeed told me he had had a lot of reliability issues with them; have you folks had any problems?
No votes for Bose yet? I've had my Bose for several years now, including the upgrade with auto shut off to save the battery. I put Lithium batteries in it some time ago and have not had to change them yet. Got the batteries from Bruce from FerrariChat. I suspect that I will always use a Bose headset based on the experience I've had so far. I know that they weren't inexpensive but neither is flying.
What???? First reply to this thread I stated I was getting a set of Bose Headset. I have now received them and they work and feel great.
I have had my lightspeed set for several months so far and used them quite a bit. I even leave them in the plane in the Florida heat and it doesn't seem to bother them. The way I look at it is that you get what you pay for and unless you want the real deal (Bose) I see no point in spending more then $200 for something that is equally as comfortable as my lightspeeds are. David Clarks appear to be awesome headsets but I just couldn't find one under $200 that was as comfortable as my lightspeeds. Given that I am planing to upgrade to the bose within the next century or so, I figured I get some cheap comfortable ones for now. Do yourself a favor and go the nearest GOOD pilot store and try on as many as you can. You'll see that brand names, options and looks come far behind comfort on the importance list. Just my 2 cents worth. Marc
I've been following this disussion for some time now and if my recollection serves me correctly, NOBODY has paid any attention to the other "half" of the headset, that is to say... the microphone. We tend to take the microphone for granted and focus on the quality (and, of course, comfort) of the headset and speakers (properly called transducers). You rarely know how you are sounding at the other end of the string in the ears of ATC. As long as they acknowledge your transmissions with the proper responses one assumes that everything is A-OK. Not always the case! ATC rarely takes the time to let you know that you sound like you have a bag of marbles in your mouth. This was made clearly to me when I was having some handheld mike trouble a long time ago and switched to a back-up microphone. (You all carry a back-up microphone in your flight bags, don't you? Shake head up and down!) After repairing and testing my microphone into an intercom so I could monitor how it was sounding in my headset, I tried the back-up mike that I just finished the last flight with successfully. I couldn't understand a word I said! Took said back-up mike, cut off the cord, and threw it into the trash and obtained a new back-up mike. I couldn't see how ATC could have understood anything I was saying. They never told me. So, for all you headset guru's out there, make sure you research the quality and reliability of the microphone before you make your [next] purchase(s). If you don't like the way you sound, neither will anyone else. Planeflyr.
I'm in the market for a headset. I like the idea of the cell phone attachment. How does it attach? What does the connector look like? I want a David Clark set but they don't seem to make one with the cell phone attachment. I like to buy things once. I don't want to get something cheap and then have to go buy another set. Is this cell phone thing worth it or just go get the DC?
I've been reading a lot about the Clarity Aloft headsets. I haven't come across anything negative at all. Anybody here tried them?
IN THE BEGINNING..... I used "rental" headsets (the ones scattered throughout the rental fleet's back seats) as do most people - I suppose. When I decided to buy my own set, I looked around and decided to buy the Pilot 17-79 ANR headset. It was attractively priced (for ANR, at least) at around $500 ish, very lightweight and has a long lasting internal headset battery (instead of loading up with "AA's" or 9v batteries) The noise canceling was and is still very good. Head clamp force was very light and with an Oregon Aero fleece cushion, I can wear them most all day and only be bothered after 4-5 hours - but with the gel cups, well - I just get annoyed by wet things around my ears for long periods of time...... Mechanically, the problems were: A wire came loose in the volume adjuster box - a 10 minute troubleshooting and repair - I did it. And - the high impact plastic secondary headband snapped when it was spread after being baked in the sun for hours. They replaced it at no charge. I did buy a second set after a year for the gf. If you do aerobatics, they really don't clamp enough and that was "just another distracting thing" when I was with a friend in his Nankang CJ-6 - so - I was thinking that the next time I was taking an aerobatic lesson (3, now), I'd get something lighter, and well, different - Well - I'm the guy who bought that used Bose set from the ex-student pilot on eBay with a buy it now. I know.... I'm a trusting individual..... <chuckle!> Bose....... Lousy passive noise reduction (the Pilot 17-79's are great, even without the ANR turned on). Great ANR noise reduction - maybe about equal to the 17-79's. You can always pop in a charged set of batteries into the Bose, so - passive effectiveness isn't as much a buying factor. The newer Bose' use AA batteries and even if I ***** about replaceable batteries, I always, always have AA, AAA and C-123 batteries in my 15 lb flight bag. So, the bad news is that they don't have an internal, rechargeable battery and you have to replace batteries and the good news is that they use replaceable batteries and you CAN replace them..... <whine... whine.... whine.... chuckle> Comfort.... The Bose fit me well. Very well. They are very lightweight and clamping force is light - and - because they are light, my aerobatic T-6 lesson was unbothered by slippage (uncontrolled creepage) or creepage (controlled slippage) at all. I didn't even think about the headset for almost an hour of aerobatics. After an hour... I think that just about everything bothered me (collar too tight, too hot in the plane, too sunny, too sweaty, I remembered that I wasn't hungry for lunch with the gf and this whole thing wasn't very fun anymore....) - BUT - I never even thought about the Bose headset. So - they passed the PMO test. Clarity.... I can def. say that the Bose and Pilot 17-79 are both very good in the speaker area. I can't speak for the mike, but, unless I mumble to ATC, they haven't mentioned anything - I'll do a comparison in the next couple weeks - because as Planeflyr wrote, it's important. Absolute ANR capacity..... Pilots win. I do motorcycle engine tuning - That involves sitting 2 feet away from an engine making as much as 200 true HP at 14,000 rpm. Loud. I've tried both the Bose and Pilots - The Pilots are a breath of fresh air in the dynamometer room, where it's 135 to 140 db. The Bose can't quite hack it and get overwhelmed. (chuckle - maybe I'll send them an email....) Is that a realistic test for us, as pilots? Nah - I doubt it for most of us - unless aren't flying and you are on the ground and f-18's and afterburners are involved. Storage.... Bose wins, hands down. Smaller earcups, hinged headband. This time, a smaller package is a benefit. Remember, my flight bag has my second Pilot headset, a big Pilots Guide, kneeboard, emergency supplies, flares, 6-7 flashlights, signal mirror, fire starting equipment, nav stuff for all of the west coast, Peeps (legal for bombing practice), soldering gun supplies, toolkit w wrenches, ratchets, etc..... so - I don't have tons of room left...... Just enough for the....... Bose. ANR for less than $500? Pilots 17-79 are good. Marc ps: I also picked up a used set of non-ANR David Clarks. They fit well, aren't overly heavy and are one tough, reliable headset - you can't go wrong with the DC's. They are always in the trunk of the car -
I bought a pair of Sigtronics when I was getting my license. I really like them . I kept hearing about hearing damage from flying so I bought a pair of Bose. I have not used a whole heck of a lot of different headsets, but I could not imagine any of them being much better than the Bose. Comfortable, good mic, store well, battery life is excellent. All good, D.
I have a set of military H-10-56 David Clark, never used, which I've planned on using when I get around to flying civilian again, with that adapter they sell, which I think I've seen on eBay. That's all it is, right? Just an inline adapter? I seem to remember hearing that the wattage is different between civilian and military, for some reason... As for now, I wear the standard issue USMC/USN Gentex HGU-84 helmet, with Oregon Aero Zetaliner and earcup kit, NVG mounts, liplight on boom mic, and 02 mask cleats on the sides. As for the cell phone kit, I stuff it between my ear and the helmet and shout (with the VOX off, of course). I'd also like to convert an old helmet to civilian use. Swap the military helo plug with a type 88?
Now for the second time tonight I'm quoting my Dad. A doctor that used to be some sort of medical inspector for a crash investigation team told my dad that he had been involved with a number of incidents where the pilot would likely have survived if their head had not struck the DRG knob (I haven't begun my lessons yet, so forgive any jargon I get wrong). His recommendation and practice was to fly with a helmet. Dad flew with a converted army helicopter after that conversation. Now, all of that occurred almost thirty years ago. Given that most of the planes we're flying are still from that era, I would guess that this hasn't changed much. So why don't more people fly with helmets? Do any of you think it would be worthwhile? SF
Yeah... and also change out the transducers, and mike. (wrong impedence) Having done this on my APH-6 helmet, adding new gel ear cushions, & cloth covers, and the new Military "bubble Wrap" type liner, I can say it will work well. And I also added the dual visor upgrade, with : 1, a grey smoke lens, 2, an amber lens, I'm set for almost all sky conditions. ***************************************** To answer another post, I think more people don't wear helmets, because they aren't "military" minded, or, they are uncomfortable with the added weight. Helmets can weigh around eight pounds, with all the extras... other reasons I've heard; * I'm not a jet pilot...I don't need one * they're not cool..... * Are you planning on having a crash? * Hey folks, he thinks he's Captain Zoom! and * ha! haha! hahaha! hahahahahahahaha!!! I think they're just people, with very little understanding of mechanisms of injury.
Bose headset here. Very happy with them. Went with the straight cord but, wonder if I should have gone with the coiled cord instead. Less dangling wires around....
