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Goona settle the Halo vs ANR headset question for good!


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I scheduled an appointment with a local audiologist for next week. I'll just take my Halo's in and ask them to make some molds for them. The audiologists here in Austin are very familiar with this process as they all make custom ear monitors for all the musicians in town.

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3 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

I scheduled an appointment with a local audiologist for next week. I'll just take my Halo's in and ask them to make some molds for them. The audiologists here in Austin are very familiar with this process as they all make custom ear monitors for all the musicians in town.

They can do it easily. I had one made to fit my headset at work and and all they had to do was match up the tube size. I think I paid about 80 dollars for one though.

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4 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

I scheduled an appointment with a local audiologist for next week. I'll just take my Halo's in and ask them to make some molds for them. The audiologists here in Austin are very familiar with this process as they all make custom ear monitors for all the musicians in town.

Looking forward to the follow up pirep.  I would love to do this also if the results are worth it.

My problem is not with the Halo tips, it's the winter up here in Michigan.  It takes a LONG time to warm up the tips so they expand into the ear canal when it's only 10°F.

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2 hours ago, Andy95W said:

Looking forward to the follow up pirep.  I would love to do this also if the results are worth it.

My problem is not with the Halo tips, it's the winter up here in Michigan.  It takes a LONG time to warm up the tips so they expand into the ear canal when it's only 10°F.

Try the silicone tips instead of the foam ones. I never had a problem waiting for them in the WV / OH winters, many flights with ground temps in the teens.

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How well do they seal up and block sound?

I have now been flying with these for 3 days straight at work. The 737 cockpit is anything but quiet. These make it eerily quiet. You can barely hear the engines and you can turn ATC way down and hear them clearly.

To answer your question, I was worried about sound leakage, but there is zero. Also, if you put a little film of mineral oil on them, they will seal even better and go in easier.

I have had them stuck in my ears now nearly eight hours a day for 3 days straight. It's so nice to have it quiet while I fly and there is no discomfort whatsoever.

 

In addition, I fly my airplane to work. It makes the engine sound in the Mooney sound like nothing more than a low hum.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

 

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1 minute ago, Guitarmaster said:

I have now been flying with these for 3 days straight at work. The 737 cockpit is anything but quiet.

They are eerily quiet. You can barely hear the engines and you can turn ATC way down and hear them clearly.

 

My experience with the silicone plugs is that they are the quietest of the three available but they don't (at least for me) relieve pressure and I have to quickly pop them out and back in to equalize while descending.

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3 minutes ago, flyboy0681 said:

My experience with the silicone plugs is that they are the quietest of the three available but they don't (at least for me) relieve pressure and I have to quickly pop them out and back in to equalize while descending.

Just pop your ears, chew something or in bad cases, try the valsalva maneuver. I've been using the silicone tips with my Halos since I bought them in the Fall of 2009, love them! Love them, love them! No more headaches after 2-3 hour flights. . . . .

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1 minute ago, Hank said:

Just pop your ears, chew something or in bad cases, try the valsalva maneuver. I've been using the silicone tips with my Halos since I bought them in the Fall of 2009, love them! Love them, love them! No more headaches after 2-3 hour flights. . . . .

I've tried everything, could be the shape of my ear canal. But like you I love em, love em, love em!

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6 hours ago, Andy95W said:

Looking forward to the follow up pirep.  I would love to do this also if the results are worth it.

My problem is not with the Halo tips, it's the winter up here in Michigan.  It takes a LONG time to warm up the tips so they expand into the ear canal when it's only 10°F.

That's funny, I was just thinking the other day, the only time I have problems with the Halo's is when it's so hot here in the summer. They won't stay rolled up long enough to get them into your ear. They just pop back to full size and the whole thing, tubes and all are just too soft to stuff down in the ear canal.

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24 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

That's funny, I was just thinking the other day, the only time I have problems with the Halo's is when it's so hot here in the summer. They won't stay rolled up long enough to get them into your ear. They just pop back to full size and the whole thing, tubes and all are just too soft to stuff down in the ear canal.

Hanger/house in TX for the winter and a similar setup in MI for the summer.  Problem solved and I just saved you the cost of custom ear plugs :)

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I can attest to the halo headset (David Clark one pro x for me) but I can give some feedback to the form fitted ear plugs. I've used these for years in competitive trap shooting. They are fantastic and I have mine molded with headphones similar to the earpieces police officers sometimes use. Care is key. They last me approximately 2 years of shooting in the hot sweaty sun. Clean them gently when done using and store them in a cool dry place (very important). Also take care not to damage their exterior, the vendor will coat them with a very thin slippery coating. If you crack or destroy this coating they become very difficult to put in an will be uncomfortable 

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15 minutes ago, bradp said:

Anyone have set of standard commercial airplane style QC-25/s or the like that they have worn over a set of halos?  

That idea would work great with the clarity units but if you pinch the tube on the halo set it will block the sound. Not sure if the 25's would pinch hard enough. 

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On 8/8/2017 at 8:58 PM, bradp said:

Anyone have set of standard commercial airplane style QC-25/s or the like that they have worn over a set of halos?  

I tried that once and got a weird noise into the headset- not sure what it was. I didn't investigate, but reading this thread made me think about trying it again. 

I love my Halos- I use the yellow foamies and I don't change them enough. Halo recommends against the custom inserts, but I'm willing to give that a try. Going to wait 6 months for another pirep though...

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  • 9 months later...
On August 8, 2017 at 7:44 AM, Danb said:

I'm glad to hear your pirep, I stopped by the booth to have them made, the man doing the fittings tried to talk us into the other brand of in ear headsets telling me the noise comes from the thin flexible tubes instead of mikes in the ears. I was skeptical and did nothing. I've got 10 hours on the halos with mixed feelings. I believe if I went with the custom molds they would have been great. It makes no sense the man selling the molds talked me out of them in an attempt for me to switch to the other brand. 

Also he told me I could buy or order the kit and make the molds myself which I now will do.

A timely PIREP thanks.

Dan have you made your molded ear plugs yet?

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No I haven’t, I switched to the black ones supplied with the set and am quite happy with them. I just completed a 25 hours real cross country put my bose  on after 30 minutes or so switched back to the halos.

 

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@Rookie I have custom ear molds for my Halo's and have about 40 hours on them. Just popping them in my ears gives about the same noise suppression as the foam ear plugs. But they are much more comfortable. If I put a dab of lube on them before insertion (insert wise crack here) they are extremely quiet. Much quieter than Bose, Lightspeed, or any other ANR over the ear set. 

The only negative I've seen is that on a long and fast descent from the flight levels, I have to manually pry them lose for just a second to break the seal or they won't allow my ears to clear. Do this a couple of times during the descent and all is good. You can ask me how I learned this...

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55 minutes ago, Danb said:

The worse part isn’t the headsets, I have a difficult time keeping my o2 in place, with the bose the line was under the earmuff, none on the halos, the mask is fine.

Yep, agreed. And I have a mask with the mic built in. It's nice to take the Halo's off my head and just let them sit around my neck or on the shoulders. The ear buds are still in place but no need for the mic as it's in the mask.

No question Halo's are the best option if you use O2.

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2 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

The only negative I've seen is that on a long and fast descent from the flight levels, I have to manually pry them lose for just a second to break the seal or they won't allow my ears to clear. Do this a couple of times during the descent and all is good. You can ask me how I learned this...

Same thing with the silicone plugs. I prefer them to the foam, but the seal is so tight that I have to relieve the pressure on descent (and not from the FL's).

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16 minutes ago, flyboy0681 said:

Same thing with the silicone plugs. I prefer them to the foam, but the seal is so tight that I have to relieve the pressure on descent (and not from the FL's).

I also wear Halos and use the silicon ear tips, which I find much more comfortable than the foam.  At Sun-n-Fun I asked Phil about the silicon vs foam, and he did mention that the silicon afforded a bit less sound attenuation.  

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  At Osh last year there were a few booths selling custom or semi-custom ear pieces, there was also an audiologist in the Mooney Caravan, sorry his name escapes me, but he was making custom ear molds and having ear pieces made for a variety of in ear headset types at a pretty good discount over what I've priced locally.  Hopefully he shows up with his kits and discounts again this year!

 

Ron

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