Best Headset?

[MATTS875]

I have the Bose A20 and really like them. They are very comfortable on long flights

[ArtVandelay]

I have the Bose A20 and really like them. They are very comfortable on long flights

And the batteries last about 50 hours. But the ear cups only last about 300 hours or so, the fake leather breaks down.

[gsxrpilot]

On 7/25/2018 at 6:49 AM, Danb said:

I have Halo,s, which I like a lot, a pain in the butt when using O2, I also have Bose and Zulu’3 in the plane. I had the custom inserts made yesterday at Osh, once I get used to putting them in that will be great. Without the noise  canceling  on the Zulus are quieter when turned on the Bose are quieter. A big problem with in halos are the mic, I occasionally get your coming in garbled. Luckily we have numerous choices, many outlets provide 30 day return policy, for those on the fence go that route.

Interesting... one of the reasons I love the Halo's is because I wear O2 so much. I can take the Halo's off my head and let them set on my shoulders with the ear buds still in place. It makes it easy to wear either the cannulas or a mask. When I'm on O2, I'm high enough that I'm not talking to anyone very often. I just pick up the mic and hold it to my mouth when I need to respond on the radio.

[Danb]

Paul, the cannula’s are not secure feeling to me I’m used to having them under the headset, the mask obviously is ok either way, I also have mountain high 02 affixed on my zulus. The cannulas feel like they will fall off my ears leading to insecurity feeling. I can’t wait to fly with the molded ear plugs, if you have them now you like?

 

[Hank]

Just finished a 4-hour into-the-wind trip home today. Before my Halos, I would have had a splitting headache, and blamed it on DA. But came through this flight feeling great, dodging summer buildups and a long line of storms a half hour from home that took me to 10,000 msl. No, I didn't twist knobs to figure DA then, but a couple hours earlier this is what it was:

It must be the Halos. I'm going on 7 years, and just on my second set of silicone tips that came with them originally. Can't comment on how they work with an oxygen cannula, my C isn't equipped. And no, this was neither my longest leg with them, nor my longest day flying with them, and it has all been in great comfort. 

Edited August 1, 2018 by Hank

[gsxrpilot]

4 hours ago, Danb said:

Paul, the cannula’s are not secure feeling to me I’m used to having them under the headset, the mask obviously is ok either way, I also have mountain high 02 affixed on my zulus. The cannulas feel like they will fall off my ears leading to insecurity feeling. I can’t wait to fly with the molded ear plugs, if you have them now you like?

 

Yes I have the molded ear plugs. I got a set from an audiologist in Austin and LOVE them. Then I got another set made at Oshkosh from Fit Ear. And they're even better, if that's possible.

I've got a couple of 1AMU ANR headsets knocking around in the back seat on the off chance someone sits back there. My wife and I in the front seats haven't worn anything but our Halo's going on four years now.

[carusoam]

7+ years of halo appreciation...

Silicone tips for the ear canals...

get the right size/dia to fit the canals... if you get your audiologist to make ones for you... that’s got to be cool!

Had to buy a new mike cover... so I bought one while I was at the Clarity aloft Booth (KOSH)... looks really new and fancy... 

Should have bought another one for my other set... but as a CB, I needed to know the CA fit my halos first...

Dan,  Check the rotation on the mike... Take the cover off, rotate it 90°... It is really sensitive to rotation... with the round cover, I find it hard to know if it isn’t pointing the best way...  I don’t get garbled, I get it picks up or it doesn’t....

Best regards,

-a-

[Danb]

Yeah it may be intermittent and they say garbled, it’s only sometimes.Likewise Paul with $$$’s sitting in the backseat, wife wants me to sell the bose and keep the zulus if we ever take passengers other than a few angel flights the back is for stuff I need on trips.

[Bob_Belville]

On 12/20/2017 at 11:38 AM, bonal said:

Might as well add 2 cents. I really love my DC pro X I am in the hate Puting plugs in my ears crowd and they aren't affected by glasses. Also only  weigh 7 ounces and fold up real compactly. ANR is very good in fact I leave off until in cruise since I really want to hear my engine during taxi run up and climb. They are so quiet that it took some getting used to. Super comfortable to wear and since they don't cover over my ears they don't make things sweaty when it's hot out. Also much less expensive than other brands.

I loved my Pro-X until I got the ONE-X. Real Pilots wear DCs.

[Sime]

I don't like things inserted into my ears either.

Late last year, I wanted to upgrade my Pilot 17-79 Independence ANR's to something a little lighter and with the Bluetooth functionality. I was very impressed with the price point, warranty and features of the Lightspeed Zulu 3's and decided these were the ones for me. I did buy from a bricks and mortar store so I tried them on before I paid for them to see how they fit.

And then I took them straight back off.

On my head, they were uncomfortable. Fail. So, I tried on the more expensive Bose A20's and was in heaven. So comfortable! I ended up buying two pairs.

I also like how the Bose has an auto-off feature that kicks in when you disconnect the headphone and microphone jacks. The ANR is great too. It's still a little loud on the takeoff roll and climb, but it's awesome in cruise. You do forget that you are wearing them.

The Bose have my vote.

[Danb]

I’m liking the halos so much I’m putting my Bose’s on eBay, if any ones interested let me know

[milotron]

I have used Bose A20 for 4 years, then got the Halos with some custom molds. The Bose are in their carrier for passenger use now.  Nice not having to worry about batteries; the headset is light; excellent sound quality.

I also don't get ringing in my ears for hours like the Bose did to me.

I am fully converted to Halo, although the customs molds were needed to get me there. None of the regular tips worked for my weird ear holes.

 

iain

[Bryan]

Would have to agree, I am finally in the cool kid crowd.  What sux, is I have a powered Lemo connector in my plane for the A20s so the batteries never were an issue.  It was the clamping force for more than an hour that bothered me.

At least my wife cannot try them on - as I have the custom ear molds, otherwise she would take them over.

[skydvrboy]

I picked up a set of Halo's at Oshkosh this year and tried them on the way home using the foam inserts.  They were considerably louder than my cheap headset upgraded with ANR from Headsets Inc.  Maybe even louder than my cheap passive ASA headset which was $100 when new.  I'll try the other two sets of inserts before I give up on them.  And yes, I wear earplugs regularly at work and know how to insert them properly.

I also noticed that the mic on the Halo's didn't pick up my voice well.  I had to turn up my squelch and nearly yell into it.  Does anyone know which side of the mic you are supposed to talk into?  One side has holes and the other side has slots.  I'm wondering mine needs turned over.

After one use with the Halo's, I'm not impressed at all.

[bradp]

Little one insists on DCs now because they are sooooo comfy.  I never thought so - they always pinched my head.  I got some Zulu 3s two years ago and they are the bees knees.  They even come in handy during a long (road) trip to make everything silent and I can wear them for 4 or 5 hours comfortably. 

[Seymour]

...don't ask me.  

This creature of habit (aka dinosaur) still uses the same pre-owned passive DC H10's purchased to get my ticket decades ago.   

[gsxrpilot]

3 hours ago, skydvrboy said:

After one use with the Halo's, I'm not impressed at all.

Learn to use them... it might take another 30 sec.

[carusoam]

Some light humor with the technical discussion...

Learning to use them may require removing the foamy mike cover first...

The mike is incredibly direction dependent, intentionally... keeps the cabin noise out, like magic.

Breaking it into three steps...

• 10 seconds... cover off...
• 10 seconds Visually inspect, rotate mike, place near lips...  self explanatory... you can see it!
• 10 seconds... cover back on...

Or skip all that and rotate the mike 90° or until you find the spot that works... feeling the mike under the foam can give you an understanding where the hot spot is....

If not impressed with the halos... fly IFR... You will clearly hear all your calls on the radio...  that is what impressed me.

if you aren’t hearing your calls, it may not be a hearing issue...  

Best regards,

-a-

[ArtVandelay]

...don't ask me.  
This creature of habit (aka dinosaur) still uses the same pre-owned passive DC H10's purchased to get my ticket decades ago.   

What’s your longest trip? I’ve worn my Bose for 12 hours with a short break for fuel, no headache or discomfort.

[skydvrboy]

13 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

Learn to use them... it might take another 30 sec.

I don't even know what you mean by this.

 I can probably figure out which side of the mic to talk into in 30 seconds by trial and error since no one has been helpful in looking at theirs to see if its the side with the round holes or the slotted holes.  It will just require another 40 minute drive to and from the airport in order to complete that 30 seconds of testing.

After that, I'll have to determine which set of earplugs will work best.  The foam ones work great when I tried them at Phil's booth in Hangar D or at home, but my plane is a LOT louder than Hangar D or the sounds around the house.  At work, the foam ones work the best, so I'm not too optimistic about the others, but I'll give them a try.  I really don't want to switch them out while in flight, so this will require 2-3 more flights for testing.  If you can complete a test flight in 30 seconds, your Mooney is a lot faster than mine! 

 

[Andy95W]

19 hours ago, skydvrboy said:

  And yes, I wear earplugs regularly at work and know how to insert them properly.

 

1 hour ago, skydvrboy said:

since no one has been helpful in looking at theirs to see if its the side with the round holes or the slotted holes. 

Geez.  So sorry we weren't being helpful to your standards.  

Maybe people here don't live close to their airplanes and were waiting for the weekend to check their headsets for you.

[Marauder]

I don't even know what you mean by this.
 I can probably figure out which side of the mic to talk into in 30 seconds by trial and error since no one has been helpful in looking at theirs to see if its the side with the round holes or the slotted holes.  It will just require another 40 minute drive to and from the airport in order to complete that 30 seconds of testing.
After that, I'll have to determine which set of earplugs will work best.  The foam ones work great when I tried them at Phil's booth in Hangar D or at home, but my plane is a LOT louder than Hangar D or the sounds around the house.  At work, the foam ones work the best, so I'm not too optimistic about the others, but I'll give them a try.  I really don't want to switch them out while in flight, so this will require 2-3 more flights for testing.  If you can complete a test flight in 30 seconds, your Mooney is a lot faster than mine! 
 

Try the black ones if you haven’t already. The yellow and silicone ones didn’t work for me.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Danb]

second for the black ones above, I now have the custom inserts, the ones above are significantly better than the foam ones

[gsxrpilot]

Yeah, sarcasm, humor, and a whole host of other things are difficult to get across in an internet post. And especially when I'm a few pisco sours deep. They are particularly good in Lima Peru.

I've changed headsets a couple of times. I typically sit in the plane and work out how they work. With the Bose and the Lightspeeds, there are lots of buttons and features and bluetooth to figure out. With the Halos, there is a stereo/mono switch and a volume dial. That's it. You can certainly try different ear buds. It comes with three different types. And then there is the mic. But regardless, I agree in flight might not be the best time to experiment, but certainly sitting on the ramp with the prop spinning isn't a terrible option for trying out a new product, technology, solution, etc.

If I tried it out and it was terrible at blocking noise and was having to yell in the microphone, I'd assume I wasn't using them correctly and spend a few minutes to sort it out. There are countless posts on this forum and others claiming they are better than Bose/Lightspeed ANR's. Now whether they are or aren't is subjective. But it would seem to be safe to assume that they are close the same experience. And therefore if you're having to yell into the mic to be heard, it stands to reason that you might spend 30 seconds manipulating the mic with your fingers, different positions, rotate it around, etc.

The Halo's are just super simple with very few options and so pretty quick to run through all of them and see what works best for you. Most people, (not all) love them.

[Ned Gravel]

5 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

pisco sours deep. They are particularly good in Lima Peru.

Ah, yes.  That little bar in Miraflores.