not mooney-specific but involves Bose headsets

[231LV]

I have a pair of Bose X and Bose A20's for my wife and myself. I have been trying to find a link for the bluetooth upgrade and have not had any success. Does anybody have a link or can direct me to a website? We are tired of cords, in general and one less for the audio input from my phone would be worth the money for the upgrades.

[carusoam]

Sporty’s seems to carry a lot of options…

One looks like you can replace cords on the headset…

another goes between the headset and the panel…

https://www.sportys.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=Blue+tooth+for+phone

Best regards,

-a-

[toto]

For the A20, you can buy a replacement cable from Bose that does the Bluetooth. Since Bluetooth wasn’t an option for the X, I think you’ll have to use a third-party option. 

https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/headphones/headphone_accessories/a20-headset-cable-dual-plugs-bluetooth.html#v=a20_cable_portable_bt_ii_acc_black

 

The Faro cord that carusoam linked above is the one I’m familiar with, but I don’t know how well it works. Aviation Consumer covered these a little while back and iirc they were pretty happy with the upgrade. 

https://www.sportys.com/faro-stealth-audio-link.html

You might also consider an audio panel upgrade to one that handles Bluetooth natively. PS Engineering makes a couple of units that are slide-in replacements for the non-Bluetooth Garmin GMA panels, and you can even replace these yourself with a couple of screws. 

[A64Pilot]

Anyone tried one of these? 

https://www.lightspeedaviation.com/news/lightspeed-launches-tango-worlds-first-premium-wireless-aviation-headset/

Over the years I’ve become not a fan of Bose, it seems whenever one needs repair I contact them and their answer is like Garmin. “we don’t support that anymore”

You need to buy a new one. Got lucky and had it repaired by a third party

I’ve not had that issue with Lightspeed, yet

[Stetson20]

4 hours ago, A64Pilot said:

Anyone tried one of these? 

https://www.lightspeedaviation.com/news/lightspeed-launches-tango-worlds-first-premium-wireless-aviation-headset/

Over the years I’ve become not a fan of Bose, it seems whenever one needs repair I contact them and their answer is like Garmin. “we don’t support that anymore”

You need to buy a new one. Got lucky and had it repaired by a third party

I’ve not had that issue with Lightspeed, yet

https://www.lightspeedaviation.com/product/delta-zulu-anr-headset/

I was looking at this one as it has integrated CO monitoring. Thoughts?

[haymak3r]

I thought that was a great idea. But, most CO monitors need replacing after a few years. I did some initial reading, and never found an answer to this. How will you replace the monitor over time? Can you? I sure hope so!

[Shadrach]

On 10/18/2022 at 10:35 AM, A64Pilot said:

Anyone tried one of these? 

https://www.lightspeedaviation.com/news/lightspeed-launches-tango-worlds-first-premium-wireless-aviation-headset/

Over the years I’ve become not a fan of Bose, it seems whenever one needs repair I contact them and their answer is like Garmin. “we don’t support that anymore”

You need to buy a new one. Got lucky and had it repaired by a third party

I’ve not had that issue with Lightspeed, yet

I believe they still support the X’s but they don’t do specific repairs. It’s a flat fee of $250(?) for a refurb. I love my Bose headsets but wish they were more robust. For a $1000 you’d think they could make cables that lasts more than a few years or ear pads that don’t leave little bits of black foam all over your ears…but they don’t.  I still have the $99 Flightcom headsets I bought during training. They work beautifully and are just as uncomfortable on long trips as they were when brand new..

[1980Mooney]

9 hours ago, A64Pilot said:

Anyone tried one of these? 

https://www.lightspeedaviation.com/news/lightspeed-launches-tango-worlds-first-premium-wireless-aviation-headset/

Over the years I’ve become not a fan of Bose, it seems whenever one needs repair I contact them and their answer is like Garmin. “we don’t support that anymore”

You need to buy a new one. Got lucky and had it repaired by a third party

I’ve not had that issue with Lightspeed, yet

These wireless headsets were “so good” that Lightspeed discontinued them. They only sell corded headsets now. 
https://www.lightspeedaviation.com/product-category/headsets/

Edited October 18, 2022 by 1980Mooney

[A64Pilot]

Just now, 1980Mooney said:

These were “so good” that Lightspeed discontinued them. They only sell corded headsets now. 
https://www.lightspeedaviation.com/product-category/headsets/

I had no idea, the concept intrigued me. I think graduate level of the thing would be for the x-mitter part run to off of acft power, then you would only be concerned with charging the headset.

I think the idea has merit, ever since we went to having the little control box in the cord it’s annoyed me, before when it was just a cord, not so much

[1980Mooney]

I think the OP is looking for a solution with no wires at all.  I don’t think a Bluetooth connection for a phone is of any interest to the OP. It sounds like he’s looking for something like the discontinued Lightspeed Zulu. It does not appear that there are any wireless solutions for aviation headsets.
 
edit: the OP is looking for a Bluetooth phone connection. My statement is wrong

Edited October 19, 2022 by 1980Mooney

[toto]

5 hours ago, haymak3r said:

most CO monitors need replacing after a few years

Iirc Lightstpeed will service/recalibrate the CO detector on a regular interval for free. I’ll see if I can find a reference. 
 

ETA: Okay, not quite free. 

 

https://www.lightspeedaviation.com/delta-zulu-support/

[toto]

1 hour ago, 1980Mooney said:

I think the OP is looking for a solution with no wires at all.  I don’t think a Bluetooth connection for a phone is of any interest to the OP. It sounds like he’s looking for something like the discontinued Lightspeed Zulu. It does not appear that there are any wireless solutions for aviation headsets.
 

I thought OP said they were just looking to eliminate a corded interface for the phone (reducing the number of wires by one). The Bose Bluetooth upgrade just gives you the ability to connect a Bluetooth device, but doesn’t do anything for radio or intercom. 

[1980Mooney]

5 minutes ago, toto said:

I thought OP said they were just looking to eliminate a corded interface for the phone (reducing the number of wires by one). The Bose Bluetooth upgrade just gives you the ability to connect a Bluetooth device, but doesn’t do anything for radio or intercom. 

You are correct.  My misinterpretation 

Edited October 19, 2022 by 1980Mooney

[carusoam]

1) Eliminating each cord has value….

2) CO sensors are time limited… they drift…

3) A decent CO meter can be calibrated to re-zero the drift…

4) Going completely wireless is ideal… 

5) Wireless technology is getting better by the day… more battery efficient…. and the headset battery charge is displayed on phones and iPads in many cases…
 

PP thoughts only, not a wireless guru…

Best regards,

-a-

[Shadrach]

16 hours ago, 1980Mooney said:

These wireless headsets were “so good” that Lightspeed discontinued them. They only sell corded headsets now. 
https://www.lightspeedaviation.com/product-category/headsets/

I think Bluetooth still has a ways to go in terms of UI. It pretty works well when it works...when it doesn't, it can be maddening. Nothing like wasting 5 minutes trying to get a device to connect only to give up it and then have it randomly connect while in the middle of the conversation when you're no longer trying to use it. 

My A20s sometimes refuses to pair with my iPhone. I hate wires in the cockpit but appreciate the tactile feedback of a male and female jack.

[A64Pilot]

I believe the Lightspeed wireless weren’t Bluetooth, apparently there is some latency issue with Bluetooth. Has to do with side tone I believe.

I assume they went simple analog radio but don’t know.

[1980Mooney]

19 hours ago, Shadrach said:

I believe they still support the X’s but they don’t do specific repairs. It’s a flat fee of $250(?) for a refurb. I love my Bose headsets but wish they were more robust. For a $1000 you’d think they could make cables that lasts more than a few years or ear pads that don’t leave little bits of black foam all over your ears…but they don’t.  

Actually that is not true.  Bose stopped supporting the Aviation X (A10) headset more than a few years ago.  They provide no parts and no support for the "X" - nothing.  All they do is offer a discount to buy new A20's.  You have to buy salvage headsets, used or knockoff parts or deal with 3rd parties for repairs.

[Ragsf15e]

3 hours ago, 1980Mooney said:

Actually that is not true.  Bose stopped supporting the Aviation X (A10) headset more than a few years ago.  They provide no parts and no support for the "X" - nothing.  All they do is offer a discount to buy new A20's.  You have to buy salvage headsets, used or knockoff parts or deal with 3rd parties for repairs.

Kcheadsets inc is a good place for Bose X support.  Very knowledgeable and fair.

[Fly Boomer]

47 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

Kcheadsets inc is a good place for Bose X support.  Very knowledgeable and fair.

Or any other kind of headset.  I got a lot of help with David Clark.

[231LV]

22 hours ago, carusoam said:

1) Eliminating each cord has value….

2) CO sensors are time limited… they drift…

3) A decent CO meter can be calibrated to re-zero the drift…

4) Going completely wireless is ideal… 

5) Wireless technology is getting better by the day… more battery efficient…. and the headset battery charge is displayed on phones and iPads in many cases…
 

PP thoughts only, not a wireless guru…

Best regards,

-a-

Thanks all for the thoughtful responses. Having read through these a couple of times, it seems that my desired objective can be accomplished but would be less than ideal and not elegant. I failed to mention that both headsets are running off ships power with the Bose pin connectors. We do have jacks side by side with the pin connectors but also like the "no battery required". The X is outdated but still a nice headset and worth more than the $250 credit Bose offers against a $1200 pair of A20's. Ideally, a wireless cockpit would be the gold standard and we are getting there slowly. I think I will wait for the next iteration of wireless technology implementation and see what might fall out in a new generation of over or in-ear communication devices. Thanks again for a great discussion!

[LANCECASPER]

11 hours ago, 231LV said:

Thanks all for the thoughtful responses. Having read through these a couple of times, it seems that my desired objective can be accomplished but would be less than ideal and not elegant. I failed to mention that both headsets are running off ships power with the Bose pin connectors. We do have jacks side by side with the pin connectors but also like the "no battery required". The X is outdated but still a nice headset and worth more than the $250 credit Bose offers against a $1200 pair of A20's. Ideally, a wireless cockpit would be the gold standard and we are getting there slowly. I think I will wait for the next iteration of wireless technology implementation and see what might fall out in a new generation of over or in-ear communication devices. Thanks again for a great discussion!

For the Lemo plug (6 pin) Bose the first generation Blulink (https://www.chiefaircraft.com/pa-86blu.html)

They also make a Blulink II - I don't see much info about it - other than it's out of stock (https://www.pilot-usa.com/blulink-ii-bose-adapter.html)