Pirep Bose Comfort headset and Harmony boom mike

[Echo]

I purchased the Bose Comfort Bluetooth noise canceling headset for listening to music and wearing while cutting grass and taking commercial flights.  I discovered the Harmony product that works with the Bose for cockpit aviation.  The Harmony has multiple boom applications.  I originally purchased the lemo plug and it just worked fantastic in the plane.  My wife and I are doing more commercial travel so I decided to buy her a headset and a two plug boom for when we fly together.  Here are the prices I just paid.  Headset from Amazon and boom directly from Harmony.  NOT cheap, but with the dual application beyond aviation it is a win in my opinion.

[GeeBee]

It is all good for Part 91. If you fly for hire, the headset has to be TSO'd. We had a number of pilots busted for using converted Quiet Comfort units.

 

[Joshua Blackh4t]

Does that work with bluetooth at the same time? And how does it mix the communication and music signal?

[Echo]

6 hours ago, Joshua Blackh4t said:

Does that work with bluetooth at the same time? And how does it mix the communication and music signal?

I don't think so.  I have a music input jack.  The music soft mutes when you receive or make a radio transmission.

[LANCECASPER]

On 5/1/2024 at 6:49 AM, GeeBee said:

It is all good for Part 91. If you fly for hire, the headset has to be TSO'd. We had a number of pilots busted for using converted Quiet Comfort units.

 

I learned the hard way on why that's the case about 15 years ago.

I was going to bring a newly purchased 1989 Bravo from WI back to TX and didn't have my Bose Aviation headset with me.  Not wanting to buy another aviation headset I had a UFly Mike (the name Harmony used to use for their mics) overnighted to me in WI, since I had my early model Bose Quiet Comfort headset with me for the airline ride up there. I put a new AAA battery in the headset before take-off. A few hours later as I was coming into the Class B DFW airspace to get fuel at Mesquite TX the radio was silent. I pulled off my headset and used the hand mic and overhead speaker. The failsafe on aviation headsets is that when you lose the battery you lose the noise canceling but retain communications. Not so on the Quiet Comfort - you lose everything when the battery goes dead. Thankfully it all worked out, but I never used them in my airplane after that.  The UFy Mike ended up on Ebay and sold within an hour. Hopefully they've improved on that.

[Echo]

Battery life is like 24 hours on the quiet comfort. Long flight?  (Just kidding).  I carry a back-up basic headset (now two), but thanks for sharing that “issue”

[LANCECASPER]

1 hour ago, Echo said:

Battery life is like 24 hours on the quiet comfort. Long flight?  (Just kidding).  I carry a back-up basic headset (now two), but thanks for sharing that “issue”

It turns out that battery life depends on the amount of noise that it is canceling. This was a very early version so that may very well have improved. My new Bose Quiet Comfort headsets have a built in rechargeable battery that lasted from LAX-SYD back in December, as a passenger on a very quiet Airbus A-350, plugged into the in-flight screen, so not using up battery with bluetooth..

[Echo]

I have used mine for three years. I was charged the headset before I use it, but on up to a four hour flight I’ve never had an issue with being even close to using all my battery that said I totally understand why this would be a no go in a commercial aircraft. 

[GeeBee]

The TSO for headsets is unbelievably tough. Back in the late 90's I was part of a test group for a new style passive noise reduction headset made by a Danish defense company called Terma. https://www.terma.com.

The headset utilized a custom molded ear plugs. The plugs had little rubber bumps on it that acted as a microphone though the jawbone. So no mic boom. It was incredibly comfortable to wear, light weight, and the controllers always asked me what mic I was using because they said the clarity was remarkable. Even better you could put on your quick don O2 mask without having to remove your headset.   At that time they were looking at a 1500 dollar price (in the late 90's) and I was all in to order one once commercially available. However Terma could not get them TSO'd. The biggest stumbling block was the strain relief on the cords going into the ear mold. They were tiny almost hair width wire. Light, but maybe too light. At any rate our exemption to use them (since they were a non-TSO prototype) expired and Terma never finished the development. I can tell you if they did, even if they were 3000 now, I would buy one.

[Pinecone]

The new Bose QC fail safe and you can still hear.

I have an NC700, and the max it reports as battery life is 14 hours.