Need a new headset

[SilentT]

Hey all, 

I want to tell my wife to get me a headset for Xmas to go with the J project coming to an end. All through training I've been using consumer noise canceling headphones with an Nflight adapter kit. It's probably a great time to hear tower better.  I won't have my cfi to say "wud they say?" anymore. 

My radio is '85 original so I'm sure it's quality ain't the best, but maybe certain sets pair better? 

Thoughts? 

[Hank]

Can't say enough about Quiet Technologies Halos. My wife didn't want anything in her ear, preferred the big over-the-ear style, but I bought her a set and it only took a 20-minute local flight to change her mind.

[201er]

18 minutes ago, Hank said:

Can't say enough about Quiet Technologies Halos. My wife didn't want anything in her ear, preferred the big over-the-ear style, but I bought her a set and it only took a 20-minute local flight to change her mind.

+2 for Halo. Having to wear a measly Bose for a flight after being used to Halo felt like a major discomfort/downgrade. Wife was skeptical about Halo at first but wouldn’t go back now either. 

Old school David Clark’s are good for 2 hours tops.

Modern ANR headsets maybe good for 4 hours.

Halo you can wear all day.

I’ve flown many 6-11 hour flights in Mooney with Halo and couldn’t imagine wearing Bose for so long.

Only with Halo you can wear hat, glasses, and canula while eating a sandwich without anything in the way or bothering you.

Edited 11 hours ago by 201er

[cliffy]

If you decide to go the Halo route above I have 2 complete sets -  one used for 2 flights and the other unused.

They didn't work for my hearing issues and the wife doesn't want to use any head set at all-

I'll sell them for half price of what ever the going rate is - I haven't looked that up yet.

Just PM me and I'll send pics if you want.

[Bartman]

I bought 2 of the Bose A30 about 1 year ago and I am happy with them.  The noise cancelling is far better than 2 pairs of my 20-years old pairs of Bose X.  Although I did not think I would use it, I do like the Bluetooth and have answered or made more than a few calls using the headset.  I can connect to the panel and provide music for all, but I also like that I can connect my bluetooth to my phone and listen to music without disturbing the queen while she sleeps.  If she is not sleep within a few minutes in cruise, I just climb a little higher.

[SilentT]

2 hours ago, Hank said:

Can't say enough about Quiet Technologies Halos. My wife didn't want anything in her ear, preferred the big over-the-ear style, but I bought her a set and it only took a 20-minute local flight to change her mind.

I struggle with in ear buds... I have stupid ear holes. Are these buds or something else? 

[Max Clark]

I started with the David Clark 13.4, and upgraded to the DC One-X (crazy lightweight carbon fiber).

I've been flying with a Bose A30 for 2-3 years now. I find the Bose to be much better on my ears and the ANC is fantastic.

FYI on the Bose, the clamping pressure changed between the A20 and A30. Some people prefer the older model for this reason, something you might want to try out before you buy.

Bought my kids the Lightspeed Sierra ANR headset. Super comfortable fit, made me curious about their Delta Zulu with the built in CO2 detector.

[Max Clark]

2 hours ago, Hank said:

Can't say enough about Quiet Technologies Halos. My wife didn't want anything in her ear, preferred the big over-the-ear style, but I bought her a set and it only took a 20-minute local flight to change her mind.

Are these ANC or passive?

[SilentT]

3 minutes ago, Max Clark said:

I started with the David Clark 13.4, and upgraded to the DC One-X (crazy lightweight carbon fiber).

I've been flying with a Bose A30 for 2-3 years now. I find the Bose to be much better on my ears and the ANC is fantastic.

FYI on the Bose, the clamping pressure changed between the A20 and A30. Some people prefer the older model for this reason, something you might want to try out before you buy.

Bought my kids the Lightspeed Sierra ANR headset. Super comfortable fit, made me curious about their Delta Zulu with the built in CO2 detector.

Im starting to gather headsets is something that needs to be tried for fit before bought. 

I've been rocking sennheiser momentum 4 and I love the fit. But the anr isnt made for aircraft so while it's amazing for consumer and pax jets, it's wonky as hell in the Mooney. 

[Hank]

35 minutes ago, SilentT said:

I struggle with in ear buds... I have stupid ear holes. Are these buds or something else? 

Mine came with two sizes of foam earplugs, which I gave away. There are also two sizes of silicone inserts. The speakers are actually behind your head, and thensound travels through silicone tubes into and through the center of the silicone insert. Very comfortable, better than the earplugs I used to wear at work. My blue work earplugs on red cords contrasted with the Halo headset and gray tips; one speaker is visible in the headband, with the sound tube coming out of it. The Halos are built by a Mooney-owning PhD Audiologist.

11 minutes ago, Max Clark said:

Are these ANC or passive?

These are passive, but have a very high sound deadening rating, much quieter than my old head-clamping passive headset.

P.S.--Halos are about 1/4 the cost of fancy new ANR headsets . . . . and i think they work as well but are much more comfortable and don't require batteries!

[Max Clark]

This is very cool. I'm tall enough that I'll hit the ceiling in certain planes (looking at you Cirrus). I was looking at the Bose Proflight but you still have the headband, and they heavily stress it's not for Piston GA aircraft.

[Jackk]

I’ve been running lightspeed Zulus for just shy of 10,000hrs of mostly professional work flying now (piston fixed and rotor wing, turbo prop, jets), started on the first Zulus now have the 3s, I LOVE the Kevlar rope like cords. 

 

 Been very happy with the product and conpany

 

 I’ve also flown all the Bose over ears and most of the DCs

 I don’t do in ear ANR outside of shooting, and even there I can only wear them a few hours before they bug me, and that’s factoring having custom “plugs” made by a audiologist

 I like the Zulus for their larger ear cups and better winter and loud cabin benifits, they also seem to pair and do blue tooth easier, the new DZ headset also has CO monitoring.

 

 That said buying a headset is like buying a new bow, you go to go to the shop and see what fits you. 

Edited 8 hours ago by Jackk

[Max Clark]

1 minute ago, Jackk said:

I LOVE the Kevlar rope like cords. 

Not to mention they're designed to be stashed in a pocket with the cables on the same side of the battery/control box.

[Jackk]

2 hours ago, Bartman said:

I bought 2 of the Bose A30 about 1 year ago and I am happy with them.  The noise cancelling is far better than 2 pairs of my 20-years old pairs of Bose X.  Although I did not think I would use it, I do like the Bluetooth and have answered or made more than a few calls using the headset.  I can connect to the panel and provide music for all, but I also like that I can connect my bluetooth to my phone and listen to music without disturbing the queen while she sleeps.  If she is not sleep within a few minutes in cruise, I just climb a little higher.

 Depending on the flying you do, I will NOT fly a non Bluetooth headset.

 

 I have had some very annoying situations mitigated a few times from being able to Bluetooth to my phone, calling ATC, tower, ground transportation, even used it for some more exotic odd ball stuff.   
 

 Plus the audio quality for music from my phone is better the going through the high dollar audio panels, and everyone can pick their own toons

 

 If you use it once in one of those situations o first mentioned, you won’t even look at non BT headsets again 

[Flyler]

14 minutes ago, Jackk said:

I’ve been running lightspeed Zulus for just shy of 10,000hrs of mostly professional work flying now (piston fixed and rotor wing, turbo prop, jets), started on the first Zulus now have the 3s, I LOVE the Kevlar rope like cords. 

 

 Been very happy with the product and conpany

 

 I’ve also flown all the Bose over ears and most of the DCs

 I don’t do in ear ANR outside of shooting, and even there I can only wear them a few hours before they bug me, and that’s factoring having custom “plugs” made by a audiologist

 I like the Zulus for their larger ear cups and better winter and loud cabin benifits, they also seem to pair and do blue tooth easier, the new DZ headset also has CO monitoring.

 

 That said buying a headset is like buying a new bow, you go to go to the shop and see what fits you. 

I use these earbuds, I think they are called "Axel Ghost Strike", something similar.  They both filter out loud noises (gunshots) and act as hearing aids. It's like cheating in the woods, I can hear a deer walking from miles away.

I have a set of A30s but always assumed the Zulus would be a bit better at passive filtering due to their size.  Is that the case? The ANR does a decent job on the Bose but boy can you tell if the battery goes dead... Do you think the Zulus make a big difference in the passive department?

[McMooney]

love my lightspeeds, 

i have hte 20xl, sierras and the zulus,  all are excellent.

20xls i bought new something like 16 years ago, they still sound awesome.

sierras i purchased as a passenger headset but i wear them as often as i wear my zulus

zulus, awesome, work just as good passive as they do turned on, quiet, most important they don't clamp my head.

[Jackk]

44 minutes ago, Flyler said:

I use these earbuds, I think they are called "Axel Ghost Strike", something similar.  They both filter out loud noises (gunshots) and act as hearing aids. It's like cheating in the woods, I can hear a deer walking from miles away.

I have a set of A30s but always assumed the Zulus would be a bit better at passive filtering due to their size.  Is that the case? The ANR does a decent job on the Bose but boy can you tell if the battery goes dead... Do you think the Zulus make a big difference in the passive department?

 I don’t use them passive for more than 20 seconds, I have a battery caddy in my flight bag, holds like 12 or 14 AAs, after flying long haul I upped my capacity lol

 

 I also made sure all my flight electrons, including flashlight, all ran AAs

[Skates97]

4 hours ago, Hank said:

Can't say enough about Quiet Technologies Halos. My wife didn't want anything in her ear, preferred the big over-the-ear style, but I bought her a set and it only took a 20-minute local flight to change her mind.

 

I've been using Halos for 9 years now and love them. My wife tried them once shortly after we got the Mooney and she wanted to keep them so I ordered her a set right away.

[varlajo]

Clarity Aloft

[GeeBee]

It's personal. I was at FXE the other day at the Banyan pilot shop and a store employee was instructing a new hire and she said, "The choice of a headset is highly personal, we have this display so they can try them all." That is what I recommend. Go to a shop that has them all, try them all on, try listening through them and decide what you like. Me I am happy with my Bose A20, don't see the need to upgrade to the A30. Agree about BT. Must have. I operate out of an uncontrolled field so the ability to phone for clearance and to cancel IFR is important to me. 

The best headset I ever had was experimental made by Terma, a Danish defense contractor. It had two custom molded earpieces with the mic pickup built in to the earpiece. It used the jawbone as a sound reflector. It was amazingly clear, no boom hanging around. The earpieces acted as passive noise reduction. Unfortunately they could never pass the FAA TSO requirements so they gave up and recalled them all. I wish someone would pick up the design.

[icurnmedic]

Bose A20> A30 for me. As mentioned above, get Bluetooth. Changed my flying experience, particularly in the cubs.

[PT20J]

When I was flying float Beavers part 135 (a Beaver is really noisy) several of the pilots swapped headsets and the conclusion was that the Bose A20 was quieter than the Lightspeed Zulu. But, personally, I found the Zulu more comfortable on longer flights and the difference in ANR performance in a Mooney is negligible. So, I'd pick whatever is more comfortable. I used to use the Bluetooth in the headset, but don't anymore since installing a PMA450B audio panel that has Bluetooth capability for phone calls to clearance delivery.

A lot of folks like the Halos. I bought one for my wife but could never get mic to stay in the right place and she got tired of messing with it and doesn't use it anymore.

[McMooney]

5 hours ago, Flyler said:

I use these earbuds, I think they are called "Axel Ghost Strike", something similar.  They both filter out loud noises (gunshots) and act as hearing aids. It's like cheating in the woods, I can hear a deer walking from miles away.

I have a set of A30s but always assumed the Zulus would be a bit better at passive filtering due to their size.  Is that the case? The ANR does a decent job on the Bose but boy can you tell if the battery goes dead... Do you think the Zulus make a big difference in the passive department?

My Zulus are GREAT passive, as in there are times i've forgotten to turn them on