Headset Review

[redozbris]

Hello all, I recently purchased myself a headset, as I was getting a little over some of the headsets used in schools, so I thought I would offer my rough opinions on the different models I've tried, I've had on and finally the one I purchased.

 

Now I have a largeish head, finding hats that fit me can be hard from time to time, and the old saying of One Size Fits all, really doesnt work for me, so after a lot of reading and even more time in the aviation stores around brisbane and western australia, I thought I might put up some of my experiences with different headsets. There pro's and Cons, and what I Personally thought about them.

 

A little about me so you can make a comparison for yourself, I am 6ft7 and 110kgs, I'm a large solid guy, and as such finding things that fit can be hard, so if your in the same boat as me, read on, if your a 5ft6 70kg Average Guy, take what I say with a grain of salt..

 

Flightcom 4DX Headset

 

One of the first schools that I went to had these headsets in them, from the get go I wasnt really impressed with them, I had noticed that the seals around the cups where not all that tight, and there was a large amount of Noise from the cabin coming into the headset through these seals, I suspect that since they where the day to day headset for the students, that with a little TLC they could have been brought up to scratch. The price that I found out later on was reasonable, but you really do get what you pay for! Online they seem to range from $180-220AU, They where a reasonable comfortable fit after I adjusted the sides, but the construction seemed a little to 'cheap', they seemed to me that if they where thrown around a little they would be a little to easy to damage, but never the less, if you want to own your own headset, and dont want to spend any money, and just want a BASIC set, they seem to be okay... but thats about it...

 

Microphone worked as you would expect, noise came out when you spoke!

 

During the flight there was no where for the sweat to go, so it pooled in the cups and where the seals where pressing against my head and ears, it pooled there as well, something I've learned since this early tender step into flight, is that every so often, air them out, pop open one cup and then air it out for a tick, helps a lot!

 

Bose X20

 

I got the fly with one of these VERY VERY Expensive headsets when I was in South Australia, these where the personal set of the CFI, and I asked very nicely if I could fly with them on our lesson, Immediately I felt where the 1800+ dollars came from, they where VERY comfortable, They didnt clamp the sides of my head like a lot of others and provided very good PNR noise reduction, without the ANR enabled, the ANR is a dream for me, it was the lightest headset and easiest to wear besides the Zulu that I've ever worn, Highly recommended.

 

BUT! The ear cups are to small, towards the end of the lesson, since I head to bend the tips of my ears in, inside the headset cup, they where getting a little sore, so this was the only real negative, besides the price. PNR was excellent and ANR was even better! Was very tempted to purchase this unit, very tempted indeed, but the cost stayed my hand, Its hard to justify the cost, when there is a very close second unit that is very very close, and for me a better fit!

 

Microphone Clarity is excellent, though again it didnt seem to pick up my W's and M's unless I over empasied them, besides that it seemed to pick up my mumbles and put them through the intercom without to much problem.

 

The other drawback, though very minor is that I had to wear the headset just off centre, there isnt a place for the small nipple on your hat to be put into, not any problem, but I suspect that if your in the aircraft for a long period of time, it may become a problem... I only suspect this, if anyone can put there 10c's in for this I would love to hear it.

 

At the end of the flight, I cleaned the headset quickly and handed them back to the CFI, Much better than the david clark's that he was wearing, but I do thank him for affording me the chance to use them!

 

David Cark H10-13.4

 

The Green Machine, I've flow a few times with these headsets, and what can I say, from everything that I've read and experience myself, what they say is true, they are a comfortable headset, after some adjustment, I found them a little tight on the side of my head, but I am pretty sure after looking on the website and the parts list that there would be a way of adjusting this or an after market accessory to make them more comfortable.

 

Microphone Clarity was good, the Jabiru that I flew in had a Lot of noise (I felt) in the cabin, and the vox was turned up high to combat this, so you really had to speak lowdly to get it to kick in, though after a bit of time I got the hang of it and away we went!

 

I tried one without the plush headset top and one with, the one with was a great fit, the normal headset top was a little worn and you could feel the metal of the headset topband on your head, and again, since there was no space for your hats 'button/nipple', I REALLY felt it on my head, and a couple of times I had to adjust it to make it more comfortable.

 

With the top plush covering (Lambswool I think its called or something similar), this was alleviated, and the unit was very nice, I was tempted to purchase one of these as there a lot of them on sale on Ebay for less than $200 AU, and with the AU$ at a high, its temting :) But I wanted to geek it up a little and got ANR, as I just love the sound of silence! The PNR of all of the david clarks that I've worn are excellent, the wearing (well an hour each time) after some adjustment for my head was great, and a lot of places selling them get you a nice bag to bring them around in, I personally like the hard covers, as they're expesive items to get damaged!

 

Pilot Avionics ANR Model

 

I cant seem to find a lot of information on these little units, I can honestly say that I didnt like them, They where tight on my head, though they where new, they didnt seem to seal all that well around my head, after a bit of jigging around I eventually got them to sit on properly, the nice plush top that was on this headset was welcome, but I can say for a ANR headset they where not all that great at there job, the units that I had had plastic cups, and didnt do a great job of cancelling anything, Though a few stores seem to be selling them at a reasonable price, my 2c's are save some more money and get yourself a better PNR headset, it will do you better than these. It may of been a low battery on the kit, or just some other factor that I wasnt aware of at the time, but they didnt carry much for me!

 

Microphone Clarity was okay, The unit that I had on the day didnt have its little microphone cover, and the vox really needed to be turned up a little, as it was cutting in and out a LOT, The cover might have helped out.

 

Lightspeed Zulu

 

The headset that I purchased, I got to try these out with a school in SA a few weeks ago, and one of the my old instructors has a set as well, I am very impressed with them, when I shot them out between the X20 and the Zulu at two different stores, though the X20 offers more (Except for my ears) the Zulu offered the same for half the price, my only complaint is that for me, the PNR just seems a little less than that of the x20.

 

Microphone Clarity is excellent, though again it didnt seem to pick up my W's and M's unless I over empasied them, I suspect the VOX may have needed to be adjusted, but I'm mearly the student, and will learn more about the radio in the future.

 

The unit that I have fits very well, the stereo function is great, hearing in both ears is great, you cant change the location of the mike, or replace the connection cable, which I think may be a bit upsetting for some people, as a lot of other headsets have this option, but from everything that I've read, and my first hour in the air, they are a Great headset. My old instuctor had a problem with is after about 5 hours, but had them repaired without question or query, and The local repair agent is in Brisbane about 30 minutes from me, so I cant complain about that!!

 

The ear cups are excellent, and one of the first things that I noticed about the unit, it clamped my head great, and while I was walking around the pilot store with sunglass's hat and headset on, ANR on, it was a surreal experience, watching tv without hearing to much, another funny thing is when you closed your mouth, it was even more quiet! Another great reason to listen twice as much as you speak! I wish the Mike Boom was just a little longer, it wraps to about 4/5 the centre of my mouth, Just be nice to have it in front of my mouth rather just off to one side, doesnt seem to upset the unit, just a whine I think..

 

Constuction quality is less than the bose, and I feel the David clark (They are indeed build like tanks), I would LOVE to see the ability to swap out the leads yourself in field, as this is where the most problems will happen In my opinion, but everyone that owns one seems to say very nice things, including this happy purchaser. Its a welcome addition to my pilot bag.

 

I hope this small review can help someone in there purchase in the future, and welcome any comments, and if Bose or Lightspeed or Even David Clark would like me to review there headsets... I wont say no!

 

Mark - ReD

 

 

[Piet Fil]

Mark,

 

Thanks for the headset wrap-up. I am in the market for a headset and you have helped me settle on the DC10-13.4 for my normal sized head. It was a good read

 

Ta

 

Phil

 

 

[redozbris]

And there a good price as well!

 

 

[winsor68]

I have a nice cheap and simple Recreational Flying Headset as purchased from the site shop... for $124.95 you can't go wrong. Cheap and cheerful... and I don't have anything I can compare it to... it just works.

 

 

[Thirsty]

Thanks for the writeup. I'm also in the market for an ANR headset.

 

I tried the ANR headset at Temora the guy near the Pilot Shop was pushing. Never tried ANR before but it seemed to work pretty well cutting out the generator that was running next door. Anyone tried these before?

 

 

[fly_tornado]

I've got a set of aircraft spruce ANR headsets, the are a rebadged lightspeed, the ANR is impressive. Ordered a set of gel seals for extra comfort/noise reduction. About $300 delivered

 

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/skycomIIANR.php

 

http://www.lightspeedaviation.com/content/lightspeedaviation/CustomPages/QFRXCc.htm

 

 

[Thirsty]

Can you somehow use external power instead of using batteries?

 

 

[fly_tornado]

no but a pair of AA batteries are supposed to be good for 25 hours

 

 

[Thirsty]

Thanks. I was hoping to find a set that allowed plugging into the aircraft 12V supply.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

I know it would be nice but these are a basic set of ANR headsets, headsets are a prefect example incremental product features being tied to product pricing. AA batteries are cheap and the intercom I bough also uses them.

 

 

[Thirsty]

Thanks guys. I understand the pricing principle but I hate relying on batteries :)

 

The headsets at Temora I was talking about seemed to be a kind of DIY setup in a tent near the Jab display. They were $399 and seemed like pretty good quality.

 

 

[Bigglesworth]

I bought a set of Telex Stratus 50d headsets....... Very nice. I have only been using them passive recently so i can keep an ear on the motor, but even without the ANR they are nice. They take 12v or batteries and can interface with phone and mp3 player. Mic didn't work to well on phone when i tried, but the audio is Very good. As an audiophile, i don't want to come down for the sake of the music as well as everything else.

 

Every take off and landing I think of my good friend who is a hostess who's job is telling people to turn ipods off twice per flight. (NB, I was hoping the training course would teach her that a pilot is always right. But apparently there was more on 'how to order people around :( )

 

 

[Thirsty]

A little out of my range unfortunately!

 

 

[fly_tornado]

AA batteries will be the cheapest expense of any flight

 

 

[Thirsty]

Yes true but if I can use the 12V A/C power i can save that expense :)

 

 

[fly_tornado]

yu can jump into any aircraft and they will work!

 

 

[redozbris]

Very True, there is also a panel power version apparently, so I am assuming its a phantom power or an extra connector on the indicator panel to plug it in, but its a very good point, the batteries last for ages, and really, I keep spare in my flight bag anyway, as most of the things in there run of AA's (My little GPS, My tourch, My headset, I am pretty sure if you look hard enough, the flight bag itself will run off a box of AA's)

 

red

 

 

[jakej]

There is another way of having ANR capability into your existing headsets see http://www.headsetsinc.com/ supplied with battery pack (spend the extra $10 for auto off feature) and you can get a 9volt adaptor module to connect to aircraft power or make your own. There are thousands of these units in use - I have used them for years without problems, a good value for money option.

 

Jake J

 

 

[jerrajerra]

Thanks Mark for your review.

 

Impossible to pop down to the local store and try a few on as the local store is 970NM away.

 

I've just now ordered a headset based on your anlysis and reviews from couple other guys.

 

Cheers! Chris

 

 

[Powerin]

Thanks for that review Mark!

 

Sometimes it's hard to find what I would call "balanced" reviews of aviation gear...perhaps I look in the wrong places!

 

I haven't heard a bad thing about Zulus, from recreational to commercial pilots.....now if only I could afford them

 

 

[terryc]

I recently brought a new bose headset and their the best I've ever used. I shopped around and told them what I could get them for from the usa including postage and they all but matched it. Big cost reduction, so don't accept the price on the tag.

 

 

[flying dog]

One thing you seem to have missed is the head strap.

 

I bought a pair a while back - got sick of kissing eveyone else who used the plane's headset.

 

Not the cheapest, but not expensive either. But one thing to look at is the padding on that part which goes over your head.

 

Though some may look like they are ok, something which I didn't considder is this: I wear a hat when flying - usually.

 

This isn't good for a long flight as the "knob" on the top of the hat/cap is pressed into your head.

 

Although padding isn't a direct factor, WHERE the headset sits on/over your head is a factor.

 

 

[Powerin]

What sort did you buy F-dog? How about a review!

 

 

[flying dog]

Well, they work. I "discovered" the problem I mentioned, but that is neither here nor there WRT the make of mine.

 

But it is a consideration.

 

I guess that on that point, you need to possibily invest in some padding to put between your head and any hat if you choose to wear one while flying.