Normal headphones + foam earplugs > noise-cancelling headphones, IMHO

[APenNameAndThatA]

But noise-cancelling headphones + foam rubber earplugs are better than either other combination. The foam rubber earplugs, pictured below, work much better than the earplugs with rounded ends that look like they have been moulded. The moulded ones distort sound too much. This might save someone about $600. 

 

Disclaimer: I sleep with earplugs so I am very used to them. If you fly with someone else, who is not using earplugs, you will probably find that the other person’s headset sounds too loud and your headset sounds too soft, even when both headphones’ volume controls are as high and low as they go. It is less likely that the headset will not be loud enough. 

 

[Student Pilot]

Never been able to use earplugs of any sort. I get sore ears, tried for weeks on end but still gets sore. Best I've found is noise cancelling headset, helps immensely with radio communications.

[dlegg]

If wearing earplugs don't the voices in your head get louder as sound can't escape? You must have very loud dreams😄

[Old Koreelah]

I’ve never got much noise reduction from foam earplugs, but custom moulded ones really help- especially with decent earmuffs over the top. Noise cancelling sure helps too, especially expensive sets.

 

Google custom molded earplugs; $25 might buy you enough kit to make two pairs.

[Student Pilot]

13 hours ago, dlegg said:

If wearing earplugs don't the voices in your head get louder as sound can't escape? You must have very loud dreams😄

The tinfoil hat seems to amplify the noise as well!!!

[Ian]

What's the advantage of noise cancelling and earplugs. Wouldn't it be simpler to buy earphones that attenuate the sound more? 

A combination of https://www.amazon.com.au/Professional-Safety-Decibel-Defense-PROTECTION-GUARANTEED/dp/B01BEENYCQ  and earbud mikes might also be more effective if it floats your boat as it would combine the best quality of sound with an un-distorted sound feed.

I'm not 100% sure what you're saying. Do you wear passive foam plugs under your headphones? If that was the case your headphones would need to be louder to overcome the passive plugs and thus would sound louder and even with foam plugs with attenuate different frequencies at different rates.

The whole wearing a facemask and earplugs when sleeping never really lit my fire so I can't say I'm a fan. I wear ear protection when I need to but my house is pretty quiet of a nighttime. However if I slept with someone who snored I might change my mind 😉

 

https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA624086.pdf

There's a good piece of research on this however it's a pity that it didn't include the David Clark One-X in the mix as I'd be interested to know how much passive attenuation they provide. I suspect that they'd pay more attention to the passive attenuation than other brands but that's just a guess.

[Old Koreelah]

26 minutes ago, Ian said:

I'm not 100% sure what you're saying. Do you wear passive foam plugs under your headphones? If that was the case your headphones would need to be louder to overcome the passive plugs and thus would sound louder and even with foam plugs with attenuate different frequencies at different rates.

When operating noisy stuff I like to wear custom-moulded earplugs with good earmuffs over the top. Very quiet. 
Other times I wear my NC headphones tuned to ABC Jazz. 

26 minutes ago, Ian said:

The whole wearing a facemask and earplugs when sleeping never really lit my fire so I can't say I'm a fan. I wear ear protection when I need to but my house is pretty quiet of a nighttime. However if I slept with someone who snored I might change my mind ...

My wife has joined the army of people who counter sleep apnea with a face mask. Small and almost silent, it stops her snoring, which means I don’t need ear muffs.
It paid for itself the first year: her health improved so much she went back to work!

[kgwilson]

Personally I prefer PNC over ANC headsets as I can hear the engine note and can detect any little anomaly. I hate foam earplugs & can't see the point of having these as they will reduce the level of radio traffic information being received & this what the headset is for.

[APenNameAndThatA]

On 20/10/2022 at 9:07 PM, Ian said:

What's the advantage of noise cancelling and earplugs. Wouldn't it be simpler to buy earphones that attenuate the sound more? 

A combination of https://www.amazon.com.au/Professional-Safety-Decibel-Defense-PROTECTION-GUARANTEED/dp/B01BEENYCQ  and earbud mikes might also be more effective if it floats your boat as it would combine the best quality of sound with an un-distorted sound feed.

I'm not 100% sure what you're saying. Do you wear passive foam plugs under your headphones? If that was the case your headphones would need to be louder to overcome the passive plugs and thus would sound louder and even with foam plugs with attenuate different frequencies at different rates.

The whole wearing a facemask and earplugs when sleeping never really lit my fire so I can't say I'm a fan. I wear ear protection when I need to but my house is pretty quiet of a nighttime. However if I slept with someone who snored I might change my mind 😉

 

https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA624086.pdf

There's a good piece of research on this however it's a pity that it didn't include the David Clark One-X in the mix as I'd be interested to know how much passive attenuation they provide. I suspect that they'd pay more attention to the passive attenuation than other brands but that's just a guess.

I put passive foam rubber ear plugs in then I put on an active Lightspeed headset. The earplugs make all the sound softer. The headset volume is turned up. The sound does not distort. The end result is that the sound from the headset is just and loud and clear, but the sound from the aircraft is even softer than just using the headphones by themselves. 

[Bosi72]

On 19/10/2022 at 6:33 PM, APenNameAndThatA said:

This might save someone about $600. 

I tried several options as spending close to $2k on headsets didn't make sense, but I still ended up buying A20. 

 

Had I bought A20s as my first and only headsets, I would save $.

 

To my comfort, I keep DC's as spare or pax headsets.

 

 

 

[Ian]

Which DC's did you buy? Some of the higher end headsets just felt a bit plasticky, fragile and cheap despite the price tag. It's a pity that they don't publish measured attenuation figures, or if they do I'm not aware of them.

One thing to considered with the ANR is the type of connectors to get with the headphones so they can receive power from the plane.

[Bosi72]

H10-13.4

 

[APenNameAndThatA]

On 23/10/2022 at 11:07 AM, Bosi72 said:

I tried several options as spending close to $2k on headsets didn't make sense, but I still ended up buying A20. 

 

Had I bought A20s as my first and only headsets, I would save $.

 

To my comfort, I keep DC's as spare or pax headsets.

 

 

 

That is also a valid argument. Maybe. better headline would have been to try foam earplugs if you cant upgrade. 

Edited October 24, 2022 by APenNameAndThatA

[danny_galaga]

Since I moved back into my apartment, when I want to have an afternoon nap, I have to wear earplugs and earmuffs to drown out the racket of the crazy old bat next door who cranks up her telly- she only watches news, games shows and freakin ' horse racing. A more soulless cacophony than the sound of horse race calling, I cannot imagine. What are they even saying? No one knows 😅

 

Anyway, I can relate to the 'double bunger' method 🙂

Edited December 29, 2022 by danny_galaga

[facthunter]

Organise some "orgasm" sounds and she'l turn the volume down.  Nev

[onetrack]

It sounds like she's in need of hearing aids.

[danny_galaga]

1 hour ago, facthunter said:

Organise some "orgasm" sounds and she'l turn the volume down.  Nev

Heavy metal used to be my go to. She has hearing loss, but is in denial. For me to play something loud enough for her to hear it would mean I couldn't even be in my apartment while I play it 😅

[facthunter]

Curiosity killed the Cat.. Nev

[IBob]

I think APenNameAndThat's original proposition is quite cunning, and certainly worth considering:
1. 'Turn down' hearing by inserting earplugs (hopefully without sacrificing clarity).
2. Compensate by turning up headset volume.

3. Ratio of headset sound (radio and comms talk) to external sound is now improved.

[Ian]

21 hours ago, IBob said:

I think APenNameAndThat's original proposition is quite cunning, and certainly worth considering:
1. 'Turn down' hearing by inserting earplugs (hopefully without sacrificing clarity).
2. Compensate by turning up headset volume.

3. Ratio of headset sound (radio and comms talk) to external sound is now improved.

Signal to noise ratio.

The key issue is what is the attenuation profile of your favourite earplugs. If the plugs attenuation the higher frequencies more than lower ones, which they do, you're going to end up with muddy sound which mutes plosives and masks the temporal boundaries which we normally use to distinguish speech. Plosives have a lot of higher pitched sounds. This may not matter much if you already have some hearing loss.

This is one of the reasons why, as you get old, and your ability to hear higher pitched sound diminishes, conversations in noisy places with lots of hard surfaces become increasingly more difficult.

 

I'd be tempted to just buy noise cancelling headphones with good physical attenuation as well as active attenuation. It's hard to get published figures on these though I love to see test results so it was easier to make some value based choices.

 

 

[IBob]

17 minutes ago, Ian said:

Signal to noise ratio.

The key issue is what is the attenuation profile of your favourite earplugs. If the plugs attenuation the higher frequencies more than lower ones, which they do, you're going to end up with muddy sound which mutes plosives and masks the temporal boundaries which we normally use to distinguish speech. Plosives have a lot of higher pitched sounds. This may not matter much if you already have some hearing loss.

This is one of the reasons why, as you get old, and your ability to hear higher pitched sound diminishes, conversations in noisy places with lots of hard surfaces become increasingly more difficult.

 

I'd be tempted to just buy noise cancelling headphones with good physical attenuation as well as active attenuation. It's hard to get published figures on these though I love to see test results so it was easier to make some value based choices.

e

 

Hi Ian, yes all of that makes good sense.
And while I had good hearing for most of my younger life (as a young 'un in the UK I could tell you when there were bats around at night) I have always struggled to make out what people are saying in noisy pub type environments. I don't know why, and I find it very tiring trying to maintain contact in such environments.
Since taking up flying much later in life, and while my hearing for normal conversation remains fine, I have found I need all the help I can get in the cockpit. I am very happy with my Lightspeed Zulus, and even without the ANR switched on, they really do a great job of reducing the ambient noise.