denverpilot
Tied Down
Being a radio nerd, audio quality *both* directions being good, makes me happier than not.
With the advent of stuff like LiveATC over the past decade or so, I'm sure you've listened to some recording somewhere of yourself from the aircraft you fly.
What do you find to be the best sounding mics for your voice?
For me, it's hard not to love the mics on the old DC head clamps. 10-30, etc. They're crisp, clear, and even if they fall a little way away from your face, perfectly copyable. They "push" the highs and mids a bit, like any good communications quality mic for AM work, should. They're also a touch "hot" when used in most aircraft, to my ear.
Obviously, the ANR headsets went from an oddity that only the 1% could or would buy after the first Bose ones, that ignoring ANR these days while watching your old flying friends and instructors say, "Huh?" over and over, isn't an option anymore... so you buy them.
I'm currently a Lightspeed guy, but I find their audio shaping and choice of microphone -- weak. Not to mention the flexible boom itself. It just doesn't stay put once you place it correctly in any sort of turbulence, or G loaded maneuvers.
Frankly, when I listen to recordings of how it sounds on LiveATC, and yeah, from different aircraft just so we know it's not something specific to my 182's audio panel, I think it sounds exactly like I would expect a non-radio engineer's usage of an electret mic to sound.
Full range, but therefore muffled and with too much bass coloring the audio. It also obviously doesn't have much gain, and when that boom falls down, you just disappear.
It sounds like a crappy PC gaming headset, is exactly what it sounds like on the other end. Same tech, same lack of attention to detail in what a communications mic should sound like.
What do y'all think? I'm tempted to build an amp and at least an RC filter to make the thing sound right. Even seems like I get more "say again"s out of them than I ever got with the old D.C. mics.
Anyone have a favorite headset that actually sounds good with their voice, or has anyone even thought about it or listened?
I'm tempted to wire up the handheld to the various headsets I have lying around and even some from the hangar that the co-owners own, and a receiver here on the home lab bench and record a few, just to show the differences in audio quality. I've never seen any of the paid reviewers ever really do this, maybe it'd make for an interesting article for one of the aviation rags...
Could also run the audio through the scope and capture some data on their characteristics, too. Maybe even compare to a couple of Bob Heil's mics and other communications quality mics used outside of aviation.
Probably a project I don't really have time for, but maybe it'd be good motivation to clean off the workbench.
Anyone got thoughts on the mic side of things? A favorite sounding headset/mic they'd be willing to point to some LiveATC dates and times to listen to?
(Yeah yeah, I know LiveATC audio quality varies quite a bit depending on receiver and airport size... last I looked, Dave knocks the bandwidth of the stream down quite a bit at smaller airports. But if it sounds good there, it'll sound good on a proper test bench setup too, most likely.)
Favorites? A headset you've gotten an on-air compliment out of the blue for from a controller?
With the advent of stuff like LiveATC over the past decade or so, I'm sure you've listened to some recording somewhere of yourself from the aircraft you fly.
What do you find to be the best sounding mics for your voice?
For me, it's hard not to love the mics on the old DC head clamps. 10-30, etc. They're crisp, clear, and even if they fall a little way away from your face, perfectly copyable. They "push" the highs and mids a bit, like any good communications quality mic for AM work, should. They're also a touch "hot" when used in most aircraft, to my ear.
Obviously, the ANR headsets went from an oddity that only the 1% could or would buy after the first Bose ones, that ignoring ANR these days while watching your old flying friends and instructors say, "Huh?" over and over, isn't an option anymore... so you buy them.
I'm currently a Lightspeed guy, but I find their audio shaping and choice of microphone -- weak. Not to mention the flexible boom itself. It just doesn't stay put once you place it correctly in any sort of turbulence, or G loaded maneuvers.
Frankly, when I listen to recordings of how it sounds on LiveATC, and yeah, from different aircraft just so we know it's not something specific to my 182's audio panel, I think it sounds exactly like I would expect a non-radio engineer's usage of an electret mic to sound.
Full range, but therefore muffled and with too much bass coloring the audio. It also obviously doesn't have much gain, and when that boom falls down, you just disappear.
It sounds like a crappy PC gaming headset, is exactly what it sounds like on the other end. Same tech, same lack of attention to detail in what a communications mic should sound like.
What do y'all think? I'm tempted to build an amp and at least an RC filter to make the thing sound right. Even seems like I get more "say again"s out of them than I ever got with the old D.C. mics.
Anyone have a favorite headset that actually sounds good with their voice, or has anyone even thought about it or listened?
I'm tempted to wire up the handheld to the various headsets I have lying around and even some from the hangar that the co-owners own, and a receiver here on the home lab bench and record a few, just to show the differences in audio quality. I've never seen any of the paid reviewers ever really do this, maybe it'd make for an interesting article for one of the aviation rags...
Could also run the audio through the scope and capture some data on their characteristics, too. Maybe even compare to a couple of Bob Heil's mics and other communications quality mics used outside of aviation.
Probably a project I don't really have time for, but maybe it'd be good motivation to clean off the workbench.
Anyone got thoughts on the mic side of things? A favorite sounding headset/mic they'd be willing to point to some LiveATC dates and times to listen to?
(Yeah yeah, I know LiveATC audio quality varies quite a bit depending on receiver and airport size... last I looked, Dave knocks the bandwidth of the stream down quite a bit at smaller airports. But if it sounds good there, it'll sound good on a proper test bench setup too, most likely.)
Favorites? A headset you've gotten an on-air compliment out of the blue for from a controller?
