ANR Headset

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jesse

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Jesse
I currently have an older passive david clark headset that was passed down to me. It's not bad. But I find it to get extremely uncomfortable if I'm in the air for 2 hours or so.. Which is rare, But I suspect later in my career it won't be. Not only that it isn't exactly the most quiet headset. The audio is acceptable but not exceptional.

I'm looking for something with ANR and am not really picky as far as brands go. All I've ever used have been David Clark. An interface to hook up something like an Ipod would be nice incase I end up pulling banners one day.

Price is obviously a concern, But I do consider it an investment so am willing to spend some money on it.

Any recommendations?
 
Good question Jesse,
I was actually looking to buy some ANR's or possibly asking for a set of them for Christmas. I flew in a Beech Premier one time that had the BOSE ANR's, they were something, but I wouldn't need anything that expensive.
I am anxious to see what everyone has to see.
 
I have the Pilotcomm 17-79 ANR. It's cheaper than the alternatives but just as good.

It has a rechargeable battery in the headset itself - no box to worry about. Supposedly the newer ones have auto-shutoff as well to prevent leaving it on after use.

It's just passable as a passive headset (when your battery runs down because you forgot to recharge ....) but it's very good as ANR.
 
MSmith said:
It's just passable as a passive headset... but it's very good as ANR.
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Most ANR headsets are that way, with Bose being the worst in passive mode. They are good with the ANR on though. Jesse, did you try one of my headsets when we went flying? I've found the Lightspeeds to be fairly comfortable but this is an individual thing so you really need to try before you buy. IMO auto shutoff is a must have unless you go with a panel powered type (not a good idea for a renter). Without auto shutoff you will be luck to average 2-3 flights per battery change.
 
lancefisher said:
Without auto shutoff you will be luck to average 2-3 flights per battery change.
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I agree with Lance that the only way to choose a headset is to try them on. I also agree that ANR is worth paying up for.

However, I don't agree that without auto shutoff, your batteries are cooked. I have an older Dave Clark ANR and yes, when I first got them, I left them on, twice. 6 AAs, toasted each time.

But we all use checklists, don't we? Ever since I put turning off the ANR on my shutdown checklist, it hasn't been a problem for me. And I suspect that most of us pilots are organized enough to find a way to remember to shut the ANR off.

Don't get me wrong! If I were buying I would definitely look for auto-shut off as a desirable option. But, everything else being equal, I don't think I'd pay more than $20 for the option. Of course, IMHO and YMMV.

-Skip
 
I've owned several pairs of Lightspeeds, but switched to Bose when the Aviation X came out a couple of years ago. For my money they're much more comfortable than the others, and the noise reduction is very, very good. Battery life is good as well.

I kept the Lightspeeds for PAX, and made the mistake of letting my wife try out the Bose. Now she wants one...
 
I bought Pilots shortly after starting, I don't remember the number now, they may be 1779s. they are excellent. I especially like to sit in the cockpit with my instructor (using old DCs, much like yours I bet) and when we are doing the "can you hear me, check check" go CLICK of the button and then ahhhhhhh.

and he KNOWS what it does b/c the day I went under the hood I used his b/c the foggles fit his, not mine. (and I have to buy my own foggles b/c I won't use his again!!) hee hee
 
I like my Denali's. Used em on my 41 hour cross country, and didn't even know they were on most of the time.
 
lancefisher said:
Jesse, did you try one of my headsets when we went flying? I've found the Lightspeeds to
Click to expand...

Yes I did. It was an expensive mistake. ANR is now a must.

Is the Bose worth the extra $400? It just seems like such a price hike over the others.
 
I was in a quandry too when I decided to upgrade to ANC (or ENC). Didn't have a convenient way to try out different brands under actual flight conditions. So, I went David Clark because the price was reasonable and I had been very happy with my passive DC's. Many complain that DC's are uncomfortable but I find them quite bearable and love the ENC. I have worn them on many long x-countries, 6-8 hours/day.
 
DoubleD said:
I was in a quandry too when I decided to upgrade to ANC (or ENC). Didn't have a convenient way to try out different brands under actual flight conditions. So, I went David Clark because the price was reasonable and I had been very happy with my passive DC's. Many complain that DC's are uncomfortable but I find them quite bearable and love the ENC. I have worn them on many long x-countries, 6-8 hours/day.
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I agree with you and I own 2-DC-13XLs. I tried the lightspeeds and owned three of them, QFR, 20XL and 3G. Each one broke and needed repair. The LS customer service was great but I want to use my headset not my headset's manufacturer's customer service. UPS was spending more time than I with my equipment.

Scott
 
I'm on my second pair of Lightspeeds. I'm quite happy with them and the customer service is exceptional.
 
I bought my Bose when I started flying three years ago. I have had no problems and they are very comfortable on long flights. I bought my wife a pair when I got my PPl and she loves them. She's never complained about the engine noise or the comfort. My son is working on his PPL and keeps borrowing the wife's. There is a big difference between the Bose and the junk in the rental planes.
 
Lance F said:
I'm on my second pair of Lightspeeds. I'm quite happy with them and the customer service is exceptional.
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But that is the point I am trying to make. Everyone that has LS headsets is aware of the exceptional customer service. In other words the darn things will break and you will have to get them repaired. We should not settle for an almost 100% failure rate for a product that costs a few hundred dollars.

LS has great ANR and lousy quality.
 
lancefisher said:
Most ANR headsets are that way, with Bose being the worst in passive mode. They are good with the ANR on though. Jesse, did you try one of my headsets when we went flying? I've found the Lightspeeds to be fairly comfortable but this is an individual thing so you really need to try before you buy. IMO auto shutoff is a must have unless you go with a panel powered type (not a good idea for a renter). Without auto shutoff you will be luck to average 2-3 flights per battery change.
Click to expand...

The reason Bose is worst of all in passive mode is the same reason it seems better in active mode, but isn't. Bose is such a rip-off. By having crappy performance passively, the difference between passive and active is impressive, and it sells product, perhaps especially in the non-aviation market. But the actual noise attentuation in the active mode is no better than in many less expensive headsets.

Or so it seems to me...

Hunter
 
Skip Miller said:
But we all use checklists, don't we? Ever since I put turning off the ANR on my shutdown checklist, it hasn't been a problem for me. And I suspect that most of us pilots are organized enough to find a way to remember to shut the ANR off.

Don't get me wrong! If I were buying I would definitely look for auto-shut off as a desirable option. But, everything else being equal, I don't think I'd pay more than $20 for the option. Of course, IMHO and YMMV.

-Skip
Click to expand...

Truth be told, I don't use a checklist for shutdown beyond the chant of radios, mixtures, mags, master, but the biggest problem I have with headsets being left on are the ones my pax use. I've even gotten my own family to be pretty good about it, but it seems that whenever I have other passengers, one or more headsets gets left on. And even I manage to leave one on every once in a while, probably when there's some distraction at shutdown. So you can see why I strongly prefer autoshutdown, even though the Lightspeeds only use 2 AA's at a time.
 
I have used many different models and here is a quick run down, take it for what you will. I started out with the Flightcom Denali's - nice set, but didn't seal up to my head very well and had a wierd sound in the speaker during takeoff; not impressed. The Lightspeeds are nice for the price and a buddy has a set that you could plug in your ipod, he uses it for the xm radio. He swears by the headset. I also flew with the Bose Series 1, my favorite of all of them and I currently use. It seals up great to my head and is fantastic with the ANR turned on. The problem with this set is Bose hasn't produced them for some time and refuses to work on them. I found a set on eBay that had been factory remanufactured in 02 and not used since, gold mine. The Bose X are very nice, but for me they didn't seal up as nicely as the older model. The last time I heard, Bose was offering a discount on the X's of $275 if you turned in an old pair. So you can pick up a fried pair off of eBay for $50 and turn it into Bose to save some scratch. The choice is yours and it is best to find the one that best fits your needs.
 
2 pair of Softcomm C-90s in my flight bag. Good ANR performance, comfortable, and I never forget to turn them off as I disconnect the battery pack and drop it in the pocket for the headset in my flight bag before putting the headset in. Bought the second one on-line for under $300 in 2001. As noted above, try before you buy. Each person will find a different headset most comfortable.
 
The Bose is tempting. They allow you to break it up over 6 or 12 month payments on your credit/debit card. Still an awful lot of money.

Lightspeed is quite a bit cheaper.

I'll be wanting it by the time I start my instrument training. As I plan to fly everyday of the week and knock it out quick.

I hate big purchases.


Thanks for all the information everyone. I'll either go lightspeed or bose.
 
jangell said:
Price is obviously a concern, But I do consider it an investment so am willing to spend some money on it.
Click to expand...

I have two ANR headsets, a Lightspeed 30-3G and a Lightspeed 20XLc. The 20XLc was bought from them remanufactured for $275, and thus was an excellent deal. I looked, but it no longer looks like Lightspeed offers remanufactured headsets.

As far a noise is concerned, I find little difference between them (the 30-3G is slightly better), and if I were to do it again, I'd have ordered a second 20XLc instead of the 30-3G. I find the Bose to be slightly better than the 30-3G, but much lighter and more comfortable.

My advice:

  • Cheap: see if www.headsetsinc.com has an ANR upgrade for one of your green headcrushers, around $169.
  • Middle of the road: Lightspeed 20XLc.
  • What's 10 hrs of rental time, anyway?: Bose
 
jangell said:
Is the Bose worth the extra $400?
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I've flown with them, and I don't think so. I like my Pilot 17-79's, but as always, what's comfortable on my head/ears may not be on yours. And I have found no perceptible performance difference between any of the ANR headsets. As far as I can tell, the choice is a matter of durability, reliability, comfort, and features rather than performance.
 
Well. I just ordered the Bose.. It better be good.

I checked the resale value of them on Ebay and I seen used ones selling for $850. So even if I decide someday I no longer want it, I wouldn't have much of a loss.

Hopefully it'll be here by Friday as I'll be flying sometime then.

I'll write what I think of them.
 
You'll be happy with the Bose. I found their passive (dead battery) ANR better than my 30-3G lightspeeds. (Despite the other comments that their passive sucks.) :)
 
jangell said:
Well. I just ordered the Bose.. It better be good.
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They are :yes:

I finally got around to getting a fixed wing to helicopter adapter for mine and flew the R22 with my Bose for the first time this morning. I almost couldn't believe how clear the radio and intercom audio was vesus the passive sets we normally keep in the bird.

I could hear just enough engine and rotor noise to know what was going on, but I didn't realize how quiet it was until I took them off during the shutdown cycle and was amazed at how noisy it got.

You'll like 'em!
 
AirBaker said:
You'll be happy with the Bose. I found their passive (dead battery) ANR better than my 30-3G lightspeeds. (Despite the other comments that their passive sucks.) :)
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IME the original Bose (with the clear gell earseals) was pretty good passive wise but the X just doesn't seal well, at least for me, especially with sunglasses. Could be a personal fit issue, YRMV. Of course if you have spare batteries this shouldn't be much of an issue.

Jesse, as long as they fit your head (certain head shapes seem to be incompatible with certain headsets) I think you'll be very happy with the Bose X. In response to competition from LS they added autoshutoff, went to a pair of AA's for power (vs the old 9v system), and made the volume controls much easier to adjust. Comfort wise I think the Bose X has a definite edge over LS but it's not a big edge for me. ANR wise I've found them to be comparable. The one thing the Bose excels at is the quality of the sound, especially if you are listening to music. Offsetting that the LS's have a three position tone control, and a cellphone/music interface built in.
 
[rant]
Well. It may be awhile.

I ordered it online from Bose's website. I didn't bother to print the last Confirmation page. Thinking I'll get an e-mail with it. Wrong.

I never received an e-mail from Bose about the order. I made a major mistake of ordering it with my Paypal Debit Card (uses funds in the paypal account). Bose apperantly checked to make sure the balance was there and when that happens PayPal locks those funds for 10 business days to see if the actual transaction goes through. Well it's not going to go through because the Bose customer service reps tell me I never made an order.

So now I must wait 10 days for Paypal to release it before I can make the order.

Oh, BTW. Don't use PayPal I've had nothing but trouble over the last few years with them.
[/rant]
 
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I didn't say much because there was an early post about the Bose not being considered. I had Lightspeeds; DCs and a have tried Telex and one or two others; on long trips or when one is in the plane a long time, the Bose stand out as not only quiet, but light--which after several hows makes a lot of difference. The Lightspeeds worked well in the retailer's booth, but in my plane there was an irritating sound that they couldn't eliminate. I have the pilot's side in each plane hard wired for Bose.

Dave
 
Sorry to hear about your PayPal troubles Jesse.

I have a Telex Airman 200 ANR headset that is nice and I aquired it from my grandfather as a swap for my passive David Clark (he just needed an extra set' for pax) and it is nice, but the Bose X is a whole lot nicer. The company my dad works for which has a fleet of over 70 Cessna Citations' uses Bose X in the cockpit and they have excellent rich sound and are very comfortable/light to wear. On long trips, if you don't speak for a while, it autoshuts-off which kinda stinks if your on a solo x-country and not talking to ATC for 15 or so minutes....I suppose you should be talking to yourself and going through things.

Let me know how you make out in the end...I'm interested in how well you like (...or don't like) the Bose.
 
Dave Siciliano said:
I didn't say much because there was an early post about the Bose not being considered. I had Lightspeeds; DCs and a have tried Telex and one or two others; on long trips or when one is in the plane a long time, the Bose stand out as not only quiet, but light--which after several hows makes a lot of difference. The Lightspeeds worked well in the retailer's booth, but in my plane there was an irritating sound that they couldn't eliminate. I have the pilot's side in each plane hard wired for Bose.

Dave
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Dave, if you have the pilot's side hardwired for Bose, will other headsets still work on that side without damage?
 
Just for clarification... My Lightspeed 30-3G's intelligibility went down without batteries, the bose seemed to bump up the volume without batteries.
 
RotaryWingBob said:
Dave, if you have the pilot's side hardwired for Bose, will other headsets still work on that side without damage?
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Bose hardwired outlets use a unique multi pin circular connector. Most installations leave the standard jacks wired in parallel and those will still work fine with any other headset.
 
lancefisher said:
Bose hardwired outlets use a unique multi pin circular connector. Most installations leave the standard jacks wired in parallel and those will still work fine with any other headset.
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Ahhh. Thanks Lance.
 
Great choice on the Bose, you will be happy. I'm going to be ordering mine as soon as my wife releases the funds!

Wow - too bad your having PayPal troubles. I've used them for years to buy stuff off e-bay without a hitch. Recently released a website and we use Paypal for some stuff on there - never had a problem or a complaint from our members.

-Walter
 
walterman said:
Wow - too bad your having PayPal troubles. I've used them for years to buy stuff off e-bay without a hitch. Recently released a website and we use Paypal for some stuff on there - never had a problem or a complaint from our members.

-Walter
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The last incident I had with them was a few months ago when I sold an Ipod on E-bay. The buyer paid me via PayPal and I then shipped it UPS ground and provided a tracking number to the buyer. I even printed the UPS labels from Paypal and paid UPS via Paypal.

A few days later the buyer files a complaint with PayPal that I did not ship the item. The tracking number was provided to the buyer and I provided it again. I then responded to the complaint on PayPals website and provided the tracking number as they requested.

A few days later I receive an e-mail that PayPal ruled in the buyers favor. They then took the $280 out of my checking account !.! This caused multiple transactions to be overdrafted (I already spent the $$ from the Ipod on my private checkride) I checked the tracking number and it clearly indicated that the Ipod was delivered and was even SIGNED for by the buyer.

I called up PayPal and they told me that it was their right to rule in the buyers favor and that they checked the tracking number before they did it. I then argued with the Paypal Rep who hung up on me. I then called back and talked to another one who proceeded to tell me the same thing and I finally convinced her to go to UPS's website and put the tracking number in. She admitted that it showed delivered BEFORE they honered in the buyers favor. She told me that she'd send it to the proper department and they'd have it fixed in a few days. I asked for her name.

A week later still nothing so I called back and received the run around again. Same thing.

Another week. Same thing. I finally typed up a letter pretending to be a lawyer and faxed it to them. About 24 hours later the money was in my PayPal account. My bank worked with me a litlte bit and waived some of hte overdraft fees but refused to do all of them.

The buyer was then selling my Ipod on *HER* account. This made me even more mad. She used my pictures and descriptions. She ripped off another person and she then had multiple negatives and closed her account.

Paypal works great..until you have a problem.
 
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I have a DC H20-10ENC and it is one fo the best headsets i've used yet, and way more comfortable than the standard DC's.
 
jangell said:
Paypal works great..until you have a problem.
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I have my paypal account set up to make charges to a credit card acccount not affiliated with paypal. Given your experience (and a couple others I've heard of) I'd never trust paypal with access to my bank account.
 
walterman said:
Great choice on the Bose, you will be happy. I'm going to be ordering mine as soon as my wife releases the funds!

Wow - too bad your having PayPal troubles. I've used them for years to buy stuff off e-bay without a hitch. Recently released a website and we use Paypal for some stuff on there - never had a problem or a complaint from our members.

-Walter
Click to expand...

When things work, they work & when they don't, they don't.

I didn't know one from another until my website SuperNerd actually recommended it and we've not had any problems with PayPal for our AV website (MountainFlyingVideos.com) in over one year... hope it doesn't change -knock on wood...

What else out there is better than Pay Pal ?
 
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