Bose A20 question

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Flying h4x0r

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Flying h4x0r
Just got them in the mail, and trying them out at home.

I turned the noise canceling function on, and I can still hear a very fine, high pitched buzz, almost like fine static on a radio. Is this normal?

I've used QC-15s in the past, and when I had the noise canceling feature is on with those, it was absolutely silent. I was just expecting the same thing with these.

Just want to make sure I'm not the not the only one and didn't get a gimp pair.
 
Check the squelch volume on the unit you plugged them into? When in the plane and I have that it's either the squelch or the batteries.
 
saracelica said:
Check the squelch volume on the unit you plugged them into? When in the plane and I have that it's either the squelch or the batteries.
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They're just plugged into my MP3 player right now. Batteries are the ones that came with it. I'll try to find a fresh pair.
 
When I have mine plugged in at the house just to test the ANR, I can feel that it is working. Not so much a hum, but something is there that makes my head feel wierd as if my ears are clogged or as if my equilibriam is off. However, when in use in a cessna 172, I dont notice it or have any odd feelings. My guess is that he ANR is busy working to cancel the engine noises and whatever is left does not bother me. But the A20 all by itself on in a quiet room feels odd... No other way to describe it. Never tried it plugged into a music player...

Is what you are experienceing similar to what I mention above?

In the plane I love it.. Makes the 172 sound like a sewing machine...:lol:

Marc
 
Addicted2climbing said:
When I have mine plugged in at the house just to test the ANR, I can feel that it is working. Not so much a hum, but something is there that makes my head feel wierd as if my ears are clogged or as if my equilibriam is off. However, when in use in a cessna 172, I dont notice it or have any odd feelings. My guess is that he ANR is busy working to cancel the engine noises and whatever is left does not bother me. But the A20 all by itself on in a quiet room feels odd... No other way to describe it. Never tried it plugged into a music player...

Is what you are experienceing similar to what I mention above?

In the plane I love it.. Makes the 172 sound like a sewing machine...:lol:

Marc
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I can feel that the ANR is working since all the sound from the street is gone, but there is definitely a "fine static" hum which is always there even if it's hooked them up to my handheld radio. I can't notice it as much if ATC is talking, but anytime else it's there. I guess I'll just have to wait to try them on during a flight to see how it sounds.

I know what you mean about your head feeling weird. I noticed the same thing with the QC15.

One of the flight schools I used to go to has a pair they let students use on their intro rides, maybe I can see what those do.
 
I love them! XM radio and the Bose headsets I can fly all day long and feel fine. My David Clarks pinched my head and after 7 hours of flying just plane hurt.
 
Red Air Rambo said:
I love them! XM radio and the Bose headsets I can fly all day long and feel fine. My David Clarks pinched my head and after 7 hours of flying just plane hurt.
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They feel great on my head, it's just this humming is driving me nuts though!
 
Flying h4x0r said:
They feel great on my head, it's just this humming is driving me nuts though!
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Very strange, I don't get the same humming on the ground with my A20. Could be something wrong with the device. My boss had to send his back once. It would buzz in one ear cup randomly. The pair I own has been fine -- no issues.
 
I have tested my Lightspeed Zulu in a quiet room (like I am in right now). My computer system makes some white noise and there is also some distant highway sounds coming through an open window. When noise cancelling is turned on there is a definite quieting of these sounds. However, since the overall environment is very very quiet there is a detectable electronic, artificial hiss from the headset. Most likely this is just a small amount of noise in the output, or it may be an artifact of the noise cancelling. When using it in any single engine plane I find the overall noise level is high enough that I cannot discern this hiss.
 
spinfire said:
I have tested my Lightspeed Zulu in a quiet room (like I am in right now). My computer system makes some white noise and there is also some distant highway sounds coming through an open window. When noise cancelling is turned on there is a definite quieting of these sounds. However, since the overall environment is very very quiet there is a detectable electronic, artificial hiss from the headset. Most likely this is just a small amount of noise in the output, or it may be an artifact of the noise cancelling. When using it in any single engine plane I find the overall noise level is high enough that I cannot discern this hiss.
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Electronic, artificial hiss is a good way to describe it. I wouldn't say it's "very very quiet" in my case. It's almost as loud as the noise from the street and the computer. Maybe my ears are just more sensitive to that frequency.

I don't know if I should wait and test it out in the airplane or compare it with another pair from somewhere else, or just ask for a replacement.
 
Flying h4x0r said:
Electronic, artificial hiss is a good way to describe it. I wouldn't say it's "very very quiet" in my case. It's almost as loud as the noise from the street and the computer. Maybe my ears are just more sensitive to that frequency.

I don't know if I should wait and test it out in the airplane or compare it with another pair from somewhere else, or just ask for a replacement.
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I'd say test it out in the plane first. If I turn my X on in a quiet room I can hear a white noise. It's never been an issue in the helicopter though.
 
Flying h4x0r said:
Electronic, artificial hiss is a good way to describe it. I wouldn't say it's "very very quiet" in my case. It's almost as loud as the noise from the street and the computer. Maybe my ears are just more sensitive to that frequency.

I don't know if I should wait and test it out in the airplane or compare it with another pair from somewhere else, or just ask for a replacement.
Click to expand...
Every ANR headset I've tried produces some noise that you can hear in a quiet room but I've never heard the same noise in an aircraft with the engine running. Your ears have an amazing dynamic range but anything that's 30-40db below the background isn't audible.
 
The A20 uses a microphone on the outside of the earcup to determine what to do on the inside of the earcup; what you hear inside varies with what's going on in the environment around you. I hear a slight electronic hiss in the headset when it's quiet in the surrounding environment.
 
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