First Aviation Headset - Help

CC268

CC268

Final Approach
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CC268
Hey guys,

I have started my PPL flight training and I know at some point I will want to buy a headset (instead of renting one). I am trying to decide if I want to go out and just buy a Bose A20 and spend the cash or go with a cheaper David Clark, etc.

I have also heard of buying normal head phones and using a U Fly Mike microphone, but I haven't looked much into that.

Any tips, suggestions, etc are appreciated.

Thanks!
 
I'd buy the cheap ones first, DCs are indestructible so I'd get those. If you end up not pursuing this hobby further, not much money wasted so no big deal. If you keep flying, buy the A20's and keep the DC as pax headset, you'll need a few spare pairs anyway if you intend to fly with friends.
 
mtuomi said:
I'd buy the cheap ones first, DCs are indestructible so I'd get those. If you end up not pursuing this hobby further, not much money wasted so no big deal. If you keep flying, buy the A20's and keep the DC as pax headset, you'll need a few spare pairs anyway if you intend to fly with friends.
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Yea that is actually not a bad idea at all...any specific model of David Clark?
 
CC268 said:
Yea that is actually not a bad idea at all...any specific model of David Clark?
Click to expand...

The classic Clamps, H10-13.4 New they are somewhere around 250-300 bucks, used prob half of that. And they are indestructible.
 
With the washout rate being what it is in flight training, just use the flight school headset, have a talk with the owner or CFI and I'm sure you'll be able to use one for free.

After you get your ticket buy all the swag.

Best place to buy headsets and stuff like that is off Craig's list or eBay, lots of folks who did what you're thinking and never finished selling their hardly used expensive pilot supplies for a large loss everyday.
 
Check in with pigpenracing here on PoA... he periodically gets DC's of various models and can work with you on a good price.

While there are $100-150 headsets out there, the quality level really reflects that low price point, both in construction and ability to transmit sound.

Budget about $250-350 for your training set and you open up the range to more good ones of much better quality, and lots of used ones.

If you can find/afford something with Active Noise Reduction (ANR) even better. This uses electronic wizardry to cancel out some of the noise making them quieter and doing more to protect your hearing than passive noise reduction (PNR).

Two additional choices well liked amongst the PoA gang are the "in-ear" designs of Clarity Aloft (http://www.clarityaloft.com/) and the Quiet Technology "Halo" (https://www.quiettechnologies.com/). Many say these are as quiet as the over the ear designs but way more comfortable than the head clamp design of the others.
 
mtuomi said:
I'd buy the cheap ones first, DCs are indestructible so I'd get those. If you end up not pursuing this hobby further, not much money wasted so no big deal. If you keep flying, buy the A20's and keep the DC as pax headset, you'll need a few spare pairs anyway if you intend to fly with friends.
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dat ^ :yesnod:
 
I have owned David Clark headsets only, and I don't think you can go wrong with one of those. They are nearly indestructible as others have noted already. I now have 6 of them, including a DC Pro-X, with the oldest dating back more than 3 decades. Only repair I have ever made was replacing the mic on one.

Buy one used (the H10-13.4 or the H10-30 are both good value imo). If you decide to sell it sometime in the future to upgrade to something more exotic you'll always have a market.

My hangar partner has a Bonanza and uses some pretty cheap headsets that he retrofitted with noise cancelling many years ago. They are junk, but he claims his airplane keeps him in poverty and he can't afford to replace them. :rolleyes: I tried them in his Bo once and won't recommend that sort of option to anybody. I notice he's taken to stealing the pax DCs from the back seat of the Aztec recently.

Spend a bit more on a used DC.
 
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Craigslist is your friend. Plus DC has good customer service/warranty so they will fix one if its not up to standards for a very reasonable price.
 
James331 said:
With the washout rate being what it is in flight training, just use the flight school headset, have a talk with the owner or CFI and I'm sure you'll be able to use one for free.
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Yup. Borrow first, then buy an A20 or Zulu2.
 
Thanks for the help guys
 
172andyou said:
Yup. Borrow first, then buy an A20 or Zulu2.
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Yea this is the other option as well...I guess for now I will continue to use the DC provided by my flight school and then decide
 
After my first few flights I decided it was time to buy my own set. Hours of research later I decided that I could either spend $1000 for one of the top of the line noise cancelling sets or get a throwaway set at the low end. I did not end up going either of those routes.

Read around and you will see that most people that have tried the in-ear types of sets swear by them. I went with the Halo set from Quiet Technology.

Pros: No sweating at all from the headset even in the hottest temps. The mic has been great. The comfort of wearing them has been incredible, but with only about 15 hours in them during my pre-solo training you have to take that with a grain of salt. The things I read that made me go this route was people with hundreds of hours wearing them talk about the comfort during long flights, and that while they are not noise cancelling they cancel out about as well as the high end $1000 sets. Again that comment about noise cancelling is from others reviews. I do not have the experience to know yet, but they sound clean and clear to my ears. The person making them has a background with hearing aids, so he understands what it takes to make things like this work. Cost more than a very low end ear cuff set, but much cheaper than any high end stuff on the market. I paid just over $300 shipped. When someone sells a used set they normally get snatched up within minutes on the boards.

Cons: They do take some experience getting them to fit in the ear correctly unless you have some background with using shooting ear protection or something else. Just watch the videos if you have an issue. Having something in the ear can be a strange feeling at first. The guy making these is a small operation, so it may take a few weeks to actually get a set shipped. It took my about 3 weeks before I could even place the order because he does not like to take pre-orders when he is not sure he can fulfill them in a reasonable time frame, and once ordered it took a couple of weeks to get them.

Bottom line - As soon as I get my ticket I plan to buy a second pair for my wife. I would buy them again in a heartbeat.

About me - I currently have a total of ~15 hours of flight time. So my "experience" with these is very limited. I know I love them, and people with much more seat time still rave about their set. I have also spent a lot of time at gun ranges, and even a few years wearing a hearing aid, so having something in my ear did not take any adjustment at all.
 
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Buy something like a DC now. Upgrade to A20 once you have the funds (don't slow down your training for a $1000 headset). Keep the DC for passengers or a backup.

A20s have pretty good resale value. If you buy new for $1000, you could sell for about $800 easy.
 
Pro tip buying Bose; Ask for a Teacher Discount. Helps if you (well in my case, wife) are a teacher of course. The store in NYC first laughed at my wife and said no, they've never heard such nonsense. And after checking out with Bose, they came back, apologized, and gave the 15% off. (without checking any credentials...)
 
I bought a DC when during my PPL training and it has worked great for about 4 years now. The only problem is now that I fly much longer cross country trips, it really gets to be uncomfortable.

As a fix, I recently purchased a pair of Bose QC25s and am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new uflymike to go along with it. It's even lighter than the A20 and MUCH cheaper, but still has excellent audio quality which is inherent to Bose. You can also use them outside the airplane, which has been surprisingly valuable while I wait for the microphone.

I can't say for certain how great it's going to be with the aftermarket mic. What I can say is, after trying the QC25s in the air as normal headphones with the ANR on, my search for a good headset is over.
 
Avoid the uflymike and such. They do work (I have one and do like it) but for a training pilot the battery going out or anything else that can go wrong isn't worth it.
Keep your eye on Craigslist adds. I bought a like new David Clark headset once for $100 from a flying dropout. There are good deals. My first Headset was a $150 job from somewhere online. I still give it to a passenger occasionally, nothing wrong with it. Get a cheap one now and just get better ones as you need/ want them. The old ones you'll use for passengers


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I don't know why you'd want to go into this endeavor thinking that you're going to wash out. If you were to go out and spend $1,000 on a headset and washed out a few months later, you can come over here or on eBay and resell it for $800 or more. To me, it's more about your budget. When I started flying again after a long break, I bought some cheap headsets on eBay, and by cheap, I mean maybe $40 each. They worked for me for a while and I just upgraded as I went. But my budget was low. If spending $1,000 is something you don't look twice at, then buy whatever you want. The best thing to do, if you can, is go to a nice pilot shop where they allow you to try different ones on. However, if you buy from Sporty's and you don't like it how it feels, you can send it back and try another at no cost. Personally, I never go into anything thinking what'll happen if I quit or lose. I just enjoy the ride, and if I lose, I lose, and I take my lumps. But maybe that's just me.
 
Go with Clarity Aloft Halos and you want be disappointed. They are cheap, more quite than standard over the ear headsets, no batteries like ANR, and way more comfortable than anything else out there.
 
I've had my David Clark headsets since my ppl( now 2 pairs) and literally have no complaints. 5 years later and they still work amazingly well. For the sake of transparency though, I've never worn the 900 dollar plus headsets so I can't compare but I'm very happy putting the 600 dollars saved into more flight time!
 
Shane, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought they all use the same pilot-usa anr box, same as you do?
 
jspilot said:
I've had my David Clark headsets since my ppl( now 2 pairs) and literally have no complaints. 5 years later and they still work amazingly well. For the sake of transparency though, I've never worn the 900 dollar plus headsets so I can't compare but I'm very happy putting the 600 dollars saved into more flight time!
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For my backup/pax set I got a DC 46, older one, probably over 15yrs as it has the shiny ear cups, it was mangled, headset band, gels were leaking, basically it was just the ear cups and mic, got it bacically for free, ordered a "comfort kit" which included a new metal head band, upgraded top pad, muff cover, ear seals, cable holders, etc.

Cost like 80bucks as I recall, took me 5 min to put it all together and it's a super comfy headset and IMO looks pretty cool with the metal hinged mic boom and retro shiny ear cups.

I wear my Zulus for day to day stuff, my plane and then I bring them to work for the work plane, been a few times I've forgotten my Zulus at work so I just leave the DCs in their case in my plane, I've been fine doing some longer flights with them.

Long story short, don't discount buying a older DC off eBay for 20 bucks and tossing a brand new kit on them, great value.
 
mtuomi said:
The classic Clamps, H10-13.4 New they are somewhere around 250-300 bucks, used prob half of that. And they are indestructible.
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I echo this. I started training with my 13.4 in the early 90's. I still have them and have had zero issues. Get the fabric covers to throw over the ear cups; they're really comfortable especially when it's hot - although they don't seal quite as well with them on compared to just the bare gel seals.

http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/fa...e=&network=g&gclid=CI6kr6Xl_MoCFQyGaQod1qYAlg
 
CC268 said:
Hey guys,

I have started my PPL flight training and I know at some point I will want to buy a headset (instead of renting one). I am trying to decide if I want to go out and just buy a Bose A20 and spend the cash or go with a cheaper David Clark, etc.

I have also heard of buying normal head phones and using a U Fly Mike microphone, but I haven't looked much into that.

Any tips, suggestions, etc are appreciated.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

you have to rent a headset? My CFI had an extra set I used until I bought my own.

anyway, I bought and still use a set of Bose X. If you know you're sticking with flying, ANR headsets are 100x more comfortable than passives.
 
FWIW, a cheap starter PNR headset will allow more money for lessons and AvGas.
I always quietly laughed at students who showed up to fly a C150 with a $2000 headset.

If you can't find a used headset on CL for $50, you might have to buy a new one. New PNR headsets still cost less than an hour of lesson in a rental (at least around here).
 
The OP mentions that he is looking at either a Bose or a cheaper David Clark. The implication there being that money is a factor. As I stated earlier, comfort is one of the most important considerations. You won't know how comfortable a headset is until you spend a couple of hours with it. Personally, I must have a hard head because I like clampy headsets. For a while, I've been using Sennheiser ANR headsets that I bought used on eBay. However, I think the electronics might be going south in them so I went out and bought a pair of David Clark passive headsets new, 13.4 I think. I've only used them a couple of times but I miss the ANR already. Luckily, I found a set of Telex Stratus 30XT headsets on eBay that I picked up cheaply. I hope they are as nice as they were represented to be. My point is, once you get used to ANR, it's hard to go back to passive.
 
Thanks for all the comments guys - I will have to check out those in ear "headsets" like the QT Halo or Clarity - didn't even know those existed.

Looks like there are plenty of good options
 
Renting headset. pfft.. where else is this guy ripping you off?

I'm all about Clarity Aloft. No more clamps for me. And cost is almost the same as the Bose QC2+uFly option (that I also own)

The rest of the headsets I currently have:
DC 13X (lots of batteries, but good)
Bose X (less batteries,and good)
2 DC 10-20s (Good for passengers)

Why seven headsets? My planes are kept at airports, so I save myself some driving. I could probably get by with fewer
 
Right before I started training I bought a pair of new DC 13.4 on Sporty's for just about 250. (I used a $50 off voucher that I got for signing up for AOPA, this was 2013.) I used them for 2 years.

When I got my ticket, my graduation present (to myself) was the Bose A20's. Honestly, I think it's worth the money difference between the DC's. There are a few differences with the Bose that are better than DC.

Pros:
-Obviously ANR is great, but I never had issues with noise in my DC's. Still, ANR is a fantastic feature.
-Bose Mike is much better than DC. In my DC's, I would say something, and there was always a 1/2 second delay before I would hear it in my headset. Now, no delay.
-More comfortable (less feeling of being in a head vice). To be fair, I have not taken a longer trips yet to have a good comparison. But they don't grip as tightly as the DC's.

Cons:
-I sometimes forget to turn on the ANR. That's not a con, that's me being used to the DC's.
-Other than that, no complaints.
 
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rolivi said:
Renting headset. pfft.. where else is this guy ripping you off?

I'm all about Clarity Aloft. No more clamps for me. And cost is almost the same as the Bose QC2+uFly option (that I also own)

The rest of the headsets I currently have:
DC 13X (lots of batteries, but good)
Bose X (less batteries,and good)
2 DC 10-20s (Good for passengers)

Why seven headsets? My planes are kept at airports, so I save myself some driving. I could probably get by with fewer
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I looked at the Alofts very closely when I bought the Halos. The issue with the Alofts is that the speaker is electrically connected and in the ear. On the Halo the speaker is in the band and uses a sound tube to transmit into the ear.

I know from experience with hearing aids that having the speaker itself in the ear causes problems with wax buildup. It can also rarely cause electrical issues if you sweat heavily into the ear. Cleaning those speakers is a major pain. With the sound tube you just replace the head, and very rarely replace the tube. Most of the time you can clean the tube if things get that bad.

I have found absolutely no difference in sound quality between the sound tube and the in ear speaker. Of course that was with hearing aids in normal environments. Again, I do not have the aviation experience to make that a statement of fact in different cockpit environments so your mileage may vary.
 
GeorgeC said:
Shane, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought they all use the same pilot-usa anr box, same as you do?
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Not even close to the same thing. Now PilotMall may be using a PilotUSA headset, which is a good thing. I can't tell from the photo on PilotMall.

Faro has big bulbous earpieces, squared off thin metal yokes & headband, oversized on-ear volume knobs and an inline 9v ANR box.
 
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Archammer said:
Not even close to the same thing. Now PilotMall may be using a PilotUSA headset, which is a good thing. I can't tell from the photo on PilotMall.

Faro has big bulbous earpieces, squared off thin metal yokes & headband, oversized on-ear volume knobs and an inline 9v ANR box.
Click to expand...

They do, I checked.
 
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