Freshly minted pilot with headset question

[CrazyE]

So I have some money to burn on some upgrades on equip, still just going to rent a plane for a few years.

Planned upgrades iphone4s to iPad Mini, second hand flightcom headset to an new or near new ANR one. So my question is regarding ANR headsets, when ANR is switched on, is there a white noise in the background .. My friend who recommends the Zulus says that his have a slight hiss noise in the background, which he believes is just the ANR electronics working, doing their magic.

So is this common amongst all ANR headsets, regardless of price ?

Second question, bluetooth or not ? Honestly I would like to have the ability to listen to music while drilling holes in the sky, I thought BT would increase battery usage on both the headset and iDevice - so to the question, how is the music quality in the ear if ANR is switched on, does the ANR affect the quality of the music ?

 

[Larry in TN]

Take a look at the in-ear headsets, the QT Halo and Clarity Aloft. The Halo is the least expensive of the two but the CA is the only one with a bluetooth version. Both provide as good, if not better, noise reduction than an ANR headset but have no "clamp" effect so are much more comfortable.

The Halo has a 30 (45?) day full refund trial period so you can give them a try with no risk.

http://www.quiettechnologies.com/

http://www.clarityaloft.com/

 

[saracelica]

I love my Bose A20.

 

[HighFlyingA380]

Take a look at the in-ear headsets, the QT Halo and Clarity Aloft. The Halo is the least expensive of the two but the CA is the only one with a bluetooth version. Both provide as good, if not better, noise reduction than an ANR headset but have no "clamp" effect so are much more comfortable.

The Halo has a 30 (45?) day full refund trial period so you can give them a try with no risk.

http://www.quiettechnologies.com/

http://www.clarityaloft.com/

I've been using my new CA Classic the last few weeks at my job. With my old "head-clamp" my ears would be hurting by about the 3rd hour. I now don't even notice or feel it after 7 hours. And as said, the noise reduction rivals ANRs, but no batteries to deal with.

 

[Archammer]

To actually answer your questions...

So I have some money to burn on some upgrades on equip, still just going to rent a plane for a few years.

Planned upgrades iphone4s to iPad Mini, second hand flightcom headset to an new or near new ANR one. So my question is regarding ANR headsets, when ANR is switched on, is there a white noise in the background .. My friend who recommends the Zulus says that his have a slight hiss noise in the background, which he believes is just the ANR electronics working, doing their magic.

Yes you will hear slight noise in ANR systems in a quiet environment. The sound you are hearing is the ANR mics being powered. You won't notice this unless you are in a quiet location where the noise to be cancelled out is below and/or outside the cone range.

So is this common amongst all ANR headsets, regardless of price ?

That won't determine quality of the ANR system. Having said that, lower end headsets use a poor mic and speaker, so you can tell somewhat what type of ANR system they use by the octave of that sound. The higher octave (not volume) of that ANR hiss, the better the ANR system they use. But that's only true to a certain point. Because the best systems have a directed ANR that still let the important sounds through and only remove the sounds that create pilot fatigue, vertigo and resonance damage. That way you can still hear the important sounds in your aircraft, but protect your hearing. Then there is internal and external ANR systems, but that's another conversation.

Second question, bluetooth or not ? Honestly I would like to have the ability to listen to music while drilling holes in the sky, I thought BT would increase battery usage on both the headset and iDevice - so to the question, how is the music quality in the ear if ANR is switched on, does the ANR affect the quality of the music ?

Be very careful about the Bluetooth system that you select, as they are NOT all equal, and in fact, there are many who complain about certain systems in the more expensive headsets on the market.
Lower end headsets will have what they call an "auxiliary system" when it is ONLY for music IN, period. Be careful to read the fine print. Look for things like "assembled in the US" and "auxiliary music input". You want to see "full integration" and "true stereo", etc.
Better systems have a true TRRS auxiliary jack that allow for music/audio in and mic out for use with your cell phone. Those systems use a small 3.5mm cable that integrate with iPhone and Android devices.
You can always add a Bluetooth system into any headset you buy, that way you get everything you want. That's the great thing about being able to customize what you want now.

Yes the ANR will affect certain frequencies of your music, because the system is designed to - but it will not affect the quality of the music in a good headset - it will only affect the "density" of the sound. This is because better quality headsets use separate/dual speakers for audio and for ANR.

Also, some food for thought. None of the headset makers use their "home audio" or audiophile headphone technology in their headsets. They have nothing better than the mid level headsets in terms of audio quality, and in some cases, have lesser.

I hope that helps.

 

[poadeleted20]

when ANR is switched on, is there a white noise in the background ..

Not that I've ever noticed, and I've used pretty much all of them -- Bose, Lightspeed, Pilot, Telex, etc. Might be present, but not enough to get my attention.

Second question, bluetooth or not ?

It can be nice to have when you're trying to pick up a clearance/release on the phone where there's no tower or comm outlet (which is what I do with my Bluetooth-equipped Lightspeed Zulu.2 headset), but I don't view it as essential. You can, if necessary, just stick the phone under your earcup. But for music aloft, I just plug the music device into the external music jack in the panel and pipe it through the intercom. That is particularly useful since the intercom can mute the music when someone's talking.

 

[Scrabo]

...."That is particularly useful since the intercom can mute the music when someone's talking."

Is there a noticable delay in the muting of the music when someone is talking, I had lying somewhere one of those old Muse units (thankfully found cheap on ebay) but found that it was slow to mute music, usually missing the first one or two words of the transmission.

"....None of the headset makers use their "home audio" or audiophile headphone technology in their headsets."

Funny you mention that, I am looking for noise cancelling audio headset to wear on long commerical flights.... Bose seem to have that corner of the market locked up, but are they better products out there, or just go with the Bose Quietcomfort ?

 

[HighFlyingA380]

...."That is particularly useful since the intercom can mute the music when someone's talking."

Is there a noticable delay in the muting of the music when someone is talking, I had lying somewhere one of those old Muse units (thankfully found cheap on ebay) but found that it was slow to mute music, usually missing the first one or two words of the transmission.

The muting feature on ours works great. We have GMA 340 audio panels, so I'm assuming that's what's doing it...

 

[poadeleted20]

...."That is particularly useful since the intercom can mute the music when someone's talking."

Is there a noticable delay in the muting of the music when someone is talking,

No. Those electrons move really, really fast.

 

[Archammer]

Is there a noticeable delay in the muting of the music when someone is talking, I had lying somewhere one of those old Muse units (thankfully found cheap on ebay) but found that it was slow to mute music, usually missing the first one or two words of the transmission.

"....None of the headset makers use their "home audio" or audiophile headphone technology in their headsets."

Funny you mention that, I am looking for noise cancelling audio headset to wear on long commerical flights.... Bose seem to have that corner of the market locked up, but are they better products out there, or just go with the Bose Quietcomfort ?

I prefer to have control over my own system. Having the ability to adjust the volume of the music/phone call and comm audio separately and even independently in each ear is preferable - instead of muting. I hate that.

As far as headphones, I don't know who has the best quality there. Bose makes a very quality pair of headphones, but I'm sure there are several online resources for headphone stuff.

 

[tehmightypirate]

No. Those electrons move really, really fast.

Hah, nice.

 

[poadeleted20]

I prefer to have control over my own system. Having the ability to adjust the volume of the music/phone call and comm audio separately and even independently in each ear is preferable - instead of muting. I hate that.

On my PS Engineering 8000B audio panel, you can turn the musing muting off or on at your pleasure. I usually leave the muting defeated for cruise, but turn it on for busy terminal operations. And I have the means to adjust the comm, intercom, and music volumes either independently or all together.

As far as headphones, I don't know who has the best quality there. Bose makes a very quality pair of headphones, but I'm sure there are several online resources for headphone stuff.

Having used pretty much all the earcup-type headsets, I can tell you that the top Bose and top Lightspeed are about equal in quality, but the Lightspeed is a couple of hundred cheaper.

Guess which I use...

 

[Archammer]

Having used pretty much all the earcup-type headsets, I can tell you that the top Bose and top Lightspeed are about equal in quality, but the Lightspeed is a couple of hundred cheaper.

Guess which I use...

He's asking about Headphones, not headsets. Bose QuietComfort are headphones and lightspeed doesn't make a headphone. If you're thinking of the Koss Lightspeeds, that's a different company.

 

[John221us]

I have the Bose Quitecomfort 3 headphones and like them a lot.

 

[Scrabo]

He's asking about Headphones, not headsets. Bose QuietComfort are headphones ....f.

I see a load of airline passengers with the QuietComforts but there must be other good names out there....22 hours stuck in a human mailing tube without my tunes would be unbearable !!!

How is the battery life ?

 

[John221us]

I see a load of airline passengers with the QuietComforts but there must be other good names out there....22 hours stuck in a human mailing tube without my tunes would be unbearable !!!

How is the battery life ?

I do two to three round trips a month. I need something to tune out the screaming babies.

 

[Scrabo]

I do two to three round trips a month. I need something to tune out the screaming babies.

Thats worth the price alone !!!

Now if only someone invented a way to stop kids kicking the back of your seat...I would pay for that !!!

 

[John221us]

Thats worth the price alone !!!

Now if only someone invented a way to stop kids kicking the back of your seat...I would pay for that !!!

Oh, they claim 27 hours on the battery. I have never ran out, though.