Headsets

Jaybird180 said:
I'd love to get a set of "nice" ear-wear for the wife and I, but we have a toddler who just got used to putting on her headsets when we board the plane. If anyone doesn't wear them, she reminds them. It wouldn't seem right for us to have Halo's and her not to. And it's easy for us to see if she's wearing headsets, not sure about Halo's or QC's (or whatever), but I digress.....
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How old is your child, and where can I find a child-sized headset? When did your child start flying with you?
 
You only get 1 shot at hearing, and you cant get it back. Buy a nice headset now and you wont regret it, I wear Zulu 2s and they work incredibly well. I use them in the B25 and everyone else cant believe how well they work.
 
Jaybird180 said:
I'd love to get a set of "nice" ear-wear for the wife and I, but we have a toddler who just got used to putting on her headsets when we board the plane. If anyone doesn't wear them, she reminds them. It wouldn't seem right for us to have Halo's and her not to. And it's easy for us to see if she's wearing headsets, not sure about Halo's or QC's (or whatever), but I digress.....
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Buy the Yellow ones for the kid, you will see it ...

And the good thing is, it will fit them throughout their growth ears. Just swap the ear plugs as needed.
 
I still have my Dave Clark headset from when I last did some flight training years ago and still looks good as new...
 
For those who are using straight DC style headlamps, the Oregon Aero hush kit is a big improvement.

The foam in my helmet has deteriorated over the last decade or so, and I finally replaced it, and the ear seals. I had the oregon aero seals, and they were leaving black flecks all over my head.

The hush kit is two layers of dense foam, one with a cut out for the speaker, and a thin cover. The ear seals are also a "temper foam" that adjusts to the wearer with body temperature. A wide headband is also available which drastically changes the comfort level for the better.

In my helmet, the overall noise level didn't change appreciably, but it did change the level at which the radios needed to be set; not nearly as high a volume is needed when listening to someone on the radio. No doubt it's quieter, but I didn't have any way to measure the change in noise at my ears. I can still hear a turbine whine in the background, but it's well out of the frequency range that one would expect to be affected by the foam and general acoustic attenuation anyway, I think.

Others who use ANR seem to think it works well, though I know an individual who's running ANR in his helmet and also wears ear plugs.

When operating loud aircraft such as the PB4Y (B-24), I used the Oregon Aero hush kit along with ear plugs, always. The noise without a headset was well beyond the threshold of pain, and even with both, it was just tolerable.

Then again, I don't hear so well these days. I wonder why.
 
I have six seats and quite an assortment
Lightspeed 15 still works.
PA 1771 and 1779
Telex ANR
Telex ANR 2000
Telex ANR 30 x 2
Telex ANR 500 (cabin is pretty quiet anyway, this is a LIGHT ANR set).
Softcom 4 converted to ANR.
..but mostly I have on for every head size.
 
I accidentally complained about my experience with the Sierras near a Lightspeed rep today at OSH, and I have to admit, the guy was all over me to fix it. He didn't care how. Upgrade, repair on-site, didn't matter. He all but walled to the North 40 to get my headset.

So I've got to give them credit. Their customer service is serious.

He also was somewhat shocked. He said they don't have nearly the problems with the Sierra because they assemble them here in the U.S. (Something I didn't know.)

The Zulu2 is built in China and internally they have to send each unit through QC in the States before they can ship them. 100% of them.

The Sierras get a quick once-over and go out the door. They do zero promotion or marketing of the Sierra. The Zulu2 is King.

So... Now that I'm down to the small quirk of the Lightspeed logo panel on top popping off regularly, which really isn't a big deal but is annoying at times, and them being willing to completely swap the headset "if that would make you happy"... And then finding out the Sierra is the American-assembled product in their line-up...

I think I'll keep it. Impressed with the customer care shown by the guy.

I may still convert the DCs to ANR just for times when I need an "indestructible" headset.

By the way, I stopped by the DC booth and chatted with them. Very little interest in showing me their ANR lineup, no power or intercoms to hear them, and generally not as responsive. The only thing that got them emotional was when I asked them why Sporty's didn't have any DCs for sale at their booth.

That's right. Sporty's didn't even bother to truck in any DCs. Says something, I think. They had almost everyone else's headsets on demo racks.

Noticed that Sennheiser wants the same list price as Bose. Sorry, that giant control box and heavier headset means that should be a cheaper unit. I know they claim better "digital" ANR but size/weight and controls are important.

So... I think I'm moving from being grumpy about the Lightspeed Sierras to "good" with them.

And the old DCs are staying in the "fleet" too, with some kind of ANR add-on.

Zulus fit my ears funny. I have big ears.
 
For someone who isnt sure if they are serious about aviation, weekend warriors or for a pax set, get some Oregon aero pad outfitted passive David Clarks.

If you fly for a living or very regularly, I have to say LightSpeed Zulus.

I've been using my Zulu 1s 5-6 days a week, for about 4 years. I've had some minor problems (nothing effecting functionality) and LS stands behind their product 100%. The Zulus have worked great for me in everything from AgCats to Caravans to Stinsons and cubs. Word from the wise though, make sure you have extra AAs because when the batts run dead they really suck :yikes:
 
I'm glad this thread is here. Does anyone have experience with the AVCOMM AC-900?

I just bought a used AC-900 PNR headset for my passenger to use. I got it on eBay, and it didn't come with any documentation.

I did research the AC-900 before purchasing, and all descriptions I found stated it had a mono/stereo switch on the cord, similar to my old and trusty FlightCom Classic 4DLX. However, the set I bought does NOT have such a switch. It does have separate volume controls on each earpiece.

My concern is that this is actually NOT a stereo headset. I wouldn't really care, except the Garmin 240 audio panel in the Remos has had issues with mono headsets before, and I really don't want to learn it's mono the expensive way.
 
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I retired my Zulus and will either sell them or keep them as a pax headset and picked a set of A20s. The Beech 99 is by far the loudest plane I have flown, even louder than the Waco YMF-5. The Bose A20 seems to handle high noise environments much better. I put some Oregon Aero ear seals on them and they got even more comfortable.

Even as a weekend warrior I used either the Bose X or Zulu. David Clamps would make my head hurt after about 1.3 on the hobbs. Although I new I wanted a career in aviation, even when I was flying casually I wanted an ANR headset, they are vastly superior to a passive headset.
 
denverpilot said:
I accidentally complained about my experience with the Sierras near a Lightspeed rep today at OSH, and I have to admit, the guy was all over me to fix it. He didn't care how. Upgrade, repair on-site, didn't matter. He all but walled to the North 40 to get my headset.

So I've got to give them credit. Their customer service is serious.

He also was somewhat shocked. He said they don't have nearly the problems with the Sierra because they assemble them here in the U.S. (Something I didn't know.)

The Zulu2 is built in China and internally they have to send each unit through QC in the States before they can ship them. 100% of them.

The Sierras get a quick once-over and go out the door. They do zero promotion or marketing of the Sierra. The Zulu2 is King.

So... Now that I'm down to the small quirk of the Lightspeed logo panel on top popping off regularly, which really isn't a big deal but is annoying at times, and them being willing to completely swap the headset "if that would make you happy"... And then finding out the Sierra is the American-assembled product in their line-up...

I think I'll keep it. Impressed with the customer care shown by the guy.

I may still convert the DCs to ANR just for times when I need an "indestructible" headset.

By the way, I stopped by the DC booth and chatted with them. Very little interest in showing me their ANR lineup, no power or intercoms to hear them, and generally not as responsive. The only thing that got them emotional was when I asked them why Sporty's didn't have any DCs for sale at their booth.

That's right. Sporty's didn't even bother to truck in any DCs. Says something, I think. They had almost everyone else's headsets on demo racks.

Noticed that Sennheiser wants the same list price as Bose. Sorry, that giant control box and heavier headset means that should be a cheaper unit. I know they claim better "digital" ANR but size/weight and controls are important.

So... I think I'm moving from being grumpy about the Lightspeed Sierras to "good" with them.

And the old DCs are staying in the "fleet" too, with some kind of ANR add-on.

Zulus fit my ears funny. I have big ears.
Click to expand...

The DC ANR lineup is complete garbage. The X11 is one of the worst headsets I have ever used. Horrible active canceling, and of course the passive is horrible, worse than the Bose X. I am honestly surprised people still give credit to DC. They do make a strong passive headset, but its 40 year old technology or more.

I have tried the ANR converted DC's and they are pretty ok, but you destroy their passive characteristics almost entirely.
 
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