Headsets

I like my Beyerdynamic headset. Beyerdynamic is a German audio electronics company that only started selling in the US in the past few years. Their headsets are made in Germany, not China.
Aircraft Spruce sells them, or you can order a custom-made headset from them directly.
http://north-america.beyerdynamic.com/shop/hah/headphones-and-headsets/general-aviation-pilots.html

My 76 year old father has been a pilot for 56 years or so, in the Air Force and airlines. His hearing is now shot, and his hearing aides cost over $3000. When I started flying, he insisted I buy a ANR headset.
 
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If you want to hear your grand daughter say I love you, get Bose.

Mine are 22 years old, they've been used and abused and still work perfectly.

22 years of service, tell me about cheap.
 
cocolos said:
If not what would be a good pair under $300? I'd like to have ANR but I don't think they're worth the $1000 they cost.
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They're not all $1000.

This is a great, economical ANR headset for only $209: http://www.gulfcoastavionics.com/products/3583-gca-anr.aspx

If you're unable to afford a nicer one due to flight training expenses, get that one now, and later on when you're not pouring all your money into airplane expenses, get something nicer and use this one for pax.

The Lightspeed Sierra is a pretty full-featured headset for a reasonable price, and the Zulu is the best, IMO. I've been very happy with LS, and they'll take your old headsets in on trade for a newer one as well.

I must admit, though, that I'm currently using Bose because there's a pair of panel-powered Bose headsets in the Mooney. No more worrying about turning the power on or off or having batteries run dead! The ANR comes on with the Avionics Master.
 
I like Bose, but that's all I've owned for the last 5 years. I bought 2 new ones in 2007 and since then I have bought 2 used sets, 1 two Christmas's ago for my son and it was like new, I paid $500.00. Early this year my son's CFI called me and a friend of his wanted to sell a set, $300.00:D I put new ear seals on the last set, but if you watch you can pick them up for $3-400.00 for a good used pair. I am sure the A20's are better than the X's, but they work just fine for me. :D
I had two DC 13.4's for several years and stopped using them when I got my original Bose headsets in 96, they were working fine when I gave them away about 10 years ago. Any headset is better than no headset, but buying used will get you a lot more for your money. ;)
 
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Have a Lightspeed 25 XL and Sierra. Started with the 25 XL, which are sufficiently comfortable. When I bought my C150, I had to get a second headset and settled on the Sierra, which I use predominantly now. Very comfortable and good ANR capability. Even in passive mode, it will work fine.

If you value your hearing, I would get a headset that features ANR. Quite a few borrowed headsets that I encountered had problems with microphones or were intermittent. My rationale for buying a new ANR headset was that I did not need any distraction from a non-functioning headset.

While Lightspeed does not sell the 25XL anymore, they are still manufactured and sold by several pilot supply stores for about $300.00 or less, under a different name [ name escapes me at this moment]
 
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I own a pair of DC 10-13S, and I've flown with Lightspeed Sierras. I own and fly with my QT Halos, and I bought a pair for my wife too. I keep the DCs for occasional passengers. And yes, I am sensitive about my hearing - I don't want to lose any more than 25 years of computer room noise already ruined.
 
Ron Levy said:
Compare that to the cost of hearing aids later on. Speaking as one with permanent hearing impairment thanks to too many years of flying before ANR came into existence, i wish I'd had the option the first 25 years I was flying. As far as I'm concerned, ANR is an absolute necessity.

And you can get perfectly good ANR headsets for half that, including the Pilot 17-79 I use.
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I haven't flown in anything where my regular old PNR david clarks don't protect my ears pretty well. No doubt ANR is better but I feel any of the decent passive headsets are adequate. From a protection standpoint.
 
numl0ck said:
This is right up there with a Ford vs Chevy debate...
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This is exactly what this question is...:yes:
There will never be a consensus on this question as long people are willing to give an opinion on the one and only headset they've ever owned.

I have owned or tried just about every single headset made since 1987, I'm always willing to try the latest and greatest gadget out there.
With that said, I have 5 DC headsets as part of my permanent stable.
My oldest is an H10-30 that is still in near mint condition that was purchased in June of 1987 (25 years old) from a pawnshop (pre-Ebay era).

But since I'm not here to steer you towards any one particular brand I will suggest borrowing as many as you can before making a costly purchase that you'll have to live with.

Here is a Sportys webinar on the topic of choosing the right headset.

 
Though not mentioned as often as other brands I have the Telex ANR's and have been completely satisfied and trouble free for 2 yrs now. Bought both pair off craigslist at different times for $300- $350 ea.

Not much at all when my hearing aids were $2600 ea.
 
I am sure someone will be happy to correct me, but don't the ANR headsets use noise to cancel noise?
Does that mean it only seems to be quieter?
If you have noise 1 and use an opposite noise 2 to cancel noise 1 out aren't you really listening to noise 1 plus noise 2?

Enquiring minds want to know!!!
 
There was a study that suggested ANR, while giving you the perception of being quieter, actually contributed to hearing damage at certain frequency ranges. I've looked, but I can't find it anymore.

Sound is caused by pressure changes. Those pressure waves come from the physical movement of whatever is causing the noise. In an ANR headset, the speakers inside the earcups act in an equal and opposite direction to that pressure wave, resulting in cancellation. It's hard to say that it's really playing sound, because the movement doesn't really result traveling pressure wave as speakers typically do.

However, if the headset got stuck playing the same noise cancellation, and the external noise stopped, you would definitely hear the sound the speakers made.
 
bqmassey said:
There was a study that suggested ANR, while giving you the perception of being quieter, actually contributed to hearing damage at certain frequency ranges. I've looked, but I can't find it anymore.

Sound is caused by pressure changes. Those pressure waves come from the physical movement of whatever is causing the noise. In an ANR headset, the speakers inside the earcups act in an equal and opposite direction to that pressure wave, resulting in cancellation. It's hard to say that it's really playing sound, because the movement doesn't really result traveling pressure wave as speakers typically do.

However, if the headset got stuck playing the same noise cancellation, and the external noise stopped, you would definitely hear the sound the speakers made.
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wow never thought about it that way.
 
tmyers said:
I am sure someone will be happy to correct me, but don't the ANR headsets use noise to cancel noise?
Does that mean it only seems to be quieter?
If you have noise 1 and use an opposite noise 2 to cancel noise 1 out aren't you really listening to noise 1 plus noise 2?

Enquiring minds want to know!!!
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Waves canceling waves = smooth. So no. Think of it as "anti-noise".

I've owned DCs, SoftComms, and Lightspeed Sierra. All did the job.

The thing that gets left out of almost all headset reviews is "How hard are you on your gear?". All my DCs are at least ten years old, and other than replacing wear parts (ear seals, mic muffs, etc.) they're all still in service. I even gave away a pair to a budding pilot who's used them for six years or so now after I'd used them since 1991.

The Lightspeeds, something literaly falls off those things every time I use them. It's always easy to reassemble, but Incant handle them the same way I handle the DCs. The DCs could get sat on and survive. I'm. Not so sure about the Lightspeeds.

This coming from a guy who managed to put a 1" dent in his aluminum body MacBook Pro while it was INSIDE a protective case last night... So take the advice for whatever it's worth.

I buy stuff that can survive me wanging on it. I have very mixed emotions about the Lightspeeds. I do not trust them as primary and still carry the DCs in the flight bag with them, negating all of the weight savings basically.

The SoftComms were crap, but I got them at a Pawn Shop for $35 because the guy thought they were stereo headphones. The one feature on them I liked was they had an integral backup PTT switch in a guard on the left earcup. Appealed to that same Boy Scout sensibility noted previously.

(And for the record I was a Scout for all of three months... It's just a euphemism for a preparedness nut.)
 
tmyers said:
I am sure someone will be happy to correct me, but don't the ANR headsets use noise to cancel noise?
Does that mean it only seems to be quieter?
If you have noise 1 and use an opposite noise 2 to cancel noise 1 out aren't you really listening to noise 1 plus noise 2?

Enquiring minds want to know!!!
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No, it really is quieter by the time it gets to your ear.

Essentially, it's sending a wave to stop a wave. Take a ball and roll it towards another person, and have them roll the same kind of ball directly back at you. If you manage to roll them perfectly at each other, they'll both stop dead somewhere in between you. Regardless, neither of you got hit by two balls, right?

An ANR headset works by having a microphone inside the ear cup - The expensive ones will have a mic on both sides, cheaper ones will only sample one side - And creating a signal that's as close to exactly opposite the background noise as possible to pipe into the headset and thus "knock down" the sound waves that are entering from somewhere other than the audio panel. You can still hear some background noise due to limitations in processing the signal quickly enough, physical limitations due to the shape of the cavity inside the ear cup, and I'm sure some other effects.

But, the bottom line is that ANR is not an "illusion." It actually does cancel some of the noise. I would guess that there are spots within the ear cup that actually are louder due to constructive interference, but when the sound gets to your ear, destructive interference has occurred that makes the sound in your ear quieter.
 
denverpilot said:
This coming from a guy who managed to put a 1" dent in his aluminum body MacBook Pro while it was INSIDE a protective case last night... So take the advice for whatever it's worth.

I buy stuff that can survive me wanging on it. I have very mixed emotions about the Lightspeeds. I do not trust them as primary and still carry the DCs in the flight bag with them, negating all of the weight savings basically.
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Okay wait just a second. You dented your Macbook Pro in a case? I've had my MBP a year and I've been fairly hard on it. It goes almost everywhere with me and it doesn't have a scratch on it... one of the main reasons I bought it was the durability.
 
Z06_Mir said:
Okay wait just a second. You dented your Macbook Pro in a case? I've had my MBP a year and I've been fairly hard on it. It goes almost everywhere with me and it doesn't have a scratch on it... one of the main reasons I bought it was the durability.
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No kidding. I dropped my old one onto concrete from a standing position (ask Grant and Leslie, they were there!) and only ended up with a tiny indentation above the Ethernet port.

1"? As in 1" deep? What'd ya do, whack it with a sledgehammer?!? :hairraise:
 
Not deep exactly. Note back right corner vs back left corner...

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It's not supposed to be bent like that. ;)

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All I can say in my own defense is Jesse's iPad is worse!

As is apparently my wife's car... Again. ;)

I'm hell on tech toys. I'm very very nice to my airplane though. ;)
 
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