Two questions:

[JOhnH]

I have a Garmin 340 audio panel. As I have mentioned several times, my hearing is not too good, but I really think I should be hearing the radio better with my hearing aids and my Zulu headset. I was having some problems with some of the knobs on the 340 recently so I sent it into Garmin for their one-price repair. It fixed the problem and helped the audio to sound better, but the sound is still lacking. I keep hearing that the PS Engineering 450(a,b) is so much better, but aside from the desirable features (eg, bluetooth), is the audio really that much better than the 340?

And for the "while I am in there" question:
Approximately 10 years ago, I had a new 530W installed in my 172. The day I got the call to pick it up, Garmin announced the new touch screen replacements. Now I am considering replacing the 530W in the Bonanza with an IFD 540, but I have to wonder how much time before the 540 is replaced with something newer. I know nobody has the answer, but some people's opinions are valuable anyway. I think I understand that the 550 is newer, but the main feature it seems to have is synthetic vision, which I don't think I need.

 

[Jesse Saint]

I doubt the sound is much different. I would see if you can borrow a compatible audio panel and try that to see if the sound is the same.

You would love the 540. It’s a slide-in replacement for the 530W. Drop me an email and I may be able to work out a trade-in.

 

[bnt83]

Take out hearing aids and turn up your headset?

I can’t stand trying to use headset with a hearing aid, so hearing aid comes out before headset on.

I use Sierra, Zulu 1, Zulu 2, and Zulu 3. To me the Zulu 2 was the worst of all of them and the Zulu 3 is the best. We had a ship with a GMA340 and one with a 8000BT, both have 8000BT now for a reason. Both aircraft had GTN 650 as com 1

com2 in one ship is a KX155 and the other ship has an Icom A210, to me the 210 sounds better than the GTN but the KX155 can sound better than all of them.

 

[JOhnH]

Take out heating aids and turn up your headset?

I can’t stand trying to use headset with a hearing aid.

I use Sierra, Zulu 1, Zulu 2, and Zulu 3. To me the Zulu 2 was the worst of all of them and the Zulu 3 is the best

I have the worst (Zulu 2), but they sound pretty much the same as my wireless Tangos. Maybe a better headset would be a good idea.

My hearing is pretty bad. If I take out the hearing aids, I can't seem to turn the volume up enough on the headset or audio panel. Plus, I hate it when I land and the line guy comes up to my plane and starts asking me questions and I have to fiddle with pulling my hearing aids out of my pocket and putting them in my ear while he/she is talking to me.

 

[flyingron]

Yep, I either remove or shutoff my hearing aids and just use turn up the volume on the lightspeed. All the fancy audio processing in the aids is pretty much screwed up by the fact that the little microphones in the aid is stuffed inside that earmuf.

 

[JOhnH]

Yep, I either remove or shutoff my hearing aids and just use turn up the volume on the lightspeed. All the fancy audio processing in the aids is pretty much screwed up by the fact that the little microphones in the aid is stuffed inside that earmuf.

I'll try that, but I don't get much boost from the volume control on the headset.

I have another thread about hearing aids where I mention that I may be getting new in-the-ear aids soon now that they have stuffed more power into them. Still can't get CICs with enough power though.

 

[bnt83]

I'll try that, but I don't get much boost from the volume control on the headset.

I have another thread about hearing aids where I mention that I may be getting new in-the-ear aids soon now that they have stuffed more power into them. Still can't get CICs with enough power though.

There are probably three volume controls in the system, the com radio itself, the intercom volume and your headset. I tell everyone in the airplane "I set stuff for me so turn your headsets down for you".