Horned_Frog_Flyer
New Member
This is REALLY long, but I found it to be an invaluable research aid. I settled on the AvShop Design A400s http://shopping.pilotportal.com/catalog/product.html?productid=5490&categoryid=260 and could not be happier. They look, feel, and work GREAT!
Anyway, here is the text...sorry, no web link:
Dear Fellow Pilot,
Thanks for visiting AvShop, where "Flying is Freedom." We
have the largest selection of Active Noise Reduction headsets in the marketplace, but we know shopping for one online can be downright confusing. So we asked Marc Coan to round them up, fly with them, describe them, and make his unbiased recommendations.
Marc is an ATP-rated pilot and CFII with over 4,000 hours as a pilot and 22 years of experience in the aviation industry. The founder of AvShop, he now operates SkyMachines, a flat-fee aircraft brokerage and appraisal service at http://www.skymachines.com.
Our selection of ANR headsets can be found at http://www.avshop.com/headsets.html. If, after reading the product descriptions there and Marc's review, you still have questions about any of the models we sell, please don't hesitate to contact us by visiting http://www.avshop.com/pilotquestionf1.html.
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AVSHOP’S BUYER’S GUIDE TO ANR HEADSETS
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Twenty-five years ago, light general aviation airplanes were basically the same as they are today: noisy. Yet it seemed few pilots bothered to fly with headsets. Since then, we’ve come to realize that hearing protection is vital to our continued well being, and aviation headset manufacturers have been oh-so-willing to respond. Now we have literally dozens of headset models to choose from, and noise reduction technology continues to improve. The major manufacturers pay big money to promote their headsets in the aviation press, and each claims its model is the best. Whose claims should you believe? Even if you could visit a showroom or trade show featuring all the headset models, you couldn’t conceivably test each of them in an airplane yourself. Fortunately, that’s exactly why you have AvShop.
AvShop isn’t just some little pilot shop: We’re the biggest, busiest,
and best online pilot shop in the world. We stock practically every
major headset model made. And every day, the pilots on our sales
staff receive the same questions from our customers: “Which headset
is best?” “Which one is the best value for the money?” “I only have
$300. Which one should I get?” That’s why we’ve developed this
Buyer’s Guide to answer all those questions honestly and up-front. We
don’t have any special relationships with any of the headset makers,
so we can afford to give you straight-shootin’, honest answers.
Admittedly, this Buyer’s Guide is completely subjective. We didn’t
test any headset on the workbench, measure the sound reduction in any
objective way, or take it apart to see what it was like inside. We
just set out to wear each one and figure out which headsets offered
us the most sound reduction and comfort for the money. Most of our
customers fly light piston-powered small aircraft, either singles or
light twins. Therefore, this guide is written with that type of pilot
in mind. We took our mid-1970’s Cessna 182P Skylane flying with a
total of three pilots and over one dozen headsets. We spent several
hours swapping headsets and writing notes. Then we sent the most
popular models out on extended trips in the 182 over the course of
several weeks, during which they were worn by both pilots and
passengers. Our results are detailed below, but let’s start with a
little headset history.
The David Clark Co. claims to have invented the aviation “noise
attenuating headset,” debuting its H10-series products in 1975. By
the 1980s, they’d refined their designs a bit, and their model H10-40
became a best seller...the “classic” headset, if you will. It
featured slightly-insulated earcups in the company’s trademark light
green color, foam ear seals, a hard-as-rock headpad, and plenty of
clamping pressure to reduce the amount of noise reaching the wearer’s
ears. Such a “passive” headset reduces the noise experienced in a
typical 105 decibel (dB) small plane cockpit by 15-23dB, but at the
cost of a good deal of comfort; the original $250+ David Clark
H10-series headset was known to give many pilots one or more aches on
their heads after a couple of hours of use. David Clark built tens of
thousands of the classic Green Machine, and continues to produce
versions which are amazing similar. But when the company’s patent on
the original design expired, a whole new industry
was born: Numerous companies we’d never before heard of rushed in to
produce “clones” of the H10-series.
New manufacturers took advantage of mass production, lower quality
materials and craftsmanship, and overseas labor to produce H10-series
clones and sell them to thousands more pilots at affordable prices.
Suddenly, nearly every pilot could afford to protect his or her
hearing. Eventually, to differentiate themselves in the marketplace,
some manufacturers tried to improve on the original David Clark
design by adding softer headpads, additional earcup insulation,
microphone booms with more flexibility, and deeper “conforming foam”
or gel-filled ear seals. These improvements allowed for a more
comfortable, and perhaps slightly quieter, headset. (The
ever-conservative David Clark eventually followed suit and
incorporated similar improvements). But the manufacturers’ ability to
further reduce the sound reaching the pilot was limited. The only
other ways to increase the total noise attenuation offered by a
passive headset was to increase the amount of clamping pressure
produced by
the headset against the pilot’s head or to increase the depth of the
earcups so they could be filled with more insulation. Neither option
proved to be very practical because of obvious comfort issues.
Fortunately, in 1989, a major audio equipment manufaturer brought a
revolutionary concept to aviation noise attenuation: Active Noise
Reduction, or ANR (also known as Active Noise Cancellation, Direct
Noise Cancellation, and Electronic Noise Cancellation). This
technology uses a tiny microphone to “listen” to sound levels which
have successfully entered the plastic earcup. Electronic circuitry
then processes the noise and instantly broadcasts an anti-noise
signal through a tiny speaker in the earcup. The added anti-noise
sound waves mix with the original external sound waves to cancel or
reduce them. The result is another 10-23dB of “active” noise
reduction that can be provided by the headset. However, it is very
important to keep in mind that the improvements provided by ANR are
felt mostly in the lowest frequencies...those produced by the engine
and propeller. For various reasons, it’s more difficult for ANR to
cancel higher frequency sounds like wind noise. Fortunately, it
’s those lower frequencies that are the most fatiguing and annoying
to pilots, so flying with a decent ANR headset can literally reduce
pilot fatigue on longer trips (in addition to making a quite
noticeable reduction in the overall noise level right from the moment
you turn it on).
ANR sounds simple enough, but it actually takes some pretty
sophisticated circuitry to pull off ANR noise reduction, particularly
as you get to higher levels of cancellation. If everything isn’t just
right, ANR could actually add to the sound and make it worse. The
first ANR headsets did a noticeable job of reducing the lower
frequency sound, and manufacturers charged a premium price for this
“gee whiz” technology. But the engineers appeared to have been so
caught up in the high-tech aspects of ANR that they forgot that a
truly useful headset must also be comfortable and reduce
higher-frequency noise as well, neither of which first generation ANR
units achieved. In addition, the sky-high prices (about $1,000), the
fact that panel power was required, and the manufacturer’s “no mail
order” policy all deterred more pilots from taking advantage of the
new technology. Thus that first ANR headset appeared to be destined
to be a “niche” product that would be accessible only to the r
ich.
In the mid 1990’s, a new company, Oregon-based LightSPEED, debuted an
unusual-looking ANR headset through a mail order catalog that was the
precursor to AvShop. The price for the LightSPEED 15K (around $400)
was significantly less than the original ANR manufacturer’s model,
making it accessible to more pilots. It also included significantly
more padding around the ears and in the headpad than the competing
product. LightSPEED claimed to have spent significant engineering
expense on developing this first affordable, comfortable ANR headset.
(For a good discussion of ANR written by the folks at LightSPEED,
visit AvWeb at http://www.avweb.com/news/avionics/183221-1.html.
You may need to sign up for a free AvWeb membership first.)
Unfortunately, like the original ANR headset maker, the LightSPEED
engineers originally forgot that passive noise reduction was also
important: ANR has virtually no impact on wind noise, which can (so
far) only be effectively reduced with passive techn
ology. Thus, in airplane with considerable wind noise, the original
LightSPEED 15K wasn’t all that effective, and customers let
LightSPEED know it.
Once LightSPEED proved that ANR technology could be produced
affordably and pilots would buy it, the rush was on. Other
manufacturers (including David Clark and Telex) simply added
off-the-shelf ANR components produced by third-party manufacturers to
their existing passive headsets, sometimes removing sound-deadening
passive insulation to make room for the electronics. In most cases,
no effort was made to customize the ANR system to the headset...
perhaps they thought that simply being able to say they now offered
an ANR model was enough to compete with LightSPEED and the original,
high-end, ANR manufacturer. And, certainly, there is a noticeable
improvement in total sound reduction which can be achieved simply by
adding one-size-fits-all ANR circuitry to any passive headset model,
although doing so hardly optimizes the ANR with the headset’s passive
cancellation. The engineers at LightSPEED and one or two other firms
learned that the design of the earcup, the quality of the
electronics, and the placement of the microphone and speakers inside
the earcup all affected how much benefit could be derived by the ANR
system.
By the end of the decade, LightSPEED and other manufacturers, such as
Pilot Avionics and Telex, announced upgraded or new models featuring
ever-better ANR technology and increased comfort. All of which is
great news for us pilots: The quality has been going up, while the
price has generally not. While there are still plenty of David Clark
“clones” on the market with off-the-shelf ANR components added in,
there are now new ANR designs which, in our tests, seemed to offer
truly improved performance over the ANR technology of only a few
years ago.
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OVERALL CONCLUSIONS
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Now that you have some background, let’s move on to the results of
our tests. Before we give you our model-by-model impressions, or even
our “best buy” recommendations, let’s begin with some subjective
conclusions:
1. Almost all headsets are comfortable enough for flights under two
hours. As you might expect, those sets with the thickest and softest
ear cushions and headpads were the most comfortable for longer
flights. We found that the gel ear seals seemed to seal out the most
noise for our test pilots, particularly when the wearer also was
wearing sunglasses. The very deep and softest “conforming foam”
seals, which soften as your skin warms them, were a close second.
2. Our preferred features for any headset: Padding, and lots of it
(see #1), an infinitely flexible microphone boom (no hard plastic or
metal), individually-adjustable volume controls (preferably located
on the earcups, where they’re easier to find than having to fumble
around on the cord for the unit’s power pack), and the smallest
possible battery pack (ideally, the battery would be a 9-volt type
located in the earcup of the headset, but only one manufacturer seems
to agree so far). Stereo sound is only important if you listen to
music in flight and have a stereo intercom. (And, if you do listen to
music, remember that ANR quite effectively removes the bass
response...don’t expect a home audio or even “Walkman” style
experience, although the new LightSPEED 3G series offers bass and
treble boost, which improves sound quality somewhat.)
3. Interestingly, the David Clark “clone” design still seems to offer
the best combination of passive reduction, comfort, and durability,
provided the clone model you choose has deep enough ear seals and a
soft headpad. In addition, we found the ANR systems in both the David
Clark and David Clark “clone” models all worked and felt about the
same to us; it was hard to differentiate between them. Therefore,
although it pains us to say it, we just don’t feel we can recommend
any of the David Clark ANR models (about $575-$700) at this time.
While well-built, with legendary customer service, the ANR circuitry
in the David Clark models just doesn’t seem to compare with that in
the latest Telex and LightSPEED offerings. (Like the “clones,” it
seems that the ANR technology in the David Clark products hasn’t been
improved since it debuted...other products have simply passed them
by.) We do offer one caveat here, however: If you’re a pilot or
instructor who flies aircraft for a living,
the quality of the David Clark products, and their customer
service, should get your attention--if you ever need your headset
fixed, you’ll have it back in a week. That’s worth giving up a little
ANR for, in our opinion.
4. The least expensive ANR headsets provide more total noise
reduction than the best passive headsets. Throughout our tests, we
couldn’t help but think that the days of the high-end, name-brand
passive headsets were numbered. To us, if you’ve got $250-300 to
spend on a headset, then a low-end ANR model is a smarter way to go
than any big-name passive model.
5. When it comes to ANR, it does seem you get what you pay for: The
amount of active noise reduction in the top-of-the-line ANR models is
significantly greater than in the lower end models, even within the
same manufacturer’s product line (the exception was David Clark; the
ANR response in each of their units seemed about the same).
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BEST BUYS
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Now for our model-by-model review, beginning with our “best buys” in
six different price categories:
1. Best Overall ANR Headset: Telex Stratus 50-D (under $800). Our
test pilots unanimously agreed that Telex really hit the mark with
their latest offering, making up for subpar first generation ANR sets
they previously offered. Good overall comfort due to conforming foam
ear seals (although the Bose X leads in comfort and the LightSPEED
Thirty 3G was judged to be slightly more comfortable due to deeper
and softer padding), the best total overall noise reduction of any
headset we tested, and an overall perception of quality had us
agreeing that, if you’re the type of pilot who refuses to fly with
anything but the best, this is the headset for you.
The Stratus is the first headset to offer “digital” ANR. While other
ANR headsets’ analog systems analyze the full spectrum of noise that
is "sensed" from the original signal and broadcast a
general anti-noise wave that is designed to cancel as much of that
original noise as possible, digital systems sample the sound, analyze
it, "predict" the noise levels at specific frequencies, and
then insert one or more audio tones that will cancel those specific
frequencies. While not as effective at canceling throughout the
“broadband” noise spectrum, digital ANR is supposedly more effective
at canceling those specific frequencies that bother pilots
most...like propeller resonance frequencies in small aircraft.
We think that digital ANR is the future and that other manufacturers
will soon develop digital sets designed specifically for various
categories of aircraft. And from what we experienced with the
Stratus, we look forward to that progress. However, digital ANR might
be a bit of a power hog: You need four AA’s to power the Stratus,
just like you do with the (analog) David Clarks. That’s a big power
pack to have flopping around on the cord down by your knee.
Fortunately, there’s a cigarette lighter adapter, something we wish
the other manufacturers would include. Overall, an outstanding
headset. Worth the money? Probably not. The LightSPEED Thirty 3G was
almost as quiet, equally as comfortable, runs on half as many
batteries and has the neat personal audio interface, all for $200
less.
2. Best Buy under $600: LightSPEED Thirty 3G. The second most ANR
protection of the sets we tested. We really couldn’t find much NOT to
like about this replacement for LightSPEED’s former top-of-the-line
25XL model (which had previously been our “best buy” in this price
range). Of course, more passive (wind noise) reduction would always
be appreciated, but the Thirty 3G does appear to offer more on the
passive side than the company’s previous XL-series sets. Also an
improvement over the “classic” LightSPEEDs, the XL-series have wider
ear openings: The 3G’s conforming foam ear seals offer a 25% wider
opening at their widest point than previous models...good news for
folks with larger ears. The overall quality of the headset was deemed
to be slightly inferior to the Telex Stratus or the David Clark or
Sennheiser products, but we can’t say that actual experience in the
field will bear that observation out in the long run.
We think the new Personal Audio Interface featured on the 3G (Third
Generation) LightSPEED products is a feature the other manufacturers
will soon copy, and it’s a feature that pilots who often fly by
themselves on longer cross countries might not want to do without.
Besides offering you an easy way to plug in your CD player or
satellite radio receiver without interfacing with the aircraft’s
intercom system, the “Tone Selection" switch improves audio
quality appreciably (both of ATC and music): Press it to boost either
bass, treble, or both. In addition, the music coming through the
audio interface will automatically mute down by about 80% if ATC
talks or someone on the intercom speaks: NICE. And, not to be
outdone by a few of the other manufacturers, the Thirty 3G offers a
cellular phone interface. For these reasons, this headset is destined
to be an AvShop best seller.
3. Best Buy under $500: None. We weren’t able to find a headset
priced between $400 and $500 which we thought could be considered a
“best buy.” Either spend more and get the LightSPEED Thirty 3G at a
little under $600, or spend less and get the LightSPEED 20XL2 at just
under $400.
4. Best Buy under $400: LightSPEED 20XL2. This upgrade to the
top-selling LightSPEED 20XL includes the Personal Audio Input
available on the more expensive LightSPEED 3G products (albeit
without the Tone Selection feature) and longer battery life than on
the previous generation 20XL. Overall, a great mix of value and
performance.
5. Best Buy under $300: We recently changed our recommendation here.
Previously we thought the DRE Communications DRE-6000 ENR was the
best deal going in the low-end, just barely beating out the
LightSPEED QFR Cross-Country ANR because it has slightly superior ANR
protection. The least expensive of the David Clark “clones” we
tested, the DRE-6000 features soft “leatherette” foam ear seals and
padded headpad, half-flexible mic boom, cigarette lighter adapter,
monaural sound, a nice padded case, and average ANR reduction, all
for a little less than $300. It compared surprisingly well with the
actual David Clark H10-13.4XL that its model after and which costs
nearly twice as much. We agreed with Aviation Consumer magazine that
it’s the “best buy” in a budget ANR headset.
But the folks at AvShop recently caused us to change our mind. They
went and licensed their own version of the LightSPEED QFR
Cross-Country ANR headset and were able to bring its price down about
$50 to $249. That makes the new AvShop Design A-400 the low-priced
leader, and, even though it doesn’t have quite as good of ANR
protection as the DRE-6000, it has the best passive protection of any
headset we’ve tested. Coupled with a price that is 15-70% less than
ALL the other ANR units, that makes it our “Best Buy Under $300.”
6. Best Buy under $200: The Pilot Avionics PA11-60 passive headset
(about $100) worn with a $0.50 set of Howard Leight Max Earplugs. We
found that foam earplugs worn under a good quality “clone” passive
headset yielded more total noise protection than any ANR headset did
on its own! That’s right, $600+ of sophisticated electronics doesn’t
stand up to a $0.50 pair of earplugs. If you can stand to wear
earplugs every time you fly (few pilots can) you probably don’t need
ANR.
Just remember these tips: The correct way to wear earplugs for
maximum noise attenuation is to fill the entire ear canal with foam
so that only a tiny bit is sticking out (in our experience, most
folks leave far too much foam outside the canal...when you place your
palm over your ear, you shouldn’t feel any earplug sticking out);
passengers really don’t like wearing earplugs; your voice will be
louder when you talk if you wear earplugs...remember to speak more
softly or you’ll be screaming at the controllers and your passengers.
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OTHER MODELS
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Here are some of our thoughts on each model of ANR headset, in
alphabetical order:
BOSE X Aviation Headset: You’ve likely seen ads for this
unconventional-looking headset and wondered what it’s all about. Bose
was the first to bring ANR technology to the aviation headset market
over 10 years ago, and they’ve continued to improve on it. What
hasn’t changed is the price: about $1000, or nearly twice as much as
some other high-quality ANR models.
Let’s make one thing perfectly clear: The Bose X is VERY
comfortable...easily the most comfortable headset we tested, hands
down. It’s also the lightest. And their ANR is also the best we
tested. So is anything missing? Only better passive protection and a
reasonable price.
The X reeks of engineering excellence. A magnesium headband bends in
half automatically at a torsion spring, applying clamping pressure on
the earcups in a manner not copied by other manufacturers. Likewise,
the way the earcups attach to the headband is unique. The earcups are
canted to match the shape of your head (as they are with the
LightSPEED XL2 and 3G series products).
Overall, the feeling is one of comfort, quality, and, unfortunately,
fragility: There are exposed, small-gauge wires which look prone to
breaking. The “triport” holes on the outsides of the earcups mustn’t
be allowed to be plugged with dirt. A fine mesh cloth is all that
covers the electronics inside the earcups. It doesn’t appear to be a
headset that would hold up well to intensity of airline flying or
flight instructing.
And it probably wasn’t supposed to. Rather, the Bose X is designed
for the wealthy, sophisticated pilot who supposedly only wants the
best. The kind of pilot who flies a pressurized airplane that isn’t
as susceptible to wind noise as the single-engine Cessna pilot.
Those who have flown with them swear by them and say they wouldn’t
fly with anything else. But in our judgment, such feelings are likely
based more on comfort than overall noise reduction. Because, frankly,
while it was the most comfortable, it wasn’t the quietest headset we
tried in our Cessna 182. That distinction still belongs to the Telex
Stratus.
Our recommendation: If you fly a pressurized piston airplane and
value comfort about total noise reduction, and you have enough money
that price is simply no object, then go with the Bose.
David Clark H10-13.4X: The H10-13.4X is the ANR version of DC’s most
popular passive model, the H10-13.4. The 13.4 (supposedly weighing
just 13.4 oz.) was, in turn, an upgrade from the old-style H10-40,
adding gel ear seals, a half-flex mic boom, and soft foam headpad
covering a metal headband. The metal headband seems to us to be more
likely able to stand up to abuse than the plastic headbands which
have become so common these days...a throwback to a time when stuff
was built to last. Add average quality off-the-shelf ANR electronics
to the 13.4 and you have the 13.4X. It’s a well-built headset, but,
other than its overall quality, proven design, and decent passive
reduction, it doesn’t offer much for its nearly $600 price. For that
kind of cash, you could get a “clone” DRE Communications DRE-6000
model for yourself and another one for your co-pilot...and we think
you’ll be just as satisfied with the performance of the clone as you
would be with the real thing. We also don’
t like the fact that all of the David Clark sets require four AA
batteries, which adds to the weight of the power pack. Most competing
headsets use only two.
David Clark H10-66L: Equivalent to the David Clark H10-13X or
H10-13XL, but with the capability of working with both military and
civilian avionics systems.
David Clark H20-10X: The David Clark Co.’s first major upgrade to the
classic H10-series products was the H20-10. It featured an all-new,
if not radical, design with square-ish ear cups and seals, a overly
padded headpad covering a plastic headband that is almost infinitely
adjustable, and a completely flexible boom mike. DC added
off-the-shelf ANR circuitry to the H20-10 in the 1990’s and the
H20-10X was born. At over 22 oz., it’s a heavy bugger, something
you’ll notice after about an hour of use. But, other than the weight,
it’s very comfortable...moreso than any of DC’s other headsets. And,
like all DC products, it has a good, quality feel to it. The ear
seals are gel-filled, not foam filled, something we wish other
manufacturers would adopt. They’re also square at the top, turning
oval and actually getting thicker at the bottom. Passive noise
reduction is excellent, although its ANR is subpar when compared to
other headsets selling for the H20-10X’s nearly $700 price. (An
d, for that, you’d think they could at least throw in a carrying bag
like most of their competitors do.) If price was no object, this
headset would be one of our faves.
Flightcom Denali ANR: With its blue or yellow colors, distinctive
design that’s unlike any other headset on the market, and great
carrying case, we thought it was very brave of Flightcom to “break
the mold” and get away from the David Clark clones they’d always sold
previously. At one point, this product was one of AvShop’s most
popular headsets...when the Denali debuted, we had dozens of
customers who’d been waiting for them. And, no fewer than 10
customers have given the Denali ANR at least four stars in our
customer ratings system. However, when we compared it to the other
headsets while in the air, it was immediately obvious that, not only
did the Denali have perhaps the worst passive noise reduction of any
headset we tested, the ANR was subpar as well. Still, it’s probably
the best looking of the headsets we tested, so if you prefer style
over substance, and don’t mind paying around $500 for it, then the
Denali is for you. Otherwise, go with the LightSPEED Twenty 3G for
about $20 less or LightSPEED 20XL2 for around $100 less.
Headsets, Inc. EM-1: A David Clark clone, with flex mic boom, gel
seals, and a “SoftTop” sheepskin headpad from Oregon Aero (an
accessory we’ve always felt was a good upgrade for any headset). The
EM-1 offered as good of passive and ANR reduction and comfort as any
of the other clones, but at only $20 less than the LightSPEED 20XL2,
we don’t see the point.
LightSPEED Twenty 3G: Offering all the features of the Thirty 3G but
with about 4-6dB less ANR for about $130 less money, the Twenty 3G is
a darned good headset. But, although it might not sound like it,
4-6dB is a LOT of extra noise reduction. Our test pilots felt that,
if you’re going to spend this much for a headset, you should simply
go a little farther and step up to the Thirty 3G right from the
start...it would be $130 that was well spent, and we don’t think
you’d ever be sorry. If you just can’t afford $600 for a Thirty 3G,
then we think that, rather than the Twenty 3G, you should save $70
and get the LightSPEED 20XL2. LightSPEED claims you’ll give up about
2dB of ANR reduction vs. the Twenty 3G, but, in all honesty, our test
pilots couldn’t tell much of a difference between the Twenty 3G and
the XL2. We’re sure LightSPEED would beg to differ, however.
LightSPEED QFR Cross Country: This is an all-new design for
LightSPEED. (They recently licensed the product to AvShop for its own
label.) It bears a noticeable resemblance to the Peltor and
Sennheiser products and features superior passive insulation, the
ability to wear it with the mic boom either on your left or right
(unlike the other LightSPEED products), and sufficient clamping
pressure to passively block out more sound than any other headset we
tested.
LightSPEED heard many complaints about the lack of adequate passive
reduction in their XL series, and, at $300, the QFR’s is their
answer. But, in order not to cannibalize customers from their
higher-end products, they put subpar ANR circuitry in the QFR
series...it’s truly a “budget” level of active reduction, perhaps
worse than any of the other ANR headsets we tested. So, frankly, we
don’t think that little amount of ANR is worth $300...the headset is
just a bit overpriced. Yet it’s still the best passive headset we’ve
tested, and that counts for a lot in small aircraft. And some ANR
protection is better than none at all. Conclusion: The LightSPEED
version at $300 isn’t worth the money, but $249 for the AvShop
version seems about the right price.
Peltor Stratosphere 7104 ANR: Yet another set we had high hopes for.
More than a few pilots and instructors we’ve known over the years
have bragged about the Peltor passive products and their comfort. The
Stratosphere 7104 is unique in its design. For one, it can curl up
into a ball that’s easy on the flight bag. The ANR circuitry,
including 9v battery pack, is in one of the earcups, with the power
switch right behind your ear on the side of the cup. We like it that
way...no heavy power pack flopping around on your cord. In fact, with
the Peltor, you can detach the cord and put it away if you’re not
talking to anyone. The passive reduction seemed better than most of
the sets we tried, and the 7104 was comfortable. In many ways, it
compared very favorably with the LightSPEED QFR Cross Country. Like
the QFR, the headband is basically padded vinyl strung over two
heavy-guage wires. But, also like the QFR and others, the 7104’s ANR
circuitry seems almost an afterthought. And whe
n a headset costs more than $500, we think it better offer pretty
effective electronic noise cancellation.
Pilot Avionics PA17-76, 17-79, and 17-71: We were already familiar
with the previous PA offerings, the PA17-76 and the PA17-79, which
debuted in the mid-to-late 1990’s. With the PA17-76, PA was the first
(and only) manufacturer to include a rechargeable battery in the
earcup, so you didn’t need a separate in-line battery pack on the
cord. We thought that was a great idea at first, but, in reality, it
wasn’t all that convenient because you had to remember to bring the
headset home and literally plug it in to charge it, vs. keeping some
9v or AA batteries in your plane’s glove box and replacing them when
your headset went dead. In roughly 75 hours of flying with the
PA17-79, we found it offered ANR that was superior to that found in
both the LightSPEED 20XL and the David Clark H10-13XL; about on par
with the LightSPEED 25XL.
Our passengers often picked the PA17-79 as the most comfortable set
in our plane during that time. The PA17-79 was also been a
crowd-pleaser with AvShop customers. At one point, it was our most
popular set, and it has racked up several “five star” ratings from
customers who’ve reviewed it online. The PA17-71 is similar to the
PA17-79 in most respects except that the power pack/battery is now in
the cord, like most other sets, and the sheepskin headpad was
replaced by a plastic-covered foam version. While these changes made
the PA17-71 lighter and less expensive than PA17-79 ($300 vs. around
$460), we couldn’t help but think that Pilot Avionics products seem
“dated” these days...there haven’t been many improvements since the
late 1990s.
The PA17-series products are made almost entirely of plastic...it’s
hard to find any metal showing at all...and our testers complained
all that plastic made the PA products seem “cheap” and “clunky” (even
though they meet tough military specifications for reliability).
The comfort of the PA17-series is generally quite good, although we
wish the earcups were deeper. The fit around the ears, particularly
when you are wearing sunglasses, leaves a little to be
desired...noise seems to leak in more easily than with other sets.
We’re also not that crazy about the plastic mic boom...it just
doesn’t offer the flexibility of metal flex versions like those
featured on the LightSPEED products.
Overall, though, if you only have $300 to spend, you’ll likely be
satisfied with the PA17-71. That said, since the PA17-71 offers the
features of the PA17-76 and PA17-79 at a significantly lower price,
we find no reason to purchase those older, more expensive siblings at
this point. Plus, if you go with the PA17-71T model, you can
interface a cellular phone with it...something you can’t do with the
other products in the PA series.
Sennheiser Noisegard HMEC 300 and HMEC 400: The HMEC 300 (about $560)
and its slightly more modern and upgraded cousin the HMEC 400 (about
$550; don’t ask why) offer average comfort and above-average passive
and ANR hearing protection...they’re good all-around sets that we’d
say are in the top 4 overall, up there with the Bose, Telex Stratus,
and Lightspeed Thirty 3G.
Sennheiser is a German manufacturer recognized the world over for its
quality audio products, particularly headphones and microphones for
DJ’s, musicians and recording studios. Aviation products are a tiny
fraction of their business, but the design and quality of their
aviation headsets are excellent.
The HMEC 300 and 400 share the European styling common to the Peltor,
LightSPEED QFR series, and AvShop Design A-400, utilizing a thin but
durable metal wire-like frame. For whatever reason, this design seems
to provide the best passive protection of any of the headset designs.
The mic boom is infinitely adjustable, the headband well-padded, the
volume control on the earcup (where we like it), and you get an
excellent Cordura nylon protective case to put it in. And, like the
competing European designed models, the Sennheisers roll up into a
smaller “ball-like” shape that takes up less space in your flight
kit.
The HMEC 400 has softer “leatherette” earseals that are superior to
the earlier generation HMEC 300 plastic coverings, but neither uses
the conforming foam that the LightSPEED and Telex Stratus headsets
do, unfortunately. (Other than having different colors of ear domes,
we couldn’t distinguish any other differences between the HMEC 300
and 400 models. Both remain listed on the Sennheiser web site, but
the technical specs for each are identical.)
We were impressed by the overall quality of the headsets and the
amount of both passive and ANR protection they offered. The amount of
passive protection is about on par with the similar design Peltor
Stratosphere 7104 ANR and nearly as much as the LightSPEED QFR
Cross-Country/AvShop Design A-400. But the ANR reduction of the
Sennheisers are far superior to the A-400/QFR or the
Peltor’s...perhaps equal to the LightSPEED Twenty 3G.
There was one thing we didn’t care for. The Sennheiser units are
clearly designed to receive ship’s power rather than portable power
from a battery pack. The 39”-long headset cord terminates at a
junction box that includes an on/off and stereo/mono switch. From the
junction box protrude three more cords (approx. 9” long), which
terminate at plugs: Microphone, headphone, and three-prong male power
plug. If you are running the unit on ship’s power, you would have
your avionics shop install the included 3-pin female power plug into
your instrument panel near your headset jacks and you’d be all set.
But the great majority of pilots don’t have use ship’s power for
their headsets. So, if you want to be portable with the HMEC series,
the Sennheiser web site says you need to order their BP-03 battery
pack separately, for $60. The BP-03 consists of a cylindrical case
about 4” long by 1.5” at the end of another 39” long cord. The case
holds 4 AA batteries and includes another on/off switch and LED’s for
“low battery” and “power on.” At the other end of the cord is a
3-prong female adapter that fits the headset’s power plug.
In the airplane, you will have your headset plugged into headset
jacks at the end of the main headset cord, and another long cord with
the battery pack at the other end. In most aircraft, you’ll need to
put the battery pack and cord in a side pocket or it will get under
your feet. The BP-03 does have a clip on the side, but we never found
a place on our clothing or in the plane that made sense to clip it on
to. And, when we put it in the side map pocket down by our feet, we
couldn’t see the “low battery” and “power on” LED’s. In summary, it
seemed like there was just too much cord. We wished every
manufacturer would power their headsets with a battery in the earcup,
but so far, only the Peltor Stratosphere 7104 does.
A word on the BP-03 as an optional accessory: AvShop has supposedly
convinced Sennheiser to include the portable battery pack with all
future orders. However, the units we received from AvShop for testing
didn’t include the BP-03 and we had to have the AvShop crew send us
one separately. They’ve promised to check all future shipments to
make sure they include the battery pack at no additional charge.
In summary, it’s hard not to like the Sennheisers, especially now
that their prices have come down to be more in line with competing
headsets. Yet they’re still a little too spendy to be one of our
“best buys” (with the exception of being our best buy in a
panel-powered model). We wish they could be sold under $500, because
we don’t otherwise have a “best buy” recommendation between $400 and
$500. At say $475, the Sennheisers would have been our “best buy
under $500” category, but at their $550-$560 price, you’re better off
spending $25 more for the LightSPEED Thirty 3G. With the LightSPEEDs,
you’d get conforming foam earseals, the personal audio interface,
superior ANR protection, perhaps greater comfort, and power by two
batteries instead of the Sennheiser’s four.
Sigtronics S-AR: A David Clark H10-13.4 clone with full flex mic
boom, stereo sound, and extra-thick gel ear seals. Appears to be very
well-built, and as comfortable as any clone, but the ANR was average
and the price, at around $450, is too high: The LightSPEED 20XL2 is
$50 less, more comfortable, has the personal audio interface and
conforming foam earseals and better ANR protection.
Softcomm C-90: Softcomm’s first attempt to compete in the crowded ANR
headset market was with this David Clark clone. Its standard foam ear
seals, somewhat padded headpad, and full flex mic boom don’t make it
stand out from the crowd, but the cellular telephone jack does, as
does the $260 price. (Again, we don’t think you should ever consider
buying a high-end passive headset when you can get an off-brand ANR
model for the same price.) But this low-budget product had one
drawback that kept us from recommending it as our budget “best buy:”
there is no power switch. You simply plug the cord into the power
pack when you want to turn it on, or pull it out when you want to
switch it off. Lose the power pack (and it’s small), and you’ll never
have ANR again. Our flight bag seems to have a hidden hole that
mysteriously opens up just so we can lose things like small power
packs, and we’re sure that hole would eventually open for this one.
Then all we’d have is a low-grade passive hea
dset...no thanks.
Softcomm C-100: Most ANR headsets have their battery packs in the
cord, a few (Peltor 7104, Pilot PA-17-76 and ‘-79) have them in the
earcup, but this one is the only ANR headset we know of that doesn’t
have one at all! This David Clark clone’s ANR circuit is powered by
mic bias voltage, a carryover from older radios that’s now seldom
used. Kudos to Softcomm for figuring out how to power a headset with
that circuit! Add gel and foam ear seals, a gel headpad, half flex
mic boom, and a set of cloth comfort covers for the ear seals to soak
up your sweat, and you have a decent headset. But we find the price,
at just over $400, too steep of a premium for these additional
futures because the C-100 offers nothing more than average total
noise reduction. Your ears would rather you went with the LightSPEED
20XL2 for a few dollars less.
Telex Echelon 150: There is nothing we can recommend about this
headset, frankly. It’s not comfortable, the first-generation ANR is
so poor it’s hard to tell if it’s even on, and the passive reduction
isn’t worth a darn either. Telex and AvShop should pull it off the
market.
That does it for this Buying Guide. If you have any specific
questions about one of the headset products which we didn’t answer,
feel free to contact our Pilot Sales Staff at pilots@avshop.com.
And don’t forget to check out our other buying guides on handheld
GPS, handheld transceivers, and PC-based flight simulators. Happy
flying!
Anyway, here is the text...sorry, no web link:
Dear Fellow Pilot,
Thanks for visiting AvShop, where "Flying is Freedom." We
have the largest selection of Active Noise Reduction headsets in the marketplace, but we know shopping for one online can be downright confusing. So we asked Marc Coan to round them up, fly with them, describe them, and make his unbiased recommendations.
Marc is an ATP-rated pilot and CFII with over 4,000 hours as a pilot and 22 years of experience in the aviation industry. The founder of AvShop, he now operates SkyMachines, a flat-fee aircraft brokerage and appraisal service at http://www.skymachines.com.
Our selection of ANR headsets can be found at http://www.avshop.com/headsets.html. If, after reading the product descriptions there and Marc's review, you still have questions about any of the models we sell, please don't hesitate to contact us by visiting http://www.avshop.com/pilotquestionf1.html.
=======================================
AVSHOP’S BUYER’S GUIDE TO ANR HEADSETS
=======================================
Twenty-five years ago, light general aviation airplanes were basically the same as they are today: noisy. Yet it seemed few pilots bothered to fly with headsets. Since then, we’ve come to realize that hearing protection is vital to our continued well being, and aviation headset manufacturers have been oh-so-willing to respond. Now we have literally dozens of headset models to choose from, and noise reduction technology continues to improve. The major manufacturers pay big money to promote their headsets in the aviation press, and each claims its model is the best. Whose claims should you believe? Even if you could visit a showroom or trade show featuring all the headset models, you couldn’t conceivably test each of them in an airplane yourself. Fortunately, that’s exactly why you have AvShop.
AvShop isn’t just some little pilot shop: We’re the biggest, busiest,
and best online pilot shop in the world. We stock practically every
major headset model made. And every day, the pilots on our sales
staff receive the same questions from our customers: “Which headset
is best?” “Which one is the best value for the money?” “I only have
$300. Which one should I get?” That’s why we’ve developed this
Buyer’s Guide to answer all those questions honestly and up-front. We
don’t have any special relationships with any of the headset makers,
so we can afford to give you straight-shootin’, honest answers.
Admittedly, this Buyer’s Guide is completely subjective. We didn’t
test any headset on the workbench, measure the sound reduction in any
objective way, or take it apart to see what it was like inside. We
just set out to wear each one and figure out which headsets offered
us the most sound reduction and comfort for the money. Most of our
customers fly light piston-powered small aircraft, either singles or
light twins. Therefore, this guide is written with that type of pilot
in mind. We took our mid-1970’s Cessna 182P Skylane flying with a
total of three pilots and over one dozen headsets. We spent several
hours swapping headsets and writing notes. Then we sent the most
popular models out on extended trips in the 182 over the course of
several weeks, during which they were worn by both pilots and
passengers. Our results are detailed below, but let’s start with a
little headset history.
The David Clark Co. claims to have invented the aviation “noise
attenuating headset,” debuting its H10-series products in 1975. By
the 1980s, they’d refined their designs a bit, and their model H10-40
became a best seller...the “classic” headset, if you will. It
featured slightly-insulated earcups in the company’s trademark light
green color, foam ear seals, a hard-as-rock headpad, and plenty of
clamping pressure to reduce the amount of noise reaching the wearer’s
ears. Such a “passive” headset reduces the noise experienced in a
typical 105 decibel (dB) small plane cockpit by 15-23dB, but at the
cost of a good deal of comfort; the original $250+ David Clark
H10-series headset was known to give many pilots one or more aches on
their heads after a couple of hours of use. David Clark built tens of
thousands of the classic Green Machine, and continues to produce
versions which are amazing similar. But when the company’s patent on
the original design expired, a whole new industry
was born: Numerous companies we’d never before heard of rushed in to
produce “clones” of the H10-series.
New manufacturers took advantage of mass production, lower quality
materials and craftsmanship, and overseas labor to produce H10-series
clones and sell them to thousands more pilots at affordable prices.
Suddenly, nearly every pilot could afford to protect his or her
hearing. Eventually, to differentiate themselves in the marketplace,
some manufacturers tried to improve on the original David Clark
design by adding softer headpads, additional earcup insulation,
microphone booms with more flexibility, and deeper “conforming foam”
or gel-filled ear seals. These improvements allowed for a more
comfortable, and perhaps slightly quieter, headset. (The
ever-conservative David Clark eventually followed suit and
incorporated similar improvements). But the manufacturers’ ability to
further reduce the sound reaching the pilot was limited. The only
other ways to increase the total noise attenuation offered by a
passive headset was to increase the amount of clamping pressure
produced by
the headset against the pilot’s head or to increase the depth of the
earcups so they could be filled with more insulation. Neither option
proved to be very practical because of obvious comfort issues.
Fortunately, in 1989, a major audio equipment manufaturer brought a
revolutionary concept to aviation noise attenuation: Active Noise
Reduction, or ANR (also known as Active Noise Cancellation, Direct
Noise Cancellation, and Electronic Noise Cancellation). This
technology uses a tiny microphone to “listen” to sound levels which
have successfully entered the plastic earcup. Electronic circuitry
then processes the noise and instantly broadcasts an anti-noise
signal through a tiny speaker in the earcup. The added anti-noise
sound waves mix with the original external sound waves to cancel or
reduce them. The result is another 10-23dB of “active” noise
reduction that can be provided by the headset. However, it is very
important to keep in mind that the improvements provided by ANR are
felt mostly in the lowest frequencies...those produced by the engine
and propeller. For various reasons, it’s more difficult for ANR to
cancel higher frequency sounds like wind noise. Fortunately, it
’s those lower frequencies that are the most fatiguing and annoying
to pilots, so flying with a decent ANR headset can literally reduce
pilot fatigue on longer trips (in addition to making a quite
noticeable reduction in the overall noise level right from the moment
you turn it on).
ANR sounds simple enough, but it actually takes some pretty
sophisticated circuitry to pull off ANR noise reduction, particularly
as you get to higher levels of cancellation. If everything isn’t just
right, ANR could actually add to the sound and make it worse. The
first ANR headsets did a noticeable job of reducing the lower
frequency sound, and manufacturers charged a premium price for this
“gee whiz” technology. But the engineers appeared to have been so
caught up in the high-tech aspects of ANR that they forgot that a
truly useful headset must also be comfortable and reduce
higher-frequency noise as well, neither of which first generation ANR
units achieved. In addition, the sky-high prices (about $1,000), the
fact that panel power was required, and the manufacturer’s “no mail
order” policy all deterred more pilots from taking advantage of the
new technology. Thus that first ANR headset appeared to be destined
to be a “niche” product that would be accessible only to the r
ich.
In the mid 1990’s, a new company, Oregon-based LightSPEED, debuted an
unusual-looking ANR headset through a mail order catalog that was the
precursor to AvShop. The price for the LightSPEED 15K (around $400)
was significantly less than the original ANR manufacturer’s model,
making it accessible to more pilots. It also included significantly
more padding around the ears and in the headpad than the competing
product. LightSPEED claimed to have spent significant engineering
expense on developing this first affordable, comfortable ANR headset.
(For a good discussion of ANR written by the folks at LightSPEED,
visit AvWeb at http://www.avweb.com/news/avionics/183221-1.html.
You may need to sign up for a free AvWeb membership first.)
Unfortunately, like the original ANR headset maker, the LightSPEED
engineers originally forgot that passive noise reduction was also
important: ANR has virtually no impact on wind noise, which can (so
far) only be effectively reduced with passive techn
ology. Thus, in airplane with considerable wind noise, the original
LightSPEED 15K wasn’t all that effective, and customers let
LightSPEED know it.
Once LightSPEED proved that ANR technology could be produced
affordably and pilots would buy it, the rush was on. Other
manufacturers (including David Clark and Telex) simply added
off-the-shelf ANR components produced by third-party manufacturers to
their existing passive headsets, sometimes removing sound-deadening
passive insulation to make room for the electronics. In most cases,
no effort was made to customize the ANR system to the headset...
perhaps they thought that simply being able to say they now offered
an ANR model was enough to compete with LightSPEED and the original,
high-end, ANR manufacturer. And, certainly, there is a noticeable
improvement in total sound reduction which can be achieved simply by
adding one-size-fits-all ANR circuitry to any passive headset model,
although doing so hardly optimizes the ANR with the headset’s passive
cancellation. The engineers at LightSPEED and one or two other firms
learned that the design of the earcup, the quality of the
electronics, and the placement of the microphone and speakers inside
the earcup all affected how much benefit could be derived by the ANR
system.
By the end of the decade, LightSPEED and other manufacturers, such as
Pilot Avionics and Telex, announced upgraded or new models featuring
ever-better ANR technology and increased comfort. All of which is
great news for us pilots: The quality has been going up, while the
price has generally not. While there are still plenty of David Clark
“clones” on the market with off-the-shelf ANR components added in,
there are now new ANR designs which, in our tests, seemed to offer
truly improved performance over the ANR technology of only a few
years ago.
=======================================
OVERALL CONCLUSIONS
=======================================
Now that you have some background, let’s move on to the results of
our tests. Before we give you our model-by-model impressions, or even
our “best buy” recommendations, let’s begin with some subjective
conclusions:
1. Almost all headsets are comfortable enough for flights under two
hours. As you might expect, those sets with the thickest and softest
ear cushions and headpads were the most comfortable for longer
flights. We found that the gel ear seals seemed to seal out the most
noise for our test pilots, particularly when the wearer also was
wearing sunglasses. The very deep and softest “conforming foam”
seals, which soften as your skin warms them, were a close second.
2. Our preferred features for any headset: Padding, and lots of it
(see #1), an infinitely flexible microphone boom (no hard plastic or
metal), individually-adjustable volume controls (preferably located
on the earcups, where they’re easier to find than having to fumble
around on the cord for the unit’s power pack), and the smallest
possible battery pack (ideally, the battery would be a 9-volt type
located in the earcup of the headset, but only one manufacturer seems
to agree so far). Stereo sound is only important if you listen to
music in flight and have a stereo intercom. (And, if you do listen to
music, remember that ANR quite effectively removes the bass
response...don’t expect a home audio or even “Walkman” style
experience, although the new LightSPEED 3G series offers bass and
treble boost, which improves sound quality somewhat.)
3. Interestingly, the David Clark “clone” design still seems to offer
the best combination of passive reduction, comfort, and durability,
provided the clone model you choose has deep enough ear seals and a
soft headpad. In addition, we found the ANR systems in both the David
Clark and David Clark “clone” models all worked and felt about the
same to us; it was hard to differentiate between them. Therefore,
although it pains us to say it, we just don’t feel we can recommend
any of the David Clark ANR models (about $575-$700) at this time.
While well-built, with legendary customer service, the ANR circuitry
in the David Clark models just doesn’t seem to compare with that in
the latest Telex and LightSPEED offerings. (Like the “clones,” it
seems that the ANR technology in the David Clark products hasn’t been
improved since it debuted...other products have simply passed them
by.) We do offer one caveat here, however: If you’re a pilot or
instructor who flies aircraft for a living,
the quality of the David Clark products, and their customer
service, should get your attention--if you ever need your headset
fixed, you’ll have it back in a week. That’s worth giving up a little
ANR for, in our opinion.
4. The least expensive ANR headsets provide more total noise
reduction than the best passive headsets. Throughout our tests, we
couldn’t help but think that the days of the high-end, name-brand
passive headsets were numbered. To us, if you’ve got $250-300 to
spend on a headset, then a low-end ANR model is a smarter way to go
than any big-name passive model.
5. When it comes to ANR, it does seem you get what you pay for: The
amount of active noise reduction in the top-of-the-line ANR models is
significantly greater than in the lower end models, even within the
same manufacturer’s product line (the exception was David Clark; the
ANR response in each of their units seemed about the same).
=======================================
BEST BUYS
=======================================
Now for our model-by-model review, beginning with our “best buys” in
six different price categories:
1. Best Overall ANR Headset: Telex Stratus 50-D (under $800). Our
test pilots unanimously agreed that Telex really hit the mark with
their latest offering, making up for subpar first generation ANR sets
they previously offered. Good overall comfort due to conforming foam
ear seals (although the Bose X leads in comfort and the LightSPEED
Thirty 3G was judged to be slightly more comfortable due to deeper
and softer padding), the best total overall noise reduction of any
headset we tested, and an overall perception of quality had us
agreeing that, if you’re the type of pilot who refuses to fly with
anything but the best, this is the headset for you.
The Stratus is the first headset to offer “digital” ANR. While other
ANR headsets’ analog systems analyze the full spectrum of noise that
is "sensed" from the original signal and broadcast a
general anti-noise wave that is designed to cancel as much of that
original noise as possible, digital systems sample the sound, analyze
it, "predict" the noise levels at specific frequencies, and
then insert one or more audio tones that will cancel those specific
frequencies. While not as effective at canceling throughout the
“broadband” noise spectrum, digital ANR is supposedly more effective
at canceling those specific frequencies that bother pilots
most...like propeller resonance frequencies in small aircraft.
We think that digital ANR is the future and that other manufacturers
will soon develop digital sets designed specifically for various
categories of aircraft. And from what we experienced with the
Stratus, we look forward to that progress. However, digital ANR might
be a bit of a power hog: You need four AA’s to power the Stratus,
just like you do with the (analog) David Clarks. That’s a big power
pack to have flopping around on the cord down by your knee.
Fortunately, there’s a cigarette lighter adapter, something we wish
the other manufacturers would include. Overall, an outstanding
headset. Worth the money? Probably not. The LightSPEED Thirty 3G was
almost as quiet, equally as comfortable, runs on half as many
batteries and has the neat personal audio interface, all for $200
less.
2. Best Buy under $600: LightSPEED Thirty 3G. The second most ANR
protection of the sets we tested. We really couldn’t find much NOT to
like about this replacement for LightSPEED’s former top-of-the-line
25XL model (which had previously been our “best buy” in this price
range). Of course, more passive (wind noise) reduction would always
be appreciated, but the Thirty 3G does appear to offer more on the
passive side than the company’s previous XL-series sets. Also an
improvement over the “classic” LightSPEEDs, the XL-series have wider
ear openings: The 3G’s conforming foam ear seals offer a 25% wider
opening at their widest point than previous models...good news for
folks with larger ears. The overall quality of the headset was deemed
to be slightly inferior to the Telex Stratus or the David Clark or
Sennheiser products, but we can’t say that actual experience in the
field will bear that observation out in the long run.
We think the new Personal Audio Interface featured on the 3G (Third
Generation) LightSPEED products is a feature the other manufacturers
will soon copy, and it’s a feature that pilots who often fly by
themselves on longer cross countries might not want to do without.
Besides offering you an easy way to plug in your CD player or
satellite radio receiver without interfacing with the aircraft’s
intercom system, the “Tone Selection" switch improves audio
quality appreciably (both of ATC and music): Press it to boost either
bass, treble, or both. In addition, the music coming through the
audio interface will automatically mute down by about 80% if ATC
talks or someone on the intercom speaks: NICE. And, not to be
outdone by a few of the other manufacturers, the Thirty 3G offers a
cellular phone interface. For these reasons, this headset is destined
to be an AvShop best seller.
3. Best Buy under $500: None. We weren’t able to find a headset
priced between $400 and $500 which we thought could be considered a
“best buy.” Either spend more and get the LightSPEED Thirty 3G at a
little under $600, or spend less and get the LightSPEED 20XL2 at just
under $400.
4. Best Buy under $400: LightSPEED 20XL2. This upgrade to the
top-selling LightSPEED 20XL includes the Personal Audio Input
available on the more expensive LightSPEED 3G products (albeit
without the Tone Selection feature) and longer battery life than on
the previous generation 20XL. Overall, a great mix of value and
performance.
5. Best Buy under $300: We recently changed our recommendation here.
Previously we thought the DRE Communications DRE-6000 ENR was the
best deal going in the low-end, just barely beating out the
LightSPEED QFR Cross-Country ANR because it has slightly superior ANR
protection. The least expensive of the David Clark “clones” we
tested, the DRE-6000 features soft “leatherette” foam ear seals and
padded headpad, half-flexible mic boom, cigarette lighter adapter,
monaural sound, a nice padded case, and average ANR reduction, all
for a little less than $300. It compared surprisingly well with the
actual David Clark H10-13.4XL that its model after and which costs
nearly twice as much. We agreed with Aviation Consumer magazine that
it’s the “best buy” in a budget ANR headset.
But the folks at AvShop recently caused us to change our mind. They
went and licensed their own version of the LightSPEED QFR
Cross-Country ANR headset and were able to bring its price down about
$50 to $249. That makes the new AvShop Design A-400 the low-priced
leader, and, even though it doesn’t have quite as good of ANR
protection as the DRE-6000, it has the best passive protection of any
headset we’ve tested. Coupled with a price that is 15-70% less than
ALL the other ANR units, that makes it our “Best Buy Under $300.”
6. Best Buy under $200: The Pilot Avionics PA11-60 passive headset
(about $100) worn with a $0.50 set of Howard Leight Max Earplugs. We
found that foam earplugs worn under a good quality “clone” passive
headset yielded more total noise protection than any ANR headset did
on its own! That’s right, $600+ of sophisticated electronics doesn’t
stand up to a $0.50 pair of earplugs. If you can stand to wear
earplugs every time you fly (few pilots can) you probably don’t need
ANR.
Just remember these tips: The correct way to wear earplugs for
maximum noise attenuation is to fill the entire ear canal with foam
so that only a tiny bit is sticking out (in our experience, most
folks leave far too much foam outside the canal...when you place your
palm over your ear, you shouldn’t feel any earplug sticking out);
passengers really don’t like wearing earplugs; your voice will be
louder when you talk if you wear earplugs...remember to speak more
softly or you’ll be screaming at the controllers and your passengers.
=======================================
OTHER MODELS
=======================================
Here are some of our thoughts on each model of ANR headset, in
alphabetical order:
BOSE X Aviation Headset: You’ve likely seen ads for this
unconventional-looking headset and wondered what it’s all about. Bose
was the first to bring ANR technology to the aviation headset market
over 10 years ago, and they’ve continued to improve on it. What
hasn’t changed is the price: about $1000, or nearly twice as much as
some other high-quality ANR models.
Let’s make one thing perfectly clear: The Bose X is VERY
comfortable...easily the most comfortable headset we tested, hands
down. It’s also the lightest. And their ANR is also the best we
tested. So is anything missing? Only better passive protection and a
reasonable price.
The X reeks of engineering excellence. A magnesium headband bends in
half automatically at a torsion spring, applying clamping pressure on
the earcups in a manner not copied by other manufacturers. Likewise,
the way the earcups attach to the headband is unique. The earcups are
canted to match the shape of your head (as they are with the
LightSPEED XL2 and 3G series products).
Overall, the feeling is one of comfort, quality, and, unfortunately,
fragility: There are exposed, small-gauge wires which look prone to
breaking. The “triport” holes on the outsides of the earcups mustn’t
be allowed to be plugged with dirt. A fine mesh cloth is all that
covers the electronics inside the earcups. It doesn’t appear to be a
headset that would hold up well to intensity of airline flying or
flight instructing.
And it probably wasn’t supposed to. Rather, the Bose X is designed
for the wealthy, sophisticated pilot who supposedly only wants the
best. The kind of pilot who flies a pressurized airplane that isn’t
as susceptible to wind noise as the single-engine Cessna pilot.
Those who have flown with them swear by them and say they wouldn’t
fly with anything else. But in our judgment, such feelings are likely
based more on comfort than overall noise reduction. Because, frankly,
while it was the most comfortable, it wasn’t the quietest headset we
tried in our Cessna 182. That distinction still belongs to the Telex
Stratus.
Our recommendation: If you fly a pressurized piston airplane and
value comfort about total noise reduction, and you have enough money
that price is simply no object, then go with the Bose.
David Clark H10-13.4X: The H10-13.4X is the ANR version of DC’s most
popular passive model, the H10-13.4. The 13.4 (supposedly weighing
just 13.4 oz.) was, in turn, an upgrade from the old-style H10-40,
adding gel ear seals, a half-flex mic boom, and soft foam headpad
covering a metal headband. The metal headband seems to us to be more
likely able to stand up to abuse than the plastic headbands which
have become so common these days...a throwback to a time when stuff
was built to last. Add average quality off-the-shelf ANR electronics
to the 13.4 and you have the 13.4X. It’s a well-built headset, but,
other than its overall quality, proven design, and decent passive
reduction, it doesn’t offer much for its nearly $600 price. For that
kind of cash, you could get a “clone” DRE Communications DRE-6000
model for yourself and another one for your co-pilot...and we think
you’ll be just as satisfied with the performance of the clone as you
would be with the real thing. We also don’
t like the fact that all of the David Clark sets require four AA
batteries, which adds to the weight of the power pack. Most competing
headsets use only two.
David Clark H10-66L: Equivalent to the David Clark H10-13X or
H10-13XL, but with the capability of working with both military and
civilian avionics systems.
David Clark H20-10X: The David Clark Co.’s first major upgrade to the
classic H10-series products was the H20-10. It featured an all-new,
if not radical, design with square-ish ear cups and seals, a overly
padded headpad covering a plastic headband that is almost infinitely
adjustable, and a completely flexible boom mike. DC added
off-the-shelf ANR circuitry to the H20-10 in the 1990’s and the
H20-10X was born. At over 22 oz., it’s a heavy bugger, something
you’ll notice after about an hour of use. But, other than the weight,
it’s very comfortable...moreso than any of DC’s other headsets. And,
like all DC products, it has a good, quality feel to it. The ear
seals are gel-filled, not foam filled, something we wish other
manufacturers would adopt. They’re also square at the top, turning
oval and actually getting thicker at the bottom. Passive noise
reduction is excellent, although its ANR is subpar when compared to
other headsets selling for the H20-10X’s nearly $700 price. (An
d, for that, you’d think they could at least throw in a carrying bag
like most of their competitors do.) If price was no object, this
headset would be one of our faves.
Flightcom Denali ANR: With its blue or yellow colors, distinctive
design that’s unlike any other headset on the market, and great
carrying case, we thought it was very brave of Flightcom to “break
the mold” and get away from the David Clark clones they’d always sold
previously. At one point, this product was one of AvShop’s most
popular headsets...when the Denali debuted, we had dozens of
customers who’d been waiting for them. And, no fewer than 10
customers have given the Denali ANR at least four stars in our
customer ratings system. However, when we compared it to the other
headsets while in the air, it was immediately obvious that, not only
did the Denali have perhaps the worst passive noise reduction of any
headset we tested, the ANR was subpar as well. Still, it’s probably
the best looking of the headsets we tested, so if you prefer style
over substance, and don’t mind paying around $500 for it, then the
Denali is for you. Otherwise, go with the LightSPEED Twenty 3G for
about $20 less or LightSPEED 20XL2 for around $100 less.
Headsets, Inc. EM-1: A David Clark clone, with flex mic boom, gel
seals, and a “SoftTop” sheepskin headpad from Oregon Aero (an
accessory we’ve always felt was a good upgrade for any headset). The
EM-1 offered as good of passive and ANR reduction and comfort as any
of the other clones, but at only $20 less than the LightSPEED 20XL2,
we don’t see the point.
LightSPEED Twenty 3G: Offering all the features of the Thirty 3G but
with about 4-6dB less ANR for about $130 less money, the Twenty 3G is
a darned good headset. But, although it might not sound like it,
4-6dB is a LOT of extra noise reduction. Our test pilots felt that,
if you’re going to spend this much for a headset, you should simply
go a little farther and step up to the Thirty 3G right from the
start...it would be $130 that was well spent, and we don’t think
you’d ever be sorry. If you just can’t afford $600 for a Thirty 3G,
then we think that, rather than the Twenty 3G, you should save $70
and get the LightSPEED 20XL2. LightSPEED claims you’ll give up about
2dB of ANR reduction vs. the Twenty 3G, but, in all honesty, our test
pilots couldn’t tell much of a difference between the Twenty 3G and
the XL2. We’re sure LightSPEED would beg to differ, however.
LightSPEED QFR Cross Country: This is an all-new design for
LightSPEED. (They recently licensed the product to AvShop for its own
label.) It bears a noticeable resemblance to the Peltor and
Sennheiser products and features superior passive insulation, the
ability to wear it with the mic boom either on your left or right
(unlike the other LightSPEED products), and sufficient clamping
pressure to passively block out more sound than any other headset we
tested.
LightSPEED heard many complaints about the lack of adequate passive
reduction in their XL series, and, at $300, the QFR’s is their
answer. But, in order not to cannibalize customers from their
higher-end products, they put subpar ANR circuitry in the QFR
series...it’s truly a “budget” level of active reduction, perhaps
worse than any of the other ANR headsets we tested. So, frankly, we
don’t think that little amount of ANR is worth $300...the headset is
just a bit overpriced. Yet it’s still the best passive headset we’ve
tested, and that counts for a lot in small aircraft. And some ANR
protection is better than none at all. Conclusion: The LightSPEED
version at $300 isn’t worth the money, but $249 for the AvShop
version seems about the right price.
Peltor Stratosphere 7104 ANR: Yet another set we had high hopes for.
More than a few pilots and instructors we’ve known over the years
have bragged about the Peltor passive products and their comfort. The
Stratosphere 7104 is unique in its design. For one, it can curl up
into a ball that’s easy on the flight bag. The ANR circuitry,
including 9v battery pack, is in one of the earcups, with the power
switch right behind your ear on the side of the cup. We like it that
way...no heavy power pack flopping around on your cord. In fact, with
the Peltor, you can detach the cord and put it away if you’re not
talking to anyone. The passive reduction seemed better than most of
the sets we tried, and the 7104 was comfortable. In many ways, it
compared very favorably with the LightSPEED QFR Cross Country. Like
the QFR, the headband is basically padded vinyl strung over two
heavy-guage wires. But, also like the QFR and others, the 7104’s ANR
circuitry seems almost an afterthought. And whe
n a headset costs more than $500, we think it better offer pretty
effective electronic noise cancellation.
Pilot Avionics PA17-76, 17-79, and 17-71: We were already familiar
with the previous PA offerings, the PA17-76 and the PA17-79, which
debuted in the mid-to-late 1990’s. With the PA17-76, PA was the first
(and only) manufacturer to include a rechargeable battery in the
earcup, so you didn’t need a separate in-line battery pack on the
cord. We thought that was a great idea at first, but, in reality, it
wasn’t all that convenient because you had to remember to bring the
headset home and literally plug it in to charge it, vs. keeping some
9v or AA batteries in your plane’s glove box and replacing them when
your headset went dead. In roughly 75 hours of flying with the
PA17-79, we found it offered ANR that was superior to that found in
both the LightSPEED 20XL and the David Clark H10-13XL; about on par
with the LightSPEED 25XL.
Our passengers often picked the PA17-79 as the most comfortable set
in our plane during that time. The PA17-79 was also been a
crowd-pleaser with AvShop customers. At one point, it was our most
popular set, and it has racked up several “five star” ratings from
customers who’ve reviewed it online. The PA17-71 is similar to the
PA17-79 in most respects except that the power pack/battery is now in
the cord, like most other sets, and the sheepskin headpad was
replaced by a plastic-covered foam version. While these changes made
the PA17-71 lighter and less expensive than PA17-79 ($300 vs. around
$460), we couldn’t help but think that Pilot Avionics products seem
“dated” these days...there haven’t been many improvements since the
late 1990s.
The PA17-series products are made almost entirely of plastic...it’s
hard to find any metal showing at all...and our testers complained
all that plastic made the PA products seem “cheap” and “clunky” (even
though they meet tough military specifications for reliability).
The comfort of the PA17-series is generally quite good, although we
wish the earcups were deeper. The fit around the ears, particularly
when you are wearing sunglasses, leaves a little to be
desired...noise seems to leak in more easily than with other sets.
We’re also not that crazy about the plastic mic boom...it just
doesn’t offer the flexibility of metal flex versions like those
featured on the LightSPEED products.
Overall, though, if you only have $300 to spend, you’ll likely be
satisfied with the PA17-71. That said, since the PA17-71 offers the
features of the PA17-76 and PA17-79 at a significantly lower price,
we find no reason to purchase those older, more expensive siblings at
this point. Plus, if you go with the PA17-71T model, you can
interface a cellular phone with it...something you can’t do with the
other products in the PA series.
Sennheiser Noisegard HMEC 300 and HMEC 400: The HMEC 300 (about $560)
and its slightly more modern and upgraded cousin the HMEC 400 (about
$550; don’t ask why) offer average comfort and above-average passive
and ANR hearing protection...they’re good all-around sets that we’d
say are in the top 4 overall, up there with the Bose, Telex Stratus,
and Lightspeed Thirty 3G.
Sennheiser is a German manufacturer recognized the world over for its
quality audio products, particularly headphones and microphones for
DJ’s, musicians and recording studios. Aviation products are a tiny
fraction of their business, but the design and quality of their
aviation headsets are excellent.
The HMEC 300 and 400 share the European styling common to the Peltor,
LightSPEED QFR series, and AvShop Design A-400, utilizing a thin but
durable metal wire-like frame. For whatever reason, this design seems
to provide the best passive protection of any of the headset designs.
The mic boom is infinitely adjustable, the headband well-padded, the
volume control on the earcup (where we like it), and you get an
excellent Cordura nylon protective case to put it in. And, like the
competing European designed models, the Sennheisers roll up into a
smaller “ball-like” shape that takes up less space in your flight
kit.
The HMEC 400 has softer “leatherette” earseals that are superior to
the earlier generation HMEC 300 plastic coverings, but neither uses
the conforming foam that the LightSPEED and Telex Stratus headsets
do, unfortunately. (Other than having different colors of ear domes,
we couldn’t distinguish any other differences between the HMEC 300
and 400 models. Both remain listed on the Sennheiser web site, but
the technical specs for each are identical.)
We were impressed by the overall quality of the headsets and the
amount of both passive and ANR protection they offered. The amount of
passive protection is about on par with the similar design Peltor
Stratosphere 7104 ANR and nearly as much as the LightSPEED QFR
Cross-Country/AvShop Design A-400. But the ANR reduction of the
Sennheisers are far superior to the A-400/QFR or the
Peltor’s...perhaps equal to the LightSPEED Twenty 3G.
There was one thing we didn’t care for. The Sennheiser units are
clearly designed to receive ship’s power rather than portable power
from a battery pack. The 39”-long headset cord terminates at a
junction box that includes an on/off and stereo/mono switch. From the
junction box protrude three more cords (approx. 9” long), which
terminate at plugs: Microphone, headphone, and three-prong male power
plug. If you are running the unit on ship’s power, you would have
your avionics shop install the included 3-pin female power plug into
your instrument panel near your headset jacks and you’d be all set.
But the great majority of pilots don’t have use ship’s power for
their headsets. So, if you want to be portable with the HMEC series,
the Sennheiser web site says you need to order their BP-03 battery
pack separately, for $60. The BP-03 consists of a cylindrical case
about 4” long by 1.5” at the end of another 39” long cord. The case
holds 4 AA batteries and includes another on/off switch and LED’s for
“low battery” and “power on.” At the other end of the cord is a
3-prong female adapter that fits the headset’s power plug.
In the airplane, you will have your headset plugged into headset
jacks at the end of the main headset cord, and another long cord with
the battery pack at the other end. In most aircraft, you’ll need to
put the battery pack and cord in a side pocket or it will get under
your feet. The BP-03 does have a clip on the side, but we never found
a place on our clothing or in the plane that made sense to clip it on
to. And, when we put it in the side map pocket down by our feet, we
couldn’t see the “low battery” and “power on” LED’s. In summary, it
seemed like there was just too much cord. We wished every
manufacturer would power their headsets with a battery in the earcup,
but so far, only the Peltor Stratosphere 7104 does.
A word on the BP-03 as an optional accessory: AvShop has supposedly
convinced Sennheiser to include the portable battery pack with all
future orders. However, the units we received from AvShop for testing
didn’t include the BP-03 and we had to have the AvShop crew send us
one separately. They’ve promised to check all future shipments to
make sure they include the battery pack at no additional charge.
In summary, it’s hard not to like the Sennheisers, especially now
that their prices have come down to be more in line with competing
headsets. Yet they’re still a little too spendy to be one of our
“best buys” (with the exception of being our best buy in a
panel-powered model). We wish they could be sold under $500, because
we don’t otherwise have a “best buy” recommendation between $400 and
$500. At say $475, the Sennheisers would have been our “best buy
under $500” category, but at their $550-$560 price, you’re better off
spending $25 more for the LightSPEED Thirty 3G. With the LightSPEEDs,
you’d get conforming foam earseals, the personal audio interface,
superior ANR protection, perhaps greater comfort, and power by two
batteries instead of the Sennheiser’s four.
Sigtronics S-AR: A David Clark H10-13.4 clone with full flex mic
boom, stereo sound, and extra-thick gel ear seals. Appears to be very
well-built, and as comfortable as any clone, but the ANR was average
and the price, at around $450, is too high: The LightSPEED 20XL2 is
$50 less, more comfortable, has the personal audio interface and
conforming foam earseals and better ANR protection.
Softcomm C-90: Softcomm’s first attempt to compete in the crowded ANR
headset market was with this David Clark clone. Its standard foam ear
seals, somewhat padded headpad, and full flex mic boom don’t make it
stand out from the crowd, but the cellular telephone jack does, as
does the $260 price. (Again, we don’t think you should ever consider
buying a high-end passive headset when you can get an off-brand ANR
model for the same price.) But this low-budget product had one
drawback that kept us from recommending it as our budget “best buy:”
there is no power switch. You simply plug the cord into the power
pack when you want to turn it on, or pull it out when you want to
switch it off. Lose the power pack (and it’s small), and you’ll never
have ANR again. Our flight bag seems to have a hidden hole that
mysteriously opens up just so we can lose things like small power
packs, and we’re sure that hole would eventually open for this one.
Then all we’d have is a low-grade passive hea
dset...no thanks.
Softcomm C-100: Most ANR headsets have their battery packs in the
cord, a few (Peltor 7104, Pilot PA-17-76 and ‘-79) have them in the
earcup, but this one is the only ANR headset we know of that doesn’t
have one at all! This David Clark clone’s ANR circuit is powered by
mic bias voltage, a carryover from older radios that’s now seldom
used. Kudos to Softcomm for figuring out how to power a headset with
that circuit! Add gel and foam ear seals, a gel headpad, half flex
mic boom, and a set of cloth comfort covers for the ear seals to soak
up your sweat, and you have a decent headset. But we find the price,
at just over $400, too steep of a premium for these additional
futures because the C-100 offers nothing more than average total
noise reduction. Your ears would rather you went with the LightSPEED
20XL2 for a few dollars less.
Telex Echelon 150: There is nothing we can recommend about this
headset, frankly. It’s not comfortable, the first-generation ANR is
so poor it’s hard to tell if it’s even on, and the passive reduction
isn’t worth a darn either. Telex and AvShop should pull it off the
market.
That does it for this Buying Guide. If you have any specific
questions about one of the headset products which we didn’t answer,
feel free to contact our Pilot Sales Staff at pilots@avshop.com.
And don’t forget to check out our other buying guides on handheld
GPS, handheld transceivers, and PC-based flight simulators. Happy
flying!
