ANR headsets for piston planes

[David Perry]

Anyone got any experience of these? I use a Sennheiser at work and it's
good but not for pistons (wrong cups). Some of my colleagues have the
Bose X but, to be honest, I'm not convinced it's worth the money. I am
perhaps interested in the Telex or Pilot varieties but wondered if
anyone had any experiences?

My last non-ANR was a Telex echelon which fitted like a glove, but I was
persuaded to flog it to a student! The things we do...

David

[NoSpam]

Post by David Perry
Anyone got any experience of these? I use a Sennheiser at work and it's
good but not for pistons (wrong cups). Some of my colleagues have the
Bose X but, to be honest, I'm not convinced it's worth the money. I am
perhaps interested in the Telex or Pilot varieties but wondered if
anyone had any experiences?
My last non-ANR was a Telex echelon which fitted like a glove, but I was
persuaded to flog it to a student! The things we do...
David

David,

Several years ago I converted my David Clarke headset to ANR and it's
great. When we next coincide on a Saturday you can borrow it for a trip
if you wish. One of my studes bought a Pilot somethingorother but the
battery seems to go flat fairly often (you may be flying with her on
Saturday; I won't be around). I think MM bought an ANR recently too -
might be worth a chat.

BTW, was it you that gave me an old pillar drill several years ago?

Dave

[Chris]

I have a pair of both Telex 50-D and Bose X and always use the Bose. The
Telex are a bit heavy in my view so I use them for my guests. Despite the
extra cost the Bose were worth it.

Post by David Perry
Anyone got any experience of these? I use a Sennheiser at work and it's
good but not for pistons (wrong cups). Some of my colleagues have the
Bose X but, to be honest, I'm not convinced it's worth the money. I am
perhaps interested in the Telex or Pilot varieties but wondered if
anyone had any experiences?
My last non-ANR was a Telex echelon which fitted like a glove, but I was
persuaded to flog it to a student! The things we do...
David

[Cynthia Reid]

Post by David Perry
Anyone got any experience of these? I use a Sennheiser at work and it's
good but not for pistons (wrong cups). Some of my colleagues have the
Bose X but, to be honest, I'm not convinced it's worth the money. I am
perhaps interested in the Telex or Pilot varieties but wondered if
anyone had any experiences?
My last non-ANR was a Telex echelon which fitted like a glove, but I was
persuaded to flog it to a student! The things we do...
David

I had my DCs converted by Richard Holder and was so pleased with the result
that I had the px set done too.
Cynthia G-TRIO

[Peter]

Post by David Perry
Anyone got any experience of these? I use a Sennheiser at work and it's
good but not for pistons (wrong cups). Some of my colleagues have the
Bose X but, to be honest, I'm not convinced it's worth the money. I am
perhaps interested in the Telex or Pilot varieties but wondered if
anyone had any experiences?
My last non-ANR was a Telex echelon which fitted like a glove, but I was
persuaded to flog it to a student! The things we do...

The Bose-X is very good. Whether it's worth the money is a personal
choice, of course. I have 4 of them, 5-6 years now, and will say they
are no good for a careless (e.g. club/school) environment because they
will get smashed and if not they will get nicked. The aircraft powered
version also has a flimsy plastic connector which breaks easily.

It would not suprise me if somebody else brought out a similar
lightweight low-clamping-force headset which is as good but I haven't
heard any definitive story on this.

It's easy to get attenuation with a high clamping force e.g. D-Clarke
but it does your head in after a few hours. There again, for short
flights, it doesn't matter.

[Chris]

The really benefit of ANR is that it reduces fatigue and that makes a big
different on a long flight.

Bose X are no good for club work but as a personal pair looked after will
last years. I dont tend to trash stuff that cost me £500.

Post by Peter

Post by David Perry
Anyone got any experience of these? I use a Sennheiser at work and it's
good but not for pistons (wrong cups). Some of my colleagues have the
Bose X but, to be honest, I'm not convinced it's worth the money. I am
perhaps interested in the Telex or Pilot varieties but wondered if
anyone had any experiences?
My last non-ANR was a Telex echelon which fitted like a glove, but I was
persuaded to flog it to a student! The things we do...

The Bose-X is very good. Whether it's worth the money is a personal
choice, of course. I have 4 of them, 5-6 years now, and will say they
are no good for a careless (e.g. club/school) environment because they
will get smashed and if not they will get nicked. The aircraft powered
version also has a flimsy plastic connector which breaks easily.
It would not suprise me if somebody else brought out a similar
lightweight low-clamping-force headset which is as good but I haven't
heard any definitive story on this.
It's easy to get attenuation with a high clamping force e.g. D-Clarke
but it does your head in after a few hours. There again, for short
flights, it doesn't matter.

[Simon Hobson]

Post by David Perry
Anyone got any experience of these?

I have two pairs of cheap Taiwanese DC lookalikes which I converted with the
kits from http://www.headsetsinc.com/ (which are the kits Richard Holder will
install for you if you ask) - on occations I've had to fly without them and
didn't enjoy the experience !

Should you consider this route, you really want gel seals - I used them with
the original foam seals for a while, but the gel seals improve both ANR
performance and comfort. Also, I see they now do a replacement cable with all
three connectors hanging out of the one junctions, and I'd recommend this as
well if you want a really tidy installation.

I have to say though that not everyone likes ANR. For some reason a couple of
people have complained that they gets a 'whooshing' noise - I think a bit
like listening to a seashell. They also get a bit 'poppy' when the battery is
low.

Some 'old timers' will tell you a load of crap about them stopping you being
able to hear what the engine is doing etc. If you ever hear this, don't try
to argue, these people are most unlikely to accept anything that conflicts
with their 'truth' - just smile sympathetically at them and walk away. The
truth is that good sound reduction enables you to hear more - the ear is very
non-linear and loud noise significantly affects your ability to detect detail
(something that is exploited in MP3 emcoding of sound files).


Lastly, if you fly a fair bit, and you budget extends to them, there are now
units which go IN your ear like industrial foam ear plugs. I have a pair of
Shure e2c earphones like this and they are VERY good - I had a plan to make
an adapter to match a cheap microphone to work in the plane so as to be able
to use these, but time seems too short in the day and I have never got around
to it. I did do an experiment though, perching my normal headset so as not to
cover the ears but allow me to use it's mic - and then using these earphones
for instead of the headset earcups. It was great, and when (due to the
difficulty of getting them to stay perched) I put the headset on over the
earphones, I found no discernable extra reduction in noise.

If I was still flying regularly then I'd probably just shell out for a
commercial set - I'd recommend you consider them, they are FAR, FAR more
comfortable than the 'head in a vice' effect of standard headphones.

[David Perry]

Thanks all.

I am certain of the advantages of ANR thats for sure - I use the
Sennheiser ANR at work but the "over the ear2 style for the jet, which
don't work all that well in pistons at club level when instructing.

I hadn't really considered the "in the ear" style but might well have a
gander at them.

I have found that "pilotmall" in the US sells the ANR sets for dollars =
pounds, which is a great baargain at the moment. It makes Bose X about
400 quid tops!

Dave S...yes I gave you the pillar drill...small world isn't it! Hope
it is still going well?

Thanks all...time to try some on i think.

david

[Chris]

Post by David Perry
Thanks all.
I am certain of the advantages of ANR thats for sure - I use the
Sennheiser ANR at work but the "over the ear2 style for the jet, which
don't work all that well in pistons at club level when instructing.
I hadn't really considered the "in the ear" style but might well have a
gander at them.
I have found that "pilotmall" in the US sells the ANR sets for dollars =
pounds, which is a great baargain at the moment. It makes Bose X about
400 quid tops!
Dave S...yes I gave you the pillar drill...small world isn't it! Hope
it is still going well?
Thanks all...time to try some on i think.
david

Just be careful if you have them sent to the UK Duty and tax may equalise
the price.

I bought mine when I went to the states. I ordered them from Sporty's to be
delivered to the FBO where I was renting a plane.

As they were in two different States there was no sales tax either.

I ordered them on the day before I left the Uk and they arrived at the FBO
just as I got there. Brilliant.

[Peter]

Post by Simon Hobson
Lastly, if you fly a fair bit, and you budget extends to them, there are now
units which go IN your ear like industrial foam ear plugs.

I bought the Lightspeed Mach 1 headset (of that type) and it was
basically unusable.

The attenuation was OK if fitted very carefully into your ear but the
slightest tug on the cable would dislodge it sufficiently for noise to
get in. There is a custom earplug option for it (you visit somebody
who makes custom mouldings) at a fair old price, and this is perhaps a
solution.

It had far and away the best mike (for both speech quality and noise
cancellation) that I have ever used though...

Great idea but not quite there. I think it would be OK for passengers,
particularly women who prefer to not muck up their hair. I would
certainly use it as a passenger, but then I rarely fly as one. And
there is the hygiene issue; you can't just share it, you have to keep
a bag of earplugs, one for each person, with it. A bit like oxygen
cannulas.

I sold mine on Ebay.

[Simon Hobson]

Post by Peter

Post by Simon Hobson
Lastly, if you fly a fair bit, and you budget extends to them, there are now
units which go IN your ear like industrial foam ear plugs.

I bought the Lightspeed Mach 1 headset (of that type) and it was
basically unusable.
The attenuation was OK if fitted very carefully into your ear but the
slightest tug on the cable would dislodge it sufficiently for noise to
get in. There is a custom earplug option for it (you visit somebody
who makes custom mouldings) at a fair old price, and this is perhaps a
solution.

I find that really surprising, as I said, I have a set of Sure e2c earphones
which I use in the Land Rover and they're the best I've ever used. I agree
you have to get them in right though, and that can be tricky until you sort
out the right size - the Sure set comes with a selection of foam and rubber
seals. Surprisingly as I'm what you could call 'a large bloke', I've found
that I need to use the small seals.

My biggest worry would be re-inserting them in-flight should that be
neccessary. It's definitely a two handed job so I wouldn't want to be trying
it during some bumpy IMC :-(

Interestingly, I did try and find someone locally to do some custom earmoulds
for the Sure set. From the reactions I got I think my mouth must have been
changing the words so I was asking for a train ticket to Mars !

Post by Peter
It had far and away the best mike (for both speech quality and noise
cancellation) that I have ever used though...

That's nice to know.

Still, seeing that the exchange rate is about $2-1£, and they are on sale at
around $500, I'd still be looking at a pair if I still flew much.

[Karl-Heinz Kuenzel]

Post by Simon Hobson
I have two pairs of cheap Taiwanese DC lookalikes which I converted with the
kits from http://www.headsetsinc.com/ (which are the kits Richard Holder will
install for you if you ask) - on occations I've had to fly without them and
didn't enjoy the experience !

I converted my DCs two years ago with a kit from headsetsinc. But the
company seems to be out of business. Any further information?

[Simon Hobson]

Post by Karl-Heinz Kuenzel
I converted my DCs two years ago with a kit from headsetsinc. But the
company seems to be out of business. Any further information?

No idea, but it's a shame if they have gone - a good product that "does what
it says on the tin"

[unknown]

Post by Simon Hobson

Post by Karl-Heinz Kuenzel
I converted my DCs two years ago with a kit from headsetsinc. But the
company seems to be out of business. Any further information?

No idea, but it's a shame if they have gone - a good product that "does what
it says on the tin"

Strange, because I bought a new headset lead from them a couple of
weeks ago.

[unknown]

Phil W Lee <phil(at)lee-family(dot)me(dot)uk> considered Sat, 17 Feb

Post by unknown

Post by Simon Hobson

Post by Karl-Heinz Kuenzel
I converted my DCs two years ago with a kit from headsetsinc. But the
company seems to be out of business. Any further information?

No idea, but it's a shame if they have gone - a good product that "does what
it says on the tin"

Strange, because I bought a new headset lead from them a couple of
weeks ago.

Just checked - I ordered on the 26th January, so nearer 3 weeks.
I've just looked at their website again (http://www.headsetsinc.com/)
which makes no mention of anything being amiss, although it is running
very slowly.

You could try telephoning them on [phone] (if you can use a
phone which routes from withing the US or Canada, like Skypeout) or
[phone] (if you have to dial internationally).

These are the numbers on their website, which worked for me.

[Karl-Heinz Kuenzel]

Post by unknown
Just checked - I ordered on the 26th January, so nearer 3 weeks.
I've just looked at their website again (http://www.headsetsinc.com/)
which makes no mention of anything being amiss, although it is running
very slowly.
You could try telephoning them on [phone] (if you can use a
phone which routes from withing the US or Canada, like Skypeout) or
[phone] (if you have to dial internationally).
These are the numbers on their website, which worked for me.

You are right. The webside is on again. But very slow....