Clarity Aloft or Lightspeed headset Mach 1

[RefugePilot]

I have been using lightspeed headsets from day 1 and at over 1000+ hours later my head has permanent indentations from the clamping pressure. Halfway through 10 hours of flying yesterday, I had had it.

I am thinking about some of the new passive style, lightweight headsets from Clarity Aloft or Lightspeed. I would appreciate anyone able to tell me about their experience with these.

Thanks

 

[Captain Josh]

I have the lightspeed L1s and I can't complain. They are much quieter than any passive david clark I have ever owned but they don't have the low frequency protection that anr has. You can't beat how light they are. I recently wore a buddy's Bose and after wearing the L1 the Bose actually hurt my head. It takes a little more effort to put them on as they always seem to come out of the bag like christmas lights from storage. If your looking for the absolute quietest headset they're close but not the best. If you want lightweight then definitely get them.

 

[schoolio]

I got my Mach 1 for Christmas, and I love it. The only thing I would caution you about is to make sure you'll be able to tolerate the earpieces. A lot of people can't stand having those things in their ears for hours at a time. If you can deal with the yellow foam earplugs, you probably won't have a problem with the earpieces on the Mach 1.

It comes with several different types of earpieces, from the flange-type to the yellow foam-type to the blue "no roll" type (they don't require you to roll/squeeze them to put them in your ears). I personally use the blue ones. That's mainly because I couldn't get any of the others to fit. I think Lightspeed might be working on a fix for that, but that's just a rumor I heard. Also the blue ones are a little bit longer than any of the others, which is good for me because I have a very square head and the angle of the boom might not allow the shorter earpieces to fit in my ears. I can't tell for sure tho because I can't get any of the other earpieces to fit.

Anyway, besides the earpiece thing, this is the best headset I've ever used because of the no-clamp style. I really enjoy it.

 

[RefugePilot]

Thanks Guys,
I am sure I could get used to the inserted foam pieces in my ears. The vice on my head will have to go. I have a b-day coming at the end of the month. I will put a Mach1 at the top of my list and see if someone loves me that much.

 

[MauleSkinner]

Been flying the Clarities for about a year and a half now...couple of days in excess of 10 hours, and in some noisy airplanes. Love 'em!

As noted for the Lightspeeds, they dn't have the low frequency protection of the ANR's, but they provide maximum protection in the speech frequencies, which is probably more important (to me anyway).

Personally, I'll never go back to ANR's.

Fly safe!

David

 

[Irish Pilot]

Sorry to bring back an old thread...but Im considering both and had a quick question.

What are these like with sunglasses on? Does the earband in either make it difficult to squeeze in a sunglass earpiece?

Also any more thoughts - reviews on either headset would be great.

Thanks!

 

[flyboydk]

I have the lightspeed mach 1's... for sunglasses, just put on the earband before you put sunglasses on, then there's no problem. If you use the soft yellow earpieces or a custom ear mold, you may not even need to use the earband because the lightspeed boom mic is so light, for a while I didn't use my earband. They definitely cut out a lot of cockpit noise.

 

[Irish Pilot]

Well Ive ordered myself a set of Clarity Aloft. Ill be sure to post a review once Ive used them. Ill do a Bose vs Clarity review.

 

[Irish Pilot]

http://forums.flightinfo.com/showthread.php?p=1119566#post1119566