David Clark Aftermarket ENC mod?

[Snaab]

I've got a pair of 13.4s that I love. They are great the way they are, but I've thrown around the idea of getting the aftermarket electronic noise cancelling mod. I fly a Saab, and while the passive reduction is good, I wonder what flights would be like if I got the ENC mod. Has anyone gotten this mod, or have a recommendation for/against it? Thanks.

-Snaab

 

[ImbracableCrunk]

Whaaaaaaaat?!?! Wudjusay?????

Seriously, though. I've been thinking about slappin an aftermarket mod in my 20-10s for a while, too. I know the day I pay big bucks for some nice ANC headsets is the day a nice jet job comes along . . . wait a minute. . .

 

[dogismycopilot]

My dad put the ENC mod in his H10-60's 3 years ago. He flies GA only, maybe 40 hours a year. The ANC just failed about 2 months ago due to a short in the wiring. He turned a great PNC headset into a marginal ENC set, which is now a lousy PNC set.

His other complaint was the lack of an auto-shutoff feature. This may have changed since he got his.

I'd save your DC and invest in a set of stand-alone ENC headsets if you're going to be in the SAAB for a while. I've had my bose for 7 years and love them. That's over 3000 hours of flying. I had to send them in once, and they give me free earseals and head pads every year at Sun-n-fun.

 

[tathepilot]

Whaaaaaaaat?!?! Wudjusay?????

I know the day I pay big bucks for some nice ANC headsets is the day a nice jet job comes along . . . wait a minute. . .

That is what ebay is for.. I bought a pair of Bose's, than got a new job.. Put that baby on ebay, and got $10. less than I paid..

 

[TAWS]

I did it - worked great when I flew the SAAB. But when the battery goes, it sounds worse than the normal 13.4 headset (kinda muffled). If you are going to do it, buy a rechargeable 9v charger and carry a spare battery because it eats power much worse than the bose.

 

[N60OSU]

http://www.headsetsinc.com/

Installed mine in a 13.4 about a year and a half ago and I have had no problems at all. I flew canned out Barons with them and they made a BIG difference. In the SAAB now and it works great in there too.

The install was fairly easy but they offer installation for an additional charge. If you're not comfortable opening up your headset and/or working with small electronics I would consider letting them do it.

 

[JSky26]

I too installed the headsetsinc.com ANR upgrade into my 13.4 and it has worked fairly well.

When the battery does go (which seems to happen more often than not), it sounds like complete sh$t. You can barely hear yourself talk. Has anyone else experienced this?

And also for some reason, the chord that they replaced on mine naturally wants to twist and tangle. Very annoying as it reduces the length on it and gets in the way.

If I were to do it all over again, I probably would have saved the money and invested in the Bose or the new DC ENC...I think their X-11... I use the Bose in a C-421 I fly now and it is killer compared to the 13.4 ANR upgrade that I bought. I think I paid about $250 for the kit, the cable, and the factory installation/warranty. I guess you get what you paid for.

 

[ImbracableCrunk]

That is what ebay is for.. I bought a pair of Bose's, than got a new job.. Put that baby on ebay, and got $10. less than I paid..

Yeah, but isn't that kinda pay-for-play? Beats buying a 737 type, though.

 

[Snaab]

Thanks for all the replies! I think the 13.4s work pretty well by themeselves. The passive reduction and sealing is great. Just wondering if the "grass is greener" with the mod. If I had the bucks, I'd probably get a pair of Bose or that new ANR set from D.C., but those aren't in my '07 budget! Thanks.

Hey, N60OSU, how's the Saab treatin' ya? We have a few ex-eagle sf-340s here at Colgan, and I love those particular planes. Fwd lav and ham stand props are the way to go!

 

[ratherbeflyen]

I too installed the headsetsinc.com ANR upgrade into my 13.4 and it has worked fairly well.

When the battery does go (which seems to happen more often than not), it sounds like complete sh$t. You can barely hear yourself talk. Has anyone else experienced this?

I got the headsets inc conversion, if you try the ANR with the stock DC's they sound about the same to me. The reason it sounds so crappy when the battery dies is because the ANR works so well.

I got tired of buying 9 volt batteries, so I went to radio shack and bought a 9.6V tyco battery pack for $9.99 and wired that into the battery pack with some diodes so the original 9V battery would still work. Now I can charge that battery pack for 5 hours and fly for over 100 hours before the battery dies. Headsetsinc was the best $200.00 I ever spent.