overall ear protection

[dpilot83]

There was recently a thread in here comparing Clarity Aloft to other brands. I had actually never heard of the Clarity Aloft and was highly intrigued. However, from what I read, it seems that they protect your hearing more in the high frequency ranges while the Bose and other noise cancelling headsets have more protection in the lower ranges.

For some reason I have it stuck in my head that the low frequency droning of the engine and things like that are some of the most harmful things to your ears in the long run. I don't know where I got this idea and I was wondering if someone could provide me good advice or links to reliable information concerning this matter. I don't want to waste my money but I do want to be able to hear when I'm 70. Thanks.

 

[DC8 Flyer]

Bose quiet comfort 2. Nuff said.

 

[deafsound]

http://www.avweb.com/news/avionics/183224-1.html

 

[Dorsal Fin]

so i read the article about the piston airplanes, and it showed the charts for the noise... any one have any info or charts for some of the jets??

 

[deafsound]

Try this. I just skimmed thru it, but it might help.
http://cf.alpa.org/national/departments/eas/comms/hft/anr-reportprject.htm
It's interesting that the conclusion in this article says that you should be careful of high frequency sounds, while the first article emphasizes the lower frequencies.
FWIW, if you lose low frequency hearing, unless you're going to be a professional music engineer it won't matter, but if you lose the higher stuff, you'll have a hard time understanding what people are saying----all of their "s" and "ch" and any constonant sounds will be hard to hear, making them sound as if they're talking into a pillow or something.

 

[dpilot83]

Thanks for all your help. Those articles were exactly the type of information I was looking for. Based on the articles, the specifications in the manual of the clarity aloft, and the comments about sub-100 Hz hearing not being extremely critical most of the time, I'm thinking about sticking with the clarity headsets. Any more thoughts? Thanks.

 

[Alin10123]

Yes, i 2nd that. Anymore thoughts on whether Bose of Clarity Alofts physically provide better hearing protection? The last thread that i started, 2 users started calling each other names and skewed off topic.

 

[dpilot83]

Alin10123

i apologize in advance here for all lowercase. i'm using a screwed up keyboard.

i went ahead and did the trial period for both the bose and the clarity aloft headset. there were several things i found that i did not like at all about the clarity aloft.

1. it has a metal band that goes around the back of your head. it is very light and looks more durable than anything you could imagine. the microphone and the earplugs themselves are mounted to it. the problem i found with it is that if it is tight enough to your head to hold the microphone steady, it puts pressure on your head and results in discomfort after an hour or so. it puts no more pressure on your head than the bose does, perhaps less. the difference is that the pressure is all on the very small area that the metal band touches your head. the bose disperses the pressure over a much greater area resulting in less discomfort in the same amount of time. that is my personal experience anyways. it could just be that the part of my head that it band touches against is more sensative than most peoples.

2. putting the earplugs in properly takes more time than putting headsets on. it's not a big deal, but it was one more piece of the hassel that i didn't enjoy.

3. just personal opinion, but overall, the clarity did not sound as quiet to me.


additionaly, there are a few things that i found to be very very appealing about the bose headsets. number one is that if you buy them directly from bose, they allow you to make payments with 0% interest. number two is their customer service. i called them with a problem i was experiencing with my headset. they didn't second guess me or anything. didn't really even troubleshoot that much. they just said "here's our fedex shipping number. call them and give it to them and set up a pickup time. they'll come and pick your headset up and as soon as they give us confirmation that they have your headset, we'll send you another new set. you should only be without a headset for 2 days or less." that kind of customer service is impressive to me. i wasn't even going to have to pay to ship my headset to them.

As an additional perspective, i really really wanted the clarity to end up being the better headset. it would not interfere w/ me wearing my glasses nearly as much as the bose would. it was half the cost and money isn't coming so easy right now. after trying both though, i really didn't believe the clarity was as good of a long term value as the bose was, even with the price difference. that's my two cents anyways

 

[Alin10123]

Try this. I just skimmed thru it, but it might help.
http://cf.alpa.org/national/departments/eas/comms/hft/anr-reportprject.htm
It's interesting that the conclusion in this article says that you should be careful of high frequency sounds, while the first article emphasizes the lower frequencies.
FWIW, if you lose low frequency hearing, unless you're going to be a professional music engineer it won't matter, but if you lose the higher stuff, you'll have a hard time understanding what people are saying----all of their "s" and "ch" and any constonant sounds will be hard to hear, making them sound as if they're talking into a pillow or something.

Well... i think you need to combine your conclusions. You mentioned high frequency sound = loss in the higher freq first and vice versa. However... that's not the case. The lower frequencies typically cause most if not all of the damage according to the lab charts. When you are exposed to loud low freuquencies, you will loose your ability to hear certain frequencies of sound starting from the highest freq. down.
True you want to protect the higher frequencies too however according to the chart, the higher frequency noises aren't even close to being loud enough to cause any damage to the hearing.

 

[Alin10123]

Thanks for all your help. Those articles were exactly the type of information I was looking for. Based on the articles, the specifications in the manual of the clarity aloft, and the comments about sub-100 Hz hearing not being extremely critical most of the time, I'm thinking about sticking with the clarity headsets. Any more thoughts? Thanks.

See my above post.