The age old headset debate

[Way2Broke]

Okay, I am in the market for a new headset. I can't afford the bose, and I hate having things things in my ears (like the clarity aloft), and I don't want another pair of David Clarks. I still want top of the line ANR, what would you buy?

 

[epic!]

lightspeed makes a reasonably priced anr ($450+), i was looking at them when i was in the market. the reviews seemed good, never did buy it though. i figured i didnt need one and spending $150 less on a pair of DC's seemed like a better idea

 

[Lear Wanna Be]

Marvgolden.com usually has good prices on headsets, just FYI.

IMHO, stick with DCs. There is nothing special about the Bose headset. The original Lightspeed's ear cups are kind of bulky. The Lightspeed Mach 1 has ear plugs. Telex and SoftComm are also nothing special.

I don't find anything special about my Bose X headset. I like my 15 year old DCs just as much as I like my Bose X headset. Of course my DCs have been upgraded a little. I have the nice thick sheep skin pad on top. The nice thick foam/gel seals which keep out a lot of noise. Other than that, my DCs are stock and still work just as well as they did out of the box. If you have a pair, you might look into the ANR add-on for their older headsets. I don't know anything about, except someone told me there was an add-on out there from DC.

Bose X pros are: They are light weight and good active noise reduction. Cons are: The price, boom mic is only on the left side (not reversible), battery life, and no passive noise reduction. If your batteries go dead on TO, all you can do is say "OUCH". Probably worse than not having any headset on at all. I think people are impressed by the Bose X when they put it on and then turn it on and then all the sudden all the noise goes away. However, it is no different than if you started with no headset on and then put on a pair of DCs. Definetly not worth $650 more than the DCs.

 

[timeoff]

...boom mic is only on the left side (not reversible)...

They are reversible. You just need a small screwdriver.

I love the Bose. It's the best investment I have ever made. My DC's always gave me a headache after about an hour or so. With the Bose, I don't even know they are there.

I know you said you can't afford them, but you can pick up a pair through their website with no interest financing for 12 months. Don't even need a credit card....a debit card will do.

 

[g-code]

Im a Telex man myself.

 

[RefugePilot]

Lightspeed works for me

I have had a pair of light speed ever since I was a student. I had the lowest end ANR model. A few years ago I took advanatge of an upgrade to their latest and greatest model, the 30 3G, I think.

Pros;
Good sound
Nice interaction to music and cell phones.

Cons:
A little heavy
Bulky (extremely) hard to fit in some flight bags and to wear in some
mooneys and other low headroom aircraft.
Clamping Pressure that starts to build up after lots of hours.
They break: but the company will fix them.
Great ANR, lousey PNR (Useless when the batteries die).

I know more cons than pros, but I still like mine.

 

[Ralgha]

My Bose lasts 40 to 50 hours on one pair of rechargable AAs.

 

[Lear Wanna Be]

They are reversible. You just need a small screwdriver.

I love the Bose. It's the best investment I have ever made. My DC's always gave me a headache after about an hour or so. With the Bose, I don't even know they are there.

I don't need no screwdriver on my DCs to reverse the mic. Thus, they aren't exactly reversible. Also, if you read you will see that it says for best performance to wear them with the boom mic on the left side as set up out of the factory. Something about the fit of the earcups.

My DCs gave me a headache too. Would actually cut into the top of my head and it hurt bad. Then I purchased the sheep skin pad and all pain went away (pad is from Oregon Aero for $29, can be found at marvgolden.com). I have had a similiar problem with the Bose X, but only after about 6 hours. Problem is that they can not be upgraded.

I agree with Ralgha, the batteries do seem to last about 50 hours. However, it is still a pain to have to change them (not the actual act itself) and it is actually painful when they fail (always on take-off). Besides, what are you going to do when you don't have a spare set?

If I had it to do all over again, I would put the $995+ 7 1/2% tax back in my pocket and keep using my DCs. Now, I fly something pretty noisey up front, you might have a different result in something quieter.

 

[timeoff]

I don't need no screwdriver on my DCs to reverse the mic. Thus, they aren't exactly reversible. Also, if you read you will see that it says for best performance to wear them with the boom mic on the left side as set up out of the factory. Something about the fit of the earcups.

The manual also reads that the mic can be used on either side, allowing the earcups to always face forward. Page 11 and 12 describe how to switch them over. There is a pronged socket in each earcup that the mic will slide into. This pic shows what screws I am talking about. Takes about two minutes and you are ready to go.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h53/seabird23/BoseXbottom.jpg

 

[Ralgha]

I don't need no screwdriver on my DCs to reverse the mic. Thus, they aren't exactly reversible.

Are you switching it around every flight? Who cares if you need a screwdriver, most people are only going to change it once, if at all.

I agree with Ralgha, the batteries do seem to last about 50 hours. However, it is still a pain to have to change them (not the actual act itself) and it is actually painful when they fail (always on take-off). Besides, what are you going to do when you don't have a spare set?

They have this handy little LED that indicates the battery level. I've never had them fail unexpectedly. I also carry two spare pairs of rechargable batteries in my flight bag. As far as not having a spare set, well, that's nobody's fault but your own.