Recommendations for Headsets

[faramog]

Hi,

Need to get a pair of headsets and appart from someone recommending Lightspeed Zulu 2 (at 650 notes each), dont know. Need whole ear cover with some level of ANR/ VOX

Thoughts ?

Ta

[John Price]

Bose

Expensive but fab!

John.

[Bill McCarthy]

Lynx Relai - never let me down.

[achean]

The Zulu PFX will be out at the end of this month. I would expect it to be priced similarly to the Bose A20's, but will reportedly have better ANR. I also find the Lightspeeds to be more comfortable.

[Nick Allen]

I've got a pair of DC headsets converted to ANR by Richard Holder (you can buy the kit to do this yourself if you are handy with a soldering iron; can supply Richard's details if you want). Very happy with these: I use them in an open-cockpit aircraft and can hear the radio!

[Chris Martyr]

What type of aeroplane do you plan to use them in Graham ? As Nick says , flying in an open cockpit can narrow the choice down a little.
But even so , you can do a lot worse than a good old pair of DC's , which have been the industry norm for many , many years now, and their noise reduction standards meet CAA and FAA/TSO s requirements.
Don't be misguided into thinking that a headset costing £1,000 is four times better than one costing £250, as a lot of the high-end products with enhanced noise attenuation and Bluetooth/wireless capability are aimed principally at the airlines and adding the GA tag is just a means of expanding their sales network.
I personally use a leather flying helmet , which was custom built by Headset Services at Shoreham www.headsetservices.com which they adapted to contain David Clark components . It cost me £325 in 2006. It's worked superbly and I'm told it makes me look a bit Darth Vader once the goggles are down . But I'd probably look a bit of a prat wearing it in a C152 though.

[faramog]

Thanks Nick .. Which DC headset are you talking about and some contact details for Richard Holder would be good - I will have a look (pretty good with a soldering iron !)

Cheers
G

I've got a pair of DC headsets converted to ANR by Richard Holder (you can buy the kit to do this yourself if you are handy with a soldering iron; can supply Richard's details if you want). Very happy with these: I use them in an open-cockpit aircraft and can hear the radio!

[Nick Allen]

To be honest, I'm not sure which mark of DC headset I have! Just a bog-standard one...though when Richard did the conversion, he also supplied new gel seals.

The electronics come from here: http://www.headsetsinc.com/ANR_kits.html

Richard can be found here: http://www.anrman.co.uk/ANRconvkit.html

By the way, Richard sometimes has for sale second-hand sets that he has converted.

[Red Comet]

Take a look at Quiet Technologies Halo or Clarity headsets. Very light and passive noise reduction.
I have the QT Halo.

[Rob Swain]

The Sennheiser ANR headsets are very good value, and work well.

I know a commercial pilot who uses a set for work flying 737s, so they appear to be durable enough.

Only issue I have had is the older model ones sit on rather than over the ears which I found uncomfortable (always feel like they are going to fall off). I tried the new ones on at Expo and they are much better in this regard.