Yes it's time for....Headset Advice!!!!!

[Colonel]

There is no one best headset.

Noisy cockpit?  Quiet cockpit?  You want
high frequency or low frequency attenuation?
Short trips or longs days in the cockpit?

This is like arguing boxer shorts vs tighty
whiteys.  Use what feels good to you, not
someone else.

[Nark1]

Strega,




I loved them. Still do.  I keep them as primary in my stinson.  The batteries last a long time, behind the roaring Franklin engine. 
I will say, they don't like the cold.  Since I leave them in the non-heated hangar I also need to warm the gremlins when I preheat the aircraft, otherwise they are cranky.


Back flying a Cherokee in Alaska, I broke the fork to the ear cups.  I used to leave them on the dash, and they were sun baked.  I sent them to a D.C. repair place and got a brand new set back a week later.
Their customer service is great, which is why I'm a faithful customer.

[Liquid Charlie]

First let me start out by saying - I HATE EAR MUFF type headsets. They are heavy and the active ones have no passive protection and are just about unusable when power is lost. In ear with custom buds is the best way to go. 30db passive is possible. I'm waiting for active inear, sony has them out for entertainment but aviation is falling behind. I likely won't be flying by the time they show up. I can't understand why everyone thinks you need to go with ear muffs, once you get accustomed to in ear you will never want to suffer through head squeeze again. 30 grams as opposed to 30 oz -- seems to be a no brainer to me.

[praveen4143]

Fair warning, I am partial to Lightspeed headsets because I have had them for 9 years now.

What you get has a lot to do with your budget. If you're looking around US$650, then the Lightspeed Sierra is a good one. I've been using the pair I have now for 4+ years and have no complaints. A pair of Energizer Ultimate Lithium AAs can last me over 6-8 weeks of flying averaging 10 hours weekly quite easily. Lightspeed for whatever reason prefers disposable batteries to rechargeables. Guessing they have stock in Duracell or Energizer? If you want a direct replacement to the Bose X, then I'd suggest the Lightspeed Zulu 3 for US$850. The only headset with a 7 year warranty. Don't even look at the Lightspeed PFX. Even Lightspeed admits that it's not all that great.

My biggest hatred of Bose is that they nickel and dime you for features like Bluetooth, etc. which is standard on Lightspeed. But you don't have to go searching for a Bose service center as most Bose stores can fix an aviation headset. Real handy if you live in a large-ish city. With Lightspeed you have to mail it to Lake Oswego, OR.

If you'd prefer in-ear-canal style ear buds, Clarity Aloft makes some decent in-ear buds (https://www.clarityaloft.com/pages/aviation-headsets) with PNR and ANR flavours and range from US$525 to US$800.

To be very honest, if you're only flying 2-3 hours a week, a David Clark H10-13 should do you really well without breaking the bank much at around CA$425 and is a tank!

[ScudRunner-d95]

My two cents


David Clark X11 was good in a modern airplane with already good noise cancelling. light weight and comfortable. Overall wasnt that pleased with the noise cancelling in an old piston banger.


Bose A20, wow just awesome, pricey but I think worth it. I can barely here the engines.