Scudrunners

Folks, looking for some headset advice. My Bose X is on its last legs and I am looking for something new. I can't bring myself to shell out nearly $1,500 for a A20 (I'd prefer to blow that in Vegas). Some parameters: I'm mostly a weekend flyer who only does the occasional long x-country. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. I was looking at the Telex Stratus 50D but that might be overkill for the C172.

You are not buying a head set for the plane. You buy it for your ears. If you love the Telex Stratus 50D question answered.

No one loves David Clarks anymore but they seem tougher than the new plastic head band units. I don't know if it was folks with giant heads but some say they exert too much pressure. I never worry about dead batteries or power supply malfunctions.

They might seem noisy after your Bose though.

In my opinion you have to buy the silicone ear pads. Still much less expensive than active noise cancelling units.

Anyways, I'm guessing they won't be what you are hoping to get.

I always read these threads to see what is popular.

Hi David,

I was never a fan of David Clarks. They always felt clampy to me and I didn't think the noise reduction was that great. I opted for a set of passive Peltors (what happened to that brand anyway?), which I loved before going to the Bose X. The Stratus may be a good compromise since they are considerably less expensive than the A20 or Zulu 3 and have both ANR and passive. The only thing I am a bit leary of is the battery box which apparently takes four double As.

If you get one running on AAs, I love those Duracell rechargable batteries. They stay charged while you are not using them so they are ready to use when you need them.

I have not seen duracells in the grocery stores anymore. Google says Canadian Tire has them.

Meh....I could also be talked into passive again and ditch the batteries altogether. I'm trying to simplify my aviation life. Minimize the gadgets, minimize the instrumentation, I don't really care about the latest "technology" gizmos in the cockpit. It's all a giant yawn. I want to go back to basics kind of like Exupery -- achieving an existential union between man and machine. The rest is just a distraction.

Surf eBay for a used pair of David Clark X-11's. 

My hearing has  been prolonged because of the noise cancelling from all sorts of pistons, PT6 turbo props and a jet. 

I use D.C. pro-X in the Airbus.  Love it. 

I wish I could fly with David Clarks in the helicopter, but for a multitude of reason I can't. 

Your hearing is worth a $1000 headset.  I have no idea what hearing aids cost but you get the point. 

The Telex 50d works well in every aircraft Ive flown. Super comfy etc
You can easily power from 12v cigarette lighter. Highly recommended especially for noisy environments.

Canadian tire does have those rechargable Duracell batteries. We bought some and a baby 2 gallon compressor on sale for just over $69 plus a fancy air chuck that fits those goofy presta stems with a glow in the dark gauge.

Good times.

I can put air in your bike tires for $5. I'll do airplane tires in trade for a ride.

Nark


Did you have decent luck with the x11?  I bought a pair when they first came out and was extremely disappointed.

I think the last time someone asked this on AvCan the ensuing ragefest just about crashed the forum.  Let's see how it does here, then maybe talk about checklists.

When I decided my ASA headset was going to lead to my having to learn sign language sometime in my thirties I started looking around.  I didn't want to have to keep feeding batteries to a headset and I can hear the hiss of an anti-noise track to ANR was out.  I didn't want a big, heavy clamp on my head for 6-8 hours a day either so I started looking at in-ear solutions.  At the time there was one from Lightspeed and I think three in the lineup from Clarity Aloft.  I read a bunch of reviews, made my decision, and went with Clarity.  I really like my headset and it cuts out a lot more noise than most people expect.  IIRC the literature at the time said 45dB (all passive - it's just earplugs) total attenuation versus 43dB for the Bose X (20 active, 23 passive).  They're light and airy to wear, cool, allow any sunglasses or hat without affecting noise in any way, there's no clamping force to speak of, and they're perfect for open cockpit flying.  The only downside is that you need to replace the ear tips when they get all grungy.  As the spongy tips get saturated with earwax (gross) they do lose some attenuating ability.  I've heard an audiologist can make custom cast ear tips for them that you can just clean but it comes at the expense of some attenuation as well since they'd be plastic and unable to expand and seal all around your ear canal.