Just found an interesting device, 3M (actually Peltor) WorkTunes Connect Wireless. It’s a headset with typical Peltor shells, NRR = 24 dB, a built-in rechargeable battery, and a Bluetooth interface – normally to a mobile phone, potentially to an audio panel in the aircraft. Unfortunately, the microphone seems to be in the ear shell rather than on a boom; on the other hand, the device is made for high-noise environments (like a lawnmower), so maybe it isn’t so big a problem. The retail price is 50 to 60 USD.
If this can be made to work in an a/c it would potentially be a great thing for pax, who usually don’t like the boom mics and keep them too far away from their mouths.
172driver wrote:
who usually don’t like the boom mics and keep them too far away from their mouths.
Keeping the mic close to the mouth is a standing point in my pax briefings. Not that it helps much.
Airborne_Again wrote:
Keeping the mic close to the mouth is a standing point in my pax briefings. Not that it helps much.
Quite. They hate it. This headset might really be a game changer. Is there something like a portable Bluetooth intercom that could plug into the co-pilot headset ports? That combined with these headsets would perhaps solve the issue.
I always wondered wheter a high-end Gaming Headset would be usable in an aircraft. My Sennheiser 360 has excellent sound quality and a good mic but the passive noise protection is probably insufficient for most GA aircraft.
Otherwise I’d hazard a guess that most good PC headsets probably beat aviation headsets on sound quality while costing only a fraction of the price.
172driver, no, it’s the reverse one. This headset can connect to a cellphone directly, an adapter is needed on the intercom side.
