Peter_G wrote:
Although the following link may have been overlooked, because it appeared very early in the postings, I do recommend checking out this site and consider having your non-ANR headset upgraded.
I upgraded my David Clarke’s a few years back: At a ¼ of the cost, my headset is still working perfectly and is better than any commercial outfit as this Review demonstrates.
I just had my very little used DC 10-13.4 upgraded by ANRMAN to have an ANR capable backup headset. Very solid work by Richard and the functionality is very good indeed!
ChrisP wrote:
Sorry to revive an old topic (I thought this might be preferable to starting another headset thread); has anyone tried the CQ1 in-ear headset? Reviews suggest they improve on some of the shortcomings of the Halo and Clarity Aloft headsets
I have one since a month and used it already a bit; will post some photos later as it is in the hangar now. The head band is very comfortable and can be adjusted to a wider or narrower head shape by bending it a little bit (one-piece construction); the ear plugs are attached with clear tubing and a small interconnect barbed fitting to the sound tubes which connect to the transducers on the head band, so it is very easy to change the ear plugs or replace the sound tubes in case something gets damaged.
As of now tried the standard yellow foam ones (similar to a slightly shortened version of the 3M plugs) and the comfort foam ones, can’t really feel a massive difference, but the stiffer piercing tubing of the comfort foam plugs did not fit particularly well on the barbed fitting. The manufacturers are active on vansairforce.net and also advise to test and utilise different foam ear plugs for which they can provide the small tubing with which one pierces the foam plugs. Ordered a pack of the 3M 39dB foam plugs to run some comparison tests later.
Compared to the Bose X ANR headsets we have in our RV-7, the CQ1 with the plugs I used as of now provides at least a similar if not better noise dampening, and as a wearer of glasses, there is no issue with a good seal around the ears of course. The boom – despite the CQ1 advertising a longer one than the Halo or CA – is still IMHO barely enough as it sits almost centered in my case whereas the Bose X or David Clark headsets I also use have a slightly longer boom that can be adjusted to fit even better. The side tone from the microphone of the CQ1 is much weaker than the DC or Bose side tone, but not an issue, just different from before.
On the adapter cable sits a volume adjustment knob which is very chunky and has good friction – I hate the teeny-weeny dual thumbwheels of the Bose X adapter as they provide no haptic feedback; also, there’s a 3.5mm jack for music input (no Bluetooth yet) and a mono-stereo dip switch. Since our plane has been built with LEMO plugs, I needed to buy a LEMO to dual GA plug adapter.
After a month and about 15h I am quite happy with them, and it seems that other people (here and here or here) are as well.
Thank you Sebastian for the detailed write-up. I’d be interested to hear how you get with further hours. I heard back from CQ that shipping to the UK is $75, so I might wait until I’m next in the US to make the purchase.
LEMO or not LEMO
I have installed LEMO into the front seats of the plane. I need to buy a pair of headsets, kids have grown up, and the ones I had for the are really bad. Solution is to buy a pair and the olds noise cancelling will go to them. Since I have the LEMO installation, should I buy LEMO connection?
I am really divided between the A20 and the new lightspeed Delta Zulu. Getting old and I have some earing limitations, and also the CO monitor is really a life safer. Experiences?
Without hesitation, I would take LEMO connection! No fiddling with batteries any more. I then just have a LEMO-to-dual-GA (PJ-068 + PJ-055) adapter for when I use the headset in another plane. (The Bose A20 still has a battery case even in the LEMO version, so the adapter is just a passive connection thing, no battery case in itself.)
I think it depends on whether you want to use the headset in other planes. If so, go for twin jacks, but then you need to keep replacing the batteries. Otherwise go for the Lemo version; that can be aircraft powered.
Curiously AFAICT the A20 needs the batteries even though it is aircraft powered. They last a very long time though.
Peter wrote:
I think it depends on whether you want to use the headset in other planes. If so, go for twin jacks, but then you need to keep replacing the batteries.
In that scenario when the main (or one of the) aircraft(s) has LEMO connections, I would still get the LEMO version, and just use the LEMO-to-dual-GA adapter in the other planes.
Peter wrote:
Curiously AFAICT the A20 needs the batteries even though it is aircraft powered.
I’m not aware there has to actually be batteries in the case. At least, when connected to aircraft power on a LEMO plug and I remove the batteries in flight to access the DIP switches, the A20 continues to work without the batteries. (When switching planes, I also switch between mono and stereo audio system; I usually forget to adapt the DIP switch accordingly before the flight, so I end up doing it in flight. The DIP switch is behind the batteries, so thy need to be removed for that.)
I’m not aware there has to actually be batteries in the case.
Indeed, no need.
I have just started flying (got my PPL last year) and my CFI recommended me to buy some decent headphones just to have them in my toolkit and use them instead of the default ones in the planes I rent.
Friends recommend me the Bose A20, Lighspeed zulu 3. I would like something with ANR. Bluetooth is optional, but nice to have.
What would you recommend?
The default does seem Bose A20 these days. I have used them at work but not owned them. I haven’t had any issues with them, but owners report they can be fragile, although customer service is excellent.
My head clamp David Clark H10-13X style with an ANR kit is going strong after nearly thirty years. The ANR needed an overhaul after around 25 years.
