Honestly I think this is a bit silly. I have taken numerous people for rides with all kinds of headsets, and not once has anyone ever suggested that their enjoyment was diminished by the quality of the headset. If you’d bothered to read what I wrote, you’d notice that my wife already has her own Clarity Aloft, which she likes a lot. We’re talking here one-hour “trips round the bay” with people who otherwise wouldn’t get to fly at all.
I did notice your mention of the Clarity Aloft @johnh but your mention of it was not relevant to my post, which was about one headset for use with multiple passengers coming in all shapes and sizes.
For sure the headset (and also the intercom volume and squelch setting) can make a big difference to what somebody takes away from a one-off or infrequent light aircraft flight. You should have seen the reaction when my wife (who had not flown much previously) finally figured out that her headset wasn’t fitting her properly, corrected the situation and calmed down her whole experience in doing so.
Mostly when the headset doesn’t work, the passenger doesn’t know enough to mention it so when I Ioad a passenger I now pay a lot of attention to making sure the (good quality) headset is fitted correctly and that the passenger understands the controls. It doesn’t always make a big difference to their experience, but on occasion it makes a huge difference.
I have used the nflightmic with my Bose QC35II for the last two years. There’s also an A20 in the plane, but I choose the nflightmic every time. It’s clearer and more comfortable by far. Also with regards to service, I accidentally ripped off one of the plugs by getting it caught in the seat, and they sent me a new one no questions asked for $50.
@Silvaire I completely agree with you. If you can’t hear what’s going on, or are deafened because of a crappy headset, or your mic doesn’t work properly or whatever, it’s automatically going to make flying an uncomfortable experience.
I flew in a C42 microlight once with some awful non ANR headset and it was so loud I couldn’t hear the radio or intercom. Definitely not enjoyable. Same plane with my A20 is fine.
