kansas

Greetings all-

Many have asked about how the David Clark X11 stacks up against the Bose X. Given that the DC X11 is a fairly new set, not many have been able to give very much info on it. Luckily, I had the opportunity to use a buddy's new X11 side-by-side with my Bose the other day on a routine flight in the 1900. I flew with the DC first, and had the Bose in my lap, ready to make the switch to quickly compare. Results are as follows:

The X11's ANR box is flatter than the Bose, but very long...about like a king size Snicker's bar. I thought it was a bit more awkward than the Bose box. The headset does fold up nicely, however. Initially, it seemed that I noticed a lot more clamping pressure around my ears, and that I had to turn the radio volume up quite a bit more than usual. It sounded like I was talking in a tunnel, for some reason. In spite of all these negatives, I chose to ride it out for a bit, so that the X11 got a full test. As soon as we added power for takeoff, I lost all hope that I had of hearing the captain over the hot interphone. It seemed that no noise was being blocked out at all. ATC, even with the radios going full blast, was barely a whisper. As a result of all this, I took off the headset before climbing through 10,000 feet.

I put my Bose back on, which instantly cured the headache the X11 was beginning to give me, and was able to hear ATC and the captain way better, even without the ANR on. And of course, once I got the ANR turned on, there was no doubt in my mind that the Bose was far and away better in my little self-test.

So that is my personal review, take it or leave it. I have flown with other DC ANR headsets in the past, and found them to be good products, but still not the Bose. For some reason, during my test, the X11 seemed far and away inferior to any headset, passive or active, that I had ever used. My Bose's passive noise reduction was better than the X11 with the ANR on. I know that I had the X11 hooked up properly, since the light was blinking green, ATC was receiving my transmissions, and my captain was able to hear me over the hot interphone. I told my friend that loaned me the X11 to try to return it and get a Bose, and he said that was exactly what he planned to do. Perhaps he somehow received a defective version.

Anyway, just thought I'd pass that along, all that are curious...