Headset Upgrade
 

Hey everyone.

I’m looking to upgrade from my David Clamps headache 200s to something better. What are your thoughts between the A20 and the Zulu 3s? Or maybe anything else you’ve tried that you like more.

Thanks!

If the A20 has the same noise canceling as the QC25 is go with the A20.

I is essentially the same technology. You could get the QC25 and uflymic or n'flight mic for half the cost.



Another thing to consider is lightspeed has WAY better customer service than bose!

The noise canceling in my QC25 is great and since it’s essentially the same technology I think I’ll get the A20 when the time comes.

How’s Lightspeed’s customer service better than Bose? I just saw the Zulu 3 has “Nearly 100% magnesium and stainless steel construction” so that might sell me on it.

The customer service at Lightspeed is amazing. I got the DC One-x. It is an amazing headset. It folds down smaller and fits better in the flight bag.

The DC One-X was another I looked at. How’s the noise canceling?

+1 on the One X. I swapped with a guy who had an A20 once, couldn’t tell the difference. Holds up well for me, and I usually end up kicking the cable and knocking it on the floor when I get in the seat.... I’d like to try the pro x and see how it does. The ufly might be nice if you want noise canceling in the back of the cabin. My main complaint is LED’s on the DC. In night mode, it’s nice and dark, until you pair it to Bluetooth. Then you get an eye piercing blue flash every 30 seconds or so. I mostly fly at night, so I’m rather particular to the bright flash. If you can hide it in some pocket, works fine.

Clarity Aloft

Its amazing, and I fly turboprops!

Thanks! So you’d recommend the DC One-X over the A20?

Thanks! I’m beginning to think the A20 might not be worth the extra $200 from the DC One-X.

If youre near a pilot shop, go try them on. I also found a place that accepts trade ins for noise cancelling headsets. They gave me 300 bucks for my first generation zulus. So I ended up paying 500 for my DCs.

Nice thing about the QC25 is it works great for commuting in the back and on overnights for Netflix.

Since I just started training at my new gig, I haven’t been able to try this yet. But my intention is to use the Bose QC35 with the NFlightMic. I can tell you the QC35 is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. I was sitting under my air conditioner at my apartment, and couldn’t even hear it run. Going out to training, I was on a CR2 and a 757. Both aircraft were supremely quiet. Like I said. I haven’t used it as a headset yet. But just off of everything else, I’m incredibly excited. Plus, it gives you the option to have a very nice headset when commuting/dead heading/at the airport/working out/etc. Full disclosure: it’s not TSO’ed, but some airlines don’t require that anymore. Or you could always just play the ignorance card. :p

Thanks for the tip, I’ll see if there are any pilot shops nearby.

I’ve used my QC25 on vacation on a CRJ200 and E175 and I couldn’t hear anything with noise canceling enabled. Do you know how noise canceling on the QC25 and QC35 differ? Also is the QC35 Bluetooth only or can it be used wired with noice canceling?

Clarity Aloft. No headset head.:)

I’m not sure on the difference between the QC25 and the QC35 as far as noise canceling goes. The BlueTooth is an awesome feature, though. It’s so nice not having to worry about a cord. They do provide a corded input (and a cord). I haven’t used the corded function, so I can’t talk about the noise reduction there.

I heard there was a lot of mixed reviews on this. Plus my ears don’t play nice with in ear stuff, always falling out. Any issues with that?

Lightspeed has a horrible bulky controller, and pre-Zulu3 cable was cheap chinese junk. Battery life is also way worse than Bose.
Both are great headsets (as in - great sound, good mics and excellent noise cancelling). But it's A20 all the way for me.

I've never known anyone to dislike the clarity aloft. It's no different then wearing ear plugs

I recently bought the DC Pro X which are on the ear headsets. They are awesome and I fly a lot of GA. They sit on the ear so no clamping if you’re wearing sunglasses and they are super light. Worth looking into.

FWIW. I had on ear headsets, the telex 850, crap headset btw. The on ear really hurt the cartilage in my ears after wearing them for days on end. Maybe DC pro x is better.

Long time CA user here. I've never had the ear plugs fall out. Either you aren't using the correct size ear plug or you're not inserting them the correct way.

Another no-go for earplugs here. I can't wear any in ear models. We do exist :)

Thanks! I’ve read mixed reviews about noise reduction with and without a cord and that could persuade me to stock up on another QC25.

I have both the A20, and the DC Pro X. In the RJ, the Pro X wins hands down, because it's much more comfortable than the A20, and it takes up less space while stored. The sound quality/noise cancelling is perhaps 10% better with the A20, but it's overkill for jet flying.

I recommend the Telex 840. Lasted 8 years of consistent use, 6 of those on CRJ-700.

I use the DC PRO X. I wear glasses so the on ear is great. Noise Cancelling is sufficient. It's a good head set. Very light. No clamping.

Anyone tried out the new Bose in ear headset? Really curious to see some reviews on them. I am so in love with the idea but am not sure if they are going play out like I think they will.

Holding off buying until second round of design comes out either way.

DC PRO (Passive)
 

Anybody have experience flying the CRJ or similar aircraft with the passive noise reduction DC PRO headset? It's 330 bucks cheaper and I question whether ANR is really necessary in any jet aircraft. Thoughts?

CRJs aren't quiet. My Telex 8's had an ANR issue a few weeks ago, so I flew two trips with the ANR off. I could hear well enough, and I could catch more of the engine cues, but my ears definitely were more tired by the end of the day.

Related: I won't buy another pair of Telex 8's.

I'm unimpressed by anything in ear. Anything you stick in your ear your body is going to try to get out. It does this by creating extra wax. This is just a physiological fact. Wear ear plugs a lot? You'll notice more wax. People who wear hearing aids do. My wife lost one- so she only has one right now. The ear it's in generates 10x more wax than the other one.

I have a Telex 850 and replaced those lousy ear pads with thicker ones from Oregon Aero. Made a world of difference. Best part about the 850 is ANR without batteries.

I have been using the Bose ProFlight for about a month now. The very first trip with them I was certain that I would be returning them ASAP. I gave them a second chance and have now fallen in love with them. The noise cancelling works very well...even in a noisy CRJ. The “hear through” function is a good idea but worthless in the real world. I have finally found out how to turn it off so that every time I touch my ear it doesn’t turn on and become annoyingly loud. The cord is a bit heavy and cumbersome but I just clip it on something and it relieves the pressure. The only thing I really hate about it is the carrying case. It takes extra time to neatly fold it all up and store the headset after each flight. Maybe they will fix that during the next version.

Headset Plugs
 

Do all the RJ's use standard GA headset plugs or is there a certain kind of plug\adapter required?

I have an 850, mind posting a link to the ear pads?

CRJs use standard plugs.

As far as I know, the 175 can use the 5 pin connector but also has standard 2 plug input.

Agreed. Absolutely love the proflight. Putting it back in that case is the only thing I don’t like. Which is partially because of that stiff cord I believe