David Clark or Bose X

Out of Control · Post by **Out of Control** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 8:16 pm

Looking for a new headset. Always been a DC man but curious about the Bose. If anyone has one let me know what ya think.

scm · Post by **scm** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 10:59 pm

bose gets my vote. i'd buy another one if i ever lost this one (not that it ever leaves my sight).

there's plenty of reviews if you search google.

fougapilot · Post by **fougapilot** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 5:25 am

The only downfall to the Bose is the price.

I have used mine in anything from my Yak to my Challenger. I too would buy another pair should this one vanish. The ANR and the comfort make it well worth the $$.

D

Ghost · Post by **Ghost** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 6:09 am

Bose for sure...

The price is high, but well worth it. Buy them directly from the Bose website and they have a payment plan that will allow you to spread the payments over 12 months without interest. That's how I did it and it was only about +-$120/month.

Bede · Post by **Bede** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 6:25 am

Bose have notoriously poor quality and poor customer service. I know few people whose heand band broke. Ok if you're an owner and leaving you're headset in the plane, but not so good if you're always unplugging it.

Another person I know had the sound module go while under warrenty. Because they didn't make the exact same style, Bose wanted $200 for the newer one.

C-FOXY · Post by **C-FOXY** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 7:39 am

Have had the Bose for 2 years. I agree with the "poor customer service" remark. Super bad. As for the headset, light weight, comfortable, good for many hours of wear.... I do, however, have some cracks in the head band...only a matter of time.... You'd think for $1200 CDN they would last for more than 2 years.....

Out of Control · Post by **Out of Control** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:18 am

Any one else have problems with the customer service?? For 1200 bones it should come with a bj.

shankdown · Post by **shankdown** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:35 am

I had to make that exact same decision a year ago. I had my mind set on the Bose, and after some serious thought, I went with a high-end DC. Bose has a limited warranty, and you have to send it away to be fixed. Once the warranty is up, you're on your own. A co-worker bought one, and it never worked from the get go. Sent that back, and when it returned he still had problems. I believe he just went and got his money back because he was frustrated with the service he was getting. I agree with that comment about 'if you're an owner and you're gonna leave it in the airplane its a good idea' comment. I'd also add that it may be for someone who has deep pockets, and they don't care if it ever breaks because they can afford another one, and they just want a bloody super-comfortable headset... which they are. But DC are still very comfortable, they sound good, they have good noise cancelling, they rarely break, and if they ever do, you can pretty much find a DC facility in any major city to repair it for you. You can't do that with Bose. But if you do get the Bose, you're gonna love it as long as its up and running!

My2C, Shankdown

TenForTwelve · Post by **TenForTwelve** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:44 am

I've had a Bose X for about 5 years now, and I still think it kicks ass. I've never had a problem with it, so I can't speak about the service. I definitely recommend it.

rotorfloat · Post by **rotorfloat** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:09 am

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Bose-QuietComfort-No ... dZViewItem

8 hours left!

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Bose-X-Pilot-Headset ... dZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.ca/DAVID-CLARK-H10-30-A ... dZViewItem

5 hours left!

Act Now!!!

Hotel Tango · Post by **Hotel Tango** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:03 am

I was just in the market for a new headset last month and I was looking for an ANR set too.

In the end I decided I just could not justify $1200! So it was down to the DC, Flightcom and the Telex.

Well the headset I was trading up from was a non-anr version of the DC and I just didn't find them comfortable anymore. When I was intstructing, throwing them on for a 1 to 2 hour lesson, it was no big deal but now that I am wearing them for extended periods of time I just found them too uncomfortable and caused me headaches.

In the end I chose the Telex. It's kinda in between the two. Good passive protection like the DCs and very advanced active protection, like the Bose. Total is advertised at 50dbs. The drawback is they're big and heavy. I don't find the weight bothers me but they do look kinda funny when you have them on. Costwise, the Telex 50-D (now the new model is the 50 Digital) falls 400 or so under the cost of the Bose but is more costly than the DCs initially. However, if you have a valid instructor rating there is a $125 US rebate available. The form says for US CFIs only but after talking to the right people at their VERY friendly and helpful customer service, they agreed to give me the rebate too.

If you shop online at some american shops, you can get one for under $800 CAN and throw in a $125 US rebate and it costs as much as a DC.

Comfort wise, it's very adjustable with very soft foam pads, feels like a big pillow on your head.

I have had some time off so I haven't tried them in the airplane yet but when I'm back to work tommorrow so I'll give you the full review shortly.

HT

Out of Control · Post by **Out of Control** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 5:16 pm

You guys rock, thanks for your help.

virga · Post by **virga** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:37 pm

for christs sake do yourself a favour and at least borrow someone's peltors for a couple of days. they are quieter than many ANR's at a fraction of the cost.

Esti · Post by **Esti** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:55 pm

virga take your head out of your ass....or maybe its more quiet in there than your pussy ass peltor headset.

ttx15 · Post by **ttx15** » Mon May 01, 2006 7:45 am

I used both of the David Clark and Bose. The David Clark was shutting down on take off and the ear cup of the bose were not big enough to cover the noise of an heavy radial. But in a turbine otter the bose were perfect for noise reduction, it's amazing are good they worked. I'm going for the telex stratus this season, it's seem to be the best compromise between the two headsets and they are cheaper than the bose.

it'sme · Post by **it'sme** » Mon May 01, 2006 8:21 am

Bose, hands down. Contrary to what others have said we have had great customer service. We have had 3 cracked headbands in 5 years amongst the headsets. Get a loaner sent to us while we send out the broken one for repair. They come back with the newer style headband and haven't had problems with the newer style bands. All this at no charge.

737Driver · Post by **737Driver** » Mon May 01, 2006 8:40 am

I have used both extensively. David Clark definitely 2

. Bose, 1

. The Bose are great as long as the batteries last. When they go dead, you would be better off wearing tin cans on your ears, when the batteries go dead in the DC's it is still a normal DC. I have had the 10-13x for 10 yrs for everything from beavers to corporate jets. I also disliked the headband on the Bose, it was uncomfortable for extended use, but the DC I could wear all day. I understand the new Bose headband version is better.

jmho

Doc · Post by **Doc** » Mon May 01, 2006 9:35 am

DC, 'nuff said.

virga · Post by **virga** » Mon May 01, 2006 9:52 am

Esti, it was your girlfriends butt that I compared my peltors to and they yes they're quieter. Oh my god...BURN on you!!

Oh yeah and you smell like pooh!

185_guy · Post by **185_guy** » Mon May 01, 2006 10:04 am

And for those battery hungry headsets, try this out :
http://stores.ebay.com/BATTERY-ISLAND_W ... esstQQtZkm

I had a hard time finding rechargeable 9v batteries, but this fellow has them. And, the Ni-MH batteries do not develop a 'memory' like ni-cad batteries.(normal rechargables)

Rowdy · Post by **Rowdy** » Mon May 01, 2006 4:06 pm

I've tried em all and can say that for me.. It's got to be a DC set.

I have an oddsized head and nothing fits them comfortably like the DC's do.

Have flow with telex, avvcom, flightcom, bose and a few other random sets over the past couple of years. For general duty nothing else comes close to my 13.4's

I had an old old 10-30 set that my father finished his IFR training with (date stamped 1973) that had seen lots of use over the years and was still in great shape when I bought the current 13.4X set.

Definatly sold on the customer service and overall reliability and flexibility of the DC's.

I will state that it all depends on whats comfortable. Everyones head is shaped differently.

critical engine · Post by **critical engine** » Mon May 01, 2006 9:08 pm

Straight Up Doggie...

WAIT!!!!!!

Almost bought a headset today. The sales guy told me to wait till end of June. He said DC is bringing out a new headset. The DC rep told him to keep it under wraps, but he didnt want to see me waste my money.

From what he told me it's gonna be "the best they have ever made" Cell jack, revamped ANR, ect

I too am curious, so i figure ill wait the 2 months. I dont know any more about sorry.

Gurundu the Rat · Post by **Gurundu the Rat** » Tue May 02, 2006 12:00 pm

I used to use a Bose. I loved it until I tried the Sennheiser HMEC 25-ka. I have been using it for two and a half years now for 75-85 hours a month and it has never let me down. It is lightweight and very comfortable. Noise cancelling is impressive when I use it in my piston single, but I don't even turn it on when flying RJs. Its quiet enough just as a passive headset.

flyer · Post by **flyer** » Tue May 02, 2006 2:09 pm

Don't forget the lightspeed headsets. I've used the Bose/DC's/Lightspeeds for several hundred hours each in both navajo's/kingairs and jetstreams. Bose were great, by far the most comfortable and quiet but useless with dead batteries. They also seemed to screw up some aircraft intercoms, how, I don't know. DC's have the name, reliability and service but the lightspeeds match the DC's for comfort and quiet and reliability (although relatively new) and according to the salesman, will simply replace any parts causing problems for the first 3 or 5 years (can't remember exactly) . For the same price as the DC's you also get to plug in your cell phone/music player in the lightspeeds, and it works great. With money to burn, I'd go with the Bose but I chose the lightspeed over the Bose and DC's cause of the price, options and fit. Now if they weren't so damned ugly...

anyways · Post by **anyways** » Tue May 02, 2006 3:16 pm

Never had any issues with quality - Bose is a high end name and the X's are no exception. I picked mine up with a Bose Preferred card, which gave me 12 months interest free to pay. I'd never wear anything else...