Headsets Inc. ANR Upgrade

[GottaFly]

I have a well used/comfortable set of Dave Clark 10 13.4s. I find I'm becoming ever fatigued after listening to the low bass drone of an O-235/O-320 for 4-5 hours per day. Now that we're going into the summer season again, the days and noise are just going to get longer and more droning..... So my dilemma is to either splurge and buy a nice Bose or Lightspeed Zulu's OR buy the Headsets Inc. ANR kit.

Does anyone have any experience with the ANR Kit?

Specific questions would be:

1. Is the passive noise reduction the same after installing the kit?
2. Does the kit have any glitches?
3. How long does the battery last with ANR on?
4. Has anyone ever installed this kit and regretted it?

[Old Dog Flying]

I've got 2 Zulu sets and both passive and ANR noise reduction are very good..and I fly a Grumman AA1A with the 0-235 C2C HC. The ZULUs are the most comfortable headsets that I have ever used.

Barney

[c_172pilot]

If you like the DCs why not buy a set of the DC ANR? I have had myne for ages and I love them. They are not as good as the Bose IMHO, but when the batteries crap out they are a great passive set too!

[mag check]

I have a headsets inc unit, it works well, but seems to eat batteries fairly quickly, and you have the somewhat cumbersome battery pack.
Noise cancelling is good, but does have sort of a hollow sound when turned off.
I also wired in a jack, with a diode, (inside the box),so that you can plug into a power plug, and bypass the battery, if the aircraft has the capability.

[iflyforpie]

I've got 2 Zulu sets and both passive and ANR noise reduction are very good..and I fly a Grumman AA1A with the 0-235 C2C HC. The ZULUs are the most comfortable headsets that I have ever used.

Barney

A big +1. I thought the engine on the plane stalled when I turned the ANR on the first time. Pricey, but so are hearing aids and the added fatigue from listening to airplane noise. I haven't found a single headset (including the Bose X) that matches the comfort and sound of the Zulu. Worth every penny IMHO.

[Highsea]

I have a ZULU too, I was in press when I could hear the passengers in the back of the 180 clean as day and very little engine sound on takeoff power. they are ten times better then my old DC.

[GottaFly]

I would buy a zulu.... the problem is i'm slightly cheap... Its a lot easier to convince myself to spend 180 on an upgrade as opposed to 900 for the zulu...

[hairdo]

I would buy a zulu.... the problem is i'm slightly cheap... Its a lot easier to convince myself to spend 180 on an upgrade as opposed to 900 for the zulu...

You might save the money now, but you'll probably spend it in batteries for the DC upgrade. If you get rechargable batteries (not familiar what battery type is used in the DC's), it might be okay. I've heard (and it has been posted above) that the DC ANR upgrade eats batteries. The Zulu's on the other hand get 40+ hours between changes easily, they are comfortable, quiet, the passive isn't too bad (not as good as passive DC), and they certainly chop the noise fatigue levels down. I love mine!

[100_above]

I have a pair of the Zulu's that I have used professionally for a couple of years, and I have to say they are a great headset. I've let others use them that own the Bose and they admit that they are as good as, if not better than than the Bose in terms of ANR. One of the great things about this headset is the blue tooth capabilities. I tell you that the Zulu + Ipod touch = heaven. To be able to listen to music wirelessly while flying is the next best thing to sliced bread. Trust me it is. Even while listening to music you won't miss a call from ATC. If you fly solo or have that Capt/FO who isn't a big talker....it is a great way to help pass the time. Another thing, although I have never tried it out and you if fly low level, to use the Blue Tooth with a cell phone sounds like a pretty good deal. I know it is a pretty penny, but hey you'll have it for a looooong time. Happy flying!!!

[turbo-prop]

I have the DC upgrade and it works great. You can get 40 hrs out of a battery (1 (9volt) plus if the battery goes dead your headset is almost the same as it was before the upgrade noise wise. I got my adapter from yorkton aircraft about 5 yrs ago. Cost was $250, and I got the extra wire so I wouldn't have two wires hanging out (one to plug headset in and one for the nois cancelling). There was about 26 soldering points.

[CorpPilot]

I can tell you from experience that the ZULU right now is the best choice for you. I have had the Headset INC ANR kit in an old DC-80 and at the time (almost 10 years ago....) They were great, as the BOSE was way too expensive for my blood and the current lightspeed product wasnt nearly as good. I started flying turbo props and the long days and drone of the PT6's were killing me..... I spent the money on the Bose and have never looked back until about 2 years ago.

I was on a trip on a B1900D and for those that havent been in one.... they are very loud and the prop noise is insane (still dont understand how people get back on them routinely without hearing protection)... The gentleman I was flying with had the ZULU and we both swapped the headsets for the trip. As far as ANR goes, they are identical....... Comfort, they are identical. Now for the good stuff! The BOSE is just what it is....a great, comfortable, stylish and effective headset with no additional features. In my opinion, Bose is behind the game now with the headset X and Lightspeed is offering a lot more. The Bluetooth capability is the best thing for those of use spending hours a day in the fightdeck!

The ability to have music playing in stereo quality is a gift! It makes hours disapear. For those of us flying jets..... I have seen the light on there too... I recently found my bose to be a bit too much to lug around and with the occasional deadheading and whatnot involved with my current position, I decided to try something else. I bought the Bose QC15 and added the UflyMike... it is amazing! UflyMike is a company started by a Southwest pilot who developed and plug and play mic that plugs into the QC15 and makes it a great jet headset with the abilitly to plug your ipod in and or blackberry for phone use/music. Another great feature is that when you are deadheadiing, you can unplug the UflyMike and use the QC15.

Remember that in our line of work, our hearing is everything,much like our health/medical. Invest in a quality headset and the reward with pay off in dividends over time and make your day to day job much less draining.

CP

[R1830]

Over the years I used both the headsets inc ANR upgrade and the factory DC ANR headset.

The headsets inc upgrade I felt had superior noise cancelling than the David Clark factory ANR, and didn't go through batteries quite as fast. I found it to be a bit fragile though, it uses very light guage wires and I had them break a few times in the cold, which is why I switched to the DC version.

[cgzro]

I bought the Headsets Inct set about 8 years ago and modified an El-Cheapo Peltor headset. it worked very well and I used it constantly for about 3 years before upgrading to a Telex 50D.

They take a single 9V battery, and the life was not too bad. You could easily modify them to take a 12v source and step the voltage down through a 9v regulator.

The passive attenuation is as good as you make it by proper padding etc. if you just rip all the padding out and put the Headsets inc speakrs/microphones in then it will be pretty miserable but if you work to keep the ear mufs full of that sound deadening stuff its pretty good.

I still use them 5-10 hours a year as they are more than adequate for most aircraft but the Pitts is another story and the Telex wins hands down and that environment.

Peter

[DHQ]

I had the Headsets Inc aftermarket ANR installed into my DC 13.4 by a professional. It worked great, but after 2 years it failed. My headset still works without the ANR however.

I bought the DC X-11. Not a bad headset. On it's 3rd trip to warranty repair, I bought the Zulu. The Zulu has been the best so far.

[4hrstovegas]

I have a pair of the Telex 50Ds, too. After hearing so much about the Zulus, I test drove a pair on exchange with my cojoe. I decided to stick with the 50Ds. After the exchange, my FO he said he had to take them off because he didn't want to get used to them. I love 'em, even if I do look like an uglier Princess Leia.