Thursday, May 31, 2007

Hey guys- headset question

Listener Email from Zach from Calif:

Hey Uncontrolled Airspace Gang!

My name is Zach Leach, and I'm a 10 hour student pilot out of Santa Monica, Calif. (KSMO) and I'm in the market for headsets, and I have to admit there's a lot out there.

Basically every time I go for a lesson, I get one that's really soft, or the squelch is all messed up, or they're falling apart– and hey I'm going to need some eventually. So I was wondering what kind of headsets you guys use, and what you think are some of the best and what I can get for a reasonable amount of money.

By the way, Jack– I'm also a Mac Genius here at the Apple Store in Los Angeles (The Grove) and I'm sorry to hear about your hard drive! Remember, save often, and always back up– but you knew that.

It's so good to hear you're a Mac User! What kind of Mac do you have by the way? Oh and if you have any questions about your Mac or whatever I'd be more then glad to help– you guys always keep me motivated to go fly!

Keep up the awesome work!

Zach Leach

4 Comments:

Anonymous Chris Barrus said...

Zach -

Quick question for you... Which school and/or CFI are you learning from at KSMO? I've *just* about budgeted enough money to begin classes later in the summer and am looking for flight schools in the LA-area.

-Chris
(19 year Mac user and developer)

1:12 PM  
Blogger Charlie said...

Zach-

Re Headsets

I was in the market for one recently as well. Tough question as everyone has different likes and budgets. I work at EAA and even with all the resources I have at my disposal, I will admit that there is no easy way to figure out what you want short of trying friends headsets. I tried about 8 different headsets before buying and that jus scratches the surface of what is out there. I ended up buying one that I did not try.

My advice:
Buy a basic passive one first. You might be perfectly happy with it and save some cash. At a minimum it will be a big step up from the ones you're given from the FBO.

Attend AirVenture Oshkosh - Great excuse to attend the World's Greatest Fly In plus you'll get the best price and can try on multiple models. If you can't attend, have a friend who goes buy it for you.

I bought the Peltor Nordica Sport Aviation Headset - MT22H52A-01
It comes in different colors. Very basic passive headset but very light. I picked it because it was light, inexpensive, and had high passive noise reduction. I've been happy with it so far and have no regrets. At AirVenture I think you could buy it for about $99. I've seen it advertised anywhere from $119 to the list of $159.

Hope this helps.

Charlie Becker

12:06 PM  
Blogger Jeb Burnside said...

If you really want a lightweight headset, the in-the-ear products may be an option. I've not used one, but some people like them.

My first headset was a Telex 5x5 Pro II, which I still have somewhere. This is an in-one-ear unit. I got a small plastic tube from a hobby store, poked a hole in a foam ear plug and glued the tube to the ear plug. The other end of the tube literally screws onto the headset's audio output port. Put a real ear plug in the other ear and -- viola! -- instant lightweight, passive headset. I could even use a full-size Jepp hood with it. Try that today with the large ear cups and thick, padded headbands from, say, LightSPEED.

YMMV...

- Jeb

10:56 AM  
Anonymous Student Pilot Will said...

Hey Zach

So when I started flying I wanted ANR headsets too but was on a bit of a budget. My CFI told me about these.
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/avpages/skycomIIANR.php
I got a pair and have been using them for almost 2 years now. I love them. They are great for a cheep headset and they are ANR to boot. I know one day I will upgrade to something really nice and when I do I will hold on to this set so my passenger can have ANR as well. I don't think you can go wrong with this head sat. Check it out.

Good luck.

-Will

12:57 PM  

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