Sennheiser ANR

[Greg]

Has anybody tried the Sennheiser ANRs? I have used Sennheiser
broadcast equipment and it is great, but I rarely see anything about
their aviation headsets and nobody I know has a pair so any feedback
would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys!

Greg

[Guy Middleton]

In article >,
Greg > wrote:
> Has anybody tried the Sennheiser ANRs? I have used Sennheiser
> broadcast equipment and it is great, but I rarely see anything about
> their aviation headsets and nobody I know has a pair so any feedback
> would be greatly appreciated.

I have a pair. I like them a lot, extremely comfortable. They seem quiet too,
but I don't have anything to compare them to, as I have not used any other ANR
headsets while flying.

[Kobra]

Greg,

I just bought a pair of Lightspeed 30 3G's and a pair of Lightspeed 20 3G's.
I'm going flying tonight to test them both out and I will give you a PIREP
upon my return.

Kobra


"Greg" > wrote in message
om...
> Has anybody tried the Sennheiser ANRs? I have used Sennheiser
> broadcast equipment and it is great, but I rarely see anything about
> their aviation headsets and nobody I know has a pair so any feedback
> would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks guys!
>
> Greg

[ThomasH]

Greg wrote:
>
> Has anybody tried the Sennheiser ANRs? I have used Sennheiser
> broadcast equipment and it is great, but I rarely see anything about
> their aviation headsets and nobody I know has a pair so any feedback
> would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks guys!
>
> Greg

I am using them for years, I have 3 models:

HMEC-25: expensive, super light with ANR performs somewhat better
than passive model. Perfect for short flights and trips
if you like to carry headsets with you in your luggage.
Also my wife loves them because she can keep her ear rings
on! Not satisfactory if battery power is down! Passive
only suppression is about 16dB only.

HMEC300: successor to the 200 model, it is an astonishing product,
on pair with Bose X for a fraction of a price. I switch off
ANR during taxi if I will listen to the engine, its that good.
Excellent in passive only mode (lost of power,) contrary to
Bose which tends to amplify basses than due to the bass reflex
concept. Comfortable, excellent compromise between pressure
on head and stability.

HMEC100: a passive version of HMEC300, for my casual passengers.

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/pages/products/

Of course, the degree of "good or bad" is in the eye of the beholder.
My friend who owns some 6, 7 models incl. Pilot Avionics, Lightspeed,
Telex, Peltor etc. was not happy with them and got the HMEC200 on eBay
and... stayed with them. COntrary to that, one of my instructors told
me that bought HMEC300 and was "so unhappy" (not specified in detail)
that he returned them and took the ANC David Clark, what in turn has
astonished me...

I tried out many makes and models while flying with people and
I still prefer the Sennheisers, the more that the company uses their
acclaimed and Emmy awarded mike and headphones technology. My
friend dislikes Germans, and so he took the Lightspeed G3, which
I tested than. He was very silent after a flight with my HMEC300
and I was also silent after flying his G3. I did not wanted comment
on his new toy in his presence. His G3 had a nasty distorted voice
(mike problem) and a strange whizzing and white noise in the
background. I can listen to classical music on my HMEC300, just
as you can on a Bose/X, but for a price! I also hate the mushy
gigantic earmuffs on Lightspeeds. Do not turn your head too fast,
or you might lose them!

I would recommend to try out a few models, exchange headsets if
you fly with friends, and make up your own mind based on practical
experience! Better than only some impressive booth demos by Bose
or Lightspeed! They can be so convincing...

Thomas

[G.R. Patterson III]

Greg wrote:
>
> Has anybody tried the Sennheiser ANRs?

I bought two a couple years ago. I still get ****ed at their latest ads ("simply
the best").

Ok. They're comfortable. Not quite as good as the Bose, but much better than my
Sigtronics. The speaker quality is worse than my Sigtronics or Bose, and the
microphone quality is very poor (about the same as a set of low-end Peltors).
The ANR is excellent, but what good does it do if you can't understand ATC or
the person in the right seat? I'd sell mine in a New York second if I wouldn't
take a bath doing that....

Hum.....

On second thought. They're great!!! Bose is just an overpriced copy of these!
I just happen to have two almost new sets I'll let you have for $500 each. I
have the battery pack for them too!

George Patterson
God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the
good fortune to run into the ones I like, and the eyesight to tell the
difference.

[ThomasH]

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote:
>
> Greg wrote:
> >
> > Has anybody tried the Sennheiser ANRs?
>
> I bought two a couple years ago. I still get ****ed at their latest ads ("simply
> the best").
>
> Ok. They're comfortable. Not quite as good as the Bose, but much better than my
> Sigtronics. The speaker quality is worse than my Sigtronics or Bose, and the
> microphone quality is very poor (about the same as a set of low-end Peltors).
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I most sincerely doubt that. Sennheiser mikes are *the leading* stage,
theater and philharmony equipment. Maybe you should adjust sensitivity
(little screw directly on the mike), ask their customer support or
directly Mr. Feldbauer, their rep. Usually they are very helpful. For
example as my friend got his HDC200 on the eBay, he needed to adapt
the HDC300 4xAA battery pack for the older HDC200 and they send him
wiring schematics to so by himself.

Thomas

> The ANR is excellent, but what good does it do if you can't understand ATC or
> the person in the right seat? I'd sell mine in a New York second if I wouldn't
> take a bath doing that....
>
> Hum.....
>
> On second thought. They're great!!! Bose is just an overpriced copy of these!
> I just happen to have two almost new sets I'll let you have for $500 each. I
> have the battery pack for them too!
>
> George Patterson
> God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the
> good fortune to run into the ones I like, and the eyesight to tell the
> difference.

[Tobias Dussa]

ThomasH > writes:
> > Ok. They're comfortable. Not quite as good as the Bose, but much better than my
> > Sigtronics. The speaker quality is worse than my Sigtronics or Bose, and the
> > microphone quality is very poor (about the same as a set of low-end Peltors).
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> I most sincerely doubt that. Sennheiser mikes are *the leading* stage,
> theater and philharmony equipment.

Sennheiser also produces *the* *leading* earphone speakers, which would
make it seem implausible that speakers on their headsets are _that_ bad.
It is not necessarily certain that they put the top-of-the-line stuff
in aviation headsets, though. _But_ judging from my experience with
their products (not limited to, but including aviation gear), I would
agree that I have a hard time believing they produce crappy headsets.

Still, George may have got a faulty headset, those things do happen,
albeit rarely with Sennheiser from what I hear.

FWIW, my HMEC300 is absolutely gorgeous.

Cheers,
Toby.
--
Honk if you love peace and quiet!

[G.R. Patterson III]

Tobias Dussa wrote:
>
> Still, George may have got a faulty headset, those things do happen,
> albeit rarely with Sennheiser from what I hear.

If that's the case, I got two of them, though it's possible that only one has a
problem with the microphone. I have difficulty understanding ATC, which I do not
have with my old Sigtronics or my new Bose X. I used them when taking a friend
flying, and the conversation between us contained a lot of variations on "Huh?".
I recall his voice sounding exactly like someone using the Peltor 7004, which
I also own (I use it for children).

A few months after wasting my money on the Sennheisers, I walked into the Bose
booth at Oshkosh with my Sigtronics in hand and told them "If your speakers
sound as good as these, you've got a sale." After a short session with their
intercom, I walked out with a set of Bose X.

George Patterson
Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely
unintentional side effect. - Linus Torvalds, speaking about Linux.

[Tobias Dussa]

"G.R. Patterson III" > writes:
> > Still, George may have got a faulty headset, those things do happen,
> > albeit rarely with Sennheiser from what I hear.
> If that's the case, I got two of them, though it's possible that only one has a
> problem with the microphone. I have difficulty understanding ATC, which I do not
> have with my old Sigtronics or my new Bose X. I used them when taking a friend
> flying, and the conversation between us contained a lot of variations on "Huh?".
> I recall his voice sounding exactly like someone using the Peltor 7004, which
> I also own (I use it for children).

Hm, I see. Obviously our experiences differ. Which Sennheiser models do you
own, actually?

(Don't get me wrong here, I do believe your experiences, I am just curious as
to why our experiences differ so much.)

Cheers,
Toby.
--
Emacs is a nice OS, but it lacks a good editor. That's why I use vi.

[G.R. Patterson III]

Tobias Dussa wrote:
>
> Hm, I see. Obviously our experiences differ. Which Sennheiser models do you
> own, actually?

HMEC 300.

George Patterson
Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely
unintentional side effect. - Linus Torvalds, speaking about Linux.

[Tobias Dussa]

"G.R. Patterson III" > writes:
> > Hm, I see. Obviously our experiences differ. Which Sennheiser models do you
> > own, actually?
> HMEC 300.

That is exactly the model I have, too... Interesting. I assume that
the bad audio quality is there regardless to which type of intercom
the headset is hooked up? On a german aviation newsgroup, there has
been a short discussion lately that some intercoms can't handle
headsets with different mike impedances, so that may be a factor, but
I am no expert either in this sector. Other than that, I don't know.
Obviously, YMMV with Sennheiser headsets. Hm.

Cheers,
Toby.
--
Usenet est omnis divisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolunt Trolli,
aliam useri regulari, tertiam, qui ipsorum lingua summi dei, nostra
administratores appellantur.

[Thomas Borchert]

Tobias,

> I am just curious as
> to why our experiences differ so much.
>
Headsets are an extremely personal thing. Experiences are bound to vary
hugely.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned prices, too.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

[ThomasH]

Tobias Dussa wrote:
>
> "G.R. Patterson III" > writes:
> > > Hm, I see. Obviously our experiences differ. Which Sennheiser models do you
> > > own, actually?
> > HMEC 300.
>
> That is exactly the model I have, too... Interesting. I assume that

Same here. I heard in none of the David Clarks, Sigtronics, Pilot
Avionics, Telexes, Lightspeeds such crystal clear voice like in my
HMEC300, and also also in the small headset, which is by the by
virtually identical to the stadium reporter headset which you may
see so often in US tv in all sorts of sports transmissions. Bose is
also good, the X model is very expensive and problematic in case of
power loss, but it is through and through a high class piece of
equipment.

I can not believe that Sennheiser has not replaced any faulty units
or checked out why G.R's headsets under perform to such an extend.
But, so is the market, its very individual, they have "one less
customer" as I understand.


> the bad audio quality is there regardless to which type of intercom
> the headset is hooked up? On a german aviation newsgroup, there has
> been a short discussion lately that some intercoms can't handle
> headsets with different mike impedances, so that may be a factor, but

Correct! You might have to adjust the mike level as I had, especially
for the Sigtronics icoms. Since I do not own a bird, I fly so many
different aircraft and some of the icoms are really crappy.


By the way: The Sennheiser mikes are so good that you can adjust them
to work fine while maintaining a finger wide distance from your mouth.
I saw enough of "mike kissing" pilots with other makes and models!
My friend (a Bonanza owner) used to automatically grab the mike with
a hand and push toward his mouth while speaking with his Pilot Avionics.
Once he got the HMEC200 (used on eBay!), he stopped doing that...

Thomas


> I am no expert either in this sector. Other than that, I don't know.
> Obviously, YMMV with Sennheiser headsets. Hm.
>
> Cheers,
> Toby.
> --
> Usenet est omnis divisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolunt Trolli,
> aliam useri regulari, tertiam, qui ipsorum lingua summi dei, nostra
> administratores appellantur.

[Tobias Dussa]

Thomas Borchert > writes:
> > I am just curious as
> > to why our experiences differ so much.
> Headsets are an extremely personal thing. Experiences are bound to vary
> hugely.

Of course the impressions are personal, but I figure that any distortion
of sound bad enough to render speech unreadable should be universally
detectable. If my headset were borderline, audio-quality-wise, then I
would not be surprised to hear someone say there is enough distortion
to make speech unreadable, but my pair is excellent, so I am somewhat
astonished.

> I'm surprised no one has mentioned prices, too.

Prices don't matter when discussing technical differences and/or
problems. Prices do matter when it comes to making decisions by
weighting the pros and cons, but not when talking about sound
quality per se. BTW, regardless of the price of their headsets as
compared to Bose or whatever, they are clearly more than capable of
producing a decent-quality pair of headphones. In fact, given their
non-aviation product line, I do expect any Sennheiser product to be
top-of-the-line, at the very least with regard to audio quality.

Thus my astonishment.

Cheers,
Toby.
--
The PROPER way to handle HTML postings is to cancel the article, then
hire a hitman to kill the poster, his wife and kids, and **** his dog
and smash his computer into little bits. Anything more is just
extremism. ---Paul Tomblin

[Michael Felbauer]

Tobias Dussa > wrote in message >...
> Thomas Borchert > writes:
> > > I am just curious as
> > > to why our experiences differ so much.
> > Headsets are an extremely personal thing. Experiences are bound to vary
> > hugely.
>
> Of course the impressions are personal, but I figure that any distortion
> of sound bad enough to render speech unreadable should be universally
> detectable. If my headset were borderline, audio-quality-wise, then I
> would not be surprised to hear someone say there is enough distortion
> to make speech unreadable, but my pair is excellent, so I am somewhat
> astonished.
>
> > I'm surprised no one has mentioned prices, too.
>
> Prices don't matter when discussing technical differences and/or
> problems. Prices do matter when it comes to making decisions by
> weighting the pros and cons, but not when talking about sound
> quality per se. BTW, regardless of the price of their headsets as
> compared to Bose or whatever, they are clearly more than capable of
> producing a decent-quality pair of headphones. In fact, given their
> non-aviation product line, I do expect any Sennheiser product to be
> top-of-the-line, at the very least with regard to audio quality.
>
> Thus my astonishment.
>
> Cheers,
> Toby.

Hello my name is Michael Feldbauer and I am the Aviation Product
Manager for Sennheiser Electronic in the USA. First let me say if
anyone is having problems with their Sennheisers please contact me or
our Service department. We continue to strieve to please our
customers but we are aware that in some cases we fail.. Some of what I
have read is based on personal experiences and subjective views of
comfort and audio quality. However some of what is posted would seem
to be related to either a faulty headset or some compatibilty
problems. In most case we can help in both of these areas. There are
many fine products out there and this is good, what we don't want to
see is an unhappy customer if we can fix the problem. Good day and
happy flying.

[G.R. Patterson III]

Michael Felbauer wrote:
>
> First let me say if
> anyone is having problems with their Sennheisers please contact me or
> our Service department.

Great! Mail has been sent.

George Patterson
A woman's perfect breakfast occurs when she's sitting at the table sipping
gourmet coffee while looking at pictures of her son on the cover of Sports
Illustrated, her daughter on the cover of Business Week, her boyfriend on
the cover of Playgirl, and her husband on the back of the milk carton.