Headset: Unexpected safety bonus

[Vaughn]

Bought myself a new headset for Christmas. I expected it to just be a new
toy, but I was amazed at the increase in understandability. Lets face it, like
many pilots looking retirement age in the eye, my hearing ain't what it used to
be. Previously, when I got into a plane, I would automatically turn the volume
well north of 50% just so I could hear above the din. I had come to assume
that the mush-mouth barely-understandable audio I was getting was just part of
the normal deal for those AM aviation radios.

For the budget I had in mind (between .3 and .4 AMU) I could get a pretty
fair conventional headset or a bottom-of-the-line ANR unit. For better or
worse, I went for the ANR, (the Lightspeed R20XL). To my surprise, and for the
first time in ages, I could suddenly hear and (more importantly) understand
every word that was being spoken. Further, I noticed that I was running my
volume control in a more normal position, (perhaps 10 db lower than before)
because there was so much less background noise to overcome.

If you find yourself saying "say again?" often, perhaps it is time to open
up the wallet and invest. There is no longer any valid reason to be flying
without ANR.

Vaughn



--
Will poofread for food.

[Scott D]

On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 18:14:27 GMT, "Vaughn"
> wrote:

> Bought myself a new headset for Christmas. I expected it to just be a new
>toy, but I was amazed at the increase in understandability. Lets face it, like
>many pilots looking retirement age in the eye, my hearing ain't what it used to
>be. Previously, when I got into a plane, I would automatically turn the volume
>well north of 50% just so I could hear above the din. I had come to assume
>that the mush-mouth barely-understandable audio I was getting was just part of
>the normal deal for those AM aviation radios.
>

That a good angle to justify a new headset to the wife. Congrats on
the equipment.

Scott D.

[john smith]

Vaughn, what were you using before you got the new headset?

[Bob Fry]

In addition to the ANR, I still use foam earplugs and then turn up the
radio. That makes it even clearer.

[Jay Honeck]

> In addition to the ANR, I still use foam earplugs and then turn up the
> radio. That makes it even clearer.

You put earplugs in your ears, and then turn up the volume?

Isn't that sorta like holding the brakes whilst flooring the accelerator?
What, exactly, are you trying to accomplish?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[George Patterson]

Jay Honeck wrote:

> You put earplugs in your ears, and then turn up the volume?
>
> Isn't that sorta like holding the brakes whilst flooring the accelerator?
> What, exactly, are you trying to accomplish?

Well, the earplugs shut out the ambient noise. Increasing the volume of the
radio cancels the effects of the earplugs, as far as the radio is concerned. Now
all he hears is radio.

The main problem with this is that many radios have poorer signals at high
volume. You may be introducing electronic noise.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

"Jay Honeck" > writes:

> > In addition to the ANR, I still use foam earplugs and then turn up the
> > radio. That makes it even clearer.
>
> You put earplugs in your ears, and then turn up the volume?
>
> Isn't that sorta like holding the brakes whilst flooring the accelerator?
> What, exactly, are you trying to accomplish?

Greater isolation from sounds *other than* the ones coming through the
amplifier. I use this same trick at the shooting range using
electronic muffs.
--
David Dyer-Bennet, >, <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/>
RKBA: <http://noguns-nomoney.com/> <http://www.dd-b.net/carry/>
Pics: <http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/> <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/>
Dragaera/Steven Brust: <http://dragaera.info/>

[Don Tuite]

On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 03:20:46 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
> wrote:

>> In addition to the ANR, I still use foam earplugs and then turn up the
>> radio. That makes it even clearer.
>
>You put earplugs in your ears, and then turn up the volume?
>
>Isn't that sorta like holding the brakes whilst flooring the accelerator?
>What, exactly, are you trying to accomplish?

George and David answered the acoustical part (BTW, years ago, before
there were headsets, I used earplugs just to listen to the speaker,
for the reasons they give.), but as a newly-returned-to -the-activity
motorcycle rider, I note that what you describe is pretty much what is
necessary to pass the m'cycle driving test in most states today.

(Unless you pass the MSF course, which I did today, without using that
Jerry Paladino technique.)

Don

[kontiki]

Vaughn wrote:

> If you find yourself saying "say again?" often, perhaps it is time to open
> up the wallet and invest. There is no longer any valid reason to be flying
> without ANR.

I have to agree. I've been using the Bose for almost a year now and not only are
they more comfortable to wear for longer periods of time (than brandX) but the
radio and interfcom communications is more readble at a lower volume level than
before.

You won't hear dead silence with ANR headsets, its just a different noise "pitch"
and at a slightly lower level than passive.... and the radio is clearer to understand.

[Clay]

I sometimes fly an Aztec with a Bose headset. It makes a world of
difference with the ANR compared to a regular H10-13.4 David Clark.
The only fault I find with the Bose is the need to keep an extra 9 volt
battery handy. If you leave them on, the battery will run down. Not a
big deal to change out during flight. You can still hear ATC but you
will be getting the noise which would be normally filtered.

[George Patterson]

Clay wrote:

> The only fault I find with the Bose is the need to keep an extra 9 volt
> battery handy. If you leave them on, the battery will run down.

The new Bose X uses two AAs and has an auto-shutoff feature. They went to that a
few years ago. If you have one of the earlier Bose X models that uses the 9v
battery, you can get a replacement battery box/control unit for an exorbitant fee.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.

[Newps]

I got a new Bose for Christmas. They now use two AA's and have an auto
shutoff feature. You can send your headset to Bose and have them put
that on yours if you want.



Clay wrote:
> I sometimes fly an Aztec with a Bose headset. It makes a world of
> difference with the ANR compared to a regular H10-13.4 David Clark.
> The only fault I find with the Bose is the need to keep an extra 9 volt
> battery handy. If you leave them on, the battery will run down. Not a
> big deal to change out during flight. You can still hear ATC but you
> will be getting the noise which would be normally filtered.
>

[Bob Fry]

>>>>> "DT" == Don Tuite > writes:

DT> George and David answered the acoustical part (BTW, years ago,
DT> before there were headsets, I used earplugs just to listen to
DT> the speaker, for the reasons they give.), but as a
DT> newly-returned-to -the-activity motorcycle rider, I note that
DT> what you describe is pretty much what is necessary to pass the
DT> m'cycle driving test in most states today.

Hey, could you tell our governor this trick? He needs to pass that
test too....

[Don Tuite]

On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 09:12:37 -0800, Bob Fry >
wrote:

>Hey, could you tell our governor this trick? He needs to pass that
>test too....

I'd need to tell it to his stunt double.

Anyway, I credit those wax earplugs, used with the plane speakers,
with extending my flying time-to-fatigue greatly. I mostly like
today's headsets even better because of the boom mike and yoke-mounted
PTT.

Don

[Dave S]

Jay Honeck wrote:
>>In addition to the ANR, I still use foam earplugs and then turn up the
>>radio. That makes it even clearer.
>
>
> You put earplugs in your ears, and then turn up the volume?
>
> Isn't that sorta like holding the brakes whilst flooring the accelerator?
> What, exactly, are you trying to accomplish?

Ive done it too, Jay..

When I fly alone, and others arent there who dont have/wont use
earplugs.. I sometimes do that.

Most noise suppression occurs in lower frequencies, both with ANR and
the passive devices.

Most Radio audio is in the middle frequencies.. So in effect you
suppress LOTS of loud low freq engine noise and suppress minimal
voice-spectrum sound.

Dave

[Dave S]

B A R R Y wrote:
> On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 21:13:43 GMT, Dave S >
> wrote:
>
>>Most noise suppression occurs in lower frequencies, both with ANR and
>>the passive devices.
>
>
> Where did you ever get that idea about passive devices?
>
> Check out the table at the bottom of:
> <http://www.aearo.com/pdf/hearing/OSHAComplyPackSellSheet.pdf>
>
> It's the attenuation chart for EAR foam earplugs.
>
> In the case of these devices, attenuation starts to drop off as you
> go down below 250 Hz, and there's a hole at 2k.
>
>


Thanks for the point out.. I was given bad info. You are right.

Dave

[Vaughn]

"john smith" > wrote in message
...
> Vaughn, what were you using before you got the new headset?

FWIW: a Sigtronics S-2M-CE. It is old, but was at the factory for refurb
about two years ago. It now serves as my passenger unit.

Vaughn