Lightspeed QFRXCc ANR Headset Review

[Nik]

Got my QFRXCc headset 3 days ago and now I tested it for 5 hours in a
citabria.
As a young pilot, the Bose X semmend like an awesome headset however
$1000 is just too much money to spend for me. I looked around and found
the QFRXCc for $230 retail! I finally decided that in case I wasn't
happy with I would just return it.

Anyways, flying with it was just great, the best $230 I have ever
spent!! Passive anutation is great but the magic comes when you turn
the ANR on, I could not believe the difference the ANR made by
switching it ON and OFF.
The headset doesn't clamp at all, after flying 2 hours and 3 hours my
head does not hurt. Compare to the Bose X, I think the headset is
holding up pretty well. The Bose is still quieter but also almost 5x as
expensive.

The power for the ANR is supplied by 2x AA batteries in the battery box
which also has two sliders to control volume in each speaker; it also
has an aux plug to connect your mp3 player or cell phone! Great Headset
I absolutely love it!

-Nik

[Jay Honeck]

> Anyways, flying with it was just great, the best $230 I have ever
> spent!! Passive anutation is great but the magic comes when you turn
> the ANR on, I could not believe the difference the ANR made by
> switching it ON and OFF.

I wasn't aware that the QFRs were ANR headsets. For only $230, that's
almost an impossible deal to beat.

I hope the QFRs hold up better than the older model Lightspeeds did.
Our current model (Twenty 3Gs) have been durable and pretty much
bulletproof, unlike their predecessors. The old 15s, 20s, and 20XLs
were not very rugged, and didn't hold up over the long haul.

Enjoy 'em -- once you've gone ANR, you *never* go back.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Nik]

You are right, I can't imagine going back...
As for durability it seems really rugged, nothing really to break, but
we'll see...

-Nik

Jay Honeck wrote:
> > Anyways, flying with it was just great, the best $230 I have ever
> > spent!! Passive anutation is great but the magic comes when you turn
> > the ANR on, I could not believe the difference the ANR made by
> > switching it ON and OFF.
>
> I wasn't aware that the QFRs were ANR headsets. For only $230, that's
> almost an impossible deal to beat.
>
> I hope the QFRs hold up better than the older model Lightspeeds did.
> Our current model (Twenty 3Gs) have been durable and pretty much
> bulletproof, unlike their predecessors. The old 15s, 20s, and 20XLs
> were not very rugged, and didn't hold up over the long haul.
>
> Enjoy 'em -- once you've gone ANR, you *never* go back.
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993
> www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"

[Newps]

Jay Honeck wrote:

>
>
> I wasn't aware that the QFRs were ANR headsets. For only $230, that's
> almost an impossible deal to beat.

You can get the QFR is active or passive models. I've had three of the
Lightspeeds with those god awful giant foam earcups. ANR works pretty
good but that's just way too much bulk on your head. As soon as I tried
the QFR I immediately sold the other Lightspeed. They're very durable,
I've had them for several years now. Not nearly as nice as my Bose but
second best.

[Thomas Borchert]

Jay,

> I wasn't aware that the QFRs were ANR headsets. For only $230, that's
> almost an impossible deal to beat.

There's both a passive and an active version available. Also, there are
versions made by Lightspeed but branded to the bigger pilot shops like
Marv Golden, Avshop and others.

> I hope the QFRs hold up better than the older model Lightspeeds did.
> Our current model (Twenty 3Gs) have been durable and pretty much
> bulletproof, unlike their predecessors. The old 15s, 20s, and 20XLs
> were not very rugged, and didn't hold up over the long haul.

The QFRs are a completely different design with a wire frame. Also, my
20K is still going strong.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

[[email protected]]

On Sun, 17 Sep 2006 10:22:41 +0200, Thomas Borchert
> wrote:

>Jay,
>
>> I wasn't aware that the QFRs were ANR headsets. For only $230, that's
>> almost an impossible deal to beat.
>
>There's both a passive and an active version available. Also, there are
>versions made by Lightspeed but branded to the bigger pilot shops like
>Marv Golden, Avshop and others.
>
>> I hope the QFRs hold up better than the older model Lightspeeds did.
>> Our current model (Twenty 3Gs) have been durable and pretty much
>> bulletproof, unlike their predecessors. The old 15s, 20s, and 20XLs
>> were not very rugged, and didn't hold up over the long haul.
>
>The QFRs are a completely different design with a wire frame. Also, my
>20K is still going strong.


I'm also planing to get two of these rebranded headsets (MG Golden
Eagle) so would like specific comments on reliability if anybody else
uses them.

David

[[email protected]]

On Sun, 17 Sep 2006 11:04:25 GMT, B A R R Y
> wrote:

>On 16 Sep 2006 17:19:57 -0700, "Nik" > wrote:
>
>>The power for the ANR is supplied by 2x AA batteries in the battery box
>>which also has two sliders to control volume in each speaker; it also
>>has an aux plug to connect your mp3 player or cell phone! Great Headset
>>I absolutely love it!
>
>Do they automatically power off, or will it kill the batteries if you
>stow the headset and leave the ANR on?
>
>I wish all new sets included that feature, because visitors NEVER turn
>off the headsets, and I always forget, as my X's power themselves off
>after 20 minutes. <G>

Yes, if you look at the spec.
http://www.anrheadsets.com/productsqfrx2.asp

[Thomas Borchert]

B,

> Do they automatically power off, or will it kill the batteries if you
> stow the headset and leave the ANR on?
>

Lightspeed invented (and patented, they say) that features. All their
headsets have it.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

[Peter Clark]

On Sun, 17 Sep 2006 14:03:36 +0200, Thomas Borchert
> wrote:

>B,
>
>> Do they automatically power off, or will it kill the batteries if you
>> stow the headset and leave the ANR on?
>>
>
>Lightspeed invented (and patented, they say) that features. All their
>headsets have it.

Bose Headset X shuts off automatically as well, together with a
plethora of other consumer electronics I can think of. I doubt any
patent challenge for a device that turns itself off after a period of
inactivity would stand up to any scrutiny.

[houstondan]

who did you buy from? lightspeed is listing them at $379.

thx

dan



Nik wrote:
> Got my QFRXCc headset 3 days ago and now I tested it for 5 hours in a
> citabria.
> As a young pilot, the Bose X semmend like an awesome headset however
> $1000 is just too much money to spend for me. I looked around and found
> the QFRXCc for $230 retail! I finally decided that in case I wasn't
> happy with I would just return it.
>
(snip)
> -Nik

[Nik]

There are many on e-bay new for around $230 here is one of them:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Raven-XS-ANR-Aviation-Headset-Cell-Phone-Ready_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ26440QQhashZitem4 627144506QQihZ002QQitemZ4627144506QQrdZ1QQsspagena meZWDVW

-Nik
houstondan wrote:
> who did you buy from? lightspeed is listing them at $379.
>
> thx
>
> dan
>
>
>
> Nik wrote:
> > Got my QFRXCc headset 3 days ago and now I tested it for 5 hours in a
> > citabria.
> > As a young pilot, the Bose X semmend like an awesome headset however
> > $1000 is just too much money to spend for me. I looked around and found
> > the QFRXCc for $230 retail! I finally decided that in case I wasn't
> > happy with I would just return it.
> >
> (snip)
> > -Nik

[Thomas Borchert]

Peter,

> I doubt any
> patent challenge for a device that turns itself off after a period of
> inactivity would stand up to any scrutiny.
>

I think the patent relates to the ANR circuitry sensing that it's not
on a head anymore and shutting down because of that.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

[[email protected]]

On 17 Sep 2006 11:01:57 -0700, "Nik" > wrote:

>There are many on e-bay new for around $230 here is one of them:
>http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Raven-XS-ANR-Aviation-Headset-Cell-Phone-Ready_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ26440QQhashZitem4 627144506QQihZ002QQitemZ4627144506QQrdZ1QQsspagena meZWDVW
>
>-Nik
>houstondan wrote:
>> who did you buy from? lightspeed is listing them at $379.
>>
>> thx
>>
>> dan
>>
>>
>>
>> Nik wrote:
>> > Got my QFRXCc headset 3 days ago and now I tested it for 5 hours in a
>> > citabria.
>> > As a young pilot, the Bose X semmend like an awesome headset however
>> > $1000 is just too much money to spend for me. I looked around and found
>> > the QFRXCc for $230 retail! I finally decided that in case I wasn't
>> > happy with I would just return it.
>> >
>> (snip)
>> > -Nik

You could also look at:
http://www.marvgolden.com/headsets/goldeneagleanr.htm

[Peter Clark]

On Sun, 17 Sep 2006 20:31:36 +0200, Thomas Borchert
> wrote:

>Peter,
>
>> I doubt any
>> patent challenge for a device that turns itself off after a period of
>> inactivity would stand up to any scrutiny.
>>
>
>I think the patent relates to the ANR circuitry sensing that it's not
>on a head anymore and shutting down because of that.

I wonder how they do that. I believe the Bose just uses loss of
signal on one or both of the connectors to sense it's not plugged in
any more and shut itself off. Unless they have a sensor in the spring
to figure out whether the headset is open (thus on someone's head) or
something, I doubt it's substantially different, but freely admit I
don't know. Suffice it to say, the Lightspeed is not the only ANR
headset that shuts itself off.

[David Kazdan]

My wife bought a pair of Sennheiser PXC 250 for her iPod. They're
actually pretty nice, but I swear that they're not really noise
cancelling--I think that the electronics just adds a bit of white
masking noise and turns up the volume five or ten dB. Does anyone know?
Sennheiser's ad copy is that they have "NoiseGard active noise
compensation."

David (who is still using passives in the plane, cheap, cheap)

Nik wrote:
> Got my QFRXCc headset 3 days ago and now I tested it for 5 hours in a
> citabria.
> As a young pilot, the Bose X semmend like an awesome headset however
> $1000 is just too much money to spend for me. I looked around and found
> the QFRXCc for $230 retail! I finally decided that in case I wasn't
> happy with I would just return it.
>
> Anyways, flying with it was just great, the best $230 I have ever
> spent!! Passive anutation is great but the magic comes when you turn
> the ANR on, I could not believe the difference the ANR made by
> switching it ON and OFF.
> The headset doesn't clamp at all, after flying 2 hours and 3 hours my
> head does not hurt. Compare to the Bose X, I think the headset is
> holding up pretty well. The Bose is still quieter but also almost 5x as
> expensive.
>
> The power for the ANR is supplied by 2x AA batteries in the battery box
> which also has two sliders to control volume in each speaker; it also
> has an aux plug to connect your mp3 player or cell phone! Great Headset
> I absolutely love it!
>
> -Nik
>

[Frank Santoro]

houstondan wrote:
> who did you buy from? lightspeed is listing them at $379.
>
> thx
>
> dan

I got mine from Rollison Airplane Co. for $275 plus shipping. They're
fast and friendly!

http://www.airplanegear.com/

[Thomas Borchert]

Peter,

> I wonder how they do that.
>

The ANR circuitry can be made to sense an open earcup, I'm told.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)