"Andrey Serbinenko" wrote in message
...
DC claims additional 17-22dB noise attenuation with ENC turned on;
regular foam earplugs are said to do around 32dB of attenuation. Seems
even better than ENC, and hell of a lot cheaper, too... Does anybody
have any opinion on that?

The active electronic noise canceling works by blocking out "predictable"
repetitive noises, like the beat of the pressure wave coming from the prop,
and the bark of the exhaust. It does not do well on a quick snap, or non
repetitive crackling of charts, or on the changing sounds of speech.

Foam ear plugs work by blocking any, and everything. That means you have to
raise the volume of the communications output, to be able to hear the tower,
or other people talking. That could possible result in over driving the
speakers or the amp driving the speakers, resulting in difficulty
understanding transmissions. That is a bad thing.

Some people that have posted here do regularly wear foam plugs under
headset, and have good results. It seems to be more popular with the open
cockpit group.

I wear foam plugs under a headphone radio while I'm mowing the grass, or
weedeating. It works for me, in those applications. Sure, the music is not
quite as clear, but it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that I
can't stand being blasted by the noise of the mower, or even worse, the
music turned up loud enough to be heard over the din of the mower. g
--
Jim in NC