Stepping back from ANR

Bob Noel wrote:

I've had a door open twice. The first time I had a passive headset.
The second time was a few months after getting the ANR. Believe
me, I was shocked that I couldn't hear that the door was open.


I'm surprised. When the door is cracked on my Cherokee, the loud
wind noise activates the mic on my headseat and it's readily apparent.
I have to crank up the squelch on the intercom in order to hear
anything on the radio. I suppose if you didn't have an intercom
(i.e. just a straight connection to the radios), that wouldn't happen.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

In article .com,
"John Galban" wrote:

I've had a door open twice. The first time I had a passive headset.
The second time was a few months after getting the ANR. Believe
me, I was shocked that I couldn't hear that the door was open.


I'm surprised. When the door is cracked on my Cherokee, the loud
wind noise activates the mic on my headseat and it's readily apparent.
I have to crank up the squelch on the intercom in order to hear
anything on the radio. I suppose if you didn't have an intercom
(i.e. just a straight connection to the radios), that wouldn't happen.

could be... I was solo - no intercom. No one to blame but me for failing to
properly secure the door.

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

OK, I'll be there with my trusty DCs. But, how do I get through that
locked gate to your hanger? My passcard expired when I moved down to
the hanger I'm now in by Edwards One.
Newps wrote:
Well come and fly with me tomorrow, I'll let you try mine. Bring
whatever you have and you can try my Bose(latest generation) and the
Lightspeed QFR XCc. Meet me at T hangar number 4 at 8:45 am.

skym wrote:

B A R R Y wrote:

...
Those of you who say good ANR is a waste of money must already be
deaf.

For those of you that have made the leap, use your old set again one
of these days! G


One of my cheapo passive headsets that I use for the 3d passenger
recently died (in one ear). I'm toying with the idea of getting an ANR
set to replace it (for me, of course, and the others all get relegated
to passenger use). I've only sampled the effects of ANR in my avionics
shop, when the owner had me try it in the shop one day "just for fun"
(good active selling technique). It's nice, very nice...but my
question is this : I like to hear the engine just a bit since a little
change in the sound or hiccup can signal an upcoming problem of
potentially serious consequence, and gets my attention very fast. How
well do the ANR sets let me hear a little engine sound for peace of
mind? The cost of a decent ANR set is significantly more than a very
good passive set, and I just don't want to give up safety for
comfort/convenience.

The new DC X11 has a street price of $799.
A friend can get the Bose for the same price through some kind of
professional discount.
So which is better?

john smith wrote:
The new DC X11 has a street price of $799.
A friend can get the Bose for the same price through some kind of
professional discount.
So which is better?


Bose has a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. Does DC (or the dealer) offer
the same? If so, try them both. If not? I dunno, I've never tried
an X11. G

John,

So which is better?


The Lightspeed at under 600 gd&r

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

On Sun, 27 Aug 2006 21:59:26 -0400, "Morgans"
wrote:


"Jonathan Goodish" wrote

There is zero evidence that ANR does anything to prevent hearing loss
over and above a good passive headset. If you can't cite clinical data
to substantiate such an important claim, it it quite irresponsible to
make such a claim.

Simply because ANR has not been around long enough for any long term studies
to have taken place.

If the total decibel reduction ratings are higher for an ANR unit versus a
passive unit, would that not be a pretty darn good reason to believe that
they will result in less hearing loss?

Agreed. If I find the noise uncomfortable when I turn the ANR
function off that is a good *indication* in its favor.


How about the fact that ANR users report being able to hear com traffic much
more clearly? What happens if you can not hear ATC clearly? Most would

This brings up a memory from some years back. We were getting ready
to depart Muskegon (MI) after spending the afternoon wandering around
while they were getting set up for the Muskegon Air Fair.

We were setting at the hold line waiting for departure when some one
called in. The tower had to ask twice for a repeat, yet with the ANRs
I could hear them clearly. With the ANR function off, I could not
hear the other aircraft at all. I was easily able to relay to the
tower. I was able to hear the other plane clearly while the tower
couldn't. We were no more than half a mile from the tower and on the
ground.

turn up the volume, so they can make the conversation out against the
background noise. The loud com blaring in the ears would be another cause

That is what happened when I flew right seat in the twin. I had to
turn the gain up so high to hear over the noise that it hurt. At that
point I had to tell the pilot he was on his own and I sure wished I
have brought my own headset along.

of hearing loss that is not ever even factored into the decibel ratings of
headsets.

I think that it is just as irresponsible or more irresponsible to make
claims or imply that passive is just as good as ANR, when there are no long
term studies to show that they are equal to the protection that ANR
provides.

When you see the difference is over 10 to 15 db more reduction with
the ANR function turned on I'd think logic would dictate it'd be a no
brainer. OTOH I don't place much faith in advertising figures, but I
do place a lot of faith in what I hear (or rater don't) when I turn
that switch on.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On Sun, 27 Aug 2006 20:05:45 -0700, Sylvain wrote:

skym wrote:

question is this : I like to hear the engine just a bit since a little
change in the sound or hiccup can signal an upcoming problem of
potentially serious consequence, and gets my attention very fast. How
well do the ANR sets let me hear a little engine sound for peace of
mind?

a heck of a lot better than a passive headset; anything which is not
the usual drone can be heard a lot clearer, and you'll be less likely
to miss it; besides, at the end of a long flight, you'll be less
likely to be tired and more likely to deal with the snag correctly (IMHO
and all that)

Well, I'll admit my Telex set is one of the very early ANRs. By the
end of a 5 1/4 hour flight I had two handkerchiefs wrapped around that
thick head band, but still had two groves across the top of my head
that were getting pretty tender. They are a wee bit heavier than
today's crop. :-))

We had been to visit my son in Georgia and stopped at Sporty's on the
way back. They loaded me up with head sets, I took them out to the
Deb and tried them in the plane one-at-a-time with the engine running.
Back then the Telex, which I purchased, seemed to be the most
effective.



--Sylvain
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 09:18:09 +0200, Thomas Borchert
wrote:

Skym,

How
well do the ANR sets let me hear a little engine sound for peace of
mind?

Very. It's a total non-issue, a made-up argument by headset companies
back when they didn't have an ANR model in their line-up, and by old
cots not liking any change.

The cost of a decent ANR set is significantly more than a very
good passive set,

Not really. In fact, not at all. Let's say a "very good passive set" is
of the DC brand (I couldn't agree less, but...). That will set you
back, what, 400, 500 bucks? For that, you'll be the proud owner of a
Lightspeed 20XLc and have a 100-$-burger left. Go with a QFR XCc (or
one of its pilot shop branded cousins) and you'll have two of those
burgers left.

"ANR is way more expensive" is just as much of a myth as "You can't
hear the engine quitting with ANR".

ANR is one of those areas where you can get a good set for about the
same or less than a top of the line passive set or spend as much or
more than you want. Try, then buy, but don't buy with out trying.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

In article ,
Roger wrote:
I think that it is just as irresponsible or more irresponsible to make
claims or imply that passive is just as good as ANR, when there are no long
term studies to show that they are equal to the protection that ANR
provides.

When you see the difference is over 10 to 15 db more reduction with
the ANR function turned on I'd think logic would dictate it'd be a no
brainer. OTOH I don't place much faith in advertising figures, but I
do place a lot of faith in what I hear (or rater don't) when I turn
that switch on.

Your logic is flawed. Human hearing is most prone to noise-induced
damage at higher frequencies, where ANR has no effect. In fact, in this
regard many passive sets provide more protection.

There have been long-term studies done on hearing protection afforded by
passive devices, which have been proven to significantly reduce the risk
of hearing loss. While I'm not suggesting that ANR devices are worse,
there is no data to suggest that they're better.



JKG