Lightspeed Zulu PIREP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRVdAlY7z2M

Looks like I'm gonna be shopping for one of these at OSH '08...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay,

FWIW, that video is not a "pirep" really - it's a promotional video
from a pilot shop selling the Zulu. Not that it isn't informative, but
to set the record straight...

In the same sense, regard the following bearing in mind that my wife's
pilot shop sells headsets.

we did the big headset comparison flight yesterday in our TB-10
(Lycoming O-360 four-cylinder, so not as much low frequency noise as in
a Bo or so). We directly compared the Zulu, the Bose, the DC X11 and
the Sennheiser HMEC 250 in flight. FWIW, here are our opinions.

Let's do away with the easy ones first: The HMEC 250 had an
unsatisfactory fit for all three pilots on board. The ANR isn't that
great either. It is "only" 500 dollars, though. The biggest
disappointment by far was the X11. The difference between ANR on and
ANR off was barely noticable and much restricted to the low
frequencies. Considering that it is priced the same as the Zulu...

As for the two main contenders: We had one guy who was wildly
determined to prefer the Bose - and another who was all for the Zulu.
Turns out that after the test, the first guy slightly preferred the
Zulu, the other liked the Bose a little better ;-) In short: They are
really close - except in price and features (more on that below).

The Bose was found to be slightly more comfortable, it has a little
less clamping force and is slightly lighter. OTOH, the Zulu has thicker
pads, which can be an advantage when wearing glasses since the seal is
less likely to break.
The ANR of the two was found to be practically the same quality, with a
little difference in frequency spectrum. But both did an excellent job
of reducing the noise. Music reproduction on the Zulu was found to be
better when their FRC signal processing was activated. Speech quality
was different in frequency spectrum, but good in both. The mics gave a
clear, natural reproduction of the speaker's voice.

Featurewise, the Zulu is way ahead, if those features matter to you:
audio and cell phone inputs as well as a Bluetooth connection for cell
phones, a really neat case and the above mentioned FRC music enhancer.
As one pilot, who is also a professional musician, mentioned: You just
have the feeling to get a modern, up-to-date headset with all the
latest advances when you look at the Zulu. The Bose gives the
impression of being dated in comparison.

The prices are probably well known to all of you.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

FWIW, that video is not a "pirep" really - it's a promotional video
from a pilot shop selling the Zulu. Not that it isn't informative, but
to set the record straight...

Good point, although in fairness he does sell other headsets. I
thought his review was pretty unbiased in that regard.

big snip of really great stuff

Thanks for this, Thomas. It's exactly what I've been looking for WRT
the Zulu. For some reason the magazines have really dropped the ball
with this new headset -- or Lightspeed's marketing department has --
because it's been difficult to find any information about this
supposed "Bose-killer"...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

The Lightspeeds always have had features, but their construction is
questionable. It seems like there's always something cracking or breaking on
one of the three Lightspeeds that I use.

What was your impression of the construction and build of the Zulu compared
to the Bose?

Viperdoc,

How old are those Lightspeeds of yours? LS has learned a lot through their
product generations, and the 3G versions were much, much better than previous
ones. That said, my old 20k hasn't needed any repairs during the last 10
years.

What was your impression of the construction and build of the Zulu compared
to the Bose?

Absolutely on par. The Zulu is much sturdier (and much less bulky) than
previous designs by LS (they do listen to customers). The headband is made of
magnesium alloy. No wires protruding. Really a neat package. The case is a
kind of semi-hardshell design - the best I've seen for an aviation headset.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

I have two 30-3G headsets, and one previous model 25. They have had cracked
ear cup yokes, broken wires, bad ANR, each. Obviously, they are not that
old, and the support was great. On the other hand, I have around five pairs
on non-ANR dave clarks. and they never had a problem, ever.

Considering the big overall cash outlay, for an extra $150, it might be
worth getting the Bose, if the construction is better and they will be more
reliable.

Jay,

because it's been difficult to find any information about this
supposed "Bose-killer"...


maybe, just maybe, brand B is buying more ad space than brand L...

I found it very interesting to do this as well. I was really surprised
with the DC - although I have not hidden my dislike for the IMHO
overrated brand in the past, I thought they had gotten it right(er)
with this new design.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)