Entry Level Headsets

Entry level Av-coms... can be had NEW for less than $100/set. Later on
you can buy some gel seals for them, and make em more comfortable and
quieter...

Later on you can even add ANR modules from an aftermarket vendor and
have a fairly decent ANR headset.. and you can do it in stages, rather
than plunk down $400 for a factory "cadillac" headset.

Dave

Mark Morissette wrote:

Currently I'm paying $5/Hr rental on David Clark's while flying out of
my FBO.

This was supposed to be a "temporary" charge for students there (like
myself) while the new headsets were paid for. Yes, they upgraded last
year from much lesser headsets, which were not really up to the
rigours of students and instructors alike using them for up to 18+
hours every day.

However, I'm pretty sure they were "paid for" some time ago, yet the
rental charges remain..much to the ire or alot of students, myself
included.

Anyhow, the David Clarke's are nice, but I'm not entirely sold on
them.

I'm also, at the same time, getting tired of paying rental charges
when there seem to be a great deal of entry level headsets that are
getting decent reviews.

I simply don't have $500 or $1000 in the budget right now to buy
something "high end" like I would prefer, but the lower cost entry
level sets would quickly pay for themselves when paying $5/hr for
rental sets is taken into consideration..

And they could become Pax sets afterwards...perhaps I'll rent them to
others for $4 an hour afterwards, and undercut my FBO. ;-)

Anyhow, A few that I've got my mind on a

Featherlite:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tego ry=26440
Seems like a stellar deal, frequently selling in the $40 to $50 range
on eBay. I like the flexible headset boom (the DC's I'm using now
have this), they are stereo, and have a rather excellent 5 year
warranty.. The reviews I've been able to find online seem good,
except for one isolated concern about excessive background noise on
the mike...which could be an isolated case, or perhaps someone trying
to compare them to a $1k Bose set or something.

The reviews from many others who bought this set from the above eBay
seller have been excellent...so I'm leaning towards this set...it
seems too good to be true. (And yes, I know what the old saying is
about that...but for $50, heck, even if they last 15 or 20 hours they
have more then paid for themselves..)

The other is the DRE1000:
http://www.drecomm.com/1kservice.htm
Less happy with the mic boom, but still seems like a decent deal..the
3 year warranty doesn't hurt. Not alot of reviews out there.

I'm sure there are others... Can anyone offer suggestions or
experiences with these?
Mark Morissette
Courtice, Ontario, Canada
http://oshawapilot.blogspot.com (My student pilot blog)

Mark,


If you are committed to flying, don't with anything that doesn't have
ANR. Also, consider comfort as a primary facot in your decision.

I think Lightspeed offers excellent value.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

"Mark Morissette" wrote in message
news
I'm sure there are others... Can anyone offer suggestions or
experiences with these?

I've always liked Flightcom. I've got a 4DLX. You get an a 4DX for $99
but that has the two dimensional microphone boom that you dislike. You
can get the 4DLX for $119 and as well as a better microphone and the
flexible boom, you get a better headpad.

http://www.lcflight.com/flightcom.html

I'm making a couple of pairs of DC ANRs for my plane and the
Flightcom hardware looks identical to the DC hardware apart from
colour.

Paul