David Clarke Reviews

I've owned my 15XLs for close to three years now, and haven't had a single
problem. I'll qualify that statement by saying that I *carefully* unplug
them and replace them in their carrying bag after each use, and I usually
don't leave them in the airplane in the winter, even though it is in a
hangar. Also have a pair of the QFR Solos for pax, and have no complaints
about them either.

Steve DeMoss
N16071
KHVC

"Cockpit Colin" wrote in message
...
All joking aside, the single thread that seems to consistently bind all
models of lightspeed is their unreliability.

From what I've read (from people who have allegedly owned them) I wouldn't
touch them with a 10 foot pole.


"Thomas Borchert" wrote in message
...
Cockpit,

I've read of people who've
sent them back a dozen times or more


Well, I'd wager you've read about exactly ONE person who's done that.
And he's gotten one for free now.

You also find one person here who hates his (ex-)Cirrus. This is
Usenet...

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

If it is your glasses any chance you can get a pair with a thinner
earpiece


My glasses have just about the thinnest earpiece I can get. If i don't wear
glasses and seat the headphones properly they are dead quiet. Until the crash.
g

If I poke around the earpiece, I can get them to warble by letting air in. So
I don't think it's a defect, just an inherent property of requiring a good
seal.

Maybe other brands are more eyeglasses tolerant, but the DCs are built like a
tank, and I've used their (passive) hearing protectors for many years, which is
why I chose DCs to begin with.

Jose
--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)

Paul wrote:

Which David Clarke models offer ANR?

http://www.avionicswest.com/davidenr.html

George Patterson
This marriage is off to a shaky start. The groom just asked the band to
play "Your cheatin' heart", and the bride just requested "Don't come home
a'drinkin' with lovin' on your mind".

Steve Firth wrote:

A recent review that I read (cant recall where, sorry) gave the Bose a
low mark for noise reduction and suggested Sennheisser as the best
performing.

I have both. Prefer (and wear) the Bose.

George Patterson
This marriage is off to a shaky start. The groom just asked the band to
play "Your cheatin' heart", and the bride just requested "Don't come home
a'drinkin' with lovin' on your mind".

James Robinson wrote:

Our company investigated supplying ENR
headsets in a high noise area, but decided not to, since there was no
demonstrated value. In short, ENR only works on lower frequencies, and
those frequencies typically don't affect hearing as much as higher
frequencies.

ANR can be designed to work on any frequency. I suggest your company might want to
check out the Bose ANR headphones (nonaviation). They seem to block out all
frequencies. Great hearing protectors in a noisy environment.

George Patterson
This marriage is off to a shaky start. The groom just asked the band to
play "Your cheatin' heart", and the bride just requested "Don't come home
a'drinkin' with lovin' on your mind".

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote:

ANR can be designed to work on any frequency. I suggest your company might want to
check out the Bose ANR headphones (nonaviation). They seem to block out all
frequencies. Great hearing protectors in a noisy environment.

We were told by the manufacturer that they wouldn't make them for higher
frequencies, since there was risk of increasing noise levels at certain
frequencies. As the wavelengths get shorter, there are problems with
resonances within the earcups.

As far as headsets for noisy environments, the earcups themselves
attenuate higher frequency noises. The idea of ENR is to provide
attenuation at the low frequencies the passive earcups won't handle.

I have 3 sets. 2 sets of 13.4s. They are great, one for my wife the
other a backup for me or for a pax. MY main set is a 20-10. they are
just a tad heavier, but quieter. You can buy more expensive ANR, or
modify them yourself with an ANR kit that'll save you around 200-250
bucks. I've used bose "X" series, they are nice but not worth the
extra 500 bucks.

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 00:21:43 +0000 (UTC), "Paul"
wrote:

Hi

I am a student pilot hoping to take my checkride within the next month
(PPL/A).

I am after a David Clarke Headset but am not sure which one to buy.
Does anyone know of a good website that has independent reviews on all the
Dave Clarke models, the only reviews I can find are either on the David
Clarke website or on pilot supply websites but none of these seem to be
independent or detailed enough to make my decision.

I am not really interested in the detailed specifications, I am after
reviews from pilots who have used them (comfort, features, weight etc..)
ideally comparing the pro's and con's between the different models.

Thanks


Don Paquette
PP-ASEL
N9723X

"Steve DeMoss" wrote in message
. net...
I've owned my 15XLs for close to three years now, and haven't had a single
problem. I'll qualify that statement by saying that I *carefully* unplug
them and replace them in their carrying bag after each use, and I usually
don't leave them in the airplane in the winter, even though it is in a
hangar. Also have a pair of the QFR Solos for pax, and have no complaints
about them either.

Conversely, my DC's that I've had for six years have been dropped, banged
around, shoved in my flight bag, left in the car in 105F summers and -15F
winters. They've been bashed around on the floor of a banner plane for two
seasons, scuffed, scratched and all in all abused in just about every way.
They've been snowed on, rained on, had avgas spilled on, dropped in the mud
and on concrete.

I've wrapped the cord around the headset, and pulled out the plugs by the
cord. Not all the time, but more than once. They still work like the day I
got them. The only problem I've had was losing my mic muff two years ago.

--
Mike

My only issue with (DC) ENR is that I get a low frequency warble, probably
due
to a poor seal around the earpiece of my glasses.

I've struck this a lot with the newer revisions of the H10-13x - to be
honest, I think it's a design flaw. I had an earlier model that was
absolutely rock solid in every respect - but one of the later models was
sent back for repair 3 times before being replaced by a new pair - and guess
what - the new pair had the same tendency - not always but "never far away"
(with a good seal too).

In the end I switched to Bose.

Man, you find all kinds of people on this thread...

I've had a DC 13.4 for lessee, about nine years now. Still works, no
problems, comfortable for the most part, even on long five to six hour legs.
I don't smash it up as much as Mike does, but do stuff it in my flight bag,
wrap the cords around it, and- one of my ways of keeping entertained while
instructing- play "yoke toss" with it once in a while. While my student is
preflighting, they often leave the door open on the Pipers we fly. I'll
stroll over to the right side, and standing just behind the trailing edge,
toss my headset through the open door, with the intention of hooking it on
the right yoke. Most of the time it misses and either lands on the seat or
(more often) crashes to the floor. But you should see the reactions when I
do get it on the yoke. "Woah!" Just like at a carnival... g

I have seen plenty of students with DC H10-30s, which are a little cheaper.
Some have had problems with these. Minor annoyances are the screws on the
boom mike loosening, causing the mike to swing freely downward. Can be
easily tightened with a small screwdriver, but how often do you have one of
these at the start of a flight? Also, I've found I like the mike on the
H10-13.4's better, it provides noticibly clearer transmissions.

In regards to the ANR issue...Well, an ANR headset is on my list of "get
eventually" things, but not a big priority yet. I've had a chance to try a
number of ANR's out there, but I'll admit I haven't studied them that
closely. Main reason I've waited was that about two years ago I met a Peltor
headset technician in the exhibitor area at Oshkosh. I was in the market for
an ANR, and she actually discouraged me from getting one. Her explanation
was that ANR's work best for people with generally quiet aircraft that have
a dull low noise level that causes fatigue. She indicated that ANR headsets
attenuate low frequency noise well, which is what causes that fatigue over
time; but for the types of noisy general aviation aircraft that I teach in,
it would be a better value to have a good passive headset, which works
better on the high frequency noise that causes hearing damage. Just having
an ANR that "sounds really quiet" wasn't necessarily an indication of good
overall hearing protection.

Hey Mike, I don't suppose you dunked your headset in the inter-coastal
waterway too, huh?

-Eric



"Mike O'Malley" wrote in message
...

Conversely, my DC's that I've had for six years have been dropped, banged
around, shoved in my flight bag, left in the car in 105F summers and -15F
winters. They've been bashed around on the floor of a banner plane for
two
seasons, scuffed, scratched and all in all abused in just about every way.
They've been snowed on, rained on, had avgas spilled on, dropped in the
mud
and on concrete.

I've wrapped the cord around the headset, and pulled out the plugs by the
cord. Not all the time, but more than once. They still work like the day
I
got them. The only problem I've had was losing my mic muff two years ago.