ANR Headsets
A word of warning on the use of ANR headsets. If your intercom setup dosent
include squelch on the mic circuit it can make the best headsets appear
worse than useless. Our intercom was built into the ICOM A2000 radio and
these do not have any microphone squelch.
We initially used a set of cheapo "Skyforce" ANR headsets and to be honest
they werent up to much (or so we thought).
So we upgraded to a middle of the range Sennheiser HMEC300 and there was
little or no improvement - that is till we realised the mics were picking up
the cockpit noise and feeding it back through the intercom. We have now
fitted a separate (portable) intercom with separate squelch control and the
reduction in noise levels is considerable.
If you arent sure if the mics are feeding excessive noise into the amplifier
circuit try muffling them with a towel and seeing what difference this makes
to incoming transmissions (or simply to the ambient noise in the headsets) -
in flight of course.
Im not saying dont buy ANR as I would opt for them every time. Given the
choice I would have opted for the BOSE ones it was a hell of a job
persuading Mrs P that 350 (each) was worth spending never mind 600 !!!
Carl Pattinson
G-LABS
BTW - IMHO noise cancelling microphones dont seem to cancel out very much
noise - maybe someone with a superior technical understanding might
volunteer an explanation.
----- Original Message -----
From: "William Harrison" <willie.harrison@tinyonline.co.uk>
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007 5:42 PM
Subject: Re: Europa-List: anr headsets
> <willie.harrison@tinyonline.co.uk>
>
> Hello Jos
>
> I have used three types of anr. My experience is that you get what you
> pay for. I used a cheapo "Pilot" set for several years. They were OK,
> they worked reasonably well but they were not robust: the strain relief
> on the cable was inadequate and a solder joint failed at an
> "inconvenient" time; also, one of the jack plugs fractured when it took a
> small knock. I also used an ebay bargain second hand Peltor set which I
> believe was only marketed in the US. That was rubbish on active noise
> reduction although like all Peltors it has good passive noise reduction
> and is very tough. I decided to stop messing around, and so I bought a
> Bose set 2 years ago. Astonishingly expensive but the best of the three
> I've used. The passive nr on it is minimal but the active nr is terrific.
> Fortunately, my wife never saw the invoice...
>
> One other thought. I have some special earphones for use on a motorbike
> (iPod, satnav etc). These are moulded to the shape of the individual
> customer's ear so they allow almost zero ambient noise in and therefore
> enable you to hear with the sound volume at quite a low level. The
> supplier (Ultimate Hearing) told me they could make a set if I wanted
> with the right impedence and the right jack plug to work in an aircraft -
> it might make a useful experiment although it would need an additional
> mike, of course.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Willie
>
>
> On 27 Jul 2007, at 16:16, josok wrote:
>
>>
>> If there is still somebody around and not redoing tail planes or
>> visiting Oshkosh:
>>
>> While i have a pair of very well rated David Clark headsets, my test
>> pilot suggested that ANR would be better. I tend to agree, because these
>> passive sets are probably tuned to reduce the noise of Lycosauruses and
>> the like. So, if you have experienced the one and the other, what's your
>> opinion? I know already which is the most expensive one. They have an
>> offer for CFI's, which they no doubt charge back on the end user. Don't
>> have to say that i hate that kind of "marketing" Smells of a bribe. So
>> is there a good, less expensive alternative?
>>
>> Kind Regards,
>>
>> Jos Okhuijsen
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Visit - www.EuropaOwners.org
>>
>>
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