I've got a DC 13.4 headset that I bought about 16 or 17 years ago & I still like it. Put the Oregon Aero comfort & hush kits on a few years back. Thought about an ANR kit from headsets Inc but flew once with an ANR headset & wasn't wowed by it. I kinda like hearing what's going on. I too am pretty deef but it's not from airplanes- I was a sheet metal worker for 36 years, and they don't call us "tin knockers" for nothing. "Beat to fit- paint to match" is our creed.

idair wrote:

mtv wrote:From a guy who's lost a lot of hearing over the years, and has the hearing aids to prove it: Spend the money on the best headsets you can buy.....they're worth every penny, believe me.

As to "Worrying about passive noise reduction". I've got a news flash for you: ANR only works on a restricted range of frequencies. For the rest of the frequency spectrum, you also need GOOD passive noise reduction.

Additionally, for those who use In-Ear headsets in GA airplanes.....don't. There's a reason for over the ear domes....they protect the bone process that lives behind your ear. And, without protection of that bone process in a noisy environment, you're going to lose some hearing via that bone transmitting noise to your inner ear.

I know you can buy a lot of gas for the price of a set of really good headsets, but you can't buy new hearing....and hearing aids suck, FYI.

MTV

I hear you. I Wish I could get it back. Some hearing injuries resulted in tinnitus in my left ear and a pretty annoying constant ringing. It makes the background noise of a fan at night a pleasurable experience... and I'm still young. Hearing is nothing to joke around with.

I won't go so far as to say that hearing aids suck, but that I need them sucks. Natural hearing without tinnitus would be really great again. As it is, my HAs do a credible job of providing nearly natural hearing and they do reduce the tinnitus a bit, but if I had my druthers, but there's nothing quite like being able to hear the birds sing without electronic help.

Here's the real kicker: people squawk about the cost of good headsets, but the cost of good HAs is a whole lot worse. For what I've put into my HAs, I could outfit all 6 seats of a 206 with Bose A20s, or Zulu PFXs, or Sennheiser S1s--and that is no exaggeration. If I had only known in my younger, foolisher years, how much the loss of hearing really means, I'd have started wearing good headsets much sooner. But like most TOF pilots, my first several years of flying were without headsets of any kind.

So dinking around trying to save a buck here and there on somebody's cast off headset is penny wise and pound foolish. That doesn't mean that Bose A20s, or Zulu PFXs, or Sennheiser S1s are the only answer, and as I said earlier in this thread, I am greatly pleased with my Oregon Aero, Headsets Inc., modified DC 13.4. But don't scrimp, thinking that a good headset is not necessary. It is.

Cary

I had never heard about the Headsets Inc mod till coming across this thread. Did some more scratching on the www and liked the idea. Found a supplier in Cape Town, South Africa and bought all 4 of the sets he had in stock. Tried to get a discount but with our Rand devaluation against the $ he said this was the best he could do. Next shipment from USA will naturally cost more. 2 of the kits are going to fellow Maule pilots and I will use two in my David Clarks in the Maule.