Restarting my flying lessons after a long period of flying inactivity, I decided that it was time to invest in some headsets of my own.  The headsets I have used while renting have been your bare minimum headset that somebody got rid of when upgrading their own headset.  They work (sort of).

I knew that I wanted a ANR (active noise reduction) headset as I knew that they provided the most comfort and the quietest environment of any available headsets.

While researching my options here, I quickly singled out two ANR headsets:

• BOSE X Aviation Headset

• Lightspeed 30-3G Headset

The table below is a summary of the things that I considered when deciding which headset to purchase.

I went to Sportys.com and ordered these two headsets knowing that one of these headsets would be sent back so I made sure to review Sporty's return policy.

I tried the Lightspeed headsets out first by plugging my iPod in to the accessory port and then mowing the yard.  Sorry, no pictures of the eccentric plane builder mowing his yard in $600 headphones.

With the equalizer on the control module, you can make the headset sound pretty good.  The Lightspeeds came with two different cables for the accessory port.  One for an audio source such as a mp3 player and a cable to connect to the headphone jack on a cell phone.

Just a picture showing that iPod configuration.

YEAH, this song is the ticket for mowing the yard in my aviation headsets.

These Bose headsets are a thing of beauty.  They are very light and are extremely comfortable as they do not have a high clamping force.  One thing I noticed with the Bose using my John Deere Garden Tractor as my simulated plane / propeller is that the Bose were quieter than the Lightspeeds just in passive mode.  How Bose does that with such a light clamping force on the headset I will never know.

On the Bose headsets, you can remove these plugs held by two screws at the bottom of the headset and relocate your microphone to the right ear if that works better for your situation.

The Bose controller has a solid feel and is pretty straight forward.  It is smaller than the Lightspeeds controller and instead of having a separate clip to hold the controller, there are two alligator type clamps on the Bose cord to clip the controller out of the way.  In the Cessna I am flying, it has overhead intercom jacks so I just route the cord behind me and clip the controller to the shoulder harness.  No fuss, No muss.

OKAY, my observations of the performance of these two headsets:

When mowing my yard, I thought the Lighspeed headsets worked pretty well.  That was until I tried the Bose headsets.  However, that is just a lawnmower comparison.  Let's go flying!!!!  When I used the Lightspeed headsets, the airplane sounded like a small desk fan on high speed.  I definitely had prop noise in a particular frequency range.   Additionally, when I turned to look left, the headsets kept getting pulled off my head by the shoulder harness.  Did I mention that the ear cups are thick, wide, deep?

The Bose headsets, in contrast, were amazingly quiet.  Definitely quieter than the Lightspeeds.  Combine that with Bose's comfort and styling and they are the hands-down winner of the two ANR headsets.  For their price, they better be!!

When we were at Osh, I stopped in the Bose tent and the salesman did his demo on Tami and I.  I asked him why should I spend $1,000 on a set of headphones when the manufacturer won't publish the noise reduction specs so that I can make an informed buying decision.  He had a response that seemed to make a lot of sense.

• There is no set standard on how headsets are measured against noise reduction (ANR noise reduction).  So the published spec is based on each manufacturers test method which vary between the manufacturers.
• The published noise reduction is usually the frequency at which the headset ANR circuitry is most effective (i.e.: the greatest noise reduction).  If you have frequencies outside of a very narrow band, they may offer very little to negligible active noise reduction.  In some cases, the ANR circuitry can amplify certain frequency ranges making them louder.  Even Lightspeed admits that ANR circuitry can amplify certain frequency ranges.
• He stated that the Bose may not offer the highest noise reduction of any given frequency, but they offer more noise reduction over a wider frequency range that in effect, makes them quieter than other headsets.

I was a little skeptical at his claims, but after flying with them, I am convinced his explanation had merit.  If the $1,000 price tag doesn't scare you off, I highly recommend the Bose headsets.  Hey, the Cessna 152 and the John Deere lawn tractor can't be wrong.  I sent my Lightspeed headsets back to Sportys and kept the Bose headsets.