Active Noise Canceling Hearing Protection

Don't know why people cannot stand the rumbling/exhaust of a slow RPM diesel engine. Love the sound of my engine. Perhaps others have the wrong engine(s)/boat. ... Headsets!!?? That's crazy. Get a sailboat with oars for auxiliary power if necessary.

markpierce said:

Don't know why people cannot stand the rumbling/exhaust of a slow RPM diesel engine. Love the sound of my engine. Perhaps others have the wrong engine(s)/boat. ... Headsets!!?? That's crazy. Get a sailboat with oars for auxiliary power if necessary.

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Mark, I agree that a big SLOW turning diesel can be a beautiful sound. Unfortunately, due to size and weight constrictions, I was forced to go with a small, high revving engine that is not so pleasant.

However, a nice "sounding" engine may still cause permanent hearing loss given enough exposure time. My father worked a couple days a week over a 20 year period on an old wooden commercial boat of about 40 feet. Not sure what engine it had (probably a 6-71) but I do know that they ran the engine slow. Today, he cannot hear any high pitch sounds like birds singing.

Steve

I love DC products, too. Used them for most of my flying career. I still have my non-ANC David Clarks. Very sturdy and reliable.

My pointed head caused a hot spot on the very top of my head that the Oregon Aero Soft Top rectified. Wearing sunglasses under the ear muffs caused similar discomfort for me on my temples. The soft seal ear pads were a Godsend for that issue.

I never used Lightspeed products but heard favorable reports on them. They sure beat the cost of other headsets!

Heard this morning a new Lincoln Continental model is offering active noise cancellation...

Must be relatively proven tech for it to hit the car market...especially the Lincoln level....

@flywright. Can you clarify entire plane cockpits are noise cancelled, or just when wearing headphones?

This would be a huge change in thinking for some if it were the entire cockpit.

There are a few different ANC products offered in luxury cars stereo systems. Bose is one of them. They had a press release saying that it could retrofit to non-Bose systems, but haven't seen any actual product offerings since.

cappy208 said:

@flywright. Can you clarify entire plane cockpits are noise cancelled, or just when wearing headphones?

This would be a huge change in thinking for some if it were the entire cockpit.

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Both.

I flew a Beechcraft King Air with ANC installed in the main cabin. It was intended for passenger comfort, but there was some effect in the cockpit to the point that you knew when it was and was not working with ear muff headsets off. We wore headsets so it's effect on us was slight.

I also flew another King Air with the first generation of Bose ANC headset installed. This early model required a panel be installed in the aircraft and a special headset plugged into this panel. Our panels were installed overhead with headset cords dangling in the middle of the cockpit. Not a favorite among the pilots and the headsets were less than comfortable, but the system was effective.

Later we got the Bose X ANC headsets which were self contained and operated on 2 AA batteries. They just plugged into the normal headset jacks installed on nearly every airplane. These headsets were nothing short of amazing. They were lightweight, comfortable and very effective. Some crewmembers had reliability issues with their headsets, but product support from Bose was great even after the warranty period ended. Mine lasted the entire time I used it...maybe 8 years...before I retired. At nearly $1000 per headset, they were very pricey, but quickly became a valued tool on the job.