Pilot USA was unable to supply a headset in time for our testing. In this case, Gulf Coast Avionics loaned us three of their house-branded headsets and we tested a LightSPEED QFR and the AVCOMM 200P. At the budget end of the spectrum-in this case generally less than $150-the market leans towards house-branded headsets. As in earlier reports, all of the headsets weve evaluated are circumaural-they fit around your ear against the side of your head. Having reviewed ANR and pricier passive headsets in previous issues (see Aviation Consumer May and July 2007) were examining budget headsets in this report. Perhaps you purchased one as your primary headset when you couldnt afford anything fancier or youve bought them for passengers or as spares. It’s not a slam-dunk, but it sure looks like Bose has serious competition.Just about everybody has one or more budget headsets. How important is in-cockpit entertainment to you?So, better than the Bose X? We say the Zulu is as good or better in every category, and when you add the fuller feature set to the slightly (by $145) lower price, the gap widens. Gimmicky in an aviation headset? Depends. The initials stand for front row center, and when it’s engaged and you’re listening to music, it has a live-concert quality. So what? Well, when it’s expedient to call ATC for a clearance in some remote location instead of trying to contact them by radio on the ground, or if you have cell-phone-delivered NEXRAD weather, this is not only a valuable convenience but a real-world safety feature.The icing on the cake is the Zulu’s “FRC” capability. Because the Bose X doesn’t have a cell-phone interface, much less Zulu’s Bluetooth wireless capability, the features area is a no-contest. After all, the competition is already out there, so you know exactly where you can outgun them. It’s like trying to assess the difference among in-home speakers in an audio component store: You know which you like better, but to articulate why, you use adjectives like “richer” and “fuller” and “purer.”New models always have the advantage in features. As one iPod-listening teenager asked, “Do we have to leave these in the plane?” The superiority is hard to quantify. But if you’ve opted for satellite-delivered music along with your invaluable new in-cockpit weather, you will notice the difference. If cockpit music isn’t your thing, this will not be a significant measure. While ATC’s calls won’t be made or broken by this, we sure noticed it when listening to music. Supposedly, LightSPEED’s engineers spent significant development time and dollars on sound fidelity. Call the comfort contest a tie.The Zulu’s audio quality was extraordinary. In two-hour flights, they both felt comfortable and unobtrusive. Both have low head-clamping pressure, too. Regardless, in our subjective testing, the Zulu was more than a match for the Bose Headset X, though it’s not a runaway victory: “very good” versus “even better.”Both the Zulu and Bose’s X are extremely light: 13 ounces for the Zulu and 12 ounces for the Bose X. How much? The techies say the combined passive/active noise reduction is about 8 decibels better than anyone else. When the ANR system was turned on, the Zulu got even better. The manufacturer also claims that the technical result of this cup/seal combination is the best passive noise-reduction combination you can buy.Compared to the Bose X, we noticed a significant reduction in cockpit noise in passive mode, which is only marginally important because most active noise reduction (ANR) headsets will be powered at all times. LightSPEED’s Zulu uses full-coverage, magnesium ear cups because this lightweight metal is claimed to be a better sound barrier than plastic … 10 times better than any plastic at passively blocking noise, according to LightSPEED. It was as close as you could get to back-to-back using one pair of ears. The Columbia had a jack setup, combining Bose’s unique single connection and the two-plug industry standard in the same jack, so we could have two headsets connected at the same time, swapping them in seconds. Along with quietness, we also weighed comfort, audio fidelity and the headset’s feature complement.This was a subjective pilot test, conducted in two different cockpits: a pressurized Lancair IV and a two-year-old Columbia 400. So here’s the question: Can the $850 Zulu’s performance earn it best-in-class status?Although LightSPEED claims that the Zulu is the quietest headset on the market, there’s more to beating the Bose than just noise reduction. Now comes the LightSPEED Zulu, a clear shot across the Bose bow. It’s almost a given that the Bose Headset X is at or near the top of every pilot’s wish list, in large part because the $1000 noise-canceler is comfortable, quiet and sleek. This article originally appeared in Kitplanes magazine, Feb.
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