"Luke Scharf" wrote in message ...
I'm thinking about upgrading my Sigtronics S-20 headset. Right now, I'm considering the Lightspeed QFR SOLOc
and Lightspeed QFR XCc (with ANR).

I like the price of the passive headset and I also like that it has a pretty high amount of muffling (28.7 db
according to the selasfolk).

But, if the ANR headset really is worth the extra expense and hassle, I'd rather get the right headset the
first time.

I have several questions:
1. Has anyone here flown both models?
2. Do the numbers in the sales-literature mean anything in real life?
3. I know that the Decibel scale is logarithmic. Does the ANR noise reduction reduce noise in such a way
that I can compare headsets by adding the passive and active ratings together -- or is the cumulative affect
that you hear when you turn on the headset require more subtle math to calculate?


I've flown with the QFR X-C's for a couple of years. I like them quite a bit. Sometimes I forget to turn them
on, and as such they're about equivalent to my non-ANR Avcomm headsets. After the flight I notice that I
forgot to turn them on and think "so THATS why I felt 'off' this flight!"

The only thing I don't like about them is that they don't play well with glasses' earpieces-- it seems to break
the audio seal around the head and causes humming or squealing noises. I think its because of the stiffness of
the padding. The higher priced Lightspeeds come with softer "gel" earpieces (or at least they used to), so I
think they are less vulnerable to this problem. I have taken to tilting my glasses such that their earpieces
rest up on my head above the headphones' earpieces. Works "ok" for sunglasses and/or my reading half-glasses.
(Yes, I do sometimes wear both at once!)
--
Cheers,
John Clonts
Temple, Texas
N7NZ