Ron Garret wrote:
Instead of spending a lot of money, why not do like I have for years
and wear some soft foam earplugs under the headset?

Not a bad idea, but I'm more concerned about the comfort (i.e.
vise-like pressure on my head) after about an hour or so. The gel seals
help a bit but I understand typical passive noise reduction headsets
are all pretty much the same as far as clamping pressure(?)

You should try Peltors. I wore a set for ten years and they were always
very comfortable. In fact, my Peltors are so comfortable (and do such a
good job of shutting out the noise) that I initially had some buyer's
regret after getting a Bose X. (But that went away yesterday when I
accidentally left my cell phone on and I could hear it ring in flight.
My Peltors can't do that! :-)

Well, I wore my Peltors for 6 or 7 years... I had buyers regret after
2-3 years. The ANR failed on 1, then both units. The cables wore thru
(seem to be high quality but who knows). Had them repaired and cables
replaced. They have worn thru again and the ANR has failed again. But
they were reasonably comfortable.

We bit the Bose bullet...