X11 pirep

Had a chance to try X11 today. First impressions, comparing to
13.4 I normally use:

1. gel pads of X11 are thinner, and they're flattened, and aren't
as tight against the head as the 13.4 ones. As a result,
passive attenuation of 13.4 is vastly superior to passive X11.

2. weight. X11 is considerably lighter, and it feels much less
bulky on the head.

3. sturdiness. X11 is all plastic, and it shows. Of course,
that's the price for the light weight. But I don't know what
it's gonna look like in five years; it seems a bit flimsy.

4. boom mike of X11 is thinner and more flexible: if in 13.4
you can swing it up just by holding the end of the boom, in
X11 you have to hold it by the root of the boom or else it'll
just bend up. Also, it is much easier to bend the
boom away accidentally, just by touching it lightly -- in 13.4
it usually stays in place.

5. volume control in X11 has no detents, and left regulator
is backwards, i.e. ccw rotation is increasing volume.

6. ENC eliminates most of the audible low-freq humming, but
adds (or makes audible) some high-freq hissing.

7. battery compartment is way too big: it dangles around too
much and gets in the way. Unfortunately, it doesn't have any
clip to attach it to anything.

8. I recorded couple of my transmissions using both headsets,
and I can't tell the difference: both mikes seem to work the same.

9. in stereo mode, com audio goes to the left ear only.

Overall, 1 and 2 make it quite a bit less fatiguing to wear
X11 for extended periods of time, compared to 13.4. With
ENC on, overall attenuation is better than 13.4, without --
significantly worse. X11 feels more comfortable, except for 4,
7, and 9.




Andrey