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

Andrey,

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

That hiss is normal for ANR headsets. Read the ANR tutorial at
www.anrheadsets.com (Lightspeed) for the reason.

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

That's normal if you plug a stereo headset into a mono intercom. It's
the reason for the switch on the headset. However, music piped into the
headset's music input should be stereo regardless of the switch
position. If it isn't, the headset is junk.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

That hiss is normal for ANR headsets. Read the ANR tutorial at
www.anrheadsets.com (Lightspeed) for the reason.

I'll take a look, thanks! It wasn't so much of a complaint; just
something I noticed when trying this thing.

That's normal if you plug a stereo headset into a mono intercom. It's
the reason for the switch on the headset. However, music piped into the

OK, I see now. Thanks for explanation.



Andrey

Good write up Andrey.

Thanks for the PIREP Andrey.


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

Can someone confirm that the music is stereo regardless of the switch
position?

--Dan


Thomas Borchert wrote:
Andrey,

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

That hiss is normal for ANR headsets. Read the ANR tutorial at
www.anrheadsets.com (Lightspeed) for the reason.

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

That's normal if you plug a stereo headset into a mono intercom. It's
the reason for the switch on the headset. However, music piped into the
headset's music input should be stereo regardless of the switch
position. If it isn't, the headset is junk.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Yes, I double-checked, and the switch position indeed has no effect on the
stereo coming from the aux port.

I've flown some more with it today, and there are couple of things I'd like
to add to my previous pirep.

1. the on/off switch position is not very well-chosen: the switch sticks out
a bit, and it is quite easy to move it inadvertently. In particular, it got
switched on while being shifted around in the bag. The set ships with its
auto-shutoff switch off, but I think I'll start using this feature.

2. got a better feel for the ANR. Weirdly, you seem to hear more noise with
it, but it is ...uhmm... less "dense". I'm sure someone with a better grasp on
acoustics will be able to explain this, but the feeling I was getting was
that there's actually more noise penetrating the ear, but it's kinda
flattened, and not as pounding on you. This reduces fatigue quite a bit:
I've flown it for just couple of hours, but the difference was apparent.
Also, the sidetone seems clearer than I remember it in 13.4.

So, now I can add my c2 on the issue of "being able to hear the charts":
I was able to hear more noises with ANR on, but they seemed stripped of
most of their weight. This did not reduce their clarity, only the amount
of "pounding" they produced on the ears.


Andrey


Dan wrote:
Can someone confirm that the music is stereo regardless of the switch
position?

--Dan


Thomas Borchert wrote:
Andrey,

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

That hiss is normal for ANR headsets. Read the ANR tutorial at
www.anrheadsets.com (Lightspeed) for the reason.

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

That's normal if you plug a stereo headset into a mono intercom. It's
the reason for the switch on the headset. However, music piped into the
headset's music input should be stereo regardless of the switch
position. If it isn't, the headset is junk.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Andrey,

Weirdly, you seem to hear more noise with
it, but it is ...uhmm... less "dense". I'm


Hmm. This is the part that differs a lot from ANR headset to ANR
headset. Your description doesn't do much to convince me of the ANR
capabilities of the X11, but I'd like to try it myself.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

B,

The ANR sets I've tried seem to "suck out the noise".


That's exactly my experience, too.

Well, at least the X11 is overpriced and ugly green ;-)

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Andrey, make certain to send a copy of your review to DC for potential
improvements.