"My journey to enlightenment began with a tailwheel endorsement.
Just recently, during a series of particularity hot Southern summer days, while working on a tailwheel endorsement, we removed the door of a Citabria I was flying to help us stay a little cooler at pattern altitude. I was wearing a David Clark H60 headset and as you might imagine, with the door off the wind and microphone noise was deafening, so much so that I could hardly hear the CFI in the back seat. He was wearing a ANR headset and was not having the issues to the extent that I was experiencing.
Well, after a day of flying with the constant noise I walked into the terminal and asked the ladies behind the desk about ANR headsets. They had a David Clark and a Lightspeed Zulu. Additionally, they graciously offered to let me try both of the new headsets to see which one I liked the best. I flew wearing the respective headsets, each for approximately 4 hours intervals over the next two days.
After evaluating each headset in what I consider the most extreme environment you would encounter, the Zulu was the hands down winner, in functionality and performance.
The Zulu was far superior with respect to noise canceling capability. While microphone wind noise is going to be a factor in that type of flying environment, the Zulu was still able to significantly reduce the overall noise level as compared to the David Clark.
Additionally, the Zulu was much more comfortable to wear with my hat (the DC kept pressing the hat button into my head, where the Zulu headpiece was notched for that very reason). The fit was outstanding, convenient, and offered easy adjustment (not so with the DC). The leather (not plastic) ear pieces were very supple and covered my sunglasses frame without 'leaking' noise. I found the weight of the Zulu to be a major plus -- they are very light.
A significant advantage with the Zulu vs. DC headset was the lack of additional cables, battery boxes, etc. The Zulu, unlike the DC is a one piece cable with the ANR Controller inline, so there is nothing extra to plug in and/or forget and leave behind.
The Bluetooth was absolutely a dream to use with my phone, and the integration/paring with the controller was a snap.
Controller adjustments are intuitive, easy to manipulate (including answering you phone), and it has direct wired capability to boot. So, you can use your Bluetooth for the phone and plug the iPod right into the controller and go for it.
The Comm priority feature worked perfectly, or I should say as advertised.
To briefly summarize:
- In field/flight testing I found the Zulu to have superior noise suppression/reduction, and the audio quality and response range, in my opinion, is far superior to the comparable David Clarke set I tested.
- The fitment, ease of adjustment, weight, and long-term comfort level was dramatically better when compared to the DC headset.
- The Zulu is more compact, in that, there are no separate controllers/items/cables that have to be carried/accounted for. The Zulu is a one piece unit.
- The ancillary features such as Bluetooth, and direct wired device paring, etc. were quite easy to access and use. A nice touch are the cables that are included for optional device such as, iPod, cell phones, etc.
- The inline controller is intuitive, easy to manipulate (right or left handed), and the controls are arranged in a readily accessible and convenient manner. Once you are accustomed to the button arrangement you don't have to look at it to answer your phone or adjust volume controls, etc.
- The magnesium shells are not only a wonderful weight reduction feature, but they are extremely robust. I appreciate that since I tend to inadvertently abuse my headsets.
In conclusion; I have four high-end David Clark headsets, and after wearing the Zulu for a quite a number of hours now, I have to be intellectually honest and state that they are going up for auction on eBay; I'll be purchasing more more Zulu headsets.
Get some FBO to let you 'fly and try' one, like I did, and I guarantee you will immediately recognize their superior performance and quality."
Zulu. Change your mind.
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