If you travel at all you have seen all the nutty-ness with airline entertainment systems. You can buy some 50 cent headsets for .00 or bring your own. As a frequent traveler, I have tried and seen them all so here are my thoughts. As a pilot, I have learned that hearing and vision are worth protecting. I don't cut wood without safety goggles and I don't fly without earplugs or headphones. Airplanes are noisy and if the flight is over two hours, you need something to protect your ears and prevent sound fatigue.
The first thing to look for in a headphone is a volume feature. This is critical. Most airplane systems are built for really crappy headsets. When you have crappy headsets, kind of like cheap car stereo in noisy cars. If you turn it up loud you can't hear the other noise.
The problem on airplanes is good noise canceling headsets or earplug styles are so loud on 1 or 2 for a volume setting that you can hear the electrical hum of the generators and the buzz of the cellphone someone forgot to turn off trying to connect.
The way to fix this is to get headphones with volume control and run the headset way down and the airplane way up. This way the relative volume of the noise over the airplanes amplifier is relatively low and you are effectively creating a headroom filter to eliminate the noise.
I have spent over ,000, yes that's thousands on headphones and head sets over the years as a pilot and passenger. Klipsch is the only pair I ever got free. So here is my suggested list.
Bose headsets, They work well, require batteries are bulky and take up to much space. Sound is typical Bose, good, not great, and if the Batteries die, sound isn't good. $$$$
Sony. If you can find their in ear noise canceling headphones, for the money these are the best value. Like the Bose if the batteries die, you lose most of the sound advantage. The volume control still works. The single flange earplug style ear buds are comfortable but won't drown out the crying baby three rows behind you. $$
Etymotics. These are hands down my favorite for sound quality. The "Ety's" as they are called in the music business are passive, so there are no batteries to replace. The custom fit triple flange ear buds are good enough to just use as ear plugs. In fact they make some ear plugs called ER-20's that stop more noise outside of the normal speech range and less in the speech range. The strange thing here is that you can hear three rows back like they are sitting next to you. As a pilot I can usually listen in on the flight attendants and the first row of first class. $$$$
Shure. Much Like the Ety's, the Shure headphones are passive so no batteries are required and they have another cool feature. Shure has actual ear plugs. Soft foam ear tips that adapt to their headsets. I use these to fly as well. Shure is well known in the music business and available at most high end home audio or music stores. One of the options I really liked with the Shure headsets is the ability to get versions for my cell phone and the airplane. The sound quality is so good on the cell that it gets a little creepy. You can completely tune out the airport noise and announcements while waiting for your flight. The hazard here is becoming that guy that hangs up the call and runs to the gate as the flight pulls away.
Klipsh: Above average sound, but I couldn't find any of the Gels that would stay in my ears more than about 20 minutes. Same price as Sony without the noise Canceling feature and the pair they gave me to demo didn't have a volume control either. Not recommended. Sorry guys. $$
If you really want something that meets the "Kuhl" criteria, stop in at Mall of America in Minneapolis St. Paul and see the folks at the ListenHear kiosk. I had a pair of Ety25 musician ear plugs made in clear and another in skin tones and they are awesome when you want to read or write and not get distracted by music or the movies.
They can also make custom ear-molds just like the artists use on stage when they are singing. They aren't cheap, but they are really nice.
Just like most things, you get what you pay for, happy flying.
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