Pilot-USA Carbon A1 headset

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Rich
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Pilot-USA Carbon A1 headset

Post by Rich »

Naturally I found it necessary to check out this newly available ANR headset from the purveyors of BluLink. First inflight test today. Why, you ask? Well it's got some interesting features:

BluLink II is built into the control box (with the usual 2 AAs inside). This means it has all the BluLink II stuff:
- 2 simultaneous bluetooth connections (For me, phone+iPad
- 2 additional wired audio connection - for those that might need it
- Can be powered by LEMO or just connected via dual-plug. The connecting cable can easily be pilot swapped among different jack types.
- Can be powered through a USB-C port. If either of the external power inputs is provided, batteries are bypassed and act as backup.
- The poorest-written user guide on the market. The claim is that it's Made in USA, but the user guide makes me doubt it.

The headset is advertised to be the lightest ANR on the market, advertising 10 oz. I confirmed this weight to be accurate using a food scale. I don't know if this actually makes it the lightest, but the lightest other ANR I have is a Bose X, which claims 12 oz. This isn't a big deal for me, but nice nonetheless.

It's fairly inexpensive, available for ~$650 from some of the usual suspects.

The good:
- Once I got past the poor wording in the user guide, I found BT pairing to both devices super easy.
- BT is solid and nice clarity on both connections. Once paired, reconnecting is very fast.
- Makes reasonable choices about prioritizing inputs.
- Subjectively, noise reduction seems to be at least on a par with what I have experienced from other sets.
- Sits comfortably on the head and over the ears.

The not-so-good:
- The non-removable cord between the control box and the headset is a bit short and limits one's mounting options, especially given the location of the jack behind/between the seats.
- To be redundant: The user guide.

The still-to-determined:
- Sound coming in from the audio panel seemed to be really tinny. Not nearly as good the BT audio. But late in the flight I turned down the volume adjusters on the control box and that improved it greatly. Things seemed pretty normal after that. I suspect I was overdriving the speakers. Some more fiddling on the next flight.
- The headband and ear shells are black carbon fiber. After landing I found the left ear shell (which was exposed to the sun) to be kind of warm. It didn't heat up my ear or cause any problem of note, but worth mentioning.
- Phone and aircraft audio input seems to have equal priority. In certain scenarios one will need a way to manage this.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Re: Pilot-USA Carbon A1 headset

Post by janders »

I think Rich means this one:
https://www.pilot-usa.com/headsets/ga-headsets/anr-headsets/carbon-a1-anr.html

It took me a little while to find it.
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Rich
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Re: Pilot-USA Carbon A1 headset

Post by Rich »

Another flight today with the control box volume at the less-than-max level I left it at last time and aircraft sound quality and clarity is fine. The control box is positioned as shown on the left and works out great. Any other option I've tried is far less than great. Note the USB cable to the right side of the box.
N40XE OA cushions.jpg
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Re: Pilot-USA Carbon A1 headset

Post by smoss »

Rich- how is the passive noise reduction on them? They seem to be pretty minimalistic ear seals, and I've found that several of the high end headsets don't work so well in our plane with the loud vent noise due to not so great ear seals. I currently use a Telex Stratus 30XT which has thick ear seals and it works great, but getting old and not made anymore.
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Re: Pilot-USA Carbon A1 headset

Post by Rich »

smoss wrote: Fri Nov 05, 2021 10:51 pm Rich- how is the passive noise reduction on them? They seem to be pretty minimalistic ear seals, and I've found that several of the high end headsets don't work so well in our plane with the loud vent noise due to not so great ear seals. I currently use a Telex Stratus 30XT which has thick ear seals and it works great, but getting old and not made anymore.
I haven't tried it in passive mode, just ANR, in which mode it's fine. Generally ANRs in passive mode are not as effective as passive-only headsets.

I haven't opened the vents since I got it, since it's not exactly warm. Worth a test. I'll let you know.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Re: Pilot-USA Carbon A1 headset

Post by smoss »

Thanks. Here in Las Vegas, my vents are full open at least 10 months of the year!
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Re: Pilot-USA Carbon A1 headset

Post by Rich »

I flew with it today and fully opened both vents at 144 KTAS and 7000 ft. (It was -2 C :D you're welcome). You could hear the air rushing through the vents at a middling frequency range and I had to slightly tweak the intercom squelch for the copilot headset. But after that tweak there was no human-voice-pitched element to the noise, nothing bled into the audio system, and what noise there was didn't interfere at all with intercom effectiveness or the ability to hear other transmissions. It should be noted I have the old rectangular plastic vents and don't have any tape-over-the-intakes applied.

I didn't think to try playing music with the vents open, as it's not something I do in flight. Maybe I'll check that next time.

This headset nicely boosts sounds in the human speech range so I find I don't have it turned up very loud. Also, unlike some other headsets I find I don't fiddle with the volume setting between ground and air operations. I'm liking this headset a lot. Except for that user guide - did I mention that?

Of course only time will tell how it holds up over the years and whether the manufacturer will be responsive to problems, should they arise.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Re: Pilot-USA Carbon A1 headset

Post by Colin »

You should offer to rewrite their user manual for them. Tech writing is a skill and they just didn't have anyone to do it.
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Rich
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Re: Pilot-USA Carbon A1 headset

Post by Rich »

Colin wrote: Wed Nov 10, 2021 9:38 pm You should offer to rewrite their user manual for them. Tech writing is a skill and they just didn't have anyone to do it.
What's interesting is that I have an original BluLink (single device connection) from several years back and there are no such problems with it. But the BluLink II and this headset are both odd in the same way. In fact a good portion of the two manuals are precisely identical.

To be clear, there's enough in these manuals that one can figure it out. But it has that characteristic of having been written by a non-native English-speaker so the syntax is awkward. And the couple of things it leaves out one discovers by experimentation.

I should point out I didn't try the headset out in flight in passive mode. I should add that to the next test - with vents open to the cold air we'll likely see for awhile.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Rich
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Re: Pilot-USA Carbon A1 headset

Post by Rich »

I experimented with passive mode today. This allows quite a lot of noise. Not a good mode to be in for any period of time. Opening the vents in passive mode does aggravate the situation, but it's all totally acoustic. It doesn't bleed into the audio system and you can still communicate. Of course this mode also means no BT.

The good news is the option to use external power, with the AA's as backup. So I'm extremely unlikely to be treated to having it drop into passive mode because of dead batteries. My current approach is to use one of my ANKER auxiliary batteries as primary supply. They have nominally 10 times the capacity of the AAs. Another backup (to the backup) alternative would be to pluck the ships-power USB feed normally feeding my iPad and connect it to the headset. My iPad normally has 3-5 hours of battery-only operation available in case of outside power feed loss.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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