Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk

This week I made one of the biggest purchases of supplies. It has long been my plan to upgrade my headphones as I advanced in my training. Then I would transition my current headset for passenger use.

I did a lot of research prior to making my decision. There are several different brands and features to choose from, but the feature the feature that was most desirable was to get a ANR headset.

The active noise reduction (ANR) headset is a relatively new technology that is especially effective at reducing low frequency noise, such as the engine and propeller noise in a light aircraft.

ANR was first conceived in the 1930s and had started showing up in science fiction stories by the 1950s, but it was the 1970s before mainstream scientists began to investigate the possibility seriously. ANR technology didn't become a reality in general aviation until the 1990s.

Here's how it works: A tiny microphone, typically placed in the earcup of a headset, picks up noise inside the earcup. That information is transmitted to the headset's electronics, which drive a speaker, also inside the earcup, to produce a noise that is the exact mirror image of the original noise. In other words the "trough" of one sound wave (the noise caused by the propeller) corresponds to the "crest" of another (the "antinoise" created by the headset). When the sound waves collide, they cancel each other out; so what you hear is the sweet sound of silence.

That's not to say that an ANR headset will leave you unable to hear the important things going on around you like air traffic controller instructions and the hum of the engine that lets you know everything is as it should be. ANR works most effectively on low-frequency noise. (This is the kind of noise that causes permanent hearing loss across all frequencies, if experienced over a long period of time.) ANR does very little to affect the relatively higher frequencies of, for example, voices. In addition, it really only works well for tonal noises those sounds containing a very limited number of frequencies, such as propeller noise; so you still hear broadband, mixed frequency sounds, such as the wind flowing over the airframe. You can also tell when a sound changes. So, if the rhythmic pulse of the propeller is altered by the addition or loss of power, your ears will tell you about it.

My current David Clark H10-30 Headset has passive noise control. It works by muffling noise, as when you put your hands over your ears. Passive headsets use thick earpads, often of gel (mine are gel, which is better) or foam, to create a seal around each ear. Clamping action keeps the seal tight against your head, but sunglasses and even hair can get between the ear seals and the side of your face, significantly reducing the effectiveness of passive noise reduction.

The problem is that ANR headset can run up to $1,200, which was far outside of my price range. That is when I found the Rugged Air RA950 ANR Headset. At a more reasonable $383.95, it was just what I was looking for. Also the reviews were great.

Most likely, I’ll be keeping this headset for decades (my current one is for the mid-eighties) so I am hopeful it will be a good investment.