Headsets Galore!

WE'VE been inundated with brand new headsets. Over the next few months, we'll give them all a thorough flight test but for now here's a taster of the key features of each.

BEYERDYNAMIC HS 300 INDIVIDUAL PRICE £190 AT last someone has designed a headset you can modify yourself. The HS 300 'Individual' headset is the first aviation product from beyerdynamic [correct], a German company involved in almost every other area of acoustics. Visit the beyerdynamic website and have a go at designing your own colour scheme for the headband pad, ear pads and metal parts. You can also have personal laser engraved text on the headband clip to make your creation unique. We did one with the word 'LOOP'! It is also the first headset in its price range to be compatible with a music player and mobile phone. W: www.beyerdynamic.com

CLARITY ALOFT £265 approx THE Clarity Aloft has been available for a while but only with mono sound - now it comes in stereo. The beauty of this headset is how light it is. You don't get the same noise protection as traditional headsets so it is probably best for pilots with quieter cockpits. The headsets have volume control, as well as a balance control in a small recessed area of the volume control box.

SENNHEISER HMEC 460 £599 THE brand new HMEC 460 is the next step up in Sennheiser's range of pilot headsets. It has closed ear protector headphones and 'NoiseGard' active noise compensation. Noise cancelling headsets have traditionally 'clamped' hard onto the wearer's head but this one has 30% less force than its predecessor. It includes adaptors so you can use it for also listening to an MP3-player or mobile phone. W: www.sennheiser.com

TELEX STRATUS 30XT £299 THE most striking feature about Telex's new Stratus 30XT headset is the size and build quality of it. This is the headset you want if you like your gear rugged and practical and don't want to be afraid of throwing it over the back of the seat and breaking it! It comes with active noise reduction and you can power it from the aircraft panel, standard alkaline batteries or rechargeable batteries. Like the other headsets here, it also comes with a mobile phone/MP3 adapter. W: www.telex.com

Words Dan Tye