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child headset: info request and WTB

jcaplins

Well Known Member
Hello all,

I'm looking for a recomondation for a good child headset for my daughter who is almost 3. Fit and noise cancellation is a prioroty. But of course I don't want to break the bank (so, I gues cost is a prioroty too)

For comparison, I have an adult size Flightcom Denali that is too big for her. the band sits too high abover her head and the earcups extend below her jaw creating a gap.
I also have a Bose A20 that just about fits her but does not hold tigh enough and the earcups are only slightly too big.

The Lightspeed Seierra is advertised as fully adjustable for youth sizing, but a new one is cost prohibitive.

I have experience with some cheaper passive adult headsets and did not find them very good. So, I'm hesitent to waste time and money trying some offbrand heasdet from Amazon.

So, any suggestions?
And if you have one you are ready to let go... let me know.
 
Mine has a large head.. but

When my boy was 3, did the same search but had him at Oshkosh to try them all...

DAVID CLARK DC PRO-X2 was the best fit by far, but pricey.

I ended up using a set of Bose X, they fit smaller heads quite a bit better than the A20s . They do need to be adjusted from time to time when he is sleeping, but generally do a good job.

The caveat is that my boys have big heads for their ages, worth finding a pair to try on your daughter though.

Derek
 
My 2.5 year old daughter uses a Lightspeed Zulu. The fit is good, only issue is keeping it from sliding forward off her head if she falls asleep (sounds like this one is universal). I find the ANC headsets work better on kids because they don't require as much clamping force on a small head, and the added benefit of the lightspeed models is you can bluetooth them to some entertainment for longer trips. I'd try and find a used Zulu or Sierra if new is cost prohibitive.


Alex
 
I've used an old Bose X on my boy's who are now 5,3, and 1 with the best results. when we squeeze 2 boys in with me the backup set is old set of David Clark passive that seems to work ok. I also tried my wife's QT halo, with the child tips in my eldest this summer and those seemed to work too but are obviously more of a process to put on.

Each boy would always try to pull them off the first flight or two until they realized it was much noisier with them off then they're pretty good at leaving them alone.
 
Thanks for the repleys so far.

Anything 'on' or 'in' the ear would not work, so they must be over the ear style. The on the ear don't seem to redue the noise enough and there is no way she will let me put things in her ears.


I would prefer ANR, so, the the Sierra and BoseX would be prefereded if they fit. The cost for new is too high considering the very low amount of use they will get.
 
Zulu2/3

I fly my daughters using Zulu 3s. Lightspeed offers a taller headset pad that makes their adjustment well within range for the kids smaller heads. If you are at Sun N Fun or Osh at the Lightspeed booth they will hand the replacement (tall) pads over free of charge, otherwise Spruce sells them among other places. We tried kid sized passive sets and they did not work well enough..... sorta like the full sized ones did not work for me. Anyway, the key to the whole operation is having the kid(s) wear a baseball hat. We put their hair in a pony tail through the back of the hat and the headset stays on. The hat offers a bit more for the headset top pad to grip onto. The longest day so far with the kids was 14 hours with the prop spinning and no headset woes. The Zulu 2 is almost identical to the Zulu 3 except the cord is made cheaper. If you buy a Zulu 2 you can send them in to Lightspeed and (for a fee) they will upgrade to a 3. A used Zulu 2 may fit your budget.
 
I'm a child abuser. I put my son in a pair of the inexpensive kids passive sets. My recollection is that the passive sets offer 23ish DB of noise reduction, which is adequate to bring the noise level down well below OSHA and NIOSH limits for long term exposure. And he isn't going to get what OSHA or NIOSH consider long term exposure which is 4-8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

As he's gotten older and his head has grown, I've moved him into ANR's, because I have them and they fit his 11 year old head better than the child size passives do. I'm sure the ANR's do a better job, but given his exposure levels, a properly fitting set of passives would be fine too.
 
I'm a child abuser. I put my son in a pair of the inexpensive kids passive sets. My recollection is that the passive sets offer 23ish DB of noise reduction, which is adequate to bring the noise level down well below OSHA and NIOSH limits for long term exposure. And he isn't going to get what OSHA or NIOSH consider long term exposure which is 4-8 hours a day, 5 days a week.

As he's gotten older and his head has grown, I've moved him into ANR's, because I have them and they fit his 11 year old head better than the child size passives do. I'm sure the ANR's do a better job, but given his exposure levels, a properly fitting set of passives would be fine too.

I'd say it depends on how much your passengers enjoy flying. If they are excited and enthusiastic about climbing in the plane ANY headset will get the job done. If the people in your life see the airplane merely as transportation to get to the destination then comfort is key. The one trick pony, cheap, kids passive set we bought new cost $120 before we tossed them. A used set of Zulu 2s might cost $300 and can make any passenger happy. What was most disapointing about the cheap passive set was not (only) the noise they let in but the poor quality of the mic and speakers in the ear cups. The audio was very hard to hear clearly.
 
test flight

So we did a test flight! a few things we learned.
1. The seat needs to be about 6" higher
2. the 'wings' on the carseat head support push the headset forward as she moves her head around.
3. the Bose A20 worked ok, but moved too easily. Something with earcups the same size or smaller and would hold firmer would be better.
4. It seemed impossible with the A20 mic boom to keep the mic in front of her mouth.

Photo taken just before takeoff:

20220116_131416_180.jpg

She enjoyed the flight, so I need to solve some of these issues soon.
 
Great pic! Just wait until she figures out the plane can take her to breakfast with dad; she'll be bugging every weekend!

I had many of the same issues you did:

1) pink foam board from menards/home depot/lowes is what I use to get the seat up to where they can see.
2) yep, I couldn't really ever get a solution with my full car seat. I ended up buying just a booster seat from walmart. No wings to push the headset and more shoulder room for myself.
3) yes, the Bose slide around a bit, in my experience with my boys it won't take her long to figure out that's what keeps it quiet and lets her hear dad and she'll start pushing them back on her ears herself. If you switch to a seat without wings that will help as well.
4)similar to above, she'll start figuring out that's how she talks to dad and will re-adjust herself. although with my boys I still have to remind them I can't hear them unless they use the mic at least once per flight.
 
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