Now we have to find the battery pack and turn them on to get the noise canceling to work again, like the old Series X that was battery powered. “I bought the panel-powered version again, since the A20 uses the same connector as the Series X, but they put the battery pack back in the system with two AA batteries. Wilburn isn’t sold on the panel-powered design, however. “They have taken away a large portion of the sounds I am used to hearing in the cockpit.” “I may change my mind on this issue after I’ve flown with them for a longer period of time, but they are drastically different in the noise canceling,” he said. A non-Bluetooth A20 retails for $995.Ĭorporate pilot Troy Wilburn, who has flown with the Aviation X headset since it was introduced, likes the improved comfort and quiet of the A20, but is worried that it is too quiet. The A20 comes with a five-year warranty and is FAA/JAA TSO approved and meets RTCA/DO-160D and DO-214 environmental requirements. A welcome feature is the smart shutoff, which turns off the battery automatically when the headset isn’t being used. The A20 headset control module is battery powered, but the A20 can also run on aircraft power using a six-pin connector. For safety, the multifunction/audio priority switch allows pilots to select from three choices: intercom prioritized over aux input intercom mixed with aux or intercom only. The Bluetooth is only for cellphones, however, and won’t work with wireless MP3 players. The aux audio input is handy for connecting GPS units and audio devices such as MP3 players directly to the headset (standard 3.5-mm adapter). The microphone can be attached to either ear cup. The ear cups are smaller overall but have a larger interior volume to accommodate people with bigger ears. New cushions made from a memory-type foam have leatherette covering that dries out quickly. These cancel noise in a wider range of frequencies and help cancel ambient noise that the Headset X couldn’t sense.īose engineers redesigned the center torsion spring and reduced the A20’s clamping pressure by one-third (compared with most headsets, according to the company). Whereas the Headset X has one internal microphone inside each ear cup to identify the anti-noise signal required to cancel sound waves, the A20 has microphones inside and outside the ear cup. The major improvements on the A20 are not just built-in Bluetooth and auxiliary input but greatly enhanced noise reduction. The A20 launch comes 12 years after Bose introduced the Aviation Headset X, spawning keen competition in the headset market and convincing pilots that noise-canceling plus passive sound deadening is the way to fly. Bose introduced its long-awaited A20 noise-canceling headset at the EAA AirVenture show in Oshkosh in July and attendees immediately began snapping up the $1,095 (retail) headset.
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