Sennheiser S1 PASSIVE Pilot Headset

I'm a student pilot and these are the very first headphone I've owned. I've use the usual cheap ASA headsets from my school which anyone will tell you are horrendous but I won't go any further.Design:Pros: In looking for a headset, the design stuck me the most. It has a great modern design and didn't look like it was made of cheap plastic.Cons: My first concern was then the size of the cups which looked unusually large.HearingPros : What stood out the most was the great quality of the audio reception quality. Despite it being a passive headset, the speakers in the cups itself produced great audio quality. Everything was clear with little interference or disturbances. The volume is adequate and balanced at about 6 or 7. I didn't have to adjust during take off or any other phase of my flight. My instructors use the Bose ANR headsets.HeadingCons : I think some may notice that the outside noise is still a bit loud, especially considering how big the cups are. Quite honestly , I begin to not care since I can hear my instructor and the ATC very clear. One thing that is strange is the switch between mono and stereo. The switch is opposite of what you would assume but it's not a big deal.MicPros : The mic is awesome. I think that's every flight student's gripe with cheap headsets. Along with headset audio, its the best feature I appreciate the most. It picks up your voice very well while blocking out a lot of interferences and your voice comes back through the sets very clear. You can speak at normal voice level without shouting or breathing into the mic to get it to catch on to your voice. The mic adjustment is very easy and comfortable.MicCons: none at all. I see a few people complaining about the boom length, I have no complaints.Caliper Settings : This is an interesting feature I didn't see or notice on most headsets. My personal setting is the medium range ( there are three settings ). The highest can cause discomfort. The lowest range is more comfortable but you run the risk of it falling off your head during take offs.The first first time I had these on they fell off my head during full throttle during take off, which you could imagine is very dangerous. Quite frankly, I think it was my fault because of how I wear my Beats headphones , it was a habit to have the head band some what set towards the back on the top of my head. However after adjusting the placement of the band I had no other problems during my other flights, especially during Touch and Go. Just to be safe I changed my setting to medium.Ear cups: The fact that these cover my ears completely makes these ultimately more comfortable. I don't know much about gel vs foam ( I think these are form ) but I just know these feel comfortable.Cable Management :Pros :It's not bad. The connector plugs look like they would be protected from any shortage but I'm a little concerned for the cable that goes into the ear cup itself, especially during storage.Cons: I do however think the cables are a bit long and if you don't use to cable tie to wrap the cables properly for storage you'll end up having to deal with a lot more than you should.Console clip : apart of the cable management is the console clip. I clip it right on the pouch in the Cessna and the cables stay out of the way. There is no pulling/snagging on my headset due to the weight of the console and my head is free to move.Cons: it could be made a little more tighter/stronger to hold the console in but it's not a huge deal at all.Console : I really can't say much about this feature but I'm excited to give it a try. Since I'm training I don't plan on using it. I don't have batteries in there, I just clip it on the pouch in the plane and forget it. When I get to do cross country ill definitely be using it.Glasses comfort: I have a pair of aviators coming in the mail soon. I tried these shades I had which have a thin but wide temple and it in a lot of noise. I think it should be noted that these are the kind of sunglasses you need, or anything with a thin and narrow temples. ( ill update these with a personal experience soon )Bag : great design functionality, professional looking. The little sleeve in the middle holds the console and the wires held by the tie nicely. If you ever damage or lose the bag these headphone fold in to have a smaller footprint, if you will , and can fit essentially anywhere.During each flight I barely notice I had them on. They are really lightweight. I barely do any adjustment now that I've found my own comfort preferences. After each flight I don't ache at all.Overall I'm very pleased with it and would recommend it to anyone starting out. At first $380 was a lot to shell out but these are a good mix between relative affordability and design/functional quality. I think anyone who has been flying for a while would eventually go for an ANR model but for now these are great

Honestly, I don't have that much experience with different headsets- just what's been available in our club/rental plane and a couple set's that I've tried. I've got some hearing problems, and switching between the various headsets available while training was a problem- some of them were ok, some were crap, and the workload that inconsistent audio caused (on top of being a student) made for some really difficult flights for me.These Sennheisers are (to me) comfortable, sound great, and the consistency eliminates the hassle I was struggling with. They seem reasonably priced compared to other aviation headsets (and crazy over-priced compared to regular stuff). Having the same sound, controls, and fit every time really helped! Plus, I'm only dealing with my cooties on the microphone now, instead of sharing with everyone!Cord management is a minor hassle, but I don't think that can be helped- if the cord was shorter it would sometimes be too short- so that's just part of the game. I will say it's easy to bump the volume control sliders and accidentally change your volume. They're currently a little too easy to use, I think... maybe if they were recessed so adjusting them was more deliberate would help.Anyway, I'm happy, they eliminated an issue for me, made getting my certificate easier :)

Started losing speech in one ear. Sent back to Sennheiser for repair came back. A few months later exactly the same.Totally dissapoingint.

It seems like it should be a great headset, but think again. The first set i received had to be returned due to the fact that the connectors for mic/audio had to be constantly "jiggled" just to make it thru the short flight and be able to hear or talk over the incredible static. The replacement set i received had terrible noise from the mic when transmitting to ATC as well as static in the ear cups during communication with my instructor. So, off to the the D/C's. I was surprised, tho reviews are few they all seem positive.Oh yeah, if you don't have a really narrow face, forget about the microphone reaching to your lips. I had to constantly pull the mic over and onto my lips to make any communications. It's WAY too short for the average person. Steer clear, you don't even get what you pay for here.

It has great sound. I like the non noise cancellation feature, since am able to hear the engine and ambient noise. It is also very comfortable on a 2 hr. flight. However there is one major flaw at least. That is the TOO short microphone boom on the headset. It frequently migrates away from my mouth with head turning during flight making me unintelligible to ATC and other aircraft. A danger in flight! I wrote via snail mail letter about this to the CEO of the company, no reply as of yet.