A20 Aviation Headset

Look for a new pair of bose a20s if you can find them. Used if not.

No you can get multiple options for the cable. Opt for the xlr since it’s powered by the plane not batteries. Everything is better. The a30 is alot more money, less comfortable, has worse sound quality, and worse noise cancellation. The “features” like being able to reduce anr and tapping the earcup to hear through, are useless, borderline annoying features. I bought the a30 as an upgrade to my 12 year old a20 and immediately realized it was a downgrade and returned them. I then got proflights. They werent comfortable on me at all and the anr sucked compared to the a20 but i was willing to take some hits if they were alot smaller in my bag. But the ear tips were super hard to keep in my ears. I got ear molds and they actually made the anr and overall sound quality worse by so much that i just sold the headset and threw the ear molds out. I bought a DC pro x2 as a backup headset which i do really like, but its a little fatiguing to wear for 4 hour flights, so i refurbished my a20 and use them most of the time. If you can find an a20 new or slightly used you will get at least a decade out of it, and then maybe more after a cheap repair if its still supported by then.

I’d just buy the Bose. (And I did). You are saving what? One flight maybe…by going cheaper? I started with David Clark’s and then when I got my PPL got the Bose A20s. Lucked out and got a pair refurbished by Bose for like $750 so I saved some money. That being said, even if I had paid full price I wouldn’t have regretted it. It makes a world of difference and it’s worth it.

Good luck. Even if not just bite the bullet. You are talking a few hundred bucks in the grand scheme of tens of thousands. Spend your hours wearing a headset you enjoy

Easy. Invest in high quality headphones. I used the Bose A20s for almost 10 years before switching to their ProFlights. I highly recommend Bose because of their quality and excellent customer service. Always wear your ear protection outside the plane too. APUs, engines, etc all make a ton of noise and just carrying around a simple pair of foam ear protection is enough to make a significant difference. You don’t need anything fancy there, but I did buy a pair of reusable ones that I just keep attached to my lanyard so it’s always with me

IMO DCs are pretty comfortable, I have the $330 pair that I got in Florida when I started my PPL training way back in the day and they've been great. That said, I can see why y'all go with Bose over DC, they protect your hearing better and they're a bit more comfy. Refurb or used Bose are probably a good middle ground.

6+ hours, I've done some long flights with them. I have a small head which helps, I'm 5'10. I'm not saying A20s are bad, but the DCs are doing it for me (at least for the last 240+ hours I've been using em). Refurb A20s are a good choice for OP probably, refurb usually means returned/open box. QC checked again and good to go.

Unless you’re a weirdo who uses the ship sets, you’re going to be relying on these things for years, maybe over a decade if you take care of your headset. Shelled out 1,200 for my A20’s before I started training and there hasn’t been a day where I wished I would’ve saved 800 to have some DC’s clamped to my head.

I've been using my Bose A20 for over 10 years and only changed the Bluetooth module once early on and it was covered by Bose. They're still going strong. Don't cheap out on a headset, you will spend a lot of time in the cockpit during your training. Like the others have said, if you end up flying for many years, your future self will thank you. I recently tried the A30. I was impressed with the slightly better ANC. They are lighter (cheaper, less durable plastic maybe?) and clamp with less force so they kind of dance on your head without staying put. The deal breaker for me is the sound quality is atrocious. I listen to music constantly when I fly so it's a big deal for me. The A20 will sound like a good pair of high-end earphones. The A30 however, sounds like bargain bin crap.

Yep. Bose A20 Aviation with EWC (esports World Cup I think) stickers covering the branding. https://www.bose.com/p/a20-aviation-headset-with-bluetooth/A20V2B-HEADSETAVIA-BT-EL-GADUAL-BAT.html?srsltid=AfmBOop-kgKDWvO69m3FJ31-PEpLNyWy9MtqmqcdXH4EuyH1bSAub-Ff https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GS7-UmpWYAAxxvP?format=jpg&name=4096x4096 you can even read it in this pic (same as above but uncompressed) Edit: also lol it’s $500 …