DC PRO-X2

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've always taken advantage of PPE to include hearing protection. 3 years as a line guy and I wore foam earplugs, or even the ear muffs if it was something really loud. Marshaling, sitting under an APU doing lav services, fueling, etc. Flying Army helicopters with the doors off (and a .50 cal muzzle next to me) I used the extra insulation in my ear cups. I usually tried to double up with foamies under my ear cups if I knew we were going to be a doing a lot of shooting. I flew at the regionals using a David Clark H10-13.4 in turboprops and jets. It worked but wasn't comfortable. I upgraded to a set of ANR David Clarks when I got to the 737 and love them. Jets are pretty quiet though relative to the other aircraft I've flown. 99.9% of the time I have them on for the whole flight while sitting in my seat. I've ALWAYS worn at least foam ear protection on the flight line. I wear them as soon as I go out for my walk-arounds whether we have the APU running or not. There's enough noise out there from hydraulic pumps, jetway AC units, and other aircraft that I just rock them. My hearing is still very good!

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.

They are good, and the G is worth it, but I still prefer my David Clarks. Simple enough that you can take em completely apart in 45 minutes. Not as comfortable maybe, but they haven't given me any trouble. At the end of the day it's what works best for you. Choose the most comfortable, safest option.

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.

You don't need to spend a crazy amount of money on an active noise cancelling headset. Any aviation headset will be just fine. I flew 4000hrs with David Clarks even in old 737s and moved to QT Halo which uses regular style ear plugs with audio tubes. Totally fine.

It depends on what you are flying. The old style David Clark headset was supposed to reduce the noise better in recipient airplanes, or so I read in an article while the noise cancelling make hearing radios clearer, in my opinion in all planes, I think they protect hearing better in the higher pitch range. I have 31,000 hours and just had my hearing tested and it is still in the normal range. My first 4000 hours I had no hearing protection then moved to David Clark and the last 15 years to Bose. I still fly a list of single engine recip, some turbo prop and some Jet. Most of my time has been in recip aircraft

Yeah I like A20s for loud planes, the DCs are too tight on my big noggin. Have a Card Machine Works CQ-1 that I mostly use in twins, it’s so light and helps my head fit below the ceiling.