From the recommended basic to the more expensive and advanced active noise cancelling headsets, we believe these represent the best options.
The best recommendation we can provide is to buy a headset with Active Noise Reduction (ANR). The passive headsets are far less expensive, however without noise cancelling there is a noticeable low-frequency “droning” sound from the engine during the flight and understanding radio transmissions is far more difficult.
Also, ANR headsets can have the Bluetooth option which usually isn’t that important until you start flying IFR, departing a non-towered airport and need to call ARTCC on the phone to obtain your departure clearance. Something to think about as a future need, not really necessary when starting out.
Just perform a search for the product you are looking for to find the best deal. We frequently use MyPilotStore.com.
Considerably less expensive than the Bose headset, but still a great choice that includes Bluetooth connectivity; the Zulu 3 headset (now replaced by the new Lightspeed Delta Zulu headset) is what we recommend first:
For a budget-friendly headset that doesn’t have active noise cancelling, but is becoming popular in the aviation community, the Kore Aviation KA-1 headset is a solid choice. Just note our cautions about buying headsets without Active Noise Cancelling above:
When price is not a consideration and you want the top-of-the-line aviation headset, the Bose A20/A30 is the one to get and has all the bells and whistles with a price to match:
