I suspect that some of the folks that stumble across my blog might be interested in some of the gizmos and gadgets I use on a daily basis. While this won't be my main focus, I don't see any reason not to talk about some of the gear that has made a difference in both my flying and my day-to-day routine. We'll kick this off by talking about a pair of headphones that I've grown to love over the past couple years. When people think of wireless headphones, I'd bet that brands like Apple, Bose and Beats come to mind first. Sennheiser is another excellent brand on the market. These guys make quality pro audio equipment, including microphones and headsets for use in professional studio environments. They also make the headphones we'll discuss today: the PXC 550. Having been a music professional and audiophile myself, I've used Sennheiser's equipment before. As a result, I opted for these headphones over other available brands and I haven't looked back. I bought them for two reasons: air travel and desk work. I knew I was going to start my airline career which includes frequent flying as a passenger, but I also used to work behind a desk and wanted something that I could use for music while I worked. Ultimately they began to serve a third purpose when I discovered an aviation microphone attachment for it, enabling me to use them in the cockpit.
At The Desk
Before I became an airline pilot, I was a manager at a flight school. One of my key roles each morning was building the schedule for the following day which routinely ate up a hefty chunk of the day. Music was something that aided focus and made the time go by faster, and I found the PXC 550 to be an excellent companion for this type of work. They are well-built but lightweight, making them extremely comfortable to wear for long periods of time. The sound quality is also nicely balanced which is one of my favorite aspects because there seems to be so much emphasis on bass these days. There are some various effect modes built in that optimize the sound depending on what you're listening to or watching. You can switch through them with one of the buttons on the side of the headphones or within the free in-house app by Sennheiser. This is something that is worth downloading since it allows you to adjust the settings in its Director mode which is a customizable effect mode.
All of the controls can be found on the right side of the headphones. You'll find the effect mode button as well as a three-position switch that toggles the sensitivity of the ANR. Everything else is controlled via touch input on the right side. You can adjust the volume, pause and play songs, and more with different gestures and taps. Lastly, you'll see a series of small lights that indicate the charge level and the micro USB input for charging.
The built-in battery seems to last about 20 hours when the headphones are used wirelessly with the ANR turned on. It can also be used with an included cable which prevents it from connecting to anything via Bluetooth, extending that battery life a bit. Charging takes a few hours, so I almost always just plug it in overnight.
I mentioned the different sound modes previously; one of those modes is a speech mode for phone calls. This has to be selected manually but the headphones will automatically go into a transparency mode when a call comes through. In this mode, the microphones amplify both your voice and the ambient noise around you so you can hear yourself talk better. There is also a microphone on the included cable should you wish to plug into your device directly.
As a Passenger
The PXC 550 folds up nicely, so it's easy to pack in a carry-on bag. The headphones also came with an adaptor for airplane entertainment systems. This is handy for when you want to watch a movie on a plane but need that weird dual-plug adaptor for them to work.
Perhaps the best part is the active noise reduction (ANR) which beautifully reduces the low-end rumble that you get on airplanes. The headphones do this by monitoring ambient sounds constantly. It then creates frequencies that are the exact opposite of what it "hears," resulting in a huge reduction of sound around you. One of my favorite things about the ANR on this particular set of headphones is that it isn't overwhelming. I've found that ANR on some other headphone models messes with my head a little bit because of those opposing frequencies, but that isn't the case with these. This may mean that it doesn't cancel sound as effectively as some of the other options out there, but they do a perfectly good job for how often I use mine.
In the Cockpit
I was pleased to find out that you can actually buy a microphone attachment for the PXC 550 from a company called Ocean Sky Earth Innovations LLC. This enables the PXC 550 to be used in the cockpit as an aviation headset. Most people that buy the attachable microphones seem to gravitate towards the Bose QC35 and the UFlyMike, but this is a fantastic option for anyone that already has one of these. It connects via magnet (a crazy strong one) to the left side of the headset and plugs into the 1/8" mic jack on the right side. The cockpit is actually where I like to use the speech effect mode built into the headphones as radio transmissions are quite clear. All of the great features I talked about above make the headphones a phenomenal cockpit companion, and they always last me an entire trip.
The microphone attachment came with a nice hard case for the headphones as well which replaced the not-so-great one that came with the headphones themselves.
NOTE: Neither the PXC 550 nor the microphone attachment are TSO certified, so make sure that your airline is alright with you using a non-TSO certified headphone up front (this appears to vary by company).
The Cons
I honestly don't have much in the way of cons, but if I'm being nit-picky there are a couple. For starters, the headphones are turned on by swiveling the ear cups 90 degrees. It allows them to fold down nicely and you'll never accidentally switch off the headphones on your head, but I have to wonder how long that mechanism will last before it wears out. It feels well-made and I've had no issues since I bought them, but I suspect that could potentially be a point of failure down the road with frequent use.
The headsets have a feature that pauses the music when you take them off. This is great in theory, but I found that the headphones randomly paused the music without me ever taking them off quite frequently. I turned this feature off and have had no issues with that since, but that's something they could stand to improve.
The touch control aspect of the headphones is a cool feature and you don't have to guess where to put your finger to adjust the volume or pause the music, but it's pretty easy to accidentally pause the music or adjust the volume. You have to be conscious of where your hand is on the right side if you need to adjust the headphones at all on your head.
Summing Things Up
Overall I can absolutely recommend these headphones! If you're looking for something that's well-built that you can wear all day long, look no further than the PXC 550. They've got an updated model as well, the PXC 550-II if you want the newer model (although I haven't tried these ones).
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