Are the 13.4s really worth the extra money? If so, how so?
I’ve had the same DC h10-30’s since 1992. I’ve only replaced the ear seals and added a pad to the top. I always thought they were comfortable enough to wear 8 hours/day as an instructor and flying the line everynight for Airnet. Some people say they’re no heavy, I never thought so. I tried lighter headsets but they were never as well built as my DC’s and never sounded as good either. I’ve tried 13.4’s but never really felt/heard/saw the need to spend the extra money. If you plan on daily wear and rugged use DC all the way. If you fly once a week and want to spend the money there’s always BOSE or upper end Telix.
Hope that helps.
For short flights, mine I find reasonably comfortable. Longer flights (over 3 hours), well, I’d think that there are more comfortable headsets avaialble.
Things are built like tanks. Only once did mine go back to get the plugs re-milled for better connection in the jacks of the plane, other then that, service free headsets.
Allen
The 13.4’s are considerably lighter, and have less headband pressure. The flexible mic boom is also nice. I’d say they are more comfortable especially on long legs. There is also a stereo version for a couple bucks more.
Now that I’ve been using a Bose, I don’t think I could use anything else. Absolute most comforable, best sounding headseat available, but pricey.
Oh… here’s a cool headset wizard.
I use a H10-13S and a 10-30 (I think). Depending whether I am under the hood or not. The 10-30…or at least the set I have has been sent back to the company and repaired without charge. That alone is worth the price to me. I would’nt use any other headset. David Clark is an icon and I like the color. Kidding aside the customer service to me is the clincher. I think the headsets are the most comfortable that I have had on my head. I’ve never had the experience of wanting or needing to take it off.
I’ve had the 13.4’s for several years and they are probably the most comfortable headsets I’ve used. Very light and well worth the money, although I’m not sure what they even go for these days…
I’ve revitalized two pair of DC H10-40’s (new M7/DC microphones, padding…etc and earphone actuators) but they don’t have quite the same volume as a new pair of DC H10-13s headphones that I also have. I note that the transducers are actually different model numbers, but appear to be nearly direct replacements. This brings me to my point: There seems to be an extra component in the earphone cup for the H10-40 than is in the schematic for the H10-30. The H10-40 schematic is no longer online, so I can’t check to see what it is. I think it may be a capacitor that’s inline with something. Does anyone have a schematic for the H10-40?
Here’s an update to my posting - the “extra component” is actually a varistor across the original microphone (M-4) lines to prevent any voltage transients from damaging it. I determined this by asking David Clark service to send me the original schematic (they did! Thanks Brian at DC!) I also ordered the same earphone transducers that are included in the H10-13s (10376G-32) and installed them in one of my older H10-40 headsets. They worked great and have much better sound quality and volume! The mounting system is the same as for the original 10376G-20 transducers, but you do have to solder some wires on the transducers to be able to connect them to the pigtails in the ear cups. They don’t use screwdriver-removable connectors as the 10376G-20 types do. This worked out so well that I just ordered another set of transducers (and associated foam pieces) for my other older H10-40 that I’d also already updated with an M7/DC microphone. (Here’s another data point - I no longer have any problem with squealing feedback when using either headset with a hand-held COMM radio. This was a problem with the M-4 microphones which has apparently been solved with the M7/DC (and the M7A on the H10-13s headphone set that I already have.)