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You can
write your own review of the Heil Pro Set Quiet Phone IC.
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AH6FC
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Rating: 4/5
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Apr 7, 2008 17:58
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Good
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I was looking for a headset / microphone combination to use during contests and other times when I wanted use of both hands. Though the reviews are mixed, I've been happy with other Heil products, specifically the PR 40 boom microphone...nice product.
I purchased the Pro Set. Though I've used it only a couple of weeks, here's my review. Generally good. Well built and designed. The microphone (HC 4 ) works well, easily modulates my ICOM 756 PIII. The audio quality in the headset is good, about the same as my Sony MDR-756. The noise reducing feature is slick and does a good job of reducing noise fatigue that comes with hours of headset use.
The down sides are 1) short cable, but not a big deal, and 2) some discomfort with prolonged use. Certainly somewhat subjective, but the Sony unit is more comfortable.
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N2RJ
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 5, 2008 17:21
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Pretty good, but not without its faults
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have been using mine for over two months now, after trying out my friend Peter's (W2IRT) pair.
I have mostly the same complaints that he has in his review.
IMO, Heil should have just had ONE cable from transceiver to adapter. The three thin wire thing just isn't cutting it. Why not make it the same as the Heil traveler? That one really escapes me. What's worse is the adapter for Icom with the three separate wires are different lengths - making it easy to tangle and also pull/stretch the headphone audio cord.
The noise cancelling circuitry should have been in the headset like my other set of noise cancelling phones (Jabra C820s) or other brands like Sennheiser or Bose. The pendant on the cord is too heavy and stretches the cord.
There should also have been auto power off or power via the rig. This thing will eat your batteries in a few days and it is easy to leave them on by mistake.
Apart from these major, mostly ergonomic issues, the headset works great.
Noise cancelling cuts out a lot of ambient noise - amplifier fan, power supply etc. I have the model with the HC-5 element and have nothing but great reports on the audio.
The headphones are comfortable and good for extended operating.
The PTT button I don't mind at all, but it should have been a squeeze on the side, but eventually I will get a foot switch to use while DXing/contesting.
Bob - if you're reading this, please improve these issues. You have a winner here, but these minor things really spoil what is otherwise a great product.
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W2IRT
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Rating: 4/5
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Jul 26, 2006 21:58
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So near and yet so far...
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The Good: As mentioned by others, Active Noise Reduction (ANR) is now something I would never consider being without. The difference is unbelievable, plain and simple. TX audio is also exceptionally good with the HC-5 element. No quibbles on either front, and well worth the money.
The bad: Durability and ergonomic issues really hold this beauty back. Here are some of the items that have vexed me since the first day I got it.
1) Cord length: FAR too short, especially between the headset and the control box. What happens is that when you're wearing the headphones, the box can drop and stress the cable. I just lost RX audio as a result of this recently -- meaning a $59 repair to a $185 headset.
2) The mic can only be used on the left side. this is a particularly bad decision since, for the majority of right-handed operators, their radio is usually on the right side, which means cable management becomes a gigantic problem.
3) Everything's sealed, so changing out a cable is not something an end-user can do. Plug-in replacements would be wonderful.
4) Unit should automatically power-down after a couple of hours to save the batteries, or have the option of drawing power from the radio if so provided.
5) Lose the darned PTT function. The button is unusable and it just adds to the cable weight.
6) Put a 1/8" mini-plug on the RX audio end instead of a 1/4" behemoth, so it can be used easily on consumer devices without adapters. I'd rather plug an adapter into my Mark V and be able to use it stock with my MP3 player on an airplane, etc.
Frankly, if Bob had decided to add ANR to the Proset Plus it would have been a much better decision. The Plus is an excellent headset.
That said, though, I'd pay almost anything for a professional-quality heavy-duty ANR headset with an HC-5 element in it. I'm talking ergonomically engineered to perfection, no corners cut and built like a brick -- house. For heaven's sake, guys are lining up to buy $10,000 rigs and $8,000 amps -- why not make a headset that's properly designed for ultra-heavy-duty use?
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W6WRJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 20, 2005 12:37
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The BEST!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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If there was a higher rating than 5 I would select that... probably a 10 or 12. This might be the best piece of gear in my shack.
Audio reports from other HAMs during QSOs have been very good. I have the HC-5 microphone element and have been told that the HC-4 element is hard to listen to for anything other than DX. I do a lot of rag chewing so the HC-5 is clearly the best for me.
I really believe that a good mic and good antenna are the place to invest most of your money. If you do that, you can make inexpensive transceivers work as well as more expensive transceivers.
I have used 5 or 6 different types of head sets and this has been the best for HF, 6M and 2M. It INCLUDES a push to talk (you don't have to buy one separately). However you can ADD a foot switch if you want to. I use vox most of the time and the headset's PPT about 10% of the time.
When you turn on the noise supression on the Quiet Phone, the sound of the station you are listening to gets louder and every other sound in the room either drops significantly or goes away altogether. This includes radio fans, PC fans, disk drives, the neighbor's lawn mower, dogs and cats and XYL voices (and that has gotten me into trouble more than once). You hear only what's coming over the radio and nothing more. Otherwise unreadable weak DX becomes audible. Anyone with reduced hearing will hear other stations much better.
Most of the advertisement photos for the Quiet Phone do not show the soft felt-like covers that come with the phones. These breath better than the vinyl covers and let you wear the phone for hours without ear or skin fatigue. I often wear them for 2 - 4 hours. On Field Day, it was about 10 hours in three shifts.
The phase switch is helpful for weak DX -- when you flip the switch you hear a different spatial image, and sometimes you call pull out weak voices you might not otherwise be able to
discern from the QRM or QRN. I worked an extremely week SSB station in Mongolia a few months ago. Without the Quiet Phones it was an untelligible whisper. With them, I could make out the call sign and most of the words, even though he had a heavy accent.
I bought a pair of Quiet Phones in 2004 when they were first announced and recently got a second pair as a backup. I use them in different parts of the house -- in the shack -- and also sometimes plugged into other devices (using a quarter-inch to mini plug adaptor)such as small transistor radios and SWL radios for listening only (You can flip the mic upward over your head for listen only).
I had a minor question and so I called the number on the Heil Sound web site to talk to a support rep. I was amazed when Bob Heil picked up the phone and chatted with me for about 10 minutes, first about the phones and then about things in general. When was the last time that you called a factory and talked to the boss? Pretty amazing.
Yes, the AA batteries will die in 48 to 96 hours if you leave the switch turned on, but I usually remember to turn it off when I turn of my rig. WHAT I ALSO DID to resolve this was to buy a pack of eight NiMH AA batteries and a small charger that holds four batteries. I keep four batteries on the charger, two in my ProSet and two in my wireless mouse. Every two weeks or so, I simply rotate the batteries just like rotating tires on a car. The fresh batteries from the charger go in the ProSet and the mouse, and the used batteries go back on the charger. Over a year or so of doing this, I have never had dead batteries in either one. The charger is a smart charger from the WalMart camera dept with overcharge protection, so the batteries never overcharge. They say that the batteries are good for 1,000 charges, so that should last me about 2,000 weeks or 38 years. Check back here in 2043 and I'll update you on how I am doing.
In the meantime, buy a QuietPhone for yourself!
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CORRECTION to my earlier review... the QuietPhones use AAA batteries (triple A), not AA. My error.
I am using 600mAh NiMH AAA rechargeable batteries and I change them about every one or two weeks. It might be better if you got the 800mAh or 1000mAh AAA NiMH batteries that are easy to find on the Internet so that you won't change them as often. And, if you leave the QuietPhones on by accident, you simply recharge them, as I do.
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W2BHK
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 26, 2005 07:44
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Great headset execpt!
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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I bought one of the first units out in Dayton last year. I use it on my IC-745. (I have a Pro-Set Plus for my IC-746Pro). The only complaint I have is, that the cable is too dam short. I wish they would lengthen the cord and provide a clip of some kind to clip to my shirt or belt since I use Vox or operate CW.
My expericence dealing with Heil has been nothing short of the best. When I had question Bob personnally answered them either by e-mail or by phone. I am sold on his products.
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N8XD
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Rating: 3/5
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Jan 26, 2005 07:06
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Great sound, needs refinement.
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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The Heil active noise reduction headset works very nicely. It does a fine job at reducing noise and I get great reports for the microphone system.
Now for the bad news...
The headset runs on a couple batteries, and has a small electronics case half way down the cord. This is very clumsy, though it was probably a trade off between making the headset lighter.
The batteries will wear down in a day if you forget to turn off the power to the headphones. There is no option to get the power from the radio mike jack or other source.
The Heil microphone / headset adaptor for my Yaesu 897 required a grommet around the mike jack. The modular connector is loose (it doesn't have the short boot on it like the Yaesu mike's do) and when it wiggles the radio connector shorts and starts scanning. When the headset is plugged into the adaptor, the mike and headphone cables aren't at equal length so the cables look cluttered
The mike does not rotate freely to the other side, so you can only wear the headset with the mike and cable on the left. Unfortunately my radio sits on the right side of me in the shack...so the cord and the mid-cord electronics module cuts across in front of me. (more of a problem when I'm running CW)
All in all not bad for a new style mike & headphones, I'm sure as the product matures it will become just as refined as their other famous products.
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AC7WX
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 16, 2005 03:49
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I love it now.
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is an update for my previous review, I contacted Bob, and he asked me to ship the headset back to him, I did, and I got a new headset, that worked like a champ. You even forget that you're wearing it, so comfortable. Bob even paid the shipping back to Japan via an expedited mail, how is that for an after sale service!
I have many items made by Heil, and I just received the new HS-2, beleive me you'll love that PTT switch, it is out of this world!!
Thanks Bob, and keep up the good work.
73's De Sommer AC7WX/JA6DMH
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K9XK
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 27, 2004 18:22
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Does the Job Well!!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I feel that this was designed for DXers and contesters, neither of whom will be using a silly button on a control module (how the heck do you use that and write in a log or type on a keyboard at the same time?) but instead will use a foot switch or sometimes VOX.
Assuming that real operators are the target of Heil's efforts, this unit is great. If you have a quiet shack, and are on a tight budget, you turn on noise cancellation and wonder what you spent 17 weeks of your allowance for.
However, if you run an amp, especially a, well, "louder" variety (PW-1 people please step up), donning the Quiet Phones and flipping that switch literally makes the desired audio JUMP out at you, because all the din in the background is history.
There is no way I would ever go back to a standard set of headphones now. This is a serious tool for any active contester or DXer.
I have both the Bose QuietComfort 2 noise cancelling headset and a high-end active cancelling for aviation purposes and the Heil unit holds its own with either. I paid 300 bucks for the Bose, but there is no microphone as some of us know. The aviation headset was about 800 bucks. Hams just don't know how well they have it, but I do understand that to many of them, the depression was 3 months ago, so 200 bucks is worth about 1,200 street corner apples.
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MM0PMW
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 16, 2004 02:54
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I LIKE IT
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Previous reviewer must have been unlucky.
My Heil Pro Set Quite Phone works just great.
With my IC 756 ProII, no complaints from me.
Matt MM0PMW.
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N4LQ
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Rating: 4/5
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Nov 29, 2004 11:12
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Works ok. Keep spare batteries handy.
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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PTT button is a bit stiff. Ear pieces don't cover the ear but press against them. Uses 2 AA cells. Easy to forget to turn power off and discharge batteries overnight. Of course this is the user's fault but it happens a lot!
Worked great with IC-756PROII. Ordered TenTec adapter and it doesn't work. I Dug through Heil's web site and found a schematic for using these with TT rigs, wired it up and still doesn't work right. Pressing PTT kills mic. Vox works ok. They need to provide information about how to use this with other brands.
Blocks out fan noise quiet well. Still can hear people talk if they are close by. Audio quality is excellent in headphones. Got good reports on transmit quality.
Phase reverse switch is cool and provides a welcome relief after listening a while.
Personally I don't think the noise canceling feature is much better than a good pair of headphones designed for the race track/scanner bunch but they don't have a mic attached. I have not compared these to other sound canceling headphones so I don't know what a pair of Bose phones would sound like. I would like them to cover the entire ear and put pressure on them. This is tiring after an hour or so.
Just be sure to keep a good stock of batteries handy.
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