| N8XD |
Rating:    |
2006-07-27 | |
| Beautiful sound, but clumsy to use. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've had the pro set quiet phone for a little over a year.
The audio quality is fantastic.
However there are quite a few physical shortcomings.
The Heil adaptor kit for the Yaesu FT-897 wiggles/shorts out the jack (I've bought two kits, 6 months apart, they both do the same thing -- and ended up using the Yaesu mike cord with and an 8 conductor modular inline coupler to make it work right). I have this same problem with my FT-857 too.
When the radio adaptor is plugged into the headset, two of the three wires become longer and it looks really cluttered. Adding a short 1/4" plug to jack cable made them all the same length for me.
I'm right handed, so I run my radio on the right side. Unlike their other models -- The boom only swings one way, so the cable and the control box has to drape across my lap instead hanging down to the side. Having the cable always be in the way when you are logging is really uncomfortable.
There is no auto shutoff for the unit, so it will run the batteries down if you leave it on. There is no option to take power directly from the radio.
All in all -- beautiful sounding and clumsy.
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| K6CT |
Rating:      |
2006-07-15 | |
| WRTC Part II |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I left one 'gripe' out. The control switch for the Heil is about 3 inches by 1.5 inches by .5 inches. It "hangs" about 3 feet from the headset. Trying to find a place to put it was a real pain. I wound up stuffing it into the waist band of my warm up pants. I would recommend that Heil create a clip that would allow the device to hang on a belt or a waist band. Much like what air traffic controllers use. 73 K6CT/CX7TT
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Earlier 5-star review posted by K6CT on 2006-07-15
I was a referee for WRTC in PY land. I took my Bose Q2 headphones and a buddy 'muled' the Heil set down from the U.S. I was plugged in to a MP to monitor a WRTC team for 24 hours so got to field test both the Bose and Heil under ssb and cw contest condx. Conclusion, the Bose is much lighter and fully cupped my ears. There was a reduction in volume that was noticable but not much of an issue as one team member ran with higher volume than the other. I would have just increased the volume from home. The Heil is a heavier set and the ear cups 'rest' on my ears. Not uncomfortable, but noticable. Where the Heil really shines is the phase reversal feature. When the PR is off, the signals seem to be going into each ear; when PR in on, the signals seemed to fill the big void between my ears. I was simply amazed at the difference. When the team was 'digging' out a weak signal, the PR 'on' made a huge difference in good copy. My conclusion, if arm chair copy is the normal mode of ops, then the Bose Q2 is impossible to beat, but if dxing and contesting, the Heil is far superior! |
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| KC0TRK |
Rating:     |
2006-07-13 | |
| Good-but watch the modular adapter |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
The Heil Quiet Headphones were a Father’s Day gift to myself as I looked forward to 2006 Field Day and multiple contest stations in close proximity to my station. I made my choice over the Pro Plus phones due to my experiences with my Bose NR earphones. They helped me endure long military and commercial flights in extreme noise environments. While not on par with the Bose phones, the Heil phones do help in a noise filled environment. While not an acoustical engineer, I believe that the NR reduction algorithm in the Heil may not be as aggressive as the Bose. I also prefer the ear cups on the Bose for long term comfort. The Bose cups do not seem to rest on the ears, but rather surround and cup them them-resting on the head-not ears, creating a much more pleasant pressure pattern. The single greatest weakness in the Heil system is the modular adapter for Yaesu modular plugs. The plug, as mentioned in previous post on Heil phones, lacks the rubber boot that would help secure the plug into the radio, an FT-897. The PTT button is very small and has a rather strong spring and can be fatiguing to use-especially for those with BIG fingers or arthritis or both. (Recommend VOX.) The adapter received overnight express (my nickel) from Hamcity was defective to boot with only one or two QSOs if I found the sweet spot for the connectors, the wind was blowing from the west at 17.35 mph, it was an odd dated Tuesday, and held my mouth just right. I finally gave up and passed the phones to another station with a radio that didn’t require any adapter.
I spent a few hours on that radio and allowed three other ops to use the phones for their FD shifts on VOX. Probably 75% or so of Field Day on our primary 20/40M station was under these phones. (After all, I couldn’t use them on my VHF/UHF station!) All of us loved the sound quality and the clarity added by the phones processor. We made several hundred contacts over quite a few hours. The phones helped pull out contacts on extremely frenetic bands. The best feature was the audio and the choices available to seek the best match for the conditions occurring at the time. From my experience the cloth covers helped, but the phones seemed to heat up and become a little distracting after a half hour or so.
The phones hands down get a 4.0+ with the minor gripes on the physical fit, adapter and itsy-bitsy PTT button. The adapter gets a 0/5 for this go around. Hamcity gets a 5.0+ for turning around the adapter and getting it to me as promised. We’ll be checking their return and replacement process shortly-to get a 5.0 they will have to pay for postage and expedite the replacement adapter so I don’t loose any more time on my investment! We’ve been in contact electronically and by phone. The adapter is on its way back to them. We’ll see what happens….. Update: Ham City contacted again today-some confusion about my instructions-but they didn’t call to clear it up. They said they’d express mail the replacement for the defective adapter today. So drop the rating to 4.6 out of 5!
Grif
KC0TRK
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| KD7RQF |
Rating:      |
2006-04-10 | |
| Good Product, Good Service |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| I got my PSQP4 last autumn. They worked great for two weeks and then started cutting out when the cable leaving the battery box was bent. I also was picking up RF on one earpiece.HRO replaced it and within a month the second set had the same problem. I emailed Heil and Bob responded asking me to return the unit to him. He sent me a new set which was manufactured the month before. Have had no problems since. Heil service was great. Anyhow using this set in a house with the dishwasher going and so on has become so much easier with the "quiet phone" feature. The price is well worth it. |
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| W6WRJ |
Rating:      |
2005-08-20 | |
| Long Review... |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Wrong category...
So I am a ditz this morning -- only half awake.
I just wrote a long review about my Quiet Phones and posted it under Quiet Phones IC.
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/4737
I am using these with Yaesu and Kenwood radios and so I should have posted it here instead. |
|
| MM3XDS |
Rating:      |
2005-08-03 | |
| First Class Phone |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I purchased the HC5 option,very impressed with the performance,cuts through the pileups no problem,great Buy ,Highly Recommended
Donald Suttie
MM3XDS / 2M0XDS
http://www.rockwellcm.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ |
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| KB4QLZ |
Rating:      |
2005-07-03 | |
| A+++++ |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Won these at Dayton this year from Sarah! Excellent noise reduction, and very comfortable. Nice, sturdy boom and the ear pads are very soft. As usual I'm receiving excellent audio reports. Used these exclusively during Field Day this year, with ZERO problems. Thanks Bob, and Sarah..
Mark Harrison
KB4QLZ
Hickory, NC |
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| K6RSG |
Rating:      |
2005-03-16 | |
| Impressive, Well Constructed, Comfortable and Affordable |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Saturday, I picked up a pair of these new Heil Pro Set Quite Phones from HRO Burbank where they gladly matched the GigaParts sale price of $179.
I bought the full range "HC-5" version, as I'm very familiar with the characteristics of that cartridge from my primary mic: the dual cartridge Heil HM-10. With the exceptional Speech Processor firmware upgrade, recently, to my Kenwood TS-480SAT and with it's TX EQ system, I've found that the HM-10 mic's HC-4 DX cartridge was typically unnecessary (although nice to have when desired in rare instances). So I didn't feel the single cartridge design of the PSQP5 would be lacking.
My headphones of choice remain Sony's outstanding MDR-V6 (essentially the same as the MDR-7506). However, factoring in the convenience of hands free operation regardless if I'm running VOX or Click to Lock mode from the computer, the Heil PSQP5 are rapidly becoming a favorite as well when I wish to use a non-handheld mic and benefit from the use of the headsets.
The audio reports I'm getting fall into two very similar categories. Many cannot tell the difference in my TX audio between the handheld HM-10 mic and the HC-5 cartridge in the PSQP5 mic/headset. Others state the headset's TX audio is slightly clearer. This might be the result of the inherent proximity differences between the postion of the actual cartridge at the tip of the headset's mic boom as compared to the greater distance of the cartridge in the handheld mic's ball head. Either way, both are always reported as sounding great!!
The construction and comfort of the Heil Pro Set Quiet Phones HC5 (PSQP5) is terrific. The components are well positioned, and durable. The mic comes with the removable and washable foam windscreen alrady conveniently fitted to the end of the boom, and the washable cotton ear pad covers fitted to the ear cushions. A particularly pleasant surprise turned out to be the exceptional quality and design of the included storage case. I knew it was included but had no idea how well worth of a bonus this was. It hold the phones, adapter cable(s), extra batteries, and more.
The convenient in-line control unit is comfortably useable at arm's length regardless if seated or standing with your hand at your side. The in-line unit is nicely contoured and holds the two (2) AAA batteries required to power the Noise Cancelling feature's differential amp. There's an On/Off switch and green LED for the Noise Cancelling system, which works like a dream! My station isn't in a high noise area, but even so the NC system is elegant and very effective on keyboard key clicks, ringing phones, barking dogs, surrounding conversations, and more.... I didn't even buy the headsets for this purpose, but have come to really appreciate the feature. In fact, running the headsets with NC on improves the perceived quality and level of the RX audio. Also on the control unit is the Phase Reversal switch. With the switch in the "IN" position the speakers in the phones are in phase. With the switch in the "OUT Phase Rev." position, the speakers are out of phase. This is a vast improvement over having the switch located on the exterior of the headphone ear can as with earlier HEIL headsets.
The only problem I've encountered is with the small eraser tip sized PTT button on the control unit. It seems that mine is somewhat intermittent and I've heard this condition is common amongst other who have recently bought the PSQP. It certainly doesn't render the unit unusable, but it is somewhat of an annoyance if not using VOX, an external PTT, Footswitch, or Click to TX method.
In summary, I love the way they perform! Just make sure that you turn them off, or plan to have plenty of pairs of AAA batteries on hand.
Very 73,
Rob -AK9G
(previously K6RSG) |
|
| N5BSD |
Rating:      |
2005-02-16 | |
| Amazing |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Having just gotten this gem of a headset, I had to try it out, worked 6 stations in about 10 minutes tooling around the band, turned on the ac to really test the noise canceling, and was amazed at how much they really take out, without the AC unit on (which is about 2 foot from my operating position) I cannot even hear the other computers I have running in the room, when the AC is on, there is only a slight drone which might be coming in around the phones for all I know, but it still beats almost all of the noise easily and effectively. Another great product from Heil Sound IMO. Bob just keeps coming up with great new products out there, and my hats off to him.
Course I also got mine on Special from Gigaparts, so it makes it an even sweeter deal.
73
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John
N5BSD |
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