Diamond DA40 air vent noise

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I am considering the purchase of a Diamond DA40. A good deal of
noise was generated from the cabin air vents while on a recent test
flight. Any DA40 owners have any suggestions for minimizing the air
vent noise? Also, which is better, Clarity Aloft's or Bose?

-- joseph olthafer, July 21, 2009

Answers

Re the air vents, you can either turn them down or off by turning them, or you can get rid of the noise but keep the airflow by pointing them away from your mike.

I have the Bose X; which I like a lot, but I have not tried the Clarity Aloft:

-- nicholas budd, July 22, 2009


Depending on the year, there may be a kit. Call Diamond customer support (the only reason most other manufacturers now have a support line was Diamond's).

-- Eric Warren, July 23, 2009

~~ which is better, Clarity Aloft's or Bose? ~~ Kinda apples and oranges. Bose are noise canceling but clamp on top of your head. CA's are not noise canceling but fit into your ears with earbuds, no clamp on head. I have a Clarity Aloft set that I absolutely love -- no weight on my head, no mashed ears, no messed up hair ;-) I am tall, so extra headroom is also a plus.

In bad turbulence, I have observed my student's/client's/co-pilot's conventional headset come off -- my CA headset stays fixed and I don't smash it on the headliner.

The only downside of CA headset is the cost of the replaceable earbuds ($25 for 6 pr), but 1 pair lasts me a month (flying every day).

I would recommend the Clarity Aloft, particularly for tall pilots and/or airplanes with low headroom.

-- Jane Carpenter, August 27, 2009


On a recent demo flight in a DA40 my CFI had a Bose X and I have the CA headset. The CFI kept complaining about how loud the airvents were. He kept closing and opening them while asking "do you hear the difference?"

Actually, no, I didn't notice any major difference in cockpit noise level using my CA. Perhaps the active noise filter on the Bose is compromised by the frequency of the air vents?

While I have so far loved my CA headset, they do not seem to work well in very noisy aircraft like the C182. They have been excellent, however, in the C172 and DA40. YMMV.

As an aside, I have no experience with the Bose X, but a good friend of mine bought one since our CFI uses it. He says it's somewhat uncomfortable and that the sound quality is not as good as one would expect from a $1,000 headset.

-- Ryan Gaytan, May 7, 2010