Description
Step up to the world of premium ANR headsets with the value-priced Sierra. Picked as the “hands-down favorite” in Aviation Consumer’s real-world test of budget ANR headsets, Sierra delivers the comfort, quiet, and advanced features you’ve come to expect from Lightspeed. Active noise reduction (ANR) and Bluetooth connectivity bring top-of-the-line features to Sierra. Plush ear seals and sturdy fiber reinforced polymer construction add to Sierra’s durability. Bluetooth for audio devices and ComPriority enrich your flying experience. A reversible headband design allows microphone placement on the left or right. Sierra is everything you’ve been looking for in a budget-priced premium ANR headset. Sierra is now compatible with FlightLink, the first in-flight cockpit recording application for the Apple iPad and iPhone. NEW — Full Bluetooth Integration. Enjoy excellent call clarity, music fidelity, and wireless access to critical audio alerts from aviation apps on mobile devices.
NorthEastern56 –
Good alternative to more expensive headset.I couldn’t find the David Clark headset I was looking for, as it was out of stock. I needed it right away so I had to pick this one instead. For the money, it’s good enough.
Lucy Taylor –
Love this headset!Amazing quality, very comfortable, and great noise cancellation. I wanted a good aviation headset without paying a ton, and these were perfect for what I wanted.
John Peter –
ComfortableThese headphones are really comfortable and good noise cancellation.
Bill –
Very expensive but good qualityProduc is good and fits well, but then for $700 you would expect it to work. Still, I am glad I bought it and do recommend it!
Chris –
Superb headsetI fly primarily with Bose ProFlight. I bought the Lightspeed Sierra for my wife.They are unbeatable for the price and performance. A little bigger than the newer models but fantastic! We haven’t used the Bluetooth audio yet. The noise cancelling is right up there.I use them from time to time when I join friends doing aerobatics. Solid and good value!
Amazon Customer –
Great results in the B757/B767!I used another, lower-end brand ANR for the past 4 years, but they eventually developed issues. I decided to upgrade to the Sierra, and my only complaint is that I didn’t purchase them earlier. In the 757 and 767, most of the the noise come from the high-speed slipstream and the environmental system (as opposed to the engines) and this headset’s ANR handles it well. I’ve never flown in such a quiet cockpit!
Ethan –
Goodbye David Clarks!I can’t say enough great things about this headset. I was up in the air (lol) between getting passive and anr and actually used the David Clark’s for a few flights. The clamping down on my head started to annoy me so I decided I would give these a shot. I’m never going back. Not only are these the most comfortable of all the headsets I’ve worn, the sound quality is superb. Radio calls are clear and easy to hear. The sound component when it comes to music justifies the price by itself. I haven’t personally tried the A20’s but I can’t imagine they are worth the $500 more. When it comes down to it, spend a little more money and get these over DC’s or any other passive headset. $650 can be daunting for new pilots, but if flying is something you love doing, might as well get a headset that will be comfortable over longer flights, and has great overall sound quality.
Sean Curry –
Works well and comfortable for a reasonable price.Seems to work mostly as advertised. Fit is comfortable and sound quality is good. The only reason I didn’t give it five stars is there can be a bass thrumming in the earpiece depending on which side of the flight deck I’m sitting and how I wear the headset. I fly a Legacy now (Embraer 135) and in the left seat, with the mic on the left side I hear the very annoying thrum. I either have to move the headset up just a hair on that side, or flip it around so the mic is on the right. I don’t know if the thrumming is due to some sort of echo or harmonic off the window to my left, but when I sit in the right seat with the mike on the right (ie towards the FO’s window), I do not hear the same effect. It’s mostly just a nuisance for me as I like to put the mike (and therefore the cord) on whichever side I’m sitting so it’s not going across my body to be trapped under the shoulder harness or snag things (we’re a two Captain crew so we just swap seats every day).Beyond that, I’m very happy with these headsets. I’ve worn both the last generation Bose and the current and I’d honestly say these are on par with the current gen Bose ANRs; they are definitely more comfortable than the last gens. We average 2.5 hour legs though we’ve had a few four hour legs recently or eight hour days, and they are plenty comfortable for the duration. Passive reduction is good enough that it’s easy to not immediately notice the Active isn’t turned on. It doesn’t seem to eat batteries too quickly either. I keep a couple pair of rechargeables and their charger in my bag and I’ve yet to not have one pair of batteries last for a full couple of days flying.
Ryan Richmond –
THE BEST “upgrade” headset!Just for prior background information I’m currently an Commercial Pilot student (as of the time of this review about 150 hours, with my Private & Instrument). For both of those ratings I used my cheap ASA headset that almost every student pilot uses to start off with. This had no noise cancelling, and was relatively uncomfortable with average-at-best sound and microphone quality. Considering flying is going to be my career and I’ll still be in general aviation for next 2-3 years before moving on I considered it was time for an upgrade. I stumbled upon these by reference from friends and YouTube recommendations. Lightspeed from what I hear is a great company, with great warranties, and other cool factors associated with them. Their two most popular products are the Zulu and Sierra headsets. The Zulu is probably the competitor to the Bose A20 and is around the high tier headset category. I wasn’t looking for something quite that nice yet, just an upgrade with noise cancellation, better quality build, and higher level of sound clarity. The Sierra seemed to fit the bill. It has comparable ANR to the Zulu and A20’s, as well as the comfort and quality demanded of relatively expensive headset. For 650$ (+ Tax) you get a decent headset. Honestly any upgrade from these would just be to have an even slighter better experience. I fly a relatively noisy C172 S-Model and the difference from my ASA headset to these was unimaginable. I would highly recommend these to anyone, maybe even just save the extra 150$ and grab yourself a Zulu. These got to me IN ONE DAY with Amazon Prime which I was excited about. Overall great headset!
John –
Phenomenal headset, fantastic features, perfect priceLightspeed Sierra blew me away the first time I flew with it. The difference between active and passive noise reduction is like night and day. The cockpit is phenomenally quieter with ANR plus the headset is super comfortable.The Sierra is very comfortable to wear, weighing in at 16 oz, whereas the
David Clark H10-13.4
is 16.5 oz. There was not much difference in weight for me since my upgrade from the David Clark’s only meant a difference of 0.5 oz. The Sierra headset allowed my head to breathe beyond my wildest expectations. After an hour-and-a-half-long flight, my ears and head weren’t the slightest bit uncomfortable, so the breathability and lack of clamping were fantastic.One of my favorite features of the Sierra is the Bluetooth/aux input capability. The Sierra user guide says that it cannot stream music wirelessly, but I was able to stream music from my iPhone 6 Plus over Bluetooth without any hiccups. The music quality isn’t super stellar, but when you’re flying an airplane and talking with controllers and passengers, music quality isn’t really a primary concern. This is an ANR aviation headset, not a pair of ANR headphones, so it (and its music quality) should be treated as such.The clarity of the ATC transmissions was great. On my first flight with Sierra, I didn’t have to ask a single controller to repeat him or herself a single time. I have yet to try out the FlightLink app, but I will update this review if I can once I have tried it.I’d definitely recommend the Sierra to anyone looking for an ANR headset. At its price point, the Sierra really packs in a lot of features like ANR, Bluetooth, ComPriority, and FlightLink, all for under $700. I’ve been converted and will definitely continue buying from Lightspeed.