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tbone – a gem from Denmark
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Before setting out on a review I think it’s important to define what I would consider to be the ‘Holy Grail’ qualities for a headset used within long haul operations. It is within this arena that any quirk, discomfort or flaw will be magnified by extended wear.
Whilst they have improved slowly over time (like the comfort of the seats be place our butt against for hours on end) the ubiquitous headset’s pace of development just hasn’t matched other areas where operator benefits are felt. Having had our heads squeezed and a groove progressively worn behind each ear by sunglasses has become irritatingly normal, so when I saw the tbone you can understand why I became a little excited.
I want a headset that is going to leave my head free to move unencumbered by cables that catch and tug on any obstruction in my vicinity. Bang & Olufsen sound quality would be great, the partial suppression of flight deck environmental noises would be another plus. The tones pushed out across the airwaves from my jet should be sent sharp and clear through my microphone so that every read-back digit is clearly understood by our friends on the ground. With that quality will come pleasing conversational exchanges in the cockpit as we while away the hours leaping continents and the odd ocean in a single bound.
I realise that this is asking a lot but to get it I am prepared to pay a premium price if I have to. When my evaluation tbone headset arrived I was delighted at the prospect of at last achieving audio bliss and cranial comfort. Did we achieve this lofty ambition?
Acquiring your masterpiece
After that lofty dreaming let’s get down to business. This device doesn’t come ‘off the shelf’. The tbone is a bespoke, specialist product and after making a your decision to buy you will need to be a little patient. The process described below happens very efficiently at the supplier end but still takes a couple of weeks.
During the opening stages of your purchase a visit to your local hearing aid specialist for half an hour (any high street practitioner can do the work) to produce latex impressions of each (inner and outer) ear. On completion you leave the shop with these strange sculptures and send them to Denmark, home of this delightfully efficient company – tbone aviation.
The impressions are then used by the tbone engineers to mould blue custom made earpieces for you into which they insert the unique heart of the system, the headset electrics. Miniature speakers and Vibration sensitive microphones detect voice vibrations from your skull removing the need for a boom mike complete the tiny compact package.
Two weeks after dispatching my impressions my headset arrived inside its zipped leatherette and ballistic nylon pouch – very neat. The headset is the finest engineered piece of audio equipment it has been my privilege to use; beautifully put together! The earpieces are connected via the usual wires to join at a V position which with a sliding grommet are adjustable. The cable terminates at a slim, barrel shaped plug that in turn connects to the amplifier unit. Another cable with identical plug runs from the amp to the aircraft connect point, the usual two plug standard plugs (or other types specified for your aircraft installation at purchase).
Every cockpit situation is subtly different of course, tbone are really in touch with customer requirements when it comes to the various aircraft connection option. For standard Boeing installations I felt that the cable from headset to amplifier were a little on the long side; small point. That length of cable increases the available places to fix the amplifier unit in service so all bases are covered.
The barrelled plugs that terminate into the amplifier unit, on the sample I have for evaluation both plugs have a red dot on them to assist with insertion alignment. Working out which plug goes where takes a second or two – I thought why not have one dot green and the other red? A small thing as a glance into the plug taking in the male/female pin arrangement instantly answers the question but…
Wearing the tbone.
‘Got hairy ears? Get ‘em clipped out or even better, use hair removing cream. This will make the earpieces easier to wear, make a better contact for the microphone and help you appear younger and more attractive.
Slipping the earpieces into your ears for the first time seems strange, after wearing the headset for a coupe of long sectors I found I didn’t notice them any more though after shutdown it was bliss to stick my fingers in my ears and have a wiggle to wake up the membranes again. Oh life’s little pleasures.
After assembling the headset I found it best to clip the amplifier unit to my left epaulette, this ensured that my head was complete unhindered by cabling and the spare fell down the line of my shirt buttons out of the way. The cable run from the amp to the aircraft sockets high above my head (777) hangs free and clear. This arrangement feels like an improvement on a conventional headset. Your head feels unencumbered and you can swish your hair from side to side with abandon (if you have any left).
Wearing this headset makes donning an oxygen mask from its stowage a simple and rapid exercise with non of the usual palaver accompanying the headset doffing and donning. In day to day practice this doesn’t do much for you for obvious reasons, but as a safety feature it makes a real contribution.
System design with the 777 Eros mask configuration cuts across to the standard user microphone when the mask is deployed. This effectively removes one potential benefit (lack of breathing noise while the mask is in use) in improved communications through the tbone microphone system. Earlier Boeings and other types may not have this feature. Investigation ongoing to see if there is a workaround.
ATC and Intercom performance
It takes moments to get used to the idea that you no longer need to be concerned about dipping your mic in your coffee. It takes a little longer to ensure that your colleague doesn’t have his ears filled with your cranial transmissions from the active mic should you leave the intercom selected on. Reports from the right hand seat tell me that listening to the mic transmissions from the tbone is a little unusual though perfectly understandable. The innovative microphone pickup system gives a slightly muffled tone to the users voice, perhaps muffled is the wrong word – more like the user has a slight cold?
ATC transmissions are clear and easily understood which is saying something when you consider that the sample routes during the preparation of this review were truly international (being tactful here).
With such a tiny earphone assembly getting a B&O quality sound out of this headset would be quite a challenge for any designer. What tbone has is perfectly acceptable for ATC and intercom use, maybe in some ways superior as I found the pitch of reception to be slightly higher than the regular (Sennheiser ANC) headset. I heard calls and absorbed content that the other guy missed with this headset, I put that down to equipment quality not my superior hearing or mental processing.
Comfort
Rather like some types of ladies swimwear what is EXQUISITE about this headset is lack of material – the ear squeezing earphones. Wearing sunglasses or other eyewear does not leave those pressure points throbbing. As insignificant as this might sound the benefit of this single feature for long haul operations is huge for me. Even skinny titanium frames seem to cause discomfort after a while with a conventional set of ‘cans’. Bliss!
As is made clear in the literature surrounding your tbone, making PAs on the cabin address system is best done through the handset provided, again – both PA and intercom conversations, despite being perfectly legible, come across the system as slightly muffled due to the nature of the microphone being utilised.
Passive as opposed to active noise cancelling is employed. The earpieces get between your eardrums and the source to attenuate.
Summary
This is a light, and after familiarisation, a very comfortable headset to wear. It brings significant additional comfort benefits with it over a conventional headset. Judging by the help and assistance I received from tbone during my communications with them you can expect really friendly and efficient customer service from this fine company. An investment purchase by most standards. A once only requirement to customise; in my view worth the wait. Minor design niggles that have no performance relevance. Invest a little time, effort and cash and there is a comfort reward to be had for many hours in the air.
Overall I would give the product 8/10.