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I upgraded to the Bose A30 last week and I am experiencing an almost constant buffeting noise with them flying the Icon with the windows out (kinda like when you fly the A20 with thick sunglasses). Really annoying and makes ATC hard to hear. Anyone experience the same? Thinking of going back to the A20 for now.

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I just received my A30s this week. Should have some corroborating or exculpatory data for you soon!

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I bought the A30 at Sun N' Fun. I am having the EXACT same issue Marcus. I ditched it, and went back to my DeltaZulu headset for the A5, with windows out. One hack I now also do, with windows out, is stick my Apple ear buds on, then the headset. It cuts down on the noise considerably, great hack. And you can still hear ATC just fine with the volume up.

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I came up with hack on the Lightspeed Zulu 2 that enabled use of CEP or even earbuds along side the ANR for my very noisy Pitts special measured at 116dBA . The passive reduction of the CEP on top of the dynamic of the ANR is a game changer. The best part is my wiring hack also allows perfect music and stereo sound into the CEP. Think a beautiful marriage of a Clarity Aloft and Light Speed. I can share my wiring drawings if desired but it’s not a hack for the faint of heart electrics wise.

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Wow thanks! I will try this next flight!

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I tried my A30s for the first time last week-end and was shocked at how loud the Outgoing noise was (engine noise picked-up by my microphone). I alway felt with my A20s that some of the engine noise was being filtered-out... It felt MUCH worse with my A30s. Anybody else experience this. My A30s have the mic on the right instead of the left on my A20s.

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Took my A30s out today with the windows out. I am never using them again in an Icon... Just ordered Delta Zulus... Hoping for the best!

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I received my Delta Zulu headsets and Tried Brett's trick of using the AirPod Pros WITH the headsets... It made the flight noise tolerable... tolerable... My question, to people smarter than me, (Mr. Davenport?), is there anything that can be done to quiet the cabin on the Icon?

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I received my Delta Zulu headsets and Tried Brett's trick of using the AirPod Pros WITH the headsets... It made the flight noise tolerable... tolerable... My question, to people smarter than me, (Mr. Davenport?), is there anything that can be done to quiet the cabin on the Icon?

I was messing with delta zulu's the other day and I found that wind/pressure can really disrupt and drive the ANR nuts. When I lightly put my fingers over the ANR mics little pick ups on each ear cup it dramatically reduced it. You might try some clear tape over those to dampen the air pressure pulses when the windows are out. It could also be a solution for foam like the way a mic muff works.

The best solution I have found is foam tipped "CEP's" from CEP USA. The problem is I was unable to make my hack on the Zulu 2's that I did for my Helmet work on the Delta Zulu's. They sadly changed the design... As for making the A5 cockpit quieter. I have tried everything within reason. We did expensive studies on this with instrumentation hiring some of the best noise attenuation experts on the planet. The reality is it would take a pretty expensive redesign of the airframe to reduce it taking in to account noise vibration and harshness. The beauty of carbon is its light weight and stiff. A snare drum is also light weight and stiff. Both are really good a propagating sound.

I think your bigger issue is the pressure pulses with the windows out right? If so experiment with some tape. maybe it might help. I'm not sure though. You could also just try covering them up with a finger lightly and see you have any better performance. I always thought the Bose A20's did the best job the lightspeed zulu's were a very close 2nd.

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I will give the tape a try tomorrow... About the windows, I am realizing, thanks to my Hangar buddy/Icon owner, Jack McCartt, that the Icon LOVES to be flown at 4,300rpm. 75 knots, MUCH quieter, less vibration... I am thinking that when I choose to fly window-less, I need to just chill and slow down a bit.

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I just finished a flight today with both the Delta Zulus and the A30s. Windows were in. My old headset was a Zulu 3 and 2 before that.

What I found on the Delta Zulus was that if I turned the volume up all the way on the headset, it couldn't keep up with the noise cancelling when the engine was at full power. Reducing the volume setting on the headset (and turning up the radio a bit) improved performance dramatically when the engine was at full power.

On the A30s, when the engine was at full power, they couldn't keep up either, but the noise level was very tolerable and I could still hear the tower well. If you turn down the headset volume to below max, the Delta Zulus get the thumbs up for noise cancelling at full power, but the A30s are acceptable.

My hearing sucks, with a rapid drop off towards the higher frequencies, so choosing a headset that produces clear voices is at the top of my requirements list. Even after doing the adjustments on the Delta Zulus, the A30s still sounded crisper. The A30s get the thumbs up and right now I am leaning towards keeping them.

Final comment: Michel is spot on with the windows out, 4,300 comment. I don't think any noise cancelling can keep up with the pressure pulses with windows out. And the experience isn't much fun for the pilot and passenger anyway with all the vibration and noise. Just fly a bit slower!

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Something for everyone to consider is how you have your Trig radio set up. I spent some time with the people at Trig and learned that little radio has a lot of features and settings most people do not know about. Of the 15 or so Icon's I have flown every one of them the radio was set differently. My suggestion is to study the manual and start making adjustments. I have found that you have to change the squelch setting differently for when the windows are installed verse when they are out. I mainly fly now with Delta Zulu headsets, but have a lot of hours with the Bose A20 and the Lightspeed Zulus.

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So Matt, are you saying that you can get the Delta Zulus to work well with the windows out and at higher engine speeds? (I haven't yet returned the Delta Zulus)

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So Matt, are you saying that you can get the Delta Zulus to work well with the windows out and at higher engine speeds? (I haven't yet returned the Delta Zulus)

Hi Steve,
Yes the Delta Zulu's work well at 5,000 and 5,500 RPM windows in or out. Please note: You do need to set your Trig radio differently for windows in and out. Once you learn how it only takes a moment.

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Has anyone found an electrical noise elimination solution? Icon knows that there is an electrical noise problem from the strobes (at least in the founders edition birds) and I have been searching for a way to legally eliminate or at least reduce it. Haven't had any luck yet though. I usually just run with strobes off - unless night flying. Bet even then. I get some noise from the position lights it seems.

Another interesting problem with the noise is that when flying at night in a dark cockpit my bilge warning annunciator dimly flashes in time with the strobes. Go figure ...

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I completed my night XC for my PPL this week-end and I noticed the really dim bilge flashing... Now I know why! Thanks.

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Yep, exact same issue in #196. Just got the plane to Dex in Tampa and put that on my squawk list.

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I know this is an old thread, but in case it helps: I just finished flying from Vaca to Toronto via Florida on a 6-week cross country journey in all kinds of conditions, altitudes, etc., wearing the A30. Some things that I found help with buffeting (both ANC-wise and generally) when windows are out:

• the best tool I found was... my elbow. Resting my arm on the window frame and adjusting how far in/out my elbow was would alter the airflow if there was buffeting at my particular heading/speed. But, it might be a little too chilly, so:
• I also adjust the air vents (how open, angle) - this affects the interior cabin air pressure/flow which is what the outer air is ramming against to create buffeting. You can alter the resonant frequency of the competition by altering the flow in the cabin.
• I also carry a shorty GoPro stick generally for on-ground camera use, but because it has a wrist strap (and therefore won't get dropped), if the wind is too chilly for elbow, I'll just poke the top of the stick out the window resting on the frame. It doesn't have to be far out - slight variations in the airflow are all that is needed to help with buffeting. It's low profile so it's easy to hold in your hand resting on your knee
• Mind what's in the back. I did a flight with windows out at one location and I left them on the ground (because I was there for a day) and was thinking "wow, the buffeting is great even at high speeds today" - then I landed, put the windows in the baggage area, took off for my next stop (same conditions) and the buffeting was there. I reached back and moved around the windows a bit and the buffeting changed, so the airflow freedom within the cab affects the pressure fluctuations - makes sense, but would not have occurred to me
• Adjust trim. You might lose a bit of efficiency, but the slight change in attitude alters the direction of airflow over the cabin - this is more for straight-line x-country, but I found it very effective a couple of times.
• Wear ANC in-ear phones under the headphones on passthrough mode

Hope these suggestions help... the reality is that ANC doesn't do well with buffeting, and like a car, buffeting itself can't be eliminated by cabin design alone as it depends on so many exogenous variables like airspeed, angle of attack (of the nose), air pressure, heading relative to wind direction, cabin air dynamics, etc., etc.... .

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Do you have the 3 or 4 blade propeller?

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Hi Tom, if you are asking me, I have the 4-blade prop. But none of the above is propeller dependent. I have flown the 3-blade for about 15 hours, and definitely noticed that the elbow and vent tricks worked there.

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Yes, I was curious if type of prop would also be another variable. I recently upgraded to the 4 prop and have the A30 headsets but I have not yet flown with windows out since upgrading the prop. Thanks for the tips and tricks as very helpful.

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Prop and fuel pumps. I’m curious if people notice a serious reduction and noise with the four blade over the three blade that’s the only reason that I would make the switch if people do feel that it’s quieter. Also, I find that is the fuel pumps that make the most noise inside the cabin I try to find ways to cover them, using soundproofing material, but it didn’t work

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For me the reduction in noise was really apparent. I started the aircraft at a Canadian airport to short taxi for fuel and realized 2 minutes in that I was not wearing my Bose/Zulus and not really caring. That would NEVER happen when I had the three blade. I echo that my new fuel pumps sounds like someone abusing a goat…

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Thank you!

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Ahhh, how I enjoy dry Canuck humour! .

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Prop and fuel pumps. I’m curious if people notice a serious reduction and noise with the four blade over the three blade that’s the only reason that I would make the switch if people do feel that it’s quieter. Also, I find that is the fuel pumps that make the most noise inside the cabin I try to find ways to cover them, using soundproofing material, but it didn’t work

Hey Richard,

I don't think the fuel pumps can be fixed with noise insulation - this IMHO is a carbon fiber issue: you have a rigid structure to which the pumps (and everything else) is mounted, and so it's going to carry all through the cabin (we are seated in an amphitheater roughly at it's focal point - I'm amazed at how quiet ICON has gotten it to be!).

To improve, I believe you'd need to dampen the connection between the pump and the frame itself, or you'd have to put a noise-reducing cover over the cabin to block the vibration as it comes into the cabin - basically you need to intercept the noice propagation. Covering the FPs themselves will not stop the delivery through the structure.

...actually (edit) as I write this, I wonder if you hung a heavy blanket in front of the headset hangers that closed off the back of the cab and did a sound test - that might seriously reduce the noise in the front half of the cab... I think it's worth just seeing what happens...


(But yes, I did notice that the 4-blade is quieter to answer your other question).