Noise canceling headsets when working from the boat?

[Franziska]

Hi,

working at anchor is great!

Still, one does not necessarily want to let clients and other folks know where you are working from.

Had an important call yesterday and it was a calm day, so no disturbing wind noises and splashing waves.
Now, as it happens, we have a F8 approaching and there is the obvious background noise.

So, I am looking into headsets with an active noise canceling microphone to avoid this problem in the future.
On my end I do not mind this sort of background noise, but I'd like to have it canceled out as much as possible for the caller.

Can anyone here share what they use?
I'm specifically after what you use onboard, going to shore is not an option.

The noise canceling for the caller is most important for me, followed by price, followed by comfort, followed by looks (absolutely unimportant, I don't do video calls.).

Thanks.


Few options I found so far:

Great price:
Anker PowerConf H500, Bluetooth Dual Ear Headset with Microphone, Audio Recording, Meeting Calls, Compatible with Apps and Platforms, 24 Hour Battery Power https://amzn.eu/d/0pRFou3

Expensive:
Bakker Tilde Pro ANC Headset with Noise Cancelling https://amzn.eu/d/1pYaFRB

More expensive:
Jabra Evolve2 75 Wireless PC Headset with Charging Dock, 8 Micro Technology - Dual Foam Stereo Headphones with Advanced Active Noise Cancellation, USB-C Bluetooth Adapter and MS Compatibility - Black https://amzn.eu/d/jlVPn7D

[pnw2022]

I would go the more expensive route for something like this. I have the Jabra Evolve2 and they work great with the little boom microphone.

[Letterkenny]

If you are concerned with the other end, you will want a boom mic with a sock for wind noise.

[Franziska]

Thanks. The sock would not be required inside, would it?
I'm not planning to do that sort of calls outside.

[Kinkircating]

I just went through this so I can tell you my experience. I have the Apple AirPods Max, and generally speaking they are awesome. During a recent passage from Annapolis to FL I used them on 6 zoom calls all went flawlessly.

Just to give you an idea of how well they worked, we were rounding Hatteras in 8 footers on a very stiff performance catamaran with 20 knots sustained wind. Needless to say it’s a loud ride when you are surfing and have that kind of sea state. I was on a Starlink connection, and had a conference call with a client in China who was on a speaker phone in a giant conference room. (And their English is not the greatest). Even if I were in a quiet room it can be challenging. I was down in the hull because the rest of the crew was still up in the saloon chatting, but I had zero issues and my customer had no issues understanding or hearing either. I was extremely impressed.

I had a few more video calls along the way and people were surprised at how well the combination of Starlink/zoom/headphones were working.

They are expensive but work great, the Sony XM5’s are a better price and work probably just as well if you aren’t in the Apple ecosystem as deep as me.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by Kinkircating

I just went through this so I can tell you my experience. I have the Apple AirPods Max, and generally speaking they are awesome. During a recent passage from Annapolis to FL I used them on 6 zoom calls all went flawlessly.

Just to give you an idea of how well they worked, we were rounding Hatteras in 8 footers on a very stiff performance catamaran with 20 knots sustained wind. Needless to say it’s a loud ride when you are surfing and have that kind of sea state. I was on a Starlink connection, and had a conference call with a client in China who was on a speaker phone in a giant conference room. (And their English is not the greatest). Even if I were in a quiet room it can be challenging. I was down in the hull because the rest of the crew was still up in the saloon chatting, but I had zero issues and my customer had no issues understanding or hearing either. I was extremely impressed.

I had a few more video calls along the way and people were surprised at how well the combination of Starlink/zoom/headphones were working.

They are expensive but work great, the Sony XM5’s are a better price and work probably just as well if you aren’t in the Apple ecosystem as deep as me.

Very surprising. In my experience, to get max voice quality without a lot of background noise you need a boom mike or other microphone that’s close to the mouth. I have no experience with AirPods Max, but extensive experience with AirPods Pro (1st generation) - they are terrible (as bad as it gets) for transferring background noise, and not what the OP is seeking. I think Apple’s emphasis is on listening quality, not call quality.
For business calls, Plantronics and Jabra are known for having great “office” headsets. I’d recommend those.
The Anker brand might be worth trying too, they have good audio products and good quality for moderate prices. I haven’t tried the ones with the boom mic, but am intrigued.

[Kinkircating]

Originally Posted by SailFastTri

Very surprising. In my experience, to get max voice quality without a lot of background noise you need a boom mike or other microphone that’s close to the mouth. I have no experience with AirPods Max, but extensive experience with AirPods Pro (1st generation) - they are terrible (as bad as it gets) for transferring background noise, and not what the OP is seeking. I think Apple’s emphasis is on listening quality, not call quality.
For business calls, Plantronics and Jabra are known for having great “office” headsets. I’d recommend those.
The Anker brand might be worth trying too, they have good audio products and good quality for moderate prices. I haven’t tried the ones with the boom mic, but am intrigued.

I was surprised too, listening sound quality is superb, but it was astonishing that people on the other end were commenting on how crystal clear it was for them as well with me being in an extremely noisy environment. Hats off to Apple!

Comparing these to the first generation Air Pods is like lining a Hobie Cat up against an America's Cup boat, there is zero comparison in the technology or capabilities...and the cost reflects as such. Admittedly, you most likely will get better results with a boom mic set up, but I now know for a fact that would be an unnecessary hassle.

[dcondit]

I've got to echo the AirPods recommendation. I did two pretty lengthy video calls from the cockpit of a monohull pounding upwind in the Greenland Sea in heavy weather his summer, and the team on the calls thought I was off the boat.

[rslifkin]

Generally for work calls on the boat, I just use the built in mic and speakers on my work laptop. The noise cancelling is good enough that even in heavy rain or wind I start to have trouble hearing the call over the noise long before anyone else notices background noise from my side.



Because of that, I'd suggest that whatever you use should be good at excluding outside noise from your ears as well (either noise cancelling or just good over the ear design that blocks at least some noise).

[Phyrcooler]

Just a heads up… though it appears you are aware… headphones and earbuds advertising “noise cancelling” or “active noise cancelling” are referring to what you - the wearer experience, and the devices ability to “cancel” extraneous noises you would otherwise hear. Not what you are transmitting to the other person(s) via your mic.

Look for specific statements like “noise canceling microphone” or “noise reducing microphone”. In general, you tend to get what you pay for… but that doesn’t have to mean expensive. Once you get into mid level quality, you start finding products with fairly good mics and background sound reducing microphones and electronics. Drill down further into the marketing materials. Also, read the negative reviews and see if users complain about the issue.

I’ve asked friends, and believe my gen 3 Air Pods do a pretty good job of background noise suppression on the mic.

[Uncle G]

I'm not sure this will be your solution since you're unlikely to go out and buy an i-phone for this one instance, but it seems a good place to mention it:

My daughter phoned me recently for advice about her boat engine. During the call she started the engine whilst she was right next to it with the covers off. I heard (very loudly) the engine start - and then after half a second or so it went completely silent. I assumed that she had turned it off again.

But she hadn't. We carried on talking and all I could hear was her voice. Nothing else at all. And she appeared to be able to hear me quite clearly whilst right next to the running engine.

She has an 3 or 4 year old i-phone.

I suppose a constant noise like an engine is 'easy' to mask out - not sure how it would be in a gale with random boat noises - but I was well impressed by the technology. And I'm no fan of Apple stuff.

[Franziska]

Hi everybody. Great answers and I've got good news.

My lovely boyfriend has left his headset on the boat, which I was not aware of when posting this.
So, we did a trial today, he, on holiday back in Germany and me on the boat in the F8 with wind and waves and his headset.

Tada, the Jabra headset performed well. It's got a boom mic and he did not hear the background noise.
It's not even an active noise canceling headset, but it seems to have a good mic.

So, thankfully the solution turns out to be already on the boat.

Thanks again, problem solved.

[Chotu]

Thank you Phrycooler. The improper terminology was hurting my head but I didn’t post about it. Lol

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Thank you Phrycooler. The improper terminology was hurting my head but I didn’t post about it. Lol

Hey Chotu, it might have been confusing when only reading the title. Sorry about that.
But my opening post described fairly well what I was looking for.

The thing was I wanted a headset and not a separate microphone, which is what you find when googeling noise canceling microphone.

A headset usually has a microphone, a headphone doesn't.

[AKA-None]

Savi 8420 dual ear headset, boom mike noise canceling on the ear headset very comfortable

Due to oddities related to ordering through corporate I have my original jabra and 3 different savi / poly headsets and the 8410 single ear is by far the most comfortable and clearer on both ends. The 8420 is for both ears