thxsubwoofers Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 Do bose headphones suck? How is the sound quality of the headphones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfyr Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 Their noise cancelling headphones have received pretty good reviews despite their being quite expensive. I have not tried the Bose, but I might suggest checking out the various models by Sennheiser, AKG, & Sony (and any number of other manufacturers) which are generally less expensive and are also available in other configurations depending upon your needs. Also, you might want to think about your anticipated usage and see if you will really benefit from noise cancelling headphones. If they are for home use, as opposed to using them on airplanes, or in other noisy environments, you may be better served by looking at better quality traditional designs... And if you can, try them on for a while before buying! Fit and other hard to objectively describe factors will contribute greatly to your listening comfort. And I will mention especially the tendency for some to fit too snugly, which for a short time will seem fine, until they become excruciatingly painful to wear! Sony is particularly prone to this in their low-mid range as I found out after using some for non-critical mobile laptop use. But I have not tried their noise-cancelling units. Good luck.... oh, and here is but one of many links to online reviews: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3000_7-1017728-1.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 I have not honestly heard the Bose units, as dragonfyr stated, they have gotten some good reviews, I would however take them with a grain of salt. Definately try them for yourself, comfort goes a long way to being able to actually use them for extended periods. I own Sennheiser HD-570's, very comfortable velour cushions, circumaural ( cover the entire ear, rather than sit on the ear ), and open-backed. They are very light and comfortable, and don't put pressure on my glasses. ( important to those of us that wear them all of the time ) I have been able to wear them for 5-6 hours at a time. After owning them for a while, I was able to test back to back the HD570's and the HD600's when I was in Toronto, On at Bay Bloor Radio. I could not justify the additional cost for such a slight difference in sound quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thxsubwoofers Posted August 18, 2005 Author Share Posted August 18, 2005 ---------------- various models by Sennheiser ---------------- In circuitcity website they give great reviews for Sennheiser headphones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dantfmly Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 I have listened to bose noise canceling headphones $249, and honestly my $150 sennheiser headphones kick the crap out of them. except in the noise canceling effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Istari Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 "except in the noise canceling effect", Ah that's why you buy them..... They are noise cancelling.. I have a pair of the bose noise cancelling headsets and they work pretty well for their intended use. They do reduce the noise but not eliminate it. They are pricey and there are other units at 1/3 of the cost. If you are in a larger airport look for the Brookstone stores. They have a model that pretty nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTLongo Posted August 20, 2005 Share Posted August 20, 2005 I have a set of the current Bose Quiet Comfort noise-cancelling headphones and like them quite a bit. Pricey at $300 but very comfortable and good. Everything including the battery is built into the headset, as opposed to the earlier version which used an outboard little box, a real nuisance. The noise cancelling feature really works to knock down STEADY outside noise, a dramatic improvement, say, aboard an airplane or while mowing my lawn. Transient sounds, such as speech or a phone ringing, will still be heard. For $149 Bose also makes a "Triport" model of non-cancelling headphones. I just picked up a pair as a departing gift for the president of a local organization I belong to whose term is ending. They resemble, are as comfortable and sound as good as the Quiet Comforts, though without the sound-cancelling feature, of course. I, frankly, recommended to the group and we bought the Bose headphones for the name recognition - seeing that it's Bose he will think they're something "special," and we did want thereby to convey the impression we think he's been a pretty good guy. Yeah, Bose's marketing machine is that effective. Incidentally, I hadn't been in the Bose store at Rehoboth, DE for a long time, and took a listen to their current top of the line Lifestyle system ($4000) in their home theater. It was loud, clear, somewhat listenable, and has neatly styled, sophisticated electronics. But the weak point remains the speakers. Yeah, the little cubes are "invisible" and the bass module will play loud but it seemed to reach down to only 60 hz or so and the whole system sounded mechanical, honky and fatigue-ing, like in a bad movie theater. But then again, I'm spoiled by what I have at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kde Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 I have the noise canceling headphones and love them. They sound great and are super comfortable - I can leave them on for an entire plane ride (3+ hours...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunburnwilly Posted August 21, 2005 Share Posted August 21, 2005 Bose headphones Do Not Suck ! They Blose ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnsonhp Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 The BOSE noise cancelling headphones are one of my favorite products.... As a frequent flyer I like them even with the sound off, but I mostly like listening to my mp3's on the notebook while I work. The older versions are cheaper on ebay but the new version are flatter. Now at $300 they are expensive and I wonder if there are other brands that are similar but notably cheaper. I'm trying a pair of HP noise cancelling headphones for $50 to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intotubes Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 I have to agree with the positive opinions posted thusfar. I have a set and really like them. The noise cancelling really works...amazing. One bad, if the battery dies - no music. So carry a spare. They are overpriced, being Bose, but they do sound quite nice. I got mine for "free" though, with my TiVo rewards points. Gotta love that Tivo! Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 Working at the apple store, I hear them all and so forth. To be quite honest if you like the earbud styles, the shure and etymotics kick the crap out of the bose headphones. The triports are nice and do stop alot of ambient noise. The noise canceling headphones is the same idea and I believe same speakers but with noise canceling. One thing to note is that it does emite a very faint hiss. That is the active microphone I believe. On another note, The earbuds from shure and etymotic are very very good. They even do better noise cancelation then the bose as they are actually earplugs with speakers. The shure e2c $99 dollars are boomy bass heavy. The shure e3c are $179 but still has some boominess. The e4c $299 though are absolute sweethearts as they are pretty flat with good bass response. they even have ear cleaning supplies. Never tried the e5c $499 but I heard they are the bass kings. The etymotic 6i are $149 and I believe they are better then the shure e3c. They are ultra flat, good bass response, vocals are differentiated from the music. And etymotic has a better version the er4 which are $299 or so and called the greatest earbud headphones. They can all be found at www.headphone.com also they give good honest rating on the headphones. They call the senheisser 650 though the greatest headphone though with a good amp. Oh I'm not sure with the updated noise canceling headphones but on the original you have be careful when removing them to avoid rubbing your fingers across the microphone and have them scream at you. Also I read somewhere that the bose noise canceling headphones were a failed experimental headphone for the airforce. Where the airforce did not see a benefit of using the active noise cancelation because it hadn't really improved much. So bose had 50000 or so pairs and marketed them to the comsumer claiming there new and innovative and the latest and greatest. Even though in fact they were failed military experiments that bose had made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnsonhp Posted August 23, 2005 Share Posted August 23, 2005 The ear canal products are another very popular option but some like me don't find it comfortable to have them in my ears. Of course another benefit is their size which is nice for traveling. I started using regular home synnheiser headphones which I loved in my house but they weren't appropriate for on a plane. I've used the Bose for several years and been pleased but this isn't an audiophile experience...noisey plane, PC MP3 files, etc. At home I like the Synnheisers better. I like MusicMatch on my notebook setup to display the album art for my songs. It's fun to flip through the jukebox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinipig523 Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 The Bose Triports are among the worst headphones for the cash you pay. I had them and I compared them to some $50 sonys and the sony sounded better. If you are willing to spend the cash, you can easily get a headphone setup that will tear apart the Bose for the same amount of cash. Some headphones to look at: Sennheiser HD580/600/or the top of the line: HD650. Grado SR60/80/125/225/325/RS1/2 Sony SA5000 You can spend a lot on headphones and its amplifiers. Here is my headphone rig: Sennheiser HD650 ($550) HeadAmp GS-1 amplifier ($750) Go to headfi.org to learn more if you are interested in a real good reference pair of headphones. Go Bose if you want to be popular among the regular crowd. Go somewhere else if you want SQ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thxsubwoofers Posted August 24, 2005 Author Share Posted August 24, 2005 So, I guess Bose only makes good $300 dollar headphones, and there speakers are average? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 ---------------- On 8/23/2005 10:35:27 PM Jay481985 wrote: The triports are nice and do stop alot of ambient noise. Let's just say that I was given a pair of Triports - and ended up giving them away. Nasty, mid-bass-heavy, impossible to listen to headphones. I prefered my Sony 700's by a longshot, at half the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblue Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 I bought a pair of Grado's...I've never been so amazed by headphones. And they were $100! Blow away $200 Sony studio headphones, and my buddy's Sennheiser (although I'm not sure what model he has). I have the Grado SR-80's. You can find them for under $100. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thxsubwoofers Posted August 28, 2005 Author Share Posted August 28, 2005 Are the Bose QuietComfort 2 headphones, great for online games examples Counterstrike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunburnwilly Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Old School Koss Pro AAA , and AA's were great . They also gave your neck a good workout because of their weight . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddcobb Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 I have the shure ec3's and they are amazing. When I have them both in at work I can't hear anything even if there is no music playing and someone is talking to me 5 ft away. I also like that no one else can hear my music if they are in my ear, regardless of the volume level. They are much smaller and in turn much more convenient to travel with. Given that I was flying a minimum of twice a week, (most of which were in excess of 3 hrs) I can tell you 100K miles later, the shures are still amazing and I am really pleased I bought them. The ec4's weren't out at the time I got my ec3's. I would definitely have looked at these had they been. The ec5 was out but even though I found them for 340 it was still to big a price to swallow. Im incredibly pleased with my ec3's performance and I got them for around $139, from ecost. You see the discount once you add them to your basket. As far as customer service goes I accidently stepped on them (bc Im a dumbass and left them on the floor out of the case) and broke one of the earpieces off. I fedexed them back to shure and three days later a new pair were fedexed back to me. GREAT PRODUCT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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