I searched and found a short thread on this but I’d like to see if there is an answer to my specific question, namely: What is the best noise-cancelling headphone (for noise-cancellation and sound quality) in a world where Bose does not exist?
I hear a lot about how great Bose is and how its steep price is justified because of that. I’ve had the Bose QuietComfort for many years and really can’t compare to others since I’ve never used anything else but I’m getting a little sick of Bose and am beginning to question if I’m not just paying for the name. In fact, a friend of mine who is an audiophile said that Bose headphones suck. That’s just one man’s opinion, of course.
I have had to replace the ear cushions three times now in the past five years. At $35 a pop, it’s getting a bit annoying (and pricey). $35 for sponge? Even twenty dollars seems a bit expensive (unless it’s somehow aerodynamically sealed with some patented technology or something).
$300 for the headphones. $35 times three or four times to replace the cushions. I’ve also had to replace the wire a couple of times. Are Bose headphones so good that it’s justified coughing up almost five hundred dollars to enjoy them? I’m not so sure anymore.
Surely there’s got to a better, more cost-efficient set of headphones out there.
I have no alternative to name, but I’d run screaming if I had to sink that much money into a pair of headphones. When cars break down that much they call them lemons. Sounds like you got a pair of lemons. I’d be looking for something else too!
When Australian Choice (our consumer testing association) tested mid-last year this was their top list:
AudioTechnica ATH ANC7b
Bose QuietComfort15
Sony MDR NC13 M
AKG K390NC
Creative Aurvana X Fi
The Bose was probably best overall but they are much more expensive than the others. The Sony ranked very close to the top and is about 1/3 to 1/4 the price of the Bose.
Of course not. I hope there aren’t that many people out there paying hundreds of dollars for electronic equipment on the tarmac or on a construction site when they can pay twenty bucks for those hearing guards. (I assume the hearing protection isn’t as pricey anyway.)
I think what happens with me is that they get saturated with sweat, particularly on hot days. I don’t even use them anymore on hot days when I’m going out for long walks but the one or two times I do use them, they just tear apart.
I can’t recommend the AudioTechnica ATH ANC7b. They were first of all uncomfortable, due to the lack of sufficient extension on the headband. Worse, they simply crumbled after about a year–the plastic piece connecting the band to the earpieces cracked and finally fell apart. I was able to extend the life for a few months with tape, but even that was insufficient after a time.
On the upside, the actual noise canceling worked well, but obviously it’s no help if the rest of it falls apart.
I didn’t think so until I tried a pair of the Bose QC20 noise cancelling ear buds in a bar one night and was astounded at how much better I could hear the person next to me talking. I’ve had problems trying to follow conversations in bars for years and was amazed at how much they helped. I passed them around to other people and they had the same reaction. Next week I saw the bartender had a pair on.
I’m sure that other Noise Cancelling headphones would do the same as I’ve used a few on airplanes. But Bose is the only one so far that makes an ear bud noise cancelling set. Can’t see wearing a full size set in a bar, but ear buds are sort of under the radar. Still, they are expensive as hell.
Why noise-cancelling at all? Why not sound-isolating? When I use earplugs or headphones I want to hear the music as close to perfectly as I can, and I assume that, like Dolby noise reduction, noise-cancelling would subtract so much information that all you hear is a murky shadow of the original music.
Until I can get the audio injected directly into my brain, I think I will stick with good, isolating earplugs. With maybe some $3 muffs from Harbor Freight to isolate me more.
Oh yeah, I was going to rewire some old Koss over-the-ear 'phones tonight. And the foam they are packing my wife’s wound with looks like just the right consistency to make new pads for another pair of old Kosses. I have too many headphones and buds.
How/why does that work? Wouldn’t they cancel the sound from person you’re trying to talk to as much as all the noise?
The noise cancellation wouldn’t be applied to the music. They have a microphone to measure the sound of the environment, then cancel that. The music comes through without any cancellation.
I don’t have noise canceling ear buds, but I use regular in-ear ear buds on airplanes, and they do help to reduce the plane’s noise.