Bose QuietComfort 2 Headphones

I'm not an audiophile, a bose fan, and honestly this headphone sounds better than any other earphones/headphones I've previously owned (I have owned Shure E2C, Etymotic Research ER6i, and few $100~ ranges).

Comfort
As the name claims, the headphone is amazingly comfortable. Only negative was that after few hours, it gets little steamy. If I could ignore this, I would wear this and listen to music for hours.

Sound
Great, yet not so impressive for the price. Bass and high frequencies were little exaggerated, while the mid-range sounds little weak. This can be fixed using equalizer, so not much of a problem with me. After spending 10-15 minutes with tweaking the equalizer on iTunes, the headphones were sounding even greater. Clear definition, especially the string instruments were sounding very realistic.

Noise-Canceling
Disappointed. It does block some noise. I could still hear people talking, tapping on table, clock ticking. Again, I was expecting more for the price. Bose may have intended to not to block outside voices.

Summary
I'm happy with the purchase. I bought used one so that I can get one for less and save some time for aging. These headphones are sounding great, but I wouldn't pay the market price. You can get better quality headphones for the same price range.

As a heavy equipment operator, the noise from the machinery would make my ears "ring" for hours after leaving the job. Ear plugs helped but I really wanted to be able to listen to my music or hear my phone. The Bose headphones work perfectly for my needs. When I listen to music with the Bose headphones it sounds like I am listening to a large stereo system from my i-phone! I highly recommend these headphones. Noise reduction is awesome!!!

These headphones are good, don't get me wrong, just not worth the price. These headphones are much better suited in the $50.00 range. Do not buy if you are looking for great sound quality or bass. Do buy if you are looking for extremely comfortable headphones with great noise cancellation. I ended up returning these and getting myself a pair of Audio Technica's 50's

I have a pair...bought these for my daughter who keeps borrowing mine for airplane trips. Was a godsend this last trip. She sustained a concussion at our destination, and the plane trip home was really tough on her with the cabin pressure changes. These headphones really helped out! They filter out the background hum of the engines, you can still hear the captain over the speaker, and you can also hook them up to your iPod. The trip is definitely less taxing when you wear these, with or without a concussion...you'd be surprised how that background noise can drain you. Didn't try the airplane adapter...so I can't comment on that. And I never tried another brand. But these are terrific and worth it.

Bose is truly the Gold Standard in noise canceling headphones. The Bose Quiet Comfort 2 (QC2) is not necessarily the newest of Bose's noise canceling headphones. The performance is nevertheless still stellar. If you are not used to good noise canceling headphones, you may have a little initial discomfort when using it purely for noise cancellation. The QC2, as with the rest of the QC line, has the ability to remove the audio wire so that it functions as a standalone noise canceling unit. This is especially useful in offices and on airplanes. I use my QC2 in both scenarios and they are great. Back to the discomfort. There is a phrase 'deafeningly silent'. That is exactly what you will experience. It is so silent that your ears actually feel a little uncomfortable. Don't worry. This is purely because in today's world, we do not experience real silence anymore. After a while you get used to it and it is truly really tranquil. Battery life is very good. Music quality is very good. I chose the QC2 over the QC3 as this is an over-ear model. I don't quite like the on-ear type designs. This is purely a personal preference. I have friends who use the on-ear model and find it just as good. Another difference between the QC2 and QC3 is the battery. The QC2 uses one standard AAA battery. The QC3 on the other hand uses a custom Li-ion battery. The Li-ion battery gives longer life but has the disadvantage of what I call the Sony Memory Stick Problem. The MS is great. Very fast and robust. But can only be used on a Sony device. There is no interchangeability thus the functionality is limited. The standard SD card on the other hand can be used across the board, on literally thousands of devices. Similarly, the Li-ion battery can't do anything except power the QC3. On the other hand, the rechargeable Ni-MH AAA battery I use on my QC2 can be used for a multitude of applications should an emergency arise. I can also walk into a 7 11 any hour of the day or night and pick up a spare zinc AAA if I am really desperate and don't have time to charge my battery. Did I mention that the addition of the Li-ion battery in the QC3 pushed up the price by USD50? For these two additional reasons too I find the QC2 the better buy.

Bose has come out with a replacement for the QC2; the QC15. It looks more or less the same except for a few aesthetic details. The power LED is now Green rather than Red. Technically, I have been informed that rather than one mic on the outside, there are now two mics to detect ambient noise; one on the outside, and one on the inside of each side. This results in crisper sound and also better bass. The QC15 now cancels noise across a wider range as compared to the QC2.

Overall, the Bose Quiet Comfort series is highly recommended. The price tag may be a bit steep, especially if you live in a country with a weaker currency, like myself. I paid for these headphones what some people pay for a laptop! But all said, they are still worth it as I travel a decent bit, sometimes even on small prop planes!. The new found silence in the office a very nice change too.


Written by Chris Sen.