[Sandybayer]

Seriously considering buying the noise cancelling headdphones in the BOSE range. Are they worth the considerable amounts of money BOSE are asking?

[discover]

how much are the bose headphones going for?
check out the sennheiser HD25 series, when i deejayed a few years back these were my gems, absolutely amazing headphones.

[thechippy]

I have a set of QC2 and QC3 and I love them both.

Great quality sound and excellent when travelling especially on an aeroplane. They really do work!! They chaneg the roar of the engine into the equivalent of being in a car.

They are very expensive but if its the noise cancelling part that you are really wanting then I can definitely recommend either.

[HiFi Headphones]

You may also want to consider Audio-Technica, Sennheiser or Goldring noise cancelling headphones instead of Bose.

In my opinion you really don't get any more for your money with a pair of Bose. If anything Bose are not as well built as a pair of Sennheiser noise cancellers.

Also have a read of our guide to noise cancelling headphones for more information on what environments they work well in (and those they don't).

Shaun

[24 P]

Originally Posted by discover

how much are the bose headphones going for?
check out the sennheiser HD25 series, when i deejayed a few years back these were my gems, absolutely amazing headphones.

I have a pair myself, I used them in a factory environment whilst doing some work for a mate..
i had to stop using them as people were throwing things at me to get my attention.

Hows that for noise canceling?
No batteries, and are brilliant all rounders with great bass, can be a little awkward after awhile, but that can be sorted by spreading the head band.

As for Bose, Buy Other Sound Equipment...

[Mr X]

I own the QC3's and love them - really comfy and great sound.

I think the QC2 are about to be replaced with the QC15

QuietComfort 15 - Noise Cancelling Headphones - Bose Headsets and Headphones

[Uriel]

Goldring NS1000s and Audio Technica ANC7s are both made by an oem company called Phitek. The oem models are Phitek m10 (NS1000 equivalent) and m14 (ANC7 equivalent) respectively but I don't believe that they're available in this country. Creative do a set made by Phitek too but it's not one of Phitek's standard models. I did see a comparative review of the two Phitek models and it rated the m14 slightly higher for sound quality but not by much.

Every comparative review I've seen of the headphones based on Phitek OEM variants puts the sound quality as good as or higher than Bose. The Bose variants are rated sligtly higher for comfort. Both Goldring and Audio Techica can be found for under £100, which to me makes the Bose ones ridiculously overpriced.

I have a pair of NS1000s and can highly recommend them. Fantastic sound quality for a NC headphone, which is well controlled throughout the frequency range. Somewhat surprisingly, they have the best seperated '3d' soundstage I've heard in a closed headphone. They have a lot of detail too. Treble is a little 'hot' in noise cancelling mode but that's less the case with noise cancelling off. They still block out a lot of sound in passive mode (which works without batteries) but are very amp sensitive. Straight out of a soundcard or my AV amp in passive mode the bass sounds bloated and the mids and treble are veiled. Through my FiiO e5, CMOY or Victor SU-DH1 sound in passive mode sound quality is quite close to active mode. You do still lose a little treble, gain a little bass and lose a bit of soundstage definition though.

Speaking of the SU-DH1, these NS1000s are some of the best headphones I've heard for Dolby Headphone use. I'm comparing them to some fairly decent open headphones here, like the Senn HD580 or HD600.

Edit: Not the most in-depth review but the Times did a NC headphone roundup a while ago. http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/...cle3725010.ece
Don't forget the Senn PXC 450. They're very highly thought of.