The best at cutting noise with triport quality sound. Great in noisy settings and good in quiet settings.

No pass through (passive) listening without battery power or noise cancelling. Note to BOSE - I would like to hear the triport technology sans noise cancelling for quiet settings to avoid the albeit small annoyance of active cancellation looking for something to do. Also eardrum pressure becomes bothersome after a while in a quiet setting.

The Bose QC2s have great presence and sound quality. Terrific performance through a range of circumstances. They are comfortable and I have worn them on long flights to Paris. I liked them so much I bought them. Modular design is great when you just want to sleep or enjoy a quieter setting. They do a great job of reducing the drone of both the high and low frequencies of jet engines and surprisingly efficient at cutting out conversation and crying babies. The sound quality is on par with the triports save the minor electronic background noise generated by the active noise cancelling. Which is only really noticable at low volume in a quiet setting. Really comfortable earcups only discomfort I experienced is slightly increased pressure from active noise cancelling on my eardrum.

*Tremendous noise reduction *Very comfortable *Very efficient *"One size fits all" EQ actually works

A bit expensive

The Bose QC2 is not a perfect headphone. It is likely the best headphone for travel that I have yet encountered, and that remains its speciality. For that, it has no equal. This is my third set of noise cancelling 'phones. I have had some cheapo Aiwas (terrible and noisy), Sennheiser PXC250s and now these. I know that "in canal" phones like the Etymonics can do a great job cancelling noise, but I just can't stand feeling those things in my small ear canals. The Bose QC2 is nicely packaged with a carrying case, extension cable and adapters. Construction is lightweight for comfort but has no blatent issues. A single AAA battery powers the internal amplifiers for about 35 hours, so I always stash a couple of spares in the case (which also has room for my iPod - nice touch!). Another nice feature is the oddly hidden input pad that allows the QC2 to be used in high or low efficiency modes; very useful when going from portables to stationary sources. I picked up the Bose after a direct in-flight A-B test against my Sennheisers, courtesy of another passenger. While the PXC250s are admirably neutral and do a decent job of eliminating outside noise, they are no match for the Bose QC2. Noise reduction is almost startling, and the residual hiss of the electronics is far less in the Bose than any other I have tried. Sonically, the Bose QC2s are overly warm and bass heavy. While that may seem a "bad thing", most environmental noise is low-frequency in nature; so the extra bass actually sounds about right when in a plane or a noisy street. By comparison, the "better balanced" Sennheisers sound thin under such circumstances. This certainly makes the QC2 sound "exciting" upon first listen. The bottom end, while a bit muddy, seems endlessly extended and projects a sense of body that few headphones ever achieve. The highs are slightly subdued or distant, but do not give the impression of being "cutoff". The QC2 shares another Bose characteristic: they tend to homogenize recordings and make them all sound "good". Old jazz recordings - no problem. Thumping dance music - no problem. String quartets - no problem. New, old, it doesn't matter. Nothing sounds thin, nothing sounds harsh, not ever. By comparison, my old favorite Grado headphones sound almost analytical, plainly exposing the differences between recordings. While the Grados are no doubt more accurate, there is a smaller amount of music that sounds really terrific on them as they mercilessly reveal flaws - and gloriously reveal well done efforts. The Bose presents an acceptable soundstage, sometimes surprising with depth. Being internally amplified, they also sport tremendous efficiency - my iPod can drive them to dangerous levels with ease. While I prefer my Grado headphones on good source material, the Bose QC2s never disappoint or fatigue. And on less-than-stellar source material, they really shine, making many recordings sound better than they have any right to. Overall, I am quite happy with the Bose QC2. It accomplishes its goals in style and with great efficacy. What it lacks in sheer accuracy it makes up for with its own style and musicality, providing a comfortable and wonderfully isolated listening experience.

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser PXC250 Aiwa HP50

Good tight bass. Very comfortable on the ear.

Very pricey. White noise. Ears get hot

They sound better than i expected. Generally, i hate Bose speakers. I got these simply because they cancel noise better than Seinheissers - atleast the ones that i tried. I am still considering returning these cos i haven't gotten over the guilt of spending 300 bucks for it! My B&W DM303 speakers were 300 for the pair!!

Comfortable for over the ear headphones. Block low frequency ambient noise via passive and active noise cancellation. Decent sound quality with good base response.

High price, definitely a luxury item. Best for specific situations, such as air travel, not as an every day headphone

I have been traveling a lot recently and I also had the good fortune to get an Apple iPod (insanely great!). Having used the complimentary Bose noise canceling headphones in American Airlines business class, I was impressed with the noise canceling technology. But not being a big Bose fan, I decided to purchase the Sennheiser PXC 250 noise canceling headphones for $130. They were cheaper than the Bose and were highly rated over at CNet. When I traveled with the Sennheisers, I was diasappointed with the on the ear design, although the noise canceling effect was reasonably good. Overall those phones lacked an "isolating effect" that I desired, especially if sitting in a section of the plane with noisey companions. Therefore, I decided to spring for the Boise QuietComfort 2 Acoustic noise cancelling headphones. Here's my perspective. They are quite comfortable and the over the ear design offers a fair degree of passive sound isolation. The noise cancelling circuitry seems on par with the Sennheisers. Some reviewers don't understand that active noise cancellation will sample ambient low frequency noise and create a counter soundwave exactly out of phase to silence the ambient sounds. It does not work on intermittent sounds or on higher frequency noise. It works best at reducing the background constant rumble of a jet airplane (reduces, but does not eliminate it!). The sound quaility of the Bose is better than the Sennheisers in that the bass is more prominent, perhaps even slightly exaggerated. One reviewer commented on the typical boomy Bose sound. Nonetheless, I did prefer the Bose to the Sennheisers for the sound quality by a narrow margin, mostl due to the more distinct bass response. A second point is that these are not high end headphones for use for general listening in a quiet environment. The noise cancelling circuitry does generate some background white noise that is not detectable in a noisey environment but is in a quite room. You can get much better sound quality for much less with conventional headphones. Also, there is a perceptable slight increase in "pressure" on your eardrums when the circuitry is engaged. This was not bothersome to me. The build quality was fair for a $300 pair of headphones, lots of plastic, not a lot of weight, but a nice case is included. You can probably get even more noise isolation from in the ear phones such as the Etymotics ER6 or especially ER4's but those block ALL ambient sounds via a passive technology (basically they are earplugs with speakers). I suspect if you want total isolation, get the Etymotics and then use the Bose set on top of them. Then the only thing that will wake you is if the plane crashes.

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser PCX-250 Active noise cancelling headphones

Very comfortable on my ears, I have always had problems with other headphones because they were so uncomforable. The audio is good quality, but not supreme.

I am often wearing my headphones over just one ear, and this has caused the headphone support to break. I am very upset about this, and am shipping it to bose to get it fixed, but I think it will happen again. Also, the base is not quite as deep as I would like it to be.

This is actually a review for the Bose Triport headphones. Comfortable, fairly clean sounding, minor drawbacks.

Similar Products Used:

Bose Quiet Comfort, Tectronics, other DJ grade headphones.

Great bass! Clean over all sound. Remember to turn off the bass boost on your walkman or bass will distort.

Cord coming out of both ears which may get in the way. I'm big on build quality which the phones have but the cord seems a little flimsy but I have not had any problems yet.

Based on the newer Triport. Not the noise canceling headphones. Great over all sound. Deep bass. Clean highs. A great value when compared to the Seinheiser higher end headphones which have an excellent sound but cost so much more. I would recomend these to anyone who wants a great set but doesn't want to spend a lot of money

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Seinheiser, too many cheap brands to list

Sounds great + reduced the aircraft noise to all but a small amount.. (Don't think anything will get rid of ALL the noise).

The belt clip box + explaining to security what it is.

Very Good. I travel 2 to 3 times a week, and have tried several NOISE SUPPRESSION headphones. Most of the headphones reduce only a portion of the noise, including the BOSE headphones. However, the Bose headphones do a much better job than any of the other ones I've tried.

Similar Products Used:

All the sony products + sharper image and BRookstone products.

Decent at attenuating those low frequencies encountered while flying.

Price. Still hear some plane noise. $300? Wow.

I tried these on an 8 hour flight...

Similar Products Used:

none.

great bass and sound. Like the color and the case the come in. Love the fact that all adapters are thrown in with kit including batteris for noise cancelling and extension cord

Bulky (won't fit in laptop bag) Have to carry a clip on you belt (I have a beeper, cell phone, PDA, and MP3 player already taking up space) It does fill loud on your ears for some reason though (I'm not sure what this is but it is definately there, Iassume the technology has minor flaws.)

I bought these as kind of an on the road vesion of a home stereo (Can's take my B&W with me) I was impressed withthe low ends and the richness of music. HOwever it does not fully emilinate outside sound. It will eliminate the how rumble of a jet engine but if you looking for it to eliminate a bell this is not what you want. As for the box you have to carry with you it has a clip but is a nuisance, I think they are pricey for the value but if you can't stand kids and jet travel they are a must.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, B&O, Sennhieser, Koss, Panasonic, Kenwood,

everything

nothing

This is for the TriPort! The Triport is a much better headset than the quietcomforth and for half the price. They image so much better than the qc's. This is due to the fact that the speakers aren't doing double time to reproduce "anti-noise" and music. The sound is much cleaner. Yes, these actually have HIGHS and damn good LOWS. unusual for a Bose. This is comming from a person who has heard a pair of $20,000 Martin Logans. Granted, they don's sound that good. But, damn, for a headset, I think I've found my reference. These are great for all types of music. But, be forwarned: If you listen to MP3'S or poorly recorded CD's, or listen on poor equipment, these will let you know it. also: Let the headset break in for about one hour on medium volume before use.

Similar Products Used:

too many to list