| TheWorm |
I have version 1 of them. Worth every penny.
Used to travel 75k+ a year, and went through a few different brands/types:
Previously had a $70 set from Sharper Image; cheap plastic and uncomfortable; worked FAIR; broke almost immediately. The usual Sharper Image deal: looked nice, sounded like a cool product, but quality sucked.
Very briefly tried (on loan) some Sony earbud-types, but there was too much background noise bleed and I'm not a fan of earbuds, anyway.
Also had a pair of Sony's (can't remember the model #) running $150 or so. They were good, but became uncomfortable after a couple of hours (the earpieces rested ON your ears). Wife uses those, now.
The Bose are stellar. Earpieces (nice and soft) cup your entire ear, so no discomfort (just wore 'em on a 6hr NYC-SF flight the entire time); noise cancellation is outstanding. Battery life is excellent. I think the sound quality is great (tho I'm not an audiophile). The only potential downside is that they don't fold up as small as some of the other brands. But the quality of materials, along with the comfort and performance = WORTH IT, IMO. |
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| zafer |
| I have some back from `95 from Sharper Image, and they are great for long airline trips. It included adapters for the airline type jacks, so you can use them for watching movies, and listening to the audio channels also, thru the unit canceling the ambient noise. After that a few of our system admins bought them too, for when they have to spend hours in the server lab. Initially they cost $100, but later I saw them for $50-60. |
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| hammermdx |
| Thanks guys, I'll place the order! I have a bit of air travel coming up and the engine drone is such a drag! |
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| TheWorm |
| You'll be glad you did. Now you won't hear the engine drone -- just the shrieking kids :D |
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| zafer |
| I've heard Babies R Us has something called a Yap Clamp for that. |
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| hammermdx |
| Does it work on women too?:2: |
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| frostyra |
| IF you can stand to wear earplugs for a long time, you might want to try Etymotic ER-4S in-the- ear 'phones. They do a great job of cutting out outside noise, and are very easy to drive. $269 from http://headphone.com . I use them for monitoring the live music recordings that I do -- very accurate. |
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| BlueStreak |
| They are the same as the Bose Aviation headsets (less the mic of course) and they are very nice. You will be very happy with them. |
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| kflint |
| The new Bose version is even better than the old version. The new set does not have the separate box attached by a cord; they are self contained. I also think they do an even better job of cancelling noise. One of the best "gadget" investments I have made. |
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| nightguy |
You guys still like these ?
The Mrs. flies a lot and usually gets bumped to first class. On our vacation we both got bumped and were the only ones in first class without a red light on our heads. I can't allow her to fly in such deplorable conditions. :rolleyes:
I'm thinking Sharper Image might be the best and easiest place to buy them ? Any idea if you can try them out in the store ? |
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| hammermdx |
quote:
Originally posted by nightguy
You guys still like these ?
The Mrs. flies a lot and usually gets bumped to first class. On our vacation we both got bumped and were the only ones in first class without a red light on our heads. I can't allow her to fly in such deplorable conditions. :rolleyes:
I'm thinking Sharper Image might be the best and easiest place to buy them ? Any idea if you can try them out in the store ?
I still love mine and won't fly w/o them. They work great with my iPod on the plane too. I ordered them on-line from Bose, there are some Bose stores in some of the malls I visit. I also had a tear in my travel case, I called Bose and even though I was out of warranty, they replaced it, no questions asked. |
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| kflint |
I would leave a lot of things behind (and have) before I would fly without these headphones. They simply are great.
KJF
My Photo Gallery |
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| vicpai |
quote:
Originally posted by TheWorm
You'll be glad you did. Now you won't hear the engine drone -- just the shrieking kids :D
......Do the Bose headphones just cut out low frequency noise, or do they cancel out (at least to a certain extent) the mid and high frequencies as well??
I have a set of AIWA noise cancelling headphones and they do not do a very good job of cutting out most of the outside noise at the Gym where I work out. (They play music at very LOUD volumes, making it impossible to PEACEFULLY enjoy MY music)....Yes, Bally Total Fitness sucks big time and is possibly one of the WORST run businesses I have EVER come accross (they don't give a rat's a$$ about serving their customers) |
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| SCWells72 |
For what it's worth, I found Coby noise canceling headphones:
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...ronics&n=507846)
at Fry's for $15 one day and picked up two pairs. I figured for the price, they'd have to suck, but it'd be worth the price to give it a shot. I have to tell you, they've been EXCELLENT! I'm sure they don't measure up to the BOSE $300 headphones since they have passive noice cancelation (constant white noise inversion for the most common white noise patterns) and the BOSE are active (constantly adjusting for the actual ambient white noise), but everyone I've shown them to, including a friend who has the BOSE phones, has been impressed.
I've used them on a LONG trip to India and back, a decently long trip to Europe and back (and all around on the rail), and many shorter domestic jaunts, all to great effect. On all of these trips I was using either my portable DVD player, my Nintendo GBA or DS, my wife's MP3 player, or the in-flight entertainment. All sounded great with these phones and MUCH more clear and distinct than when I would flip the noise cancelation switch to off!
If you're waffling about spending $300 on the BOSE, I'd recommend giving these a try first just to see if they do it for you. |
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| nightguy |
Well the wife got the headphones for Valetine's Day. She knew exactly what they were but I'm not sure she knows what to make of them. They kind of hurt our ears although we both had bad head colds this past week. She probably won't fly until next week so I guess I'll know more then. Thanks for the help.
I hope if she keeps them and they happen to break the warranty return process goes smoothly. I bought them at the Bose store and I was a little surprised how aloof the salesperson was for a $300 purchase. |
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| hammermdx |
quote:
Originally posted by nightguy
Well the wife got the headphones for Valetine's Day. She knew exactly what they were but I'm not sure she knows what to make of them. They kind of hurt our ears although we both had bad head colds this past week. She probably won't fly until next week so I guess I'll know more then. Thanks for the help.
I hope if she keeps them and they happen to break the warranty return process goes smoothly. I bought them at the Bose store and I was a little surprised how aloof the salesperson was for a $300 purchase.
Hopefully it's just the head cold that made them uncomfortable. Keep us updated! |
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| nightguy |
Well the QuietComforts went back to the store. Wife basically said they were nice but didn't merit $300. But the main problem was that the sound quality just wasn't there. When I plugged them into my receiver, the bass was puffy and distorted and there was lots of other noise. I would pay $100 for these but not $300, even if the sound was better.
The dumb kid behind the counter at the Bose store actually challenged me on the sound quality thing...which almost seemed like some kind of standard procedure thing for returns. He backed down when I told him I use headphones every day and the Sony MDR-7506 is far and away superior and more durable for $99. |
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