BOSE (R) In-Ear Stereo Headphones
by BOSE
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of BOSE (R) In-Ear Stereo Headphones
Customer Review: Took awhile...but I finally found them!
Summary: 5 Stars
Here is a list of headphones I went through before trying these out:
Shure E3c - Really nice sound. Bass was not to strong. However inserted in the ear canal properly, bass was a little more pronounced. Problem was that the comfort level for my ears was unbearable. Everytime I walked, the seal broke between the headset and my ear canal. I had to constantly re-adjust the E3c's to make sure I had a good seal, and good bass response.
Etymotic ER6i - These were my favorite. Sound was excellent. Better bass response. The comfort level was better even though I had to cut the first piece of the phalange ear piece so it could have proper fit in my ear canal. The seal stayed during movement with no problems. I could have these on a lot longer than the Shure's
Koss PortaPro Headphones - These were great as well. Really nice sound, cheap price, but they were over the ear headphones. I have short hair. Every once in awhile, they would rip the hair out of my head when I adjusted them or took them off. Super comfortable, but I decided that I did not want to have an over the head headphones.
So I came across the Bose In Ear Headphones. I actually read through every single review here. I must admit, I do have some other Bose Products that I enjoy. I am not a slave to one Company as you can tell from my other headset selections. The reviews here were mixed. The way a headset sounds to a person is very subjective. So the best way for me to test these things out, is to buy it and try it out. I can always return it.
I listened to The Who Eminence Front song. WOW..it sounded great! The bass was great. Even better than the Koss Porta Pros. It was not over powering to me as well. Just perfect! The sound was not as clear as the Shure's and the Etys, but there really was not that much difference. The big thing I was happy with was the comfort level. When I first put them in my ear, I tried sticking them in my ear canal like I did with the Shures ad the Etys. I couldn't do it, so I got kind of nervous. However..once the music started, I was kind of amazed at the bass response and the clarity of the headset. All this without jamming it in my ear canal. I wore these for three hours with no discomfort or adjusting at all. There is no seal that takes place between the headset and the ear canal. So there is no seal issues at all. I don't think I would take these to the gym however. They are just to expensive. However...I have been moving around all day at the office, and I walk through the city as well. The Bose In Ear's stayed on with no problems.
So in summary:
In my opinion, if you buy these, you will get a head set that has really clear sound with great bass response. The just right bass response beats all 3 of my prior headsets hands down. While not as clear as the Shure's and the Etys, they are really close. The comfort level of the Bose In Ears well make up for this short coming. These are by the far the most comfortable ear buds I have owned. Really great sound without the jamming down the ear canal and the constant adjusting to keep the seal. Again..this is strictly my opinion. I am keeping these for sure. Try them out. If you do not like them, then just return them!
Customer Review: Great Sound w/out Blocking Out the Rest of the World
Summary: 5 Stars
I've read quite a few reviews on these headphones and frankly, I think the detractors miss the point.
Many criticize the fact that they don't fit "snuggly" in the ear canal. "Hello", they are not supposed to. Instead, they rest comfortably in the ear. Immediately after buying them, I went on a 15 mile bike ride with my sons. They did not come loose a single time, yet alone fall out. More importantly, they stayed extremely comfortable the entire time. I think they are the first ear buds (or headsets for that matter) that I have worn for hours on end without discomfort. Interesting to me that so many people can't stand the fact that they don't get to experience the sensation of having something jammed deep into their ear canal (which always becomes uncomfortable after prolonged wear).
I also have several sound isolating ear buds. In particular, the Etymotic ER6i's are great when I'm sitting on a loud airplane. They sound excellent and block out the majority of the outside noise. I also use the ER6i's sometimes to fall asleep to the sound of music when I have to crash earlier than the rest of my family and don't wish to be awoken by their activities.
On the flip side, There are many times that I can't and/or don't want to be oblivious to what is going around me. The Bose IE headphones provide an incredibly rich deep sound, yet at the same time, I'm still tuned in to my surrounding environment. That is specifically why I purchased them in the first place. It is important when I'm listening to music at my desk at work and need to be alert to my co-workers. It is also great when I'm riding my bike and need to be aware of other riders coming up from behind (I am also able to converse with my sons and hear them when they speak in a normal voice). Finally, and probably most important, it is nice to be able to listen to some tunes and still be attentive to my wife when she says something to me :-)
Suffice it to say that the Bose IE headphones sound spectacular. It is hard to believe just how good they sound, given the small size and the fact that I forget I'm wearing them because they are so light and comfortable. It is a full sound, from the base, to the midrange, to the highs. In my opinion, they sound much more like large over the ear headphones than ear buds.
I purchased mine post April '07, so I have not experienced the issue of the silicone earpieces falling off (since Bose redesigned them in light of all the early complaints). I suppose my only criticism of these would be that they do require you to turn up the volume higher that you do with sound isolating ear buds. This drains the batteries on my mp3 player faster, but I expected this out the gate and it has not been a problem for me.
If you are in the market for extraordinarily comfortable headsets that provide incredible sound, while at the same time allowing you to hear the sounds going on around you, these are hard to beat. On the other hand, if you are looking for something to block out ambient noise, these are definitely not for you. There are much better options out there for less money (the Etymotic ER6i's and V-Moda Vibes are just a couple examples).
Customer Review: Emergency purchase with decent results
Summary: 4 Stars
Bose In Ear Headphones
I am not an audiophile, though I do know above average equipment over your typical storewide brands.
I was really looking and thinking of Klipsch or Sennheiser headphones, but last night the current pair (the original Apple pair) died. Now I was doing careful research for my next pair prior to the panic, but now I was forced to run out and get what I could find. Very little in the way of headphones for the Iphone in stores. Bose looked like the only reasonable higher end model, so it was purchased.
Listened to these for about three hours with various shades of music, industrial, indie rock, alternative rock, jazz, old skool punk rock and some various styles of electronic. Only one track sounded miserable and that is chalked up to a bad initial recording (Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead).
There are obviously some limitations to the headphones, naturally do to size, but also because each track was recorded as a 256 kbps mp3 file. The music sounded a little muted and somber, however it certainly did not sound dead. There was some liveliness to the mid's (mid range) and the stereo seperation created some fascinating sonic 3D images.
There has been a lot of negative reviews and comments about the lack of bass. The reviews with people saying that there is no bass with these headphones must be tone deaf, hearing impaired or listening to poorly recorded mp3's. Its not the deep earth shattering bass from a home speaker or subwoofer, but enough to satisfy you for the music the way it was intended to be heard (without bass enhancement). The overall bass seemed warm and real and not enhanced. The natural feel of the bass brought a nice balance to the mid's and the music with some flavor.
The package comes with S/M/L earpieces. I have a small head, small enough that a "one size fits all" baseball cap is too big for me. The default M seemed to fit perfectly. These were used sitting on my porch, enjoying a few beers and watching the sunset. My head was moving around for most tracks played and the earbuds did not budge. If you were to use these for some kind of activity such as, jogging, where your ears would become sweaty, these would more than likely slip out easily.
They seemed to fit comfortably into the ear canal, though at times I had a slight numbness sensation that came and went throughout my use. This was not serious enough to detract from the music, nor cause me to remove the headphones.
The quality of the headphones makes them a bit overpriced. If taken care of and not used in a rough manner, they will last without issue. For those on the go, travelling far and wide mingled with the bustling crowd, these could easily break in the chaos of everyday life. The plug is angled and is an accident waiting to happen.
There are not a lot of negative things I can say about the headphones, except that they are a little on the pricey side for what you get overall. $50-$60 would be a better deal.
Customer Review: My experience after reading all Reviews
Summary: 3 Stars
After reading all the reviews on Amazon, I decided on balance to give them a try. Below is my summary of the reviews followed by my experience of them.
To summarise all the reviews:
Pros
- Comfortable fit from silicon type ear moldings
- Clean, clear sound
- Good to strong base response
- Dynamic response rates and finer detail
Cons
- Not fully in-ear so no noise-cancelling (no seal on ear canal)
- Large plug at connector - making Nano not so Nano.
- Ear moldings come off easily
- Too much bass response
In my experience I found the Bose inear headphones largely disappointing. The reason for this is that I like to walk around London without outside sounds infiltrating my world. My high levels of expectation were dashed by the simple fact that when walking down the sidewalk of a busy road, Razorlight although faithfully reproduced was underscored by a constant heave of traffic. Again on the Tube, conversations and the sound of the underground could be heard. At first I thought it might be the fit so I changed the moldings and again no luck. I had to turn the volume up pretty high to try and block out external sounds. This didn't work even at the highest level and further - while I am a bass fiend, I found at high levels the bass was too dominant. In terms of the quality of the base - well it really is tight. I'd compare it to Rockford Fosgate 7 by 10s in a car audio type environment. Tight, clean, solid.
Later I listened to them in a less noisey environment and I must say I warmed to them a lot. It really is noticeably Bose sound. And the ear mouldings are very comfortable.
Later that night I went out reached into my jacket pocket and both of the ear moldings had fallen off - one apparently at my apartment. This was super annnoying as it meant that I wouldn't have music for the next 24 hours simply because the ear moldings don't attach securely enough.
So in my final analysis, I say that Bose did a great job on the sound quality if a little heavy handed on the bass, but the overall design sucks - a half in/half out the ear design cannot compete with a fully inear design as the seal effectively makes the entire ear canal an instrument or bass bin if you like. And to have such a fragile system for connecting the ear mouldings is simply irresponsible on the designers part. If is clearly not designed for city living. While I am loathe to do away with the beautiful (if a little muddied) sound, the design and day-to-day liveability of the product is ultra low-end - even my Apple In-Ear's are more durable. I'm sending them back after 1 day's use and I'm now going straight for the Entomytics.
Sorry Bose, but I expected more from such talented designers! The sound is great though but you should have put more work into it.
Customer Review: I sometimes forget I'm wearing them...
Summary: 5 Stars
These are, hands down, the most comfortable ear buds I have ever worn. I also own the Shure E2c and the ER6i and the Bose beat them for comfort hands down. Don't get me wrong the other two are good, but I've never literally forgotten I was wearing buds with either of them in. I've even slept, on my side, for six hours while wearing these. I'm a pet groomer and I wear my buds all day long at work, eight to ten hours a day and I can wear these without any irritation whatsoever. But you might be wondering how they sound?
The sound quality of these buds is, in a nutshell, different than the ER6is or the E2Cs. All three of them have good sound quality when compared to cheaper buds, but the Bose definitely have more bass than the other two and I've found I don't need my Zen Vision M's equalizer when listening to these. The ER6i's and the E2Cs are 'cleaner' sounding, but the Bose sound a little more warm to me. I've also found that wearing them different ways for different purposes makes them an all around good pair of buds.
The medium tips fit me perfectly right out of the box, but when I'd like a little more sound isolation I can step up to the large without compromising comfort. I've also found that if you put them in the wrong ears, upside down, and wrap the wire around your ear much like the E2Cs it not only provides a better seal to block out more ambient noise, but also provides more stability when I'm really active, like at the gymn. When I'm walking the dogs or engaged in other activities that require hearing ambient noise to stay safe, I wear them normally with the medium tips. No matter how I put them in, they're comfortable. I've also not had the problem others seem to have had with the silicon tips falling off, but I believe I purchased a newer model, as the wire is black and white.
In summary, the sound is not as clean as the ER6i or the E2c, but it's much warmer and I actually prefer that. After a little bit of break in time, the his and the mids also became more present for a balanced sound and they're comfortable no matter how I choose to wear them.
UPDATE: They only get better! The more time you spend with these little guys, the better they become. I've always been a little up in the air about whether or not 'burn in time' for speaker drivers was a valid concept or just a myth. With these buds, I believe it. They sound better every day (and no it's not my ears getting used to them. My roomie put them on for the first time in a week this morning and commented on how much more even everything sound and how the bass had mellowed out.) If you don't like the sound of these right out of the box, plug them into an audio source overnight and listen to them the next day. I think you'll notice a difference.