Bose® QuietComfort® 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headphones(Old Version)
by Bose
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Bose® QuietComfort® 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headphones(Old Version)
Customer Review: The Bose QuietComfort 15 headphones...the Pros and Cons
Summary: 4 Stars
The Bose QC15 are a noise cancelling set of headphones priced at $299.
Background:
I became interested in these headphones for several reasons. I had had a set of Bose Triport headphones for several years now and loved them. The sound was great but the only thing I found with the Triports was that they were warm to wear after a while...even though there were 'AE' (around the ear) rather that 'OE' (on ear).
I had a chance to try the QC15's at a local Best Buy and the ear cups were even more 'around the ear' then the Triports AND in addition they were noise cancelling as well. This added feature was of interest to me because I often read in the same room my wife may be watching TV and the triports didn't keep extraneous sounds out.
The Pros:
1.) outstanding noise cancelling capabilities. Flip on the noise cancelling switch and any noise just disappears. My wife can still get through to me if she speaks loud enough, however if I'm listening to music, news etc. then almost nothing from outside is heard.
2.) comfortable ear cushions that are completely around ear; much better that the Triports.
3.) the cord is detachable when using the headphones only for noise cancelling. A really nice feature as you don't get tangled up in it, if you get up to move about. Also, only a single cord to the left headphone...an improvement over the Y cord to both.
4.) it comes with a small and easily portable carrying case. The earphones themselves can be turned to lie flat so they take up as little space as possible for storage.
5.) as opposed to some other reviewers' comments, I thought the QC15's were sturdy, fairly rugged and well made.
The Cons:
1a.) sound quality; I didn't think the sound quality of the QC15s were as good as my Triports. The Triports have a richer, fuller sound across the entire audio spectrum. I suppose that 'something' must be lost when you engage the noise cancelling features...i.e. some part of the audio performance suffers to get the benefits of the reduction of noise. I guess if I'd not had the Triports to compare with the QC15s I would not have mentioned this because the QC15s do have good sound...just not quite as good as the Triports.
1b.) unfortunately you can't hear any audio with the QC15s headphones unless you've turned the noise canceling ON. It would have been interesting to see if the preceived slight reduction in sound quality would have improve IF you could listen to the audio without engaging the noise cancelling function.
2.) despite the larger ear cushions, I found my ears still seemed to get warm fairly quickly.
3.) the cord to connect the QC15s to your sound device is very hard to insert into the headphone socket because of the angle and the fact that it is very smooth. What it needs is a little ridge on the insert plug for your fingernail. I always get the feeling if I misplaced my finger and pressed too hard I might damage the cord that is inserted into this headphone socket. This is such an obvious omission that you'd think someone in the R and D dept. would have seen this 'flaw' when these headphones were on the original drawing board.
4.) The price...$299.00 a bit steep I think.
Conclusion:
It really depends on what your looking for...if noise reduction is the prime concern, then these will meet your needs.
If the absolute best quality of audio is a must...you might want to compare this unit against other premium priced models before you decide.
However, if you want a quality blend of both noise reduction and good sound then this set has an appealing compromise of both features.
Overall 4 1/2 Stars.
Ray Nicholson
Customer Review: Noise Cancelling at its Very Best
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a computer programmer by trade. My job requires the utmost in concentration. The reason I purchased the Bose QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones is specifically for the level of noise cancelling ability they provide. Rather than go into yet another highly detailed review, I'll share my experiences with the headphones and address some of the negative responses I've seen posted by other reviewers.
I'm not an "audiophile". I just need a comfortable way to lose the sounds of a noisy office area. I've had the Bose QC 15s for just over 2 weeks. I use them 5-6 days a week. I wear them for four to five hour stretches without break.
As you know from reading the other reviews posted here, the headphones are excellent at cancelling surrounding noise. However, they are better at cancelling some types of noise than others. With the noise cancellation engaged and no music playing, on one side of the scale - the whoosh of the building's climate control system disappears completely. On the opposite side - nearby voices, including an office-mate with a "public speaker's voice", are still there but sound very far away. If I apply a low volume of music to the headphones with the noise-cancellation engaged, I'm completely isolated from the surrounding din. Nirvana.
From my experience, the quality of sound is very good. Perhaps it could use a bit more bass but I find the sound quality to be very clear and pleasant. But as I said, I'm no audio (nor any other kind of) phile. ;)
The headphones are extremely comfortable. They are very well designed with respect to "wear-ability". They are light-weight, seal around the ears well (effectively blocking much of the ambient noise) and apply no physical pressure on the ears. I can comfortably wear them for hours.
I read one reviewer who commented that the headphones made his ears so hot and sweaty that he had to remove them every ten minutes to allow his ears to cool. I've not had that experience. If I think about it while wearing the headphones, my ears do seem a little warmer than usual but nothing anywhere near the level of uncomfortable. And I'm a "hot-natured" person.
Another complained that the headphones are "made very poorly for a $300+ product". I respectfully disagree. While I balked at paying the price, I find the headphone design and construction to be engineered very well indeed. On the order of cutting-edge.
A reviewer complained that you can't run the headphones in "bypass mode". If I understood the complaint correctly then the reviewer was saying that it's a bad thing that the noise cancellation feature has to be engaged in order to hear music. I agree with this particular complaint. I'd like the ability to still use the headphones to listen to music without noise cancellation engaged just in case the battery that powers the noise cancellation functionality dies and I have no replacement nearby.
Another issue to consider is the effect the noise cancelling functionality has on your inner ear. When engaged, the noise cancelling gives the effect of pressure being applied to the inner ear. Apparently, some people find this so disturbing that they can't stand to use the headphones. I personally can feel the pressure when the noise cancelling is engaged without playing music. It doesn't really bother me. I can just feel it, but the sensation disappears as soon as I apply music to the mix.
All things considered, if are about to buy a set of noise canceling headphones and you can bear the price-tag then you should do yourself a favor and give the Bose QC 15s a spin around the block. They really are truly brilliant!
Customer Review: BOSE QC15 Headphones are BETTER than I could have imagined !
Summary: 5 Stars
Being a teaching Pro at FAU's College of Science, in the digital imaging business, I examine and test high tech products all the time. And when I buy for myself, I pay particular attention to detail, quality, science, design, etc. After carefully trying a number of headsets in the same cost range, +/- $150 from the $300 price tag of these headphones, I have to concur that BOSE delivers exactly as promised in their advertisements...
Placing this Full Headset over and around your ears, the silence is immediately noticed even with the headset turned off... When I left the BOSE store at our local Town Center Mall, I prepared the headset, turned on my car, turned on the A/C on almost full blast with the fan-speed, on my BMW X5, which can be somewhat loud... placed the headset on my head, with the head-set powered-off, and the near silence is amazing... great design to omit ambient nolise, even without the noise-canceling electronic system activated.
Therefore it is clear that a large part of the noise reduction "system" engineering is with the headset physical design itself, aside from the noise-cancelling electronics. This seems to be a fairly obvious design component... however, in testing Sennheiser's models PXC-450, 310, and 250, they do not shield the ambient sound as well un-powered; therefore they have a more difficult time dealing with the higher levels of ambient noise that enters the ear-cups, when its time to power-up the noise-cancelling electronics...
For an unknown reason I was "bent" towards Sennheiser as a brand, because of their terrific commercial/studio headsets used at many Studios that I have worked at... don't let your prejudices prevent you from trying BOSE's headphones. I turned on the headset, and with what little ambient sound that enters the head-set ear-cups, OMG, amazing surround sound, in my car, with all sorts of ambient noises rejected/protected...
The headset fits very comfortably. It is very apparent that great deal of attention has been given to every aspect of the physical design, the ear-cups, and the leatherette covered foam. Kind of what I have noticed with Apple products, impeccable design and attention to every detail. I tried the best of the best, that BOSE competes with, in noise-canceling headsets, and these headphones WINs 1st Place. Period. Sound quality is stunning. Comfort is terrific, and they are relatively compact in design for an surround the ear design.
The QC-15 head-set is not inexpensive, but for a one-time purchase, you know you'll have the very best there is, with a 20 year history, and never having to worry that you made the wrong choice. BTW, the package comes with a regular alkaline AAA battery, giving 35 hours of run-time; use a Lithium AAA and you'll get over 200 hours of run-time; I actually prefer the non-rechargeable AAA battery design, no power cords and chargers to carry and loose; also comes with airline bi-pin plug adapter. I also purchased the BOSE optional Communications Kit for $40 which gives you an optional head-set microphone cord, giving you the ability to use your head-phones with your iPhone, Palm Pre, or any of the dozens of cell phones that are compatible with this microphone-cord-set package. When your tuned in to your music, videos, TV, or Movies, don't miss that telephone call, this cord permits taking the call, using the cord's built-in microphone...
BOSE gets a BIG thumbs-up with a 5-star rating...
JimW, Boca Raton, FL 2010/May/29.
Customer Review: Good, but better options for much cheaper
Summary: 3 Stars
I recently read about the improvements baked into the new QC15s and decided to take the plunge and see if they really are worth the money. I fly 35 weeks/year so blocking out the sonic horrors of modern-day air travel is my primary goal for these headphones. I have purchased a number of headphones over the years trying to find the right price/performance balance but had not yet taken the plunge on anything from Bose. I had an opportunity to spend an hour on my flight home yesterday comparing the QC15s to my two current favorites, ATH-ANC3 and Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7, and I was surprised to see that the Bose came away in a distant second place. Understand that I am not an audiophile so I am judging purely based on sound isolation. To my ears, the sound quality of all three is so far ahead of cheapo, disposable headphones that any further differences between the three are impossible to distinguish.
The ATH-ANC7 are over-the-ear like the Bose and in many respects are pretty similar. The Bose are more comfortable in terms of materials and seem to have a higher quality overall. The Bose also have significantly better noise reduction qualities. If I wanted to stick with over-the-ear and was deciding on spending the extra cost to bump up to the Bose then I definitely would.
The ATH-ANC3 are in-ear so it is a little bit of apples-and-oranges comparison. They aren't the "jam into your ear canal" design like something from Shure, but they are meant to fit snugly inside. In comparing the sound isolation between the ANC3 and the Bose it was close but the ANC3 definitely had a slight edge to my ears. I like the quality of the active noise-canceling from the ANC3 better than the Bose (turning each on and off while leaving the headphones on) and then the in-ear isolation of the ANC3 provides a little extra bonus. Add to this advantage the fact that the ANC3 are far, far smaller (a great little case that also fits my iPod) and have a monitor button that let's you hear what is happening around you without removing the earphones, and the gap between the two widens. Finally, consider that you can buy 5 pairs of the ANC3 for the same cost of the Bose and there is absolutely no contest.
I think I am going to try something from Shure or Etymotic to see if the true in-the-ear-canal design can provide better sound isolation, but if I decide to stick with an active noise cancelling system it will most definitely be the ANC3.
UPDATE - So I purchased the Etymotic Research HF5 and was absolutely blown away by what a great job they did with sound isolation. I was able to listen to music at literally 1/2 the volume and still get far more sound isolation than provided by any of the options mentioned above. At one point on my flight this morning I realized that I wasn't hearing the plane but rather was feeling the vibrations coming up through my feet - as soon as I lifted my legs off the floor the "sound" went away. I had really disliked the feel of a pair of Shure that I had bought years back, but the HF5s with their flange tips felt great. I was wearing the earphones comfortably for 7 hours and from airport to plane to airport to train to NYC streets I was traveling in blissful solitude. **Highly** recommended!
Customer Review: Fantastic for what they are
Summary: 5 Stars
I was hesitant to buy these. They are expensive, and my prior tries with noise cancelling were not good. It always gave me a headache. But after my last flight where I had to crank up the volume of the airline movie and still heard the engines and could barely understand the dialogue, I decided to give NC a try.
I have to explain that while I am no longer an audiophile (I used to be), I do enjoy quality sound. I own a pair of Shure in ear phones (that cost way more than the QC 15's do) and Futuresonic in ear monitors. The sound quality of those earphones is outstanding, and the noise isolation is very very good also, but they are a pain to insert into your ear, and now that I have kids I need to be able to hear them when they need me. I didn't like having to take the phones out and re-insert them over and over. I wanted over the ear headphones and was willing to try NC again based on many many positive reviews.
I purchased the QC15's and was excited to fly with them but I wanted to try them out at home first. The sound quality is good, possibly very good, but not great by audiophile standards. There are much much better sounding headphones out there- Beats and Senheiser to name a few. BUT these headphones are not made to be audiophile headphones. They are made to be premium noise cancelling headphones, and if you look at them that way, they are nothing short of amazing.
I just completed a coast to coast flight with the QC15's and I have to say that I am TOTALLY happy with my purchase. At first it was actually a bit eerie because while you feel the engines rumbling (mainly during the climb), you barely hear it. I was wearing them with no music playing and I could hear my kids talking, the flight attendants, and PA announcements... but no engine noise. It was great! Everything going on was clear, even the PA which I usually have to ask my wife what they said. I could hear my kids if they asked for something (and with a 6 and 9 year old they ask for a lot). Then I put on a movie. Also amazing. I could listen to the movie at low volume and still hear individual raindrops in the soundtrack. The sound is crisp and clear, and for watching movies I couldn't imagine any headset being better. Then I put on some music. The sound is very good, but these are not the best sounding phones for music. They are typical Bose in that they seem to make the music flat. There is a saying in the audiophile circles "No Highs, No Lows, must be Bose" And I think that applies here too. If you need very deep bass and sharp treble, these aren't for you. That said, the sound is very very good, just not the best.
The best part for me was to be able to pause the music and hear what is going on around me without the engine noise.
I arrived after wearing them for 6 hours straight, My ears were a little warm, but not enough to bother me. Most importantly I felt great. No headache, no ringing in my ears (which is common for me after a flight). They are very comfortable to wear, lightweight, and they seem pretty durable. They could be built more durably, but they needed to keep them lightweight, which Bose did very well. After a while I almost forgot they were on my head.
All in all I would not hesitate to purchase them again (even at a higher price), and may since my wife is jealous of them now.