Blacksmith
New Head-Fier
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- May 13, 2003
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Well, I couldn't figure out how to post directly to the Headphone reviews section, so here is what I've got:
After listening to the in-store demo and being convinced of the product’s sonic merits, I bought a pair of the Bose QC-1 noise-cancelling headphones ($269 w/tax). My review will compare/contrast these headphones with the Philips HN100 noise-cancelling headphones ($75 w/tax).
Noise-cancelling effectiveness
The QC-1’s must be turned on in order to operate. This is because the noise-cancelling (NC) circuit must be active at all time. My first test was a simple one of just wearing the headphones and testing the NC circuit without listening to any music. Test were performed in my computer room where there is high-frequency noise from my PC and somewhat broadband noise from my A/C and portable table fan. Wearing the headphones with them turned OFF I could hear only a slight reduction in external noise due to the passive NC inherent from the sealed foam earcups. Turning the headphones ON, the fan noise was reduced substantially. I could still hear the high-frequency noise from my PC however. There wasn’t much difference between the low and high sensitivity settings on the Bose control box. The next test involved me running a PC-based function generator program which allows the user to create a sine wave at a particular freq. and then play it through the PC speakers. Testing the headphones with the NC set to low or high sensitivity permitted reduction of frequencies below 800 Hz to a high degree. Higher freqs. didn’t appear to be reduced at all. It should be noted that a hiss sound will be heard if there is no external noise and no music is being played. The hiss will be louder at the high sensitivity setting. My next test was performed aboard an airplane. The headphones did a really good job reducing the low frequency rumble from the jet engine and I believe that they helped to lessen any travel fatique as claimed by Bose. The Philips headphones had very similar performance. Up until this point the Philips and the Bose seemed to be of equal quality.
Sound quality
As previously stated, the NC circuit is active all of the time with the Bose headphones. Listening to music with these headphones was somewhat enjoyable but nowhere near the quality of some other headphones from Sennheiser and AKG. I’m convinced that headphone aficionados will undeniably agree that the Bose ‘phones are way out of it’s league when paired up against a good pair of studio ‘phones. Regarding the Bose ‘phones, the bass was anything but smooth and tended to obscure singers’ voices. Bose has hyped the fact that the headphone drivers have high sensitivity which therefore doesn’t require the listener to use an external headphone amplifier with a bass-boost circuit. However, part of this efficiency seems to stem from the fact the headphones use a vented enclosure (as opposed to a sealed one). Vented enclosures permit higher efficiency at the expense of phase coherence, group delay, etc. I suspect that upon making a set of measurements, one would find a large hump in the low frequency band – exaggerating the perceived bass heard from music. What was heard was much closer to one-note bass, characteristic of many high-Q home theatre subwoofers. Stereo imaging with QC-1’s was not that spectacular either. I really didn’t get a good feel for any stereo separation upon listening to several of my CDs. Instead I heard the dreaded imaging (or lack of) all too common with cheaper headphones – sound seems to originate inside the head giving more of a mono perception. All said and done, I feel that the Bose headphones have a very sterile sound. The Philips headphones, on the other hand, had a much tighter bass. Individual bass notes could be easily distinguished. Stereo imaging was much improved over the Bose as well. One plus that the Philips ‘phones have is that the noise-cancelling circuit is defeatable. While listening to music and switching the NC circuit from OFF to ON via a pushbutton switch, the bass appeared to get a little boomier – a little exaggerated. Also, the volume control to the headphone amp is controlled via a thumbwheel, allowing the user to fine-tune the volume to an appropriate listening level. The Bose QC-1’s, OTOH, just have a high/low switch.
In the case of music listening, it is important to point out that the NC really permits one to listen at lower levels. At higher levels the noise is simply masked out by the louder music.
I’d tip my hat to the Philips headphones since they surpassed the Bose QC-1’s in sound quality.
Comfort & Fit
Well, there isn’t much of a battle here. The QC-1’s are much more comfortable to wear. The foam earpads provide a soft cushion feel while simlutaneously providing a good seal to warrant out external LF noise. The Philips HC100’s were not uncomfortable but didn’t have the soft feel as the Bose.
In addition to comfort, a set of headphones should provide a continuous ear-seal regardless of head position. With the QC-1’s, I could turn my head from left-to-right and up-and-down, without the headphones twisting and exposing my ears directly to the air outside the earcup. The HN100’s failed in this regard. When I turned my head 90 degrees left-to-right (from center) the earcup twisted a little, breaking the air-seal.
Accessories
Both come with a collapsable carrying case. The Bose case is a little nicer with a soft felt lining.
The QC-1’s also come with a larger Case-Logic-type case which houses the headphones and other accessory items. There are two pouches one of which could be used to hold a CD player. Strangely, Bose didn’t provide a place to route a headphone cable out of the case. There is a carrying strap for this unit as well.
Both units come with a 1/8 mini-plug, regular ¼ plug, and an airplane headphone adapter. All of the Bose connectors are gold-plated. The Philips connectors are all chrome.
There is belt-clip for the QC-1’s control box. Can’t remember if there was one for Philips.
Control Box
Bose control box requires 2 AA batteries. The HN100 only requires one. As expected, the Bose box is a little heavier.
QC-1 doesn’t have a button to enable/disable the NC circuit, while the HN100 does. QC-1 has a high/low sensitivity thumb switch while the HN100 has a continuous thumbwheel knob.
Portability
Despite all the carrying bags, etc. from Bose, the QC-1 isn’t really that portable. The HN100 can be folded into a smaller form factor, making it more ideal for the roadwarrier who wants to store the headphones in a laptop case.
Conclusion
All-in-all, I don’t believe that the Bose QC-1’s live up to the sonic merits one would come to expect from a $260+ pair of headphones (in some places they retail for $299). At approx. ¼ the price, I believe that the Philips HN100 provide better sound quality and user functionality over the QC-1’s. Both headphones have very similar user-perceived noise-cancelling performance, while the QC-1’s trump the HN100’s in fit and comfort.
After listening to the in-store demo and being convinced of the product’s sonic merits, I bought a pair of the Bose QC-1 noise-cancelling headphones ($269 w/tax). My review will compare/contrast these headphones with the Philips HN100 noise-cancelling headphones ($75 w/tax).
Noise-cancelling effectiveness
The QC-1’s must be turned on in order to operate. This is because the noise-cancelling (NC) circuit must be active at all time. My first test was a simple one of just wearing the headphones and testing the NC circuit without listening to any music. Test were performed in my computer room where there is high-frequency noise from my PC and somewhat broadband noise from my A/C and portable table fan. Wearing the headphones with them turned OFF I could hear only a slight reduction in external noise due to the passive NC inherent from the sealed foam earcups. Turning the headphones ON, the fan noise was reduced substantially. I could still hear the high-frequency noise from my PC however. There wasn’t much difference between the low and high sensitivity settings on the Bose control box. The next test involved me running a PC-based function generator program which allows the user to create a sine wave at a particular freq. and then play it through the PC speakers. Testing the headphones with the NC set to low or high sensitivity permitted reduction of frequencies below 800 Hz to a high degree. Higher freqs. didn’t appear to be reduced at all. It should be noted that a hiss sound will be heard if there is no external noise and no music is being played. The hiss will be louder at the high sensitivity setting. My next test was performed aboard an airplane. The headphones did a really good job reducing the low frequency rumble from the jet engine and I believe that they helped to lessen any travel fatique as claimed by Bose. The Philips headphones had very similar performance. Up until this point the Philips and the Bose seemed to be of equal quality.
Sound quality
As previously stated, the NC circuit is active all of the time with the Bose headphones. Listening to music with these headphones was somewhat enjoyable but nowhere near the quality of some other headphones from Sennheiser and AKG. I’m convinced that headphone aficionados will undeniably agree that the Bose ‘phones are way out of it’s league when paired up against a good pair of studio ‘phones. Regarding the Bose ‘phones, the bass was anything but smooth and tended to obscure singers’ voices. Bose has hyped the fact that the headphone drivers have high sensitivity which therefore doesn’t require the listener to use an external headphone amplifier with a bass-boost circuit. However, part of this efficiency seems to stem from the fact the headphones use a vented enclosure (as opposed to a sealed one). Vented enclosures permit higher efficiency at the expense of phase coherence, group delay, etc. I suspect that upon making a set of measurements, one would find a large hump in the low frequency band – exaggerating the perceived bass heard from music. What was heard was much closer to one-note bass, characteristic of many high-Q home theatre subwoofers. Stereo imaging with QC-1’s was not that spectacular either. I really didn’t get a good feel for any stereo separation upon listening to several of my CDs. Instead I heard the dreaded imaging (or lack of) all too common with cheaper headphones – sound seems to originate inside the head giving more of a mono perception. All said and done, I feel that the Bose headphones have a very sterile sound. The Philips headphones, on the other hand, had a much tighter bass. Individual bass notes could be easily distinguished. Stereo imaging was much improved over the Bose as well. One plus that the Philips ‘phones have is that the noise-cancelling circuit is defeatable. While listening to music and switching the NC circuit from OFF to ON via a pushbutton switch, the bass appeared to get a little boomier – a little exaggerated. Also, the volume control to the headphone amp is controlled via a thumbwheel, allowing the user to fine-tune the volume to an appropriate listening level. The Bose QC-1’s, OTOH, just have a high/low switch.
In the case of music listening, it is important to point out that the NC really permits one to listen at lower levels. At higher levels the noise is simply masked out by the louder music.
I’d tip my hat to the Philips headphones since they surpassed the Bose QC-1’s in sound quality.
Comfort & Fit
Well, there isn’t much of a battle here. The QC-1’s are much more comfortable to wear. The foam earpads provide a soft cushion feel while simlutaneously providing a good seal to warrant out external LF noise. The Philips HC100’s were not uncomfortable but didn’t have the soft feel as the Bose.
In addition to comfort, a set of headphones should provide a continuous ear-seal regardless of head position. With the QC-1’s, I could turn my head from left-to-right and up-and-down, without the headphones twisting and exposing my ears directly to the air outside the earcup. The HN100’s failed in this regard. When I turned my head 90 degrees left-to-right (from center) the earcup twisted a little, breaking the air-seal.
Accessories
Both come with a collapsable carrying case. The Bose case is a little nicer with a soft felt lining.
The QC-1’s also come with a larger Case-Logic-type case which houses the headphones and other accessory items. There are two pouches one of which could be used to hold a CD player. Strangely, Bose didn’t provide a place to route a headphone cable out of the case. There is a carrying strap for this unit as well.
Both units come with a 1/8 mini-plug, regular ¼ plug, and an airplane headphone adapter. All of the Bose connectors are gold-plated. The Philips connectors are all chrome.
There is belt-clip for the QC-1’s control box. Can’t remember if there was one for Philips.
Control Box
Bose control box requires 2 AA batteries. The HN100 only requires one. As expected, the Bose box is a little heavier.
QC-1 doesn’t have a button to enable/disable the NC circuit, while the HN100 does. QC-1 has a high/low sensitivity thumb switch while the HN100 has a continuous thumbwheel knob.
Portability
Despite all the carrying bags, etc. from Bose, the QC-1 isn’t really that portable. The HN100 can be folded into a smaller form factor, making it more ideal for the roadwarrier who wants to store the headphones in a laptop case.
Conclusion
All-in-all, I don’t believe that the Bose QC-1’s live up to the sonic merits one would come to expect from a $260+ pair of headphones (in some places they retail for $299). At approx. ¼ the price, I believe that the Philips HN100 provide better sound quality and user functionality over the QC-1’s. Both headphones have very similar user-perceived noise-cancelling performance, while the QC-1’s trump the HN100’s in fit and comfort.
