Why is bose hated in this forum? - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by forsberg 

Eh, not a big deal. But something to keep in mind the next time he makes future comments like that. Never a good idea to attach "cheap" and (insert country of choice) together.
Anyways, why Bose is hated on this forum-
It's not the headphones themselves. Because I listened to them before, and they are not bad. Nor is it the price, because while yes, it's overpriced, it's not as overpriced as like a HD800 or Ultrasone Edition 8/9, but they don't get the hate Bose does.
It's mainly because of two things-
1) Their target customer base, who are your typical upper middle class snobby corporate guy, doesn't know much about headphones and just buys them because of the status they give off (like how Tag Heuer watches get no respect in watch forums for the same reasons)
2) Too mainstream. Similar to how nobody like Skullcandies or Beats on here. This forum is hipster haven in the headphone world. Consider this - if a pair of Beyerdynamic DT1350 or Sennheiser HD25 gets sold and re-branded as Skullcandies that can be bought for $30 at Walmart/Best-Buy, or as a Bose product sold at $300, nobody here would give them a chance.

This is the last straw, I am not a Hipster. I am someone who cares about quality sound.

Quote:

Originally Posted by forsberg 


But you gotta hand it to Monster. Some pretty smart brains in management to be able to pull off those sales volumes at their price points. It's something all other headphone companies (including Bose) can only dream of.

I dont give Monster any credit, I blame people for being stupid consumers and just buying cause a salesman says so. People dont do enough homework, they just BUY.

Quote:

Originally Posted by forsberg 


You care about quality sound before sound could even be perceived by human ears..!

HELL YES, wait was that a question.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Watagump 

I dont give Monster any credit, I blame people for being stupid consumers and just buying cause a salesman says so. People dont do enough homework, they just BUY.

Some people don't know how to use search engines, have language problems, or simply don't have time to do research. I think they're the victims in this case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huxley 

You're looking too far into what i typed, cheap drivers can come from anywhere, it just so happens bose drivers tend to come from china.

Hey now, everyone knows that you rate a product by how much west it's made in!

China is on the bottom of the scale, then EU, and finally, the almighty country-god the USA! Of-course, people outside of the states can't afford anything and live in huts, and only heard about cars around the tribal fireplace (would say at the movies but hey...)

*I'm not serious this is a jab at Americans. Americans: I'm a US citizen and lived a few years in the states. 

If you check out Joker's massive portables and IEMs threads, you will find that Bose and Beats aren't given horrible scores in the sound category but don't fare well in the value category based on commonly available pricing. I own many different Bose and Beats products and enjoy them for the prices I paid for refurbs, closeouts, used, etc. I would be hard pressed to recommend most of them at full retail unless it was for a very specific use. The Quiet Comforts are overpriced for the sound but provide the best noise cancellation money can buy for those not interested in noise isolating IEMs. The Bose IE doesn't possess the sound quality of many IEMs costing less than half their asking price but are one of the only "open" IEMs I know of for situations when you need to hear your surroundings and they provide comfort that allows them to be worn for hours. Sometimes value is in the ears of the beholder.

I'm not sure which ones they were, but I put on a pair of Bose headphones at the Apple store and was shocked to hear extremely unrefined treble with several large spikes in what felt like very wrong places. It was kind of painful to listen to. Maybe I heard a bad pair because that's not usually what people say about them around here from what I recall. I couldn't even concentrate on the other frequencies.

Just overpriced if anything. not bad.. just bad for the price.

also cos it makes us rage when people think they are better then our £1500 portable rigs and stuffs.

Well, here's a way to put it, and I indeed put it this way when a friend told me bought a pair of Bose IE2's and I made an awkward face.

Most people aren't like the enthusiasts in this forum who will buy a bunch of different earphones just to get pleasure out of comparing them or enjoyment out of particular sound signatures or capabilities. Most people will maybe do a 10 minute comparison in a store (if that), then buy something. They aren't going to go out of their way to make sure that they are extracting the maximum quality out of the dollars they are spending because quite honestly, and this might seem like a foreign concept to us, they just dont really care that much. There are millions of other things to care about that are probably more important than replacing a set of earphones that they just broke, and if Bose is a big enough company to run print ads and be in all the major stores, surely they can't be all that bad right? Its a mentality I can't really fault, and actually its no fun telling people that a purchase that they are relatively happy with is ill-advised. What does it matter? They aren't going to go buy a new one until it breaks, and the new earphone they buy may sound better or worse, but in the end its all rather nebulous.

I know I might be sounding condescending but honestly the biggest response I get when I talk about earphones or show people some of my nice stuff is generally an uncertain "wow", followed by things like, "I have this pair of xxxx's that I like, what do you think of them?" or "My friend things brand xxxx is good", or "That sounds good.. but I don't really know anything about these."

Should I say, "You should have spent a few hours on a forum looking through obscure Chinese OEM audio manufacturers and professional audio brands." I don't think it takes any special skill to be able to do a lot of reading and spend money on buying good gear. It just takes a lot of commitment, time and energy and as much as I enjoy this hobby, I always tell people: "Don't get into this because you just spend money and it never stops." Most people just want to listen to music and in the end, that is really the point.

As for Bose, at least they are selling products at a consistent level of quality, that don't spontaneously combust or release toxic chemicals. In other words they are not actively cheating people with absolutely dreadful products. The price/performance ratio may seem terrible to us, but that is the price/performance ratio that the free market has decided. You may say its just marketing, but its not so much marketing as prestige built into the price. The brand has an intrinsic value, and companies like Bose, B&O, B&W, Monster, etc, know that to a certain extent they can charge higher prices because the name actually means something. That brand value doesn't come from nothing, and it isn't built up from decades of selling terrible products. Companies that do fall by the wayside.

It reminds me of the 'Gnomes' episode of South Park where all the locals complain about the monolith 'Harbuck's corporation opening a branch in South Park. Here's a quote from a neat analysis:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/cantor3.html

Decent read. :3

This is the most reasonable and well thought out response I have ever seen on this forum regarding Bose and Monster. I salute your logical reasoning.

Face it head-fiers - we are an extreme minority and we are also almost fanatical about our hobby. We often lose sight of "just wanting to listen" AND ENJOY music.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubsdaddy 

This is the most reasonable and well thought out response I have ever seen on this forum regarding Bose and Monster. I salute your logical reasoning.

 

Face it head-fiers - we are an extreme minority and we are also almost fanatical about our hobby. We often lose sight of "just wanting to listen" AND ENJOY music.

Haha thanks. I must admit, sometimes it can be hard to remain as level headed as that response implies. But brand evangelism is rarely attractive.