I was......

Completely Shocked!!

I've heard similar longevity complaints about the other Bose headphones over the years. Never had a pair on-hand for years to test that out though.

I signed up to this site just to see the reviews on the Bose QC15s. I have had my eye on them for quite some time. When I had the chance to try them out in the store they blew my mind. I had no idea how things were supposed to sound until I put them on. I am by no means an audiophile (far from it actually), but I just couldn't believe how comfortable and how crisp the sound was. I am stuck between either buying these or the Audio-Technica ATH-M50 professional studio monitor headphones. I can't decide. argh. :/

 

Edited by citron2k1 - 7/18/12 at 6:39am

I have had mine for 2 years now and they are still in great condition...

I have two daughters 3and5 my Qc15 are a godsend.....decent sq and peace and quiet at the flick of a switch.....there's a lot of illogical and unfair hate about these cans but I love them when I need to concentrate in the midst of a scooby doo film!
I've owned Bose products for years and never had one break ......they are absolutely not known for doing so I'm not sure where the last fella gets that idea from?
There's a two year warranty though as well as a sixty day free trial on Their gear during the summer

Let's face it these are the best noise cancellers out there and have very decent sound quality!

They have achieved something that sennheiser and Sony failed to do...

They brought peace to my household!

Update on the warranty: it's actually only one year with a 30 day trial period

I got a pair of QC15s as a gift while visiting relatives in China. After coming home, I started noticing a difference in pressure of the ANC in my ears, the right side being stronger than the left. I went to my local Bose store who happily exchanged me with a new pair, no questions asked.
While I was there, some guy from the mansions near the store came in and exchanged a pair of last generation QC2s that were 10 years old for a QC15, and he only spent $100.

Man that has got to be one of the best customer services I've ever seen. And a 10 year old headphone carrying $200 in value ($299 new pair and he only paid $100 by trading in his old pair) is some damn good resale value.

Was going to replace the QC15s but I realized these are perfect for me. They are super lightweight and comfortable, offer great convenience such as a slim carrying case (which has a zippered pouch to store a few batteries) and offer good sound quality, not excellent, but good and most important of all a very NATURAL sound to my ears.

Think of the QC15s as a "civilian's" headphone. It's not for audiophiles and audio professionals, but great for the general consumer - these are more than adequate.

A word in the discomfort of the NC. At first I thought it was uncomfortable and distracting as well. The first few days made me think that I would never be able to enjoy the headphones. This proved to be false. Over time, I've gotten used to the pressure of NC and now I feel no discomfort at all, only blissful quietness. This whole adjusting process has taken maybe a few days to a week. Considering you have at least 30 days to return them, I'd use them for at least a few days before passing judgement. If you feel slight discomfort initially, I promise you will adjust to it and will not feel anything within a week of regular use.

I tried them several years ago at a Bose store and for some reason, they didn't impress me that much.  I tried them much more recently (a month or two ago) and I was very impressed with the ANC.  And they sounded good.  Not astonishing, but good.  I don't do that much travel, and I don't like messing with batteries, but I gained a lot more respect for them after this most recent trial.

x2

quick question : is the noise cancelling also good for blocking out 'higher' noises ? i mean : i'm thinking of wearing them at work, cos not that far from me is a radio and i'm having trouble concentrating on my reports and analyses with a radio distracting me, so would use the qc15 purely for the NC. would it block that out ? the radio is not at full pelt, it's background but still...

plus a lot of noise from people talking (am next to customer service call center), so be nice if that would be (partially at least) blocked out a bit...
 

Yes, the ANC in the original Beats can work quite well, when adjusted properly, but this thread is about the Bose product.

In the original Bose consumer ANC phones, HF attenuation (everything above 1kHz) was largely accomplished through passive attenuation, and the LF attenuation was done through ANC (everything below about 400Hz.)

I picked up the Bose QC15s again. At the end of the month.. I'm hoping I'll have the Senn Momentum to compare them to.... Now I'm willing to bet the Senns will sound better.... but I'll have to weigh the comfort/isolation of the Bose vs Senn Momentum. 

On my home PC at least... I'm actually liking the way the Bose QC15s sound a lot after some minor EQ Adjustments. After looking at the FQ Response chart over on headroom... I decided to gradually tone down the lower frequencies up to -15db more or less... except the lowest... which is 30hz in the Xonar software. That I keep at neutral due to the pretty steep drop off at that point according to the FQ Chart on headroom. 

With those changes.. the Bass feels tighter to my ears.. Nice and punchy and still very present.. considering the QC15s can do well in the low-end...  and they don't overpower the mids and highs.

As a result... the muffled sound of them that I've complained about before is reduced quite a lot. I actually feel like they sound great now for sealed cans. 

 

I'm still playing with them... but these are my adjustments. I'm mostly playing with the treble now. I want to get as much clarity as possibly without any "harshness"

 

 

Edited by asgiov - 1/8/13 at 10:41pm

My go to cans are the senn HD25 I-II's, and home use is the HD598's. My dad has the QC15's and the only downside of them (for me at least) is the treble and bass. I LOVE the HD598's midrange and every time i use a pari of QC15's im getting annoyed first of the treble, due to its lack of presence. Also i would like to have just a tad of warmth.