[WiredCon]

I had a chance to purchase a BOSE QC3 with deep discount and bought it o a whim. And, I am debating if I should start using it, or better off to sell it on eBay for a small profit and put that mone towards something else. As I'm looking for an amp, it is very tempting.

I was wondering if anyone can tell me what other headphones on the par with these BOSE QC3? SQ and comfort wise only without the price tag.

Thanks in advance.
Ryan

 

[jonathanjong]

Sell it to non-HeadFiers and come back to do some pre-shopping reading!

 

[WiredCon]

Appreciate your input, but I really wanted to get some candid opinions on those Bose headphones from those who have actually owned them before.

Just makes me wonder what other headphones can be considered on par with BOSE QC2/3 when you consider only sound quality without factoring the actual cost.

 

[WiredCon]

It seems like many people from headfi hate Bose and regard the brand as cheap and greedy company that relies on the marketing efforts.

I just wanna get some productive feedbacks.

 

[younglee200]

they're not cheap and greedy... and I don't even think they're THAT overpriced, as head-fiers usually like to label them as.

I think it depends on what you look for in a headphone. If you want something that looks good and is extremely comfortable (for me anyways) and are decent sounding at same time, it's worth keeping.

But if you value sound quality over things listed above, I would say you should sell them on ebay and buy something different.

 

[blessingx]

A couple years back there were a few members who had the QC2 for airplane, etc. duty. Either because the Bose-hating was well known, or they thought of the QC2 as a utility can, they didn't seem to often recommend them though. Seems they liked the comfort though.

On a personal note there have been probably three times over the last few years I decided the Bose-bashing remarks could be just echo chamber hype (it happens here) and given a few models a try. To be honest their sound quality was always worse than I expected.

 

[Trax416]

It's not just "head Fi" users. It's every single respectable magazine, website, and publication in North America. Go over to AVS and ask about Bose. Go anywhere.

The fact is whatever Bose makes, you can get better, for less money elsewhere. They are the Alienware of Audio gear.

Yes Bose makes some good audio equipment, but it's extremely overpriced. You could buy some Bose speakers for $5000 and get equivalent performance from Polk Audio for $2000.

They also make some very horrible products, and promote them using blatant lies and endorsements via their infomercials.

If you are buying Bose equipment for the audio quality, look elsewhere. Simple as that. The only real reason to buy Bose right now is if the gear has a specific look you want, and you are willing to spend a ton of money for sub-par quality.

 

[Planar_head]

Any comparison would be utterly useless, unless you're using it as a tagline in your Ebay advertising.

Just sell it, you will make much more than a small profit if you get a good bid war.

For example, a quick search on Ebay pulled up a QC2 for 215 USD with three hours to go. I think that bid will go up just a bit more, but depending on what price you got it at, it could be a decent profit.

There is another one going for 152 USD, so there ya go. If you got it at 50 USD, then you would make a 100 dollar profit, which I say isn't bad at all.

I say just sell it; you probably won't miss it at all.

 

[jonathanjong]

Bose as cheap? I have never, ever heard that on Head-Fi.

That said, it's true that most of us go "Ugh" when we hear the word "Bose", and just tell people to stay away from any given product even when we've never heard it. And most of us, myself included, this it's a justifiable thing to do. Why? Well, we have a Why-Bose-When-You-Can-Do-Better-For-The-Same-Price heuristic that works remarkably well. Sure, maybe some Boses are worth countenancing. And maybe some psychics are genuine. And maybe some astrology predictions are accurate. But why bother when there are so many other safer options out there? There are a lot of headphones out there, and no time to try them all out. Lots of us have been burned by Bose and we ain't going back for more.

 

[Nocturnal310]

Any BOSE thread on Head-fi has the same fate.
And BOSE deserves it after all.


I can't think of any headphone i can compare to Bose QC2.

 

[trickywombat]

I have a Bose QC2. I've owned it for 4 maybe 5 years. It was a very generous gift. I've used it on 3 maybe 4 flights. I got an IEM by Ultimate Ears, never used the Bose again.

The QC2 is comfortable, the QC3 since it presses on your outer ear -not so comfortable. However, the sound sucks. I abandoned the QC2 and let my GF use it. After trying the Ultimate Ears IEM, she abandoned the QC2 as well. Here's a totally honest assessment from a non Head-Fier - "The Bose sounds really hollow".

If you are into comfort and noise isolation, the QC2 will suffice. If you want great audiophile-level sound quality on top of this, look elsewhere.

The QC series suffer from acoustic reverberation common in poorly-implemented closed/semi-closed headphones - this contributes to the "hollow" sound. It's like putting a seashell to your ear to hear the ocean effect. Bass, Vocal/Mid and Highs are poorly defined in the QC series.

However, the Bose QC is a huge step up from using iBuds on an airplane. And the brand recognition will have cachet with some people you may or may not care to impress.

If you have to go with the same form factor, the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 sounds much, much better and is just as comfortable, though I only tried it in the store and not on a plane:

Under $145 from amazon.com

There are many non-Bose but great-sounding options for peace and quiet or music on an airplane. A summary of such options can be found here:
Traveling - HeadRoom - Right Between Your Ears

Bose truly sucks, and even the products that suck less have an unacceptable price given the many better options. For some, Bose is a true upgrade from that which sucks even more (e.g. iBuds). There are many better options that cost less, as well as tremendously better options that cost several times more than Bose.

 

[mrarroyo]

Recently I tried the Bose On Ear Headphone at Best Buys and really liked them. I almost bought them, however "she who must be obeyed" indicated I had way too many and I passed.

Most here do not care for Bose in general but at $169 I thought they sounded pretty good.

 

[Gurck]

I've been reading head-fi for some time. Generally, the honest, non-bashing opinion on Bose is that they're actually not the worst sounding speakers and headphones on the planet (surprise!) - but that without exception, every model is ferociously overpriced for the sound and build quality. The build quality of their tri-ports in particular is notoriously bad, but then Bose isn't the only guilty party in that regard... *eyeballs HD280 headband*

 

[appophylite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by WiredCon /img/forum/go_quote.gif I had a chance to purchase a BOSE QC3 with deep discount and bought it o a whim. And, I am debating if I should start using it, or better off to sell it on eBay for a small profit and put that mone towards something else. As I'm looking for an amp, it is very tempting. I was wondering if anyone can tell me what other headphones on the par with these BOSE QC3? SQ and comfort wise only without the price tag. Thanks in advance. Ryan

Hi OP, to answer your question as best as I can, I had the chance to try the Bose QC-2 a while ago, and rather liked it for its ability to cancel the drone of the airplane during travel. For that purpose alone, they were a rather good phone. If the QC-3 is capable of noise canceling as well as the QC-2, It would have been a decent thing to have around, especially since you say you got it at a deep discount (it really isn't worth what Bose actually asks for it). However, you say you are looking for an amp and if that is the case, I would definitely say sell it, and use the proceeds to get a good pair of phones and the amp as well as I don't see the QC2 or QC3 scaling up particularly well it sound quality using an amp. I base this on experience trying to scale up a friend's Bose Triports with my PA2v2.

 

[trickywombat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Recently I tried the Bose On Ear Headphone at Best Buys and really liked them. I almost bought them, however "she who must be obeyed" indicated I had way too many and I passed...

Reminds me of another couple: