sonance
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2005
- Posts
- 553
- Likes
- 27
I was at the mall the other day and walked into the Bose store out of sheer boredom (women seem to take 100x longer in the mall than I do.) I've heard some negative comments about Bose gear before, and their tiny speakers do not impress me at all, but I spent some time listening to both the Tri-Ports and the Quiet Comfort headphones.
The first thing that struck me about the QC 'phones was that the noise cancelling did not seem to work too well, but I'll ignore that because the demo equipment may have been not set up right or maybe I expect too much from "noise cancelling" after using in ear monitors. The actual setup of the headphone with the swiveling and hinging is clever but somewhat clumsy on first use. I think Senns are more comfortable, but these beat out Grados (that's not saying much.) The sound quality was not bad, considering that they were driven directly from an iPod, on first listen. Once I found a track I knew, however, I noticed that it did not get the mid-range right the way the SR-225s or RS-1s do, and they do not have the headstage of Senns, nor their tonal balance through the freq range. Bass was acceptable, but lacking something, quite possibly due to the iPod, which is known to roll off the bass below a certain freq when used with headphones. I also noticed some typical closed-phones colorations but they do not hit you immediately the same way the lower end CD-series Sony headphones do. The more expensive headphones sounded generally better than the Tri-ports but the diff between them in sound quality was not as huge as the difference between their price tags.
They had a second listening station that I also listened at, firstly to make sure their wasnt something damaged or unusual about the first pair, and secondly to listen to their canned demos. The acoustic-sounding demo on the QC headphones was very impressive, and really showed off the headphones in their best light. Anyone know what that demo song is?
At the same time I couldn't help thinking that the RS-1s would REALLY knock one out of the park with a track like that, it's exactly what it does best.
In conclusion from my half-hour audition, with no access to a comparable pair of headphones, I was neither blown away nor was I disgusted (much to my surprise.)
I think these headphones fall short of the high end and they have noticable colorations, but they aren't horribly bad by any stretch.
(If anyone has heard the in-store Bose Quiet Comfort Headphones canned demo and knows what the song is, please send me a message!)
The first thing that struck me about the QC 'phones was that the noise cancelling did not seem to work too well, but I'll ignore that because the demo equipment may have been not set up right or maybe I expect too much from "noise cancelling" after using in ear monitors. The actual setup of the headphone with the swiveling and hinging is clever but somewhat clumsy on first use. I think Senns are more comfortable, but these beat out Grados (that's not saying much.) The sound quality was not bad, considering that they were driven directly from an iPod, on first listen. Once I found a track I knew, however, I noticed that it did not get the mid-range right the way the SR-225s or RS-1s do, and they do not have the headstage of Senns, nor their tonal balance through the freq range. Bass was acceptable, but lacking something, quite possibly due to the iPod, which is known to roll off the bass below a certain freq when used with headphones. I also noticed some typical closed-phones colorations but they do not hit you immediately the same way the lower end CD-series Sony headphones do. The more expensive headphones sounded generally better than the Tri-ports but the diff between them in sound quality was not as huge as the difference between their price tags.
They had a second listening station that I also listened at, firstly to make sure their wasnt something damaged or unusual about the first pair, and secondly to listen to their canned demos. The acoustic-sounding demo on the QC headphones was very impressive, and really showed off the headphones in their best light. Anyone know what that demo song is?
At the same time I couldn't help thinking that the RS-1s would REALLY knock one out of the park with a track like that, it's exactly what it does best.
In conclusion from my half-hour audition, with no access to a comparable pair of headphones, I was neither blown away nor was I disgusted (much to my surprise.)
I think these headphones fall short of the high end and they have noticable colorations, but they aren't horribly bad by any stretch.
(If anyone has heard the in-store Bose Quiet Comfort Headphones canned demo and knows what the song is, please send me a message!)
