[TheKing]

I know Bose gets kinda bashed around here, but I tried on their On-Ear cans yesterday at Best Buy and they were extremely comfortable and sounded good. I'm thinking of picking up a pair, but I'm wondering if anyone here has experience with them. I was only able to listen to them through whatever source they had for the demo thing, so I'm wondering how the sound quality will be on an ipod or laptop computer.

I won't be using these for serious hi-fi listening. I have the HF1 and a nifty little amp for that. I'm looking to upgrade my portable stuff with a set of these bose and a new dual driver in-ear phone to replace my Shures. If anyone has suggestions on dual driver in-ears, that advice would also be appreciated.

 

[Cry Havoc]

Bose aren't horrible. They just aren't the best (or close to it) based on the price.

 

[351Cleveland]

Try Denon D1001 instead. It's about $40 cheaper and sounds 100 times better.

 

[DeTinux]

What music do you listen to?

 

[TheKing]

I listen to rock n roll (Black Crowes, Howlin Rain, Stones etc) and folkie type stuff (Devendra Banhart, Tim Buckley, Tom Rush).

 

[filipelli]

I had the on-ear and eventually sold them because I just liked the sound of my grados more. Even for non hi-fi listening the bose sound was underwhelming to me. Also, these things CLAMPED my head. Yeah they were comfortable at first but extending listening made the headphones feel like a vice grip.

 

[pez]

And this is where I say Grado's. I listened to a demo pair running 320 kbps mp3's out of the store, and IMHO, thought that my Grado SR60's were better, and what? Half the price. Unless you need closed phones, I would say Grados.

 

[TheKing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pez /img/forum/go_quote.gif And this is where I say Grado's. I listened to a demo pair running 320 kbps mp3's out of the store, and IMHO, thought that my Grado SR60's were better, and what? Half the price. Unless you need closed phones, I would say Grados.

I appreciate the advice, but if you read my first post I say that I'm going for closed cans and I already have a pair of HF1's and an amp for home listening and more critical listening.

What appeals to me most about the Bose is that they are small and really quite comfortable. These won't be my only pair of portable cans as I have a pair of Shures and am looking to upgrade to a dual driver IEM. These are more for casual use, around the office, movies and stuff that I'm not looking to get out my amp and Grados for.

So my question is this: is the sound quality really that terrible? They sounded decent at the store and that was the demo without a good source to pair with it. I know they're a little steep, but they really appeal to me. Anyone else have any experience with these that they could share?

And also, again, any recs on what dual-driver IEMs are out there is appreciated too. I haven't started much research on this but I find that asking around here is usually a good starting point.

 

[pez]

Yes, they sound decent, but there are much better things you can get for $150 like the Super.fi 5 Pro's (which are dual driver IEM's) and the q-JAYS are up there (a little higher price) too with dual drivers.

 

[mew1838]

I second the D1000 recommendation.

 

[Uncle Erik]

How about the Sony MDR-V6? Closed, they fold up neatly and they're not so bad. Widely used for pro/studio work and were the best thing I ever heard until I built my ribbons.

Avoid Bose if you can. They put out garbage knowing it's garbage while telling everyone that it's the best thing ever. For the record, I kinda like their old 501 and 901 speakers, but nothing new is much good.

 

[rhythmicmoose]

If you're upgrading your portable stuff, I would focus on the IEMs first and see how you like them. I sold my K81DJ after I got my UM2 because I just never used them anymore, and for a while I was considering selling my DT-770 too. If you like your IEMs enough comfort- and sound-wise, there's really no point to closed portable cans.

 

[Zephyron]

For closed headphones OTG, you can look at other options as opposed to the Bose OEs.

I thought my MDR-D333 Eggoes were flabby, loose and a tad boomy in bass, but the OEs were worse. They might as well be described as fart cannons IMO, and I thought that the Triports sounded waaaaay better than the OEs, not to mentione more fitting due to its construction.

The Triports, I found, isolated better than the OEs as well.

If you need a closed headphone OTG though, consider the D1000, RP-21 and HD25.

In terms of isolation, the HD280 and HD25 isolate the most IME.

 

[Cry Havoc]

Have you looked at the Sennheiser HD-25-Is?

 

[Joelc87]

I believe there is a newer version of the Bose IE's. I listened to some the other day and was actually quite impressed. Sure, they're not the best sounding earphones ever but I'd say that they're still on par with others in their price range (ex. SE110's, SCL2's, etc.) These didn't seem nearly as bassy as I thought they would be, and what struck me the most was this kind of airy open sound that they had. I'll probably get shot for this but I'd say that they sound VERY similar to my Grado SR-60's. Based on what these look like in comparison to old product shots the ports are in different locations. This leads me to believe that Bose may have actually done something right for a change and made a decent little earbud. Please note that I speak as a mild basshead. Not a super basshead but I do actually like the sound of my SE530's.