[dweaver]

If I am in a quiet environment and listening to music with lots of silence or just have them in ear with no music I can hear a very faint sound, but nothing when music is playing and nothing is a noisier environment.

I use my pair daily since I got them and only have used my other IEM's sporadically.

I don't think they are for everyone but I think they are for more people than what the average head-fi member thinks. If they were made by a fan favorite manufacturer I suspect this thread would be 20 pages long but being Bose they just will never gain much traction here.

 

[pnoble]

Couldn't agree more. And no one would accuse me of being a Bose fanboy.

 

[bubsdaddy]

I bought a pair of these before a recent series of flights. I am a bit of a Bose fan when it comes to headphones. I have the QC15 and the QC3 along with the IE2. The QC20i is quite incredible when it comes to noise cancelling. It easily beats the QC3 and is at least as good as the QC15, Given it's size, that is remarkable. I also took a pair of Monster Turbines with me and compared. The Bose did a better job with engine noise and other bass related sounds. The Turbine was slightly better at higher pitched noises. Sound wise, I prefer the Turbine but the Bose was not too far behind. I also prefer the sound of the QC15 but, again, not by much. I used the QC20i for about 6 days straight and only charged them once in the middle of that period. The only time I felt the bass was a little inadequate was on the plane. My guess is the NC has a difficult time not also effecting the bass in that situation. The microphone performed well during my conversations. I would have no problem recommending these to anyone commuter or frequent flyer.

 

[jazzman7]

The positive reviews above raise my interest in these again.  I have a pair of Sony in-ear NC models -- MDR-NC100 -- that I use on flights.  I live near a dedicated Bose store where I'm sure they have these.  I wonder if they would let me try them?  That way I could listen for hiss.  To be fair, it seems to be hard to make NC headphones that don't hiss to some degree, as most of the ones I've tried seem to.  
 
I'm also curious if any of the Comply tips would fit them.  

 

[dweaver]

I tried them out at the Bose store before I bought mine otherwise at their price I would have passed, so go check it out.

unfortunately comply tips will not work. Having said that the included tips are extremely comfortable and the NC handles the rest...

 

[bubsdaddy]

I also tried them out at the Bose store. I wound up buying them at Best Buy because I had gift cards that covered half of the price. I don't think the Comply tips will work but I have a few so I'll give it a shot.

 

[dweaver]

Lol I bought mine at Future Shop for similar reasons.

I also find these are not as good as other IEM's in regards to total sound quality. But in noisy environments and for comfort they are hard to beat.

 

[bubsdaddy]

Comply tips really don't work at all.

 

[dweaver]

I have been reviewing a wide variety of gear lately and have to say I always feel a sense if relief when I switch back to these. The lack of ear pressure (even when compared to really comfortable IEM's) is just so noticeable. This coupled with their exceptional isolation is just so addictive.

I know I sound like a broken record here but I really do enjoy these so feel I need to remind myself with a post every once in a while.

 

[webhappy]

I have some HF3's that I like, but they don't do a good enough job on the airplane blocking out the engine rumble. I was considering buying the QC15 to wear on top for just the ANC, but it seems like I should just buy the QC20i to replace the HF3. The only possible advantage left for the HF3 is the ability to block voices. I have comply tips that seem to give good isolation and comfort is OK (I do have to take them out after a few hours to take a break).

 

[dweaver]

I use my QC20 every day. They basically have replaced most of my IEM listening. The combination of comfort and isolation is simply unbeatable. Their sonic prowess is more domestic but not horrible in any area so you get a pleasant well rounded musical experience with world class noise cancelling and comfort plus the ultimate in portability. With the QC20 you will be able to go for hours and hours without having to remove them.

 

[davidcotton]

How do noise canceling deal with general chatter and talking? I work in an office/factory and whilst I can wear iems taking them out and putting them in is a pain.

Thanks

 

[dweaver]

I can be listening at low to moderate volume levels and watch people talk without hearing them. The only time I hear talking is if it's loud or my msuic is in a very low point or silence then I hear the talking as whispering. To give a specific example, I was on the train staring down at 2 girls who were having a lively discussion giggling and laughing and all I heard was my music while listening to some classic rock at about 1/3 volume on my Nokia 920.
 
I have demo'd these to over a dozen people and I do it by turning off the unit and ask them to put the earphones in. Then I simply turn it on and in every case they are STUNNED! I then play some music

 . The thing that is so amazing is the amount of ambient noise these remove. Things we have trained ourselves to ignore, things like the air conditioning fans in buildings, the constants buzz when walking around a mall, etc, all of this sound simply falls away...
 
The new Bose commercials exaggerate the silence a bit but they are pretty accurate.
 
By the way these are a piece of cake to insert and remove making it easy to remove them when needed plus they have a button you can push that allows noise in which is good for when you want to talk to someone or possibly need more awareness. 

 

[steveting99]

I've sub to this thread and will have to try out QC20i one of these days in the Apple shop - if and when they have it available there. I did try out the QC15 in the Apple shop and was impressed with the noise cancelling feature, less so about the sound quality. I did the trick of using the IEM and putting the QC15 over ear to get the noise cancelling feature - it worked surprisingly well. Unfortunately the QC15 was rubbing against the IEM which made it uncomfortable to wear so gave up on this idea.
 
The QC20 has gotten me interested again on noise cancelling. Glad to see dweaver here to give some feedback. 
 
Steve

 

[Pass]

  http://versus.com/en/bose-quietcomfort-20i-vs-sennheiser-momentum
 
looking to this comparison bose seem better. even for their portability...
 
anyone tried them!? how do they sound!? 

Haven't read it yet, and don't want to... Why someone would compare an active pair of  in-ear noise cancellation earphones with a passive on-ear pair of headphones?!