RnB180
Member of the Trade: RnB Audio
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2004
- Posts
- 4,339
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- 15
Howdy folks, been a while since I posted a review, my visits have been limited as of late, and thought I swing by and share my thoughts from those wondering about the new bose head gear.
So considering that bose has just released two new models for the head gear folk ie and oe, which stands for in ear and on ear. I thought it was about time to upgrade my ipod from the ghastly mini first gen to the slightly less ghastly nano gen 2. This will be my on the go minimalist pocket jukebox from now on, and the mini has always and will still be relegated to car fm trasmitter juke box. I use the shuffle first gen for the gym with my super.fi pro 5. So I was looking for an inexpensive alternative to use with the nano and thought Id give bose a try as it seems to have garnered positive reviews here. And of course my portable amp/amps are used when i sit at my study station or relaxing. I use full sized cans for that however.
these are impressions out of the box so Im sure it will get better over time as they begin to break in. I will update the review as time goes by and if I notice any sonic improvements or become more familiar with what these ear buds have to offer.
presentation and packaging 10/10
the ear buds come in standard blister packaging, I hate blister packages since you need a super lazer to chip a dent in these packages. Nice presentation, bose always has nice presentation for anything they sell. moving on...
build quality 5/10
the earbuds, are very light, overall doesnt seem very weighty or solid feeling. Wire insulation feels like it can be easily cut though if one is not careful. However it seems more resistant to tangle than other iem wires Ive come across. At the Y split theres a standard choker to tame the two wires from the buds. Only time will tell how well built these are or average life span of the ear buds from regular use. Fortunately I believe bose has a good warranty policy, hope I wont ever have to use it however.
Design 8/10
If you take a close look at the pic above you will notice that bose adds ports to the ear buds. YES THESE BUDS ARE PORTED. First of its kind that i know of, ports are usually added in the enclosure to increase bass response Before even listening to them I already knew there would be some good ol bass response on these ie's.
The tips are formed from medical grade silicon. In short these are soft and squishy. the tips that are pre installed are the medium sized ones. Ive found that large sounds best to my ears. The tips actually alter soundstage so experiment with which one works best for you. I think the reason why the large tips work best for me is that it creates a better seal preventing ambient sound from entering and music exiting, even though these are not isolation buds. I get a considerably larger sound stage and bass response along with high frequency response with the large tips..
they are comfortable and due to its extremely light weight nature they dont feel like something is violating your ears personal space, these just sit on inside canal of your ear.
the ear buds also dont stick out or look awkward when worn, unlike a few ear buds out there that extend outside of the ear more than some would like.
the mini plug is a standard straight gold plated mini plug
here is a pic with the tips removed. the tips easily slide on and off, so easy that Im consdered the tips may accidentally stay in your ear upon removal, however since these dont sit deep in the canal they do not pose a thread if they were ever to accidentally be left in the ear. UPDATE: I had a tip get stuck in my ear, however pulling it out with your fingers is very easy.
not to forget the nice case for the ear buds, however if you are like me you never go through the hassle of wrapping ear buds up everytime you put them away, I usually just wrap them haphazardly around the ipod. Too much hassle for use thecase IMO
Sound quality first impressions out of the box score tba
minimalist equipment aac lossless, ipod nano second gen, bose buds ie
these are my first impressions, the buds have not been broken in yet so Ill keep this short and sweet until I feel more comfortable when Im ready to critically listen the sound quality these buds have to offer.
bass.. its there, so much so that they sound like headphones. The ports actually do help with the bass output, kudos to bose for trying something new and getting it to work.
treble there but slightly rolled off so far. Once I set the eq to treble boost, I get satisfactory highs. Aside from that, they would be much too dark for my liking.
soundstage... absolutely huge for earbuds. I notice higher frequncies trailing outside the parameters of my head sometimes. Spacial imaging pans horizontally as opposed to some other iems that have a narrow stage and pans more vertically.
efficiency.. there earbuds are very inefficient. I have to essentially near max out the nano to attain loud listening levels. However I leave it about 2/3rds the way and the volume is more than enough for me.
at very low levels there is very noticeable bass presence. This is a good thing. Also detail is also still rendered very well. Very impressive for such ear buds.
I believe these ear buds would greatly benefit from amplification, I havent tried to amp these yet, but I can tell you they are pretty inefficient. and if they sound this good un amped, I can only imaging how much better and arthoritive they would sound amped.
Ill tell you one thing. Shure ec2s and bose i.e. are simarly priced and the bose sounds better and feels a lot more comfortable than the shure e2s(from my memory, I dont use e2s anymore) e2s back then always sounded muddy and were very uncomfortable for me. And unlike the e2s I actually get a sense of fullsized can sound with the i.e. which I didnt get with the e2s.
I cant wait to try these out amped.
value 9/10
Bose bashers, would have no reason to bash these buds. because in terms of sound quality and design concept, i consider the ie's a very good value for the price. These ear buds actually sound "good".
cheers
God bless
myo
So considering that bose has just released two new models for the head gear folk ie and oe, which stands for in ear and on ear. I thought it was about time to upgrade my ipod from the ghastly mini first gen to the slightly less ghastly nano gen 2. This will be my on the go minimalist pocket jukebox from now on, and the mini has always and will still be relegated to car fm trasmitter juke box. I use the shuffle first gen for the gym with my super.fi pro 5. So I was looking for an inexpensive alternative to use with the nano and thought Id give bose a try as it seems to have garnered positive reviews here. And of course my portable amp/amps are used when i sit at my study station or relaxing. I use full sized cans for that however.
these are impressions out of the box so Im sure it will get better over time as they begin to break in. I will update the review as time goes by and if I notice any sonic improvements or become more familiar with what these ear buds have to offer.
presentation and packaging 10/10
the ear buds come in standard blister packaging, I hate blister packages since you need a super lazer to chip a dent in these packages. Nice presentation, bose always has nice presentation for anything they sell. moving on...
build quality 5/10
the earbuds, are very light, overall doesnt seem very weighty or solid feeling. Wire insulation feels like it can be easily cut though if one is not careful. However it seems more resistant to tangle than other iem wires Ive come across. At the Y split theres a standard choker to tame the two wires from the buds. Only time will tell how well built these are or average life span of the ear buds from regular use. Fortunately I believe bose has a good warranty policy, hope I wont ever have to use it however.
Design 8/10
If you take a close look at the pic above you will notice that bose adds ports to the ear buds. YES THESE BUDS ARE PORTED. First of its kind that i know of, ports are usually added in the enclosure to increase bass response Before even listening to them I already knew there would be some good ol bass response on these ie's.
The tips are formed from medical grade silicon. In short these are soft and squishy. the tips that are pre installed are the medium sized ones. Ive found that large sounds best to my ears. The tips actually alter soundstage so experiment with which one works best for you. I think the reason why the large tips work best for me is that it creates a better seal preventing ambient sound from entering and music exiting, even though these are not isolation buds. I get a considerably larger sound stage and bass response along with high frequency response with the large tips..
they are comfortable and due to its extremely light weight nature they dont feel like something is violating your ears personal space, these just sit on inside canal of your ear.
the ear buds also dont stick out or look awkward when worn, unlike a few ear buds out there that extend outside of the ear more than some would like.
the mini plug is a standard straight gold plated mini plug
here is a pic with the tips removed. the tips easily slide on and off, so easy that Im consdered the tips may accidentally stay in your ear upon removal, however since these dont sit deep in the canal they do not pose a thread if they were ever to accidentally be left in the ear. UPDATE: I had a tip get stuck in my ear, however pulling it out with your fingers is very easy.
not to forget the nice case for the ear buds, however if you are like me you never go through the hassle of wrapping ear buds up everytime you put them away, I usually just wrap them haphazardly around the ipod. Too much hassle for use thecase IMO
Sound quality first impressions out of the box score tba
minimalist equipment aac lossless, ipod nano second gen, bose buds ie
these are my first impressions, the buds have not been broken in yet so Ill keep this short and sweet until I feel more comfortable when Im ready to critically listen the sound quality these buds have to offer.
bass.. its there, so much so that they sound like headphones. The ports actually do help with the bass output, kudos to bose for trying something new and getting it to work.
treble there but slightly rolled off so far. Once I set the eq to treble boost, I get satisfactory highs. Aside from that, they would be much too dark for my liking.
soundstage... absolutely huge for earbuds. I notice higher frequncies trailing outside the parameters of my head sometimes. Spacial imaging pans horizontally as opposed to some other iems that have a narrow stage and pans more vertically.
efficiency.. there earbuds are very inefficient. I have to essentially near max out the nano to attain loud listening levels. However I leave it about 2/3rds the way and the volume is more than enough for me.
at very low levels there is very noticeable bass presence. This is a good thing. Also detail is also still rendered very well. Very impressive for such ear buds.
I believe these ear buds would greatly benefit from amplification, I havent tried to amp these yet, but I can tell you they are pretty inefficient. and if they sound this good un amped, I can only imaging how much better and arthoritive they would sound amped.
Ill tell you one thing. Shure ec2s and bose i.e. are simarly priced and the bose sounds better and feels a lot more comfortable than the shure e2s(from my memory, I dont use e2s anymore) e2s back then always sounded muddy and were very uncomfortable for me. And unlike the e2s I actually get a sense of fullsized can sound with the i.e. which I didnt get with the e2s.
I cant wait to try these out amped.
value 9/10
Bose bashers, would have no reason to bash these buds. because in terms of sound quality and design concept, i consider the ie's a very good value for the price. These ear buds actually sound "good".
cheers
God bless
myo
