I used the Bose QC extensively today for 2-3hrs and spent around 30mins or so A/B testing it against the Nuarl N10 Pro. My setup is USB Player Pro on TIDA with bit perfect out put setting. The Bose QC feels bass heavy and the bass bleeds into the mids colouring the sound. It sounds like a 15" subwoofer rumbling at the back ground. This is very pronounce if you have a pure Acoustic track or Piano track playing. The instruments just don't sound natural to me. Grand Piano sounds like electric keyboard and guitar sounds like electric guitar. The sound stage is very wide, on some tracks i can feel the music is coming around 3cm out side the ear. In-comparison, the Nuarl N10 sounds much cleaner. It doesn't have that bass rumble, nor is the bass punchy. Have to say the N10 lacks bass but it makes up for it in imaging, separation and sound stage. Yes. It beats the Bose QC on sound stage. Its about 7-8cm out side the ear. its especially clear on tracks like Nora Jones seven years on TIDA Master, the acoustic guitar positioning is much further to the left behind the ear, while the vocal is right of the head. the Bose has the acoustic guitar positioned inside the left ear while the vocal is towards the centre of the head. On pop tracks and female vocals the Bose feels warmer tube like, the N10 feels more clinical natural AKG/ Etymotic type sound where you can hear each whisper. I personally prefer the N10 Pro with its clarity and impressive sound stage. I just don't like the Bose QC bass its less punchy and tight like the Nuarl N6 mini my wife picked up few weeks ago and the N6 drivers are considered bass heavy.
ANC performance, Bose wins hands down. it suppresses all frequency ranges while the N10(high ANC mode) suppresses the lower frequency better making the outside noise sound very weird with higher frequency more prominent.
Call performance the N10 Pro sounded less compressed while the Bose QC made the voice sound more higher pitched (only tested on calls twice today) but both caller had no issues hearing my voice clearly.
All the ANC earbuds are massive but Bose is the biggest in that department compared to the N10 and Sony. the case is about 10% smaller than the sony case while the N10 is thinner and longer. i don't think it would be comfortable to carry any of those in your pocket unless of course you're after some stares then N10 would be your choice inside a tight pants pocket
. i would consider the N6 mini/Mifo O7 size to be pocketable.
If your looking for ANC performance and Bass the Bose should be your pick. If your looking for SQ with more comfortable fit/size the Nuarl N10 is the better pick (heaps of tips to choose from). I also prefer the button controls over touch control, as you know that "click" is going to do exactly what you pressed it for. But i would hold off your purchase of the N10 for a few weeks as they are updating the firmware/APP to add more EQ setting to boost bass and better connection fixes (i had issues with one side of the earbud losing sound then coming back on, which apparently is not just me).
