[frix]

I had the 20i a while untill i lost it. I could wear them for hours without discomfort. After losing them I went for the qc25 because the battery pack of the qc20i was annoying. I couldn't stand the qc25. Its NC induced serious nausea. So I returned them. Besides the obvious background noise of the qc20 it really was struggling with quick pressure changes when commuting by train. E. g. Closing doors or incoming trains triggered a fluttering of the NC which also was a uncomfortable experience.

 

[spanisheyes]

Does anyone know if this Bose Soundlink 2.5 / 3.5 cable will work with the QC 25?
 
http://www.bose.com/prc.jsp?url=/shop_online/headphones/wireless_headphones/accessories/soundlink_oe_cable_acc.jsp&color=eb

 

[Davis050594]

  Does anyone know if this Bose Soundlink 2.5 / 3.5 cable will work with the QC 25?
 
http://www.bose.com/prc.jsp?url=/shop_online/headphones/wireless_headphones/accessories/soundlink_oe_cable_acc.jsp&color=eb

 
Yes, it will work. It will not have an inline mic, however. The QC25 cable will not work with the Soundtrue or Soundlink AE's but the Sounlink or SoundTrue cable will work with QC25. The plastic around the jack on the ST and SL keeps it from working. QC25 doesn't have that extra plastic though. 

 

[fadzes]

Hey guys, I'm having a hard time deciding if I should get the Bose QC25 that are on a discount (they now cost $276) or the audio technica ath-m50x which cost $182. I have tested the QC25 and they fit great on my head and I loved the sound quality and the Noise Cancelling feature. I have not tested the m50x but I have read that they sound better for more bass heavy music (which I often listen to), the noise cancelling on the QC25 is nice but not 100% necessary.
What do you guys think?

 

[Subhakar]

Hey guys, I'm having a hard time deciding if I should get the Bose QC25 that are on a discount (they now cost $276) or the audio technica ath-m50x which cost $182. I have tested the QC25 and they fit great on my head and I loved the sound quality and the Noise Cancelling feature. I have not tested the m50x but I have read that they sound better for more bass heavy music (which I often listen to), the noise cancelling on the QC25 is nice but not 100% necessary.
What do you guys think?

I used and sold Bose QC25. The sound is very anemic and very unfaithful to original recordings. The ONLY good thing about it is its excellent noise cancellation feature. But the noise isolation offered by many non-noise-cancellation closedback headphones like the beyerdynamic are just as quiet. Bose makes sense if you are frequent flier who hates plane engine sound more than you like great music reproduction. If SQ is what you care about, you would do well by spending the same money on audiophile headphones that offer a 100 times more exciting SQ. I would rather go for beyerdynamic DT1350, which I own, that offers lovely near neutral reproduction with its fast Tesla drivers and a phenomenal passive noise isolation for as little as $190; not to mention the tank-like build in German quality unlike the fragile Bose plastic, and super portability. Bose headphones McDonaldized music to suit the common denominator via Fletcher-Munson curve.

 

[beriguu]

Hey guys, I'm having a hard time deciding if I should get the Bose QC25 that are on a discount (they now cost $276) or the audio technica ath-m50x which cost $182. I have tested the QC25 and they fit great on my head and I loved the sound quality and the Noise Cancelling feature. I have not tested the m50x but I have read that they sound better for more bass heavy music (which I often listen to), the noise cancelling on the QC25 is nice but not 100% necessary.
What do you guys think?

In terms of comfort, on my head, I can wear QC25 on 10 hour flight with no issues. Where as ATH-M50 gets painfully uncomfortable after an hour and a half. ATH-M50 definitely has better bass than QC25. Since M50 is closed type, it blocks outside noise decently. Difference between M50 and M50x is M50x's ability to swap cables.
 
If I were you, if you can, I would definitely try on the M50x to see if it gets uncomfortable before purchasing.
 
edit: Just realized this is a month and a half old. Sorry. But I'll leave it here for future readers.

 

[Mark Up]

 ATH-M50 definitely has better bass than QC25. 

I'd recommend the Bose SoundTrue II, despite being new it appears to be discontinued recently. It can be found on clearance sale for $129.00 USD. It doesn't have the ringy resonant sound of the QC series (in both QC modes but much worse in passive mode). The subs seem to go far lower. There is not quite as much mid bass or sub bass level as the ATH-M50(X), and their high mids and highs are not as harsh as the ATH. Slight dip in the mids, not as bad as the ATH. Lighter and more comfortable with a better case.

 

[timar]

I just got these cans after noticing the price has come down quite significantly this year.

The active noice cancelling is amazing. The audio quality is fine but not excellent, leaving me somewhat dissatisfied that I now have to choose between NC or fidelity when listening with headphones. Luckily, after analyzing some frequency response graphs and some fiddling around with a parametric EQ, I figured that quality can be improved significantly by two or three minor tweaks to the response curve.

I want to share those settings here for everyone having a parametric EQ at hand (e.g. Rockbox) and would like their QC 25 to perform as well and neutrally in the treble as it does in the bass and lower midrange, i.e. without that harshness in the upper midrange and a bit more brilliance and "openness".

Band 1: -3 dB* @ 3 kHz, q = 1.4 (1 octave)
Band 2: +6 dB @ 5 khZ, q = 4.3 (1/3 octave)
High Shelf: +6 dB @ 12 khZ, q = 0.7 (2 octaves)

*You may want to lower this further if the upper midrage still seems too harsh for your taste.

Oh, and dont't forget to set the pregain to -6 dB to avoid clipping.

It's a shame the QC's equalization curve isn't designed more neutrally in the first place, given that there's already active equalization in the phones DSP.