So I demo'd the Bose QC15 today...

[3602]

I know, I know, don't kill me. Head-Fi-ers hate Bose.
So apparenty Bose went through the TDE and skipped the twelve next generations of QC 'phones.
*Build quality. Demo build quality anyway. Headband leather deformed, some holes are intentionally made on the ear-pads. Ventilation? The blue foam inside is exposed. Plastics remind me of the good ol' GM...hinges creak. Not good. The demo pair is not very well made, but hey, this is not the final product. However it may scare away some potential buyers.
*Comfort. Bose headphones are generally comfortable to me, and this one is no exception. However there is a lack of "wiggle room" inside the earcups...ears do touch the sides when I move them. Clamping force is adequate, somewhat stronger than my XB700 (although the Sonys have larger contact areas). Head movement won't shake them loose.
*NC ability. I don't have highly accurate frequency generators, so the noise is mostly background din in the shop. Voices are downed very much, with the occasional yellings coming through. Baby screams are much quieter, but still pierce right through. Hmm. Music coming from the shop's Bose speakers (you read it right) is gone. Background hisssss...overall not as good as the Sony NC500D, I'd say on par with the Senn PXC450.
*Sound quality. Oh dear. This is not $350 worth of sound. What I can say is that they sound much like the Beats by Dre (another hated by Head-Fi-ers) with less bass and less power. Whatever jazz that was coming from the headphones base, some freqs are scooped out. On some other tracks, electric guitar buzz was rather clean, vocals take a back seat. Drums sound coming from the other shop over there. I increased the volume, however these headphones can play loud, they give me a feeling of ever-lacking power.
CONCL. Don't buy. 350 CAD? Really? For this kind of performance, 200 may still be rational. For a high-*END* NC headphone, this does not do the job. May work well as earmuffs, or for those rather rich businessmen - and women - who have no special interest in real sound quality. I'd say buy the PXC 350 if you want NC 'phones.
Comments/replies welcome.

 

[jageur272]

Enough Bose threads. They serve no purpose other than to start huge dumps in them. Maybe posting in another Bose thread would've been a better idea.

I could care less that they're overpriced or that they're underrated, but its like talking about religion or politics, when everybody's talking, nobody's listening and any discussion of Bose is pointless because people WON'T change their opinions.

 

[kboe]

I'm sorry I wasn't there to save you. I've gotten good at slapping things out of peoples hands who shouldn't have them.

 

[Pincher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jageur272 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ..They serve no purpose other than to start huge dumps in them...

*Wipes coffee off monitor*

 

[Landis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jageur272 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Enough Bose threads. They serve no purpose other than to start huge dumps in them. Maybe posting in another Bose thread would've been a better idea. I could care less that they're overpriced or that they're underrated, but its like talking about religion or politics, when everybody's talking, nobody's listening and any discussion of Bose is pointless because people WON'T change their opinions.

He demo'd a product and posted his conclusions... I don't see an issue here? Sure, he may have added a little smack talk into it, but hey, I find that livens up a longer read!

This isn't a "BOZE SUCKS LOLOLOL" thread, it's a "Bose isn't for me and here's why" thread.

 

[Maxvla]

I too demoed the QC15 when I was at Best Buy the other day along with the Dr Dre Beats, one of the Sony XB models and some Skullcandy phones. I wasn't at all interested in purchasing, merely to try them out so I can comment intelligently on the forums here, even if it was a very brief listen.

The Beats were the first ones I saw. I was actually surprised at the quantity of bass they presented. The quality was of course rather poor and the mids/highs were recessed and rolled off. They didn't sound terrible, but they certainly didn't sound with their $299 price tag. If I hadn't seen the tag I'd have said maybe $75. Still if I were buying in that range they are not the phones for me.

The Sony XB was next. I don't recall the model, but they were reasonable headphones. More balanced than the Dre phones, but very bland and nothing special. I don't think I even looked at the price tag on those.

Skullcandy was next and again I don't recall the model or price. These had some kind of active vibration bass. The sound was of course awful and the vibration was without taste.

The QC15 were last and on the endcap (of course). I put them on and they were pretty comfy for a supra-aural phone. The noise canceling at first seemed poor when the music started. The sound was average, nothing worth noting. I then took the phones off only to find they had some kind of fan contraption engaged that sounded very similar to airplane noise that I didn't even notice while listening to the music. That was impressive, but even with the noise canceling the sound didn't warrant the price. Are they good? No. Are they OK? Yes. Will I ever recommend them? Not likely, even for noise canceling.

 

[krmathis]

Clearly the BOSE QC15 is not for you... so just move on.

 

[Gbjerke]

Yeah give it a rest.