I'm not sure what "colored" means, but thanks for the info. you did post in my other thread about electronic music, so I'm not sure if that likes colored, or not. It seems there is a lot of love/hate for this company, and judging from the comments it seems they aren't worth the price at all, but it seems for noise cancellation, it's tops.
Yes, "lot of love/hate for this company" is very accurate.
Colored means they have a specific, well, coloration, or tonal balance/deviation-from-neutral. They "color the sound" as a result. IME Bose tends to have a relatively strong house sound (meaning all of their gear tries to approximate a similar coloration) which leans towards smooth, laid-back, bass/mid-bass boosted (this doesn't mean bloated and exaggerated like a bad car stereo though), and some treble sparkle. It's very easy to listen to, and does well with both high and low quality source material. That's probably why they're popular with a lot of people - it's an easy to live with sound signature. However it isn't the final word in detail or accuracy, and that's where many audiophiles will probably object.
That's what bose reminds me of, beats. Don't know anything about beats, but hear about them a lot, and they just seem inferior and made for rap/hip-hop, so that's why theya re probably liked so much. Emphasis on bass I'm sure.
They get lumped together quite a lot, but IME they're miles apart. Bose is actually trying to make sound equipment, Beats is selling fashion accessories to teenagers and young adults. Granted, Bose has different goals/objectives for their equipment than a more conventional speaker company like Klipsch or Sony, but they're still in the realm of "audio company." Beats headphones that I've heard tend to have hilariously boosted/bloated bass, shelved treble, zero soundstage/imaging, gobs of distortion, horrible build quality, etc. The "exception" to this is the Beats Pro, but the QC15 are easily a superior headphone at a lower price. Not to mention much more comfortable.
Not sure if I would need noise cancellation being at home, nor would I think they would be my first choice if I do need cancellation.
I'm kind of odd in that I do use ANC at home - primarily to block out HVAC and other noise. That's basically what ANC is good for - eliminating constant noise. It doesn't do good with random sounds (e.g. a dog barking). Bose is easily one of the best (if not the best) in terms of ANC performance (that is, how much noise the system actually eliminates).
That's what it seems, overpriced and overhyped. You make sense about the prices and such, and the claims of "best." It's just odd that no one has heard or mentions these other companies, anywhere.
Honestly outside of web forums, I don't hear about any audio companies that often. It's all a very niche thing. I would also caution you before jumping on the "Bose Bashing Bandwagon" and regurgitating things like "overpriced and overhyped" in contrast to the splendor of "unknown high end audio companies" - there's plenty of overpriced and overhyped "high end audio" products that nobody has ever heard of too; Bose has a very large marketing department like Apple, Sony, or Ford, and thus generates a lot more marketing material than a small company like Grado or Sennheiser. That does not, however, make them the devil.
Colored means the sound they produce isn't natural or flat. In other words, instead of the music sounding the way the artist recorded it and wanted it to sound, Bose changes it to make it sound more exciting. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though, as some people prefer it. But audiophile purists rarely do.
I really despise that "as the artist intended" - it's more or less a direct lift from the Beats marketing campaign (back in the Monster days at least) and it has so utterly invaded all discussion about audio equipment these days it's just mind boggling. It's inaccurate for a few reasons: firstly, the "artist" (whoever/whatever that means) is not the only person who has influence on how a track, album, etc sounds. Secondly, I really don't care what that person or people think - art is meant to be enjoyed by the viewer. But the Beats marketing team has basically sold everyone and their grandmother this idea that when you go into a fine art museum you're handed a set of color filter glasses and told to use them on certain pieces because that's "how the artist intended" and further that you aren't meant to have any interpretation or make any adjustment away from the artist's "intention."
And note that I'm not saying *you* are making these claims - I just dislike how that phrase has crept into the head-fi/audiophile lexicon as another way of saying "neutral" or "flat" in recent years.
hmm... So flat would be "normal" on the eq? I like "Exciting" and I think that fits my music preferences, but I don't tihnk Bose is the way to go, especially since I'm more lookign for Open Headphones, but that's another discussion.
Ideally flat is flat - as in the frequency response is flat across the board. However with headphones that's hard to establish in a way that people agree upon, because you have to determine how you're going to measure/test for "flatness" and that's where people start to diverge.
Do the purists just want the pure sound, and that's it? They don't care if it's been "enhanced??"
Who are these "purists" and where can I meet one? IMHO best not to worry about straw-men.
Yeah, that's the thing, and that's the first thing this person said, "get bose." "Why?" was my response... Another family member I spoke to said "Oh yeah, Bose is the best, that's why they use them in cars and such..." DOn't know if that means that's the best, or just what people "Look for." AS you said it's ALL MARKETING. NO one is going to want to recommend something no one has heard of. "Sennheiser, What is that ****?"
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Like I said - they have a big marketing department and they use it. You will commonly hear "get a Mac" or "get an Apple" in a similar vein. Does this mean Apple computers are evil or horrible? Not at all. But not everyone likes them and they cannot be all things for all people. Some like their toast buttered on the top and others on the bottom.
Exactly. And in the home audio world, people will go out and buy Bose Acoustimass/ Bose cube speaker systems because they know Bose from advertising or know a friend who has Bose. Yet, if people compared it with the best comparably priced surround setups, most would find that the Acoustimass does not sound good.
My dad was all prepared to spend about a $1000 on a Bose Acoustimass speaker system several year back because that's what my aunt had. I talked him into get a Klipsch setup at a big box store that sounded much better. I used to go to my aunts and cringe when I had to listen to her Acoustimass surround setup and just wish that she had just a pair of decent speakers instead. It was awful. But sounded good to her because she didn't know any better. And she could brag on it because it was "Bose" and how much it cost and other friends and family members knew the brand name.
And with headphones, it doesn't make sense to buy based on brand name alone anyway. Even good headphones vary quite a bit in sonic signature. Could very well be a $100 pair of headphones would sound better than one of the best $200 pair of headphones because the particular frequency response of the more expensive headphones wasn't well suited to a listener's particular tastes.
While I largely agree with you (especially if we're talking for complete Bose HT systems), I absolutely *loathe* the Klipsch Quintet system and would gladly take an Acoustimass package over it.
h34r:
Klipsch's headphones, at least the ones I've heard, also suck. As in Bose is significantly better at a lower price, and some Beats products are better.
1. I don't really have a budget, originally I was looking to replace my G35(130$ retail), and wasn't sure I wanted to spend that much, but now it seems I'm probably looking to spend around 300$, if not more. This is just for the headphones, because if I need more parts I could work with that also, but I want it to be "worth it." I definitely have been lacking on my music playing, but have lately been doing it more.
$300 is a very good range for headphones - there's tons of options.
2. I have no clue about what type of sound signature I want, nor what that exactly means...
Sound signature - what kind of coloration do you like? Do you want a more bass-driven presention? Or something that's very treble-heavy and doesn't have a lot of bass? Or boosted treble and bass? Or something that tries to approximate "flat"? etc Generally this will be "paired" with the kind of music you listen to, but it doesn't have to be.
5. I don't think I need to isolate noise really, but not sure if open headphones are for me, so I will have to try them out. I'm mainly in my room, so again, that would be the place I'm most likely going to use them. This might change at some point, so I'm not sure if it's better to get a pair of closed headphones, or wait until the time I need them to get a pair that's closed?
Either can be good. There are plenty of good examples of both. The stereotype is that open headphones tend to have better imaging/soundstaging and potentially better sound at a given price-point. IME this is more true for less expensive/lower-tier models (and that itself may just be that most inexpensive closed headphones are studio monitors, or wannabe studio monitors), but as you move into higher-tier parts there are some fantastic closed-back options as well as some fantastic open-back options.
6. I don't think I will need a detachable cable, not sure what the consensus on that is?
Detachable means replaceable. With a few exceptions most higher-end headphones with fixed cables (well, and detachable cables really) tend to have pretty quality cables though, so you shouldn't need to worry about replacing the cable if you treat them well.
8. Mostly music, I game, but that shouldn't affect the purchase. I should note, I do watch a lot of anime, and I just realized that tidbit of information now, so that might actually change my decision or choices. It's hard to say what I do more, but I feel it's better to get these for music, but I'm not sure....? Thoughts?
I would say gaming does matter - you will likely want something with good positional accuracy, soundstaging, imaging, etc. For watching anime, or any TV/video content, I personally preference a bit of bass boost and also good imaging/staging, but that's me. There are many headphones that can achieve these things ofc - so while this is "more information" it probably doesn't do much to narrow your selection.
