[euphoricRedditr]

Hi everyone,
 
I'm puzzled as to why Bose SoundTrue headphones have a higher average customer rating on amazon (4.5/5) than Head-Fi recommended entry-level IEMs specified here.
 
For example:
- Shure SE215 (http://amzn.com/B004PNZFZ8), 4.1/5
- JAYS a-JAYS Five (http://amzn.com/B00GFGF0WG), 3.2/5
- Etymotic HF5 (http://amzn.com/B000XPG2QI), 4.1/5
 
I try not to put too much faith into customer reviews, but was hoping someone could help me understand why the Bose SoundTrues are rated so high and yet are not recommended on the headphone buying guide. 

 

[OMGLadyGaga]

Because they are overpriced and you can get better sound for less. The average consumer doesnt know that, they walk into best buy and see Beats, Sony, Skullcandy, Bose and think that is the best thing out there due to marketing. I highly doubt the average consumer has even heard of Shure or Vsonic

 

[euphoricRedditr]

Because they are overpriced and you can get better sound for less. The average consumer doesnt know that, they walk into best buy and see Beats, Sony, Skullcandy, Bose and think that is the best thing out there due to marketing. I highly doubt the average consumer has even heard of Shure or Vsonic

 
I see what you're saying, but don't see how that translates to the Head-Fi recommended examples have lower customer reviews. To me, that means consumers are less satisfied with the headphones for the price (which is about the same as the Bose for all three examples). 
 
My gut reaction is that the people who buy the Head-Fi recommended headphones are more critical overall than the average consumer. But I wanted to hear some perspectives here to see if that impression holds any truth. 

 

[OMGLadyGaga]

I see what you're saying, but don't see how that translates to the Head-Fi recommended examples have lower customer reviews. To me, that means consumers are less satisfied with the headphones for the price (which is about the same as the Bose for all three examples). 

My gut reaction is that the people who buy the Head-Fi recommended headphones are more critical overall than the average consumer. But I wanted to hear some perspectives here to see if that impression holds any truth. 

Could be that, but the more head fi approved stuff isnt always as comfortable, so amazon reviewers who arent as experienced in headphones are going to immeditely judge what they do know, comfort. Bose are insanely comfortable, thats gonna give them higher reviews on its own.

 

[Prozac2502]

Money talks.

 

[bobby12]

People are always willing to pay more for brand names because they assume it's the best. Since they have limited experience, and nothing to compare it to, they're going to give a good review if it's not complete ****.

I'm more picky because I have more experience and I'm looking for something good, not just something that makes sound like most people.

And of course it's a brand name so you'll get compliments. Kind of like a status symbol.

 

[Billheiser]

1. It could be because the Bose are better.
2. But probably not.
3. Probably more Bose customers are coming up from free earbuds, and by comparison the Bose are truly much better than those.
4. And head-fiers have different points of comparison.

 

[AnonDubey]

My 2 cents worth of thought...Most of them probably use Bose with devices like iPhone and iPad...now these devices cant match the quality of playbacks from full fledged DAP's..besides due to space constraints they would carry MP3 and AAC's...not FLAC/ALAC
 
People at Head-Fi use dedicated DAPs or highly rated playback devices which are better than iPhones and other devices. They couple it with FLAC and ALAC...All this combined brings the real music out and maybe shows the true color of headsets/IEM's and so on.

 

[Shaffer]

Ask an average Joe to name high-quality audio gear and most likely he'll say, "Bose." I've long admired Bose for their marketing. Consider for a moment what it takes to convince the general public that a speaker that sounds like mud is really the epitome of aural goodness, or that a Wave radio laden with distortion is a ready replacement for a real stereo system. Business genius, really. The 40+ years of intensive and highly misleading advertising didn't hurt. Is it any wonder, then, that a typical consumer is more familiar with the Bose brand than, say, Sennheiser which many can't even pronounce?

Why are folks more critical of the better cans than crap like Bose? Because, the enthusiast market and the consumer market, along with their respective expectations, are as close as apples and oranges.

 

[BobMonkhouse]

If I jump from a phone earbuds to a Bose HP, I'd rate it straight 5/5. If I've listened to a few ATHs, AKGs, Senns, Denons, LCDs, Stax', etc., then I'll rate some of them 4/5, and the Bose 2/5.

 

[AnonDubey]

  If I jump from a phone earbuds to a Bose HP, I'd rate it straight 5/5. If I've listened to a few ATHs, AKGs, Senns, Denons, LCDs, Stax', etc., then I'll rate some of them 4/5, and the Bose 2/5.

Well put....I am not an audiophile neither an enthusiast...All I want is to listen to music in high quality (mildly put to to my liking)...Bose cans are meant for people who fall for **** like Beats and so on.  Some of the others are serious players...Imagine what napster initially did to Music...loads of music in lossy compressions and we actually got used to it. I am from India and in those days things were just opening up in India.  But I have never listened to MP3 ever...I couldnt explain (till I got more access to the world) the difference between MP3's and the song I used to listen in my DiscMan...More exposure got me to understand why those things sounded horrible and why I couldnt listen to MP3's...Then came the "great devices" which couldnt really hold lot of high quality songs as they were huge so we again further got used to lossy music...Since these devices couldnt carry lossless music manufactures never thought of creating or using high quality circuitry.
 
In this community, many dont even listen to iTunes....Once in a while I still download songs from iTunes but I dont even have an iPod/iPhone or any "i"'s for that matter.  I have always used a dedicated music player.  What I am trying to say is...its not just marketing...its also the fact that general consumers now dont care for nuances in music anymore...and "ears" have forgotten to listen to great stuff.
 
What cant we force Apple to make a streaming service similar to youtube?...In youtube you could choose the quality of the streamed video based on your choice and bandwidth....Similarly, you could choose the quality of the music...you could choose Hi-Res; ALAC/320kbps/256 kbps....The reason I picked Apple is because they are closest...here with iTunes giving 256 AAC's...Given Pono is far from being adopted by consumers....
 
Why cant we force Sony and others to create high quality MP3 players....as good as the Hi-Res they have created....I am Sony fan by the way.  They are not far off
 
These are consumer companies and cater to demands....The demand simply is not there because while we are interested in 4K and 10K TV's...Music does not come in many peoples list....

 

[cel4145]

Ask an average Joe to name high-quality audio gear and most likely he'll say, "Bose." I've long admired Bose for their marketing. Consider for a moment what it takes to convince the general public that a speaker that sounds like mud is really the epitome of aural goodness, or that a Wave radio laden with distortion is a ready replacement for a real stereo system. Business genius, really. The 40+ years of intensive and highly misleading advertising didn't hurt. Is it any wonder, then, that a typical consumer is more familiar with the Bose brand than, say, Sennheiser which many can't even pronounce?

+1

For once, you and I agree (lol)

Anyone notice that Bose does NOT like to provide frequency response specs on their website for any of their products? That should be a big clue to people.

 

[AnonDubey]

+1

For once, you and I agree (lol)

Anyone notice that Bose does NOT like to provide frequency response specs on their website for any of their products? That should be a big clue to people.

Not just the site...I had been to there store and I had asked them the "Technical Specs" basically the frequency response and so on of a headset....They guy there told me that they dont provide specs...Bose is all about experience...LOL

 

[smy1]

Why doesn't bestbuy add vsonics AKG shure audio technica in bestbuy...... I walk into bestbuy once and asked do you guys have any sennheiser they said they don't know what that is. And I asked other dude and he knew what it was. I wish they would remove skull candy Bose and beats. People do think there the best in the world

 

[Max260]

I bought bose soundtrue in ear last week. They work for me. They sound is great. I'm not a bose homer either. As a matter of fact, this is the first product of bose I have bought. I paid 70$ on amazon.

There the most natural sounding in ear earphones i've ever owned. I'm not saying I'm an expert on headphones, but I do have 5 pair of headphones. Like I said, I don't have the most experience on headphones. Although, these are the most comfortable and best balanced sounding. Most of the headphones I've owned are to bass heavy, muddy sounding. I own audio techinica, brainwavz, JVC, and some cheapies.

I hope I didn't offend anybody after all this is just my opinion.

On a side note, a lot of people who shop on Amazon are very knowledgeable because you can get just about anything from Amazon.