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Bose's new beat

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Re: Bose's new beat

#51

Post by heywire »

oxide wrote: post #5

You're a knowledgeable lot, so I think I'll put this question out to you all. I'm looking for a budget pair of cans, I usually spend about 20 bucks because I'm both cheap and poor. I was considering the HD202's, I usually get by with HD201's but the cords short out and fray after a year or so of everyday use. I only have two requirements: over-ear headphones with a comically oversized cord appreciate any recommendati…

I love my HD202's. I wear them for several hours a day almost every work day. Best ~$25 I've spent... I did have to resolder the connection on both ears after a few years, but haven't had any other problems with them. I tend to play with the cord a lot when I'm thinking...

Re: Bose's new beat

#52

Post by beloch »

overcast wrote: post #33
jordanthoms wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do think some of their headphones are best in class - Not the greatest value for money though. Their QC line have the best noise cancelling, and if that's the most important criteria they are the ones I recommend to people. (Personally I use Sennheiser for my ANC cans as the sound is better and noise cancelling is not too far off). Their sports in-ears are great also - I've never found any in-ear headphone that bea…

I have the inner ear version, and the noise canceling is ridiculously good. $300 was hard to swallow for the sound quality, but you're paying for the NC.

A good pair of canal-phones that fit properly should provide enough noise isolation (on the order of 25-40 dB, depending on design) that active cancellation is unnecessary in most environments. People performing in front of heavy-duty speaker stacks often use canal-phones to be able to hear what they're doing without going deaf. The caveat is you really do need to mess around with different tips to find ones that fit and shove those suckers in deep enough to get a good seal, which a lot of people hate doing. Noise cancellation is great to have in over-ear cans but would be of very limited utility in canal-phones, assuming their isolation doesn't suck. $300 will get you a very good pair of Etymotics or Shures, which you should be able to get very good isolation with. If you can afford more, custom molded canal-phones are the gold standard.

I've heard, in many places, that Bose's noise-cancelling over-ear cans are decent though.

Re: Bose's new beat

#53

Post by beloch »

hipsterrific wrote: post #42
jordanthoms wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do think some of their headphones are best in class - Not the greatest value for money though. Their QC line have the best noise cancelling, and if that's the most important criteria they are the ones I recommend to people. (Personally I use Sennheiser for my ANC cans as the sound is better and noise cancelling is not too far off). Their sports in-ears are great also - I've never found any in-ear headphone that bea…

My car came pre-loaded with Bose speakers and, quite honestly, they're the best speakers I've heard in any car I've driven. The sound is pretty good considering that my car's stereo system is actually better than what I have at home. I've never tried their headphones though, I'm not in the market though I'll probably end up going Alclair for custom, in-ear stuff (I play drums so it's nice to have in-ear monitors).

I'm not really into car audio, but I'd imagine this is one place where Bose probably does pretty well because everyone is forced to use the same tiny boxes.

Re: Bose's new beat

#54

Post by beloch »

overcast wrote: post #48
cballard wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For $100 more, you can get UE4s molded to your ear canals. You can stand next to an arriving subway train (LOUD) and barely hear it. http://pro.ultimateears.com/ue-4-pro

There is a difference between isolation and noise cancelling. I need to be able to hear normal noise, but block out droning of airplanes and white noise.

Canal-phones are not for you then. Over ear noise cancelling cans or buds would be appropriate.

Re: Bose's new beat

#55

Post by andrewblossom »

brandall10 wrote: post #20
dangerlibrary wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Koss PortaPro. They leak sound like crazy and look like they came out of a time machine from the 1980's. But they're cheap and they sound great.

That's a popular Head-fi recommendation, as well as their sibling the KSC-75 (same drivers). The great thing about headphone audio nowadays (as opposed to just 10 years ago) is there are quite a few low cost options that sound great. Unfortunately they're not well known unless you do some research. That said, if you want top-tier audio out of something extremely portable that isolates to a degree, I cannot recommend…

How do you find Roon? Worth the money?

Re: Bose's new beat

#56

Post by overcast »

beloch wrote: post #54
overcast wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a difference between isolation and noise cancelling. I need to be able to hear normal noise, but block out droning of airplanes and white noise.

Canal-phones are not for you then. Over ear noise cancelling cans or buds would be appropriate.

I know what is appropriate for me, the inner ear version of the noise cancelling BOSE plugs. Because they don't heat up my ears, are far more comfortable, a small inconspicuous foot print when traveling with a single 30L backpack, and they work.

Re: Bose's new beat

#57

Post by ksk »

beloch wrote: post #21

Audiophiles rag on Bose pretty hard. It's easy to see why if you look at their product line. They have home theater systems, but all of them use tiny plastic cube speakers that trade sound quality for unobtrusiveness. They have soundbars and waveboxes. Bose 901's are arguably their "flagship" audiophile product, but these are designed to bounce additional sound off your walls to make your room sound like a concert ha…

I'll have to disagree with your comment there.

>Audiophiles rag on Bose pretty hard.

>Bose simply doesn't target audiophiles. They don't make audiophile products.

That would paint the the audiophiles as ignorant.

> Bose has somehow managed their image so that people think Bose really can cram audiophile-grade performance into precisely the kind of tiny, plastic boxes no other audio company can get halfway decent sound out of.

I don't think anyone who buys Bose products even knows what audiophile-grade means, let alone expect it. People try them on, stuff sounds good, and they buy them. The average person does not have any interest in learning the intricacies of what makes stuff sound good.

>Bose fails as hard as anyone else at that, but somehow people believe they've succeeded and line up to buy their products.

Maybe people believe it because Bose headphones actually sound better to THEM? Yes, sure maybe SOME people get swayed by the marketing (like any other product in the world), but I don't think a large segment of the population will spend hundreds of dollars unless they can get some tangible benefit. Sure, maybe its sad that they spent all their hard earned money on something that they could have gotten for a fraction of the price from some other vendor - but this applies to TONS of products out there.

And interestingly enough, even the so called audiophile-grade manufacturers are not really going to tell you, for e.g. that you're better off upgrading your source (the most important link in that chain), than your gear. All of the several thousand dollar headphones and amps and dacs, IMHO, are also one step removed from snake-oil. It reminds me of all the wine drinkers who buy all these expensive wines, and going off of memory, they have them do a double-blind trial and they pick out the cheap wines as tasting just as good.

(FWIW I don't own any Bose products, but I have invested/wasted about $5000 in audio gear over the years :))

Re: Bose's new beat

#58

Post by 112233 »

oxide wrote: post #5

You're a knowledgeable lot, so I think I'll put this question out to you all. I'm looking for a budget pair of cans, I usually spend about 20 bucks because I'm both cheap and poor. I was considering the HD202's, I usually get by with HD201's but the cords short out and fray after a year or so of everyday use. I only have two requirements: over-ear headphones with a comically oversized cord appreciate any recommendati…

igrado! seriously torturous ergonomics, but sound is above expected for the price. throw out everything except drivers, sew them to a headband :)

Re: Bose's new beat

#59

Post by beloch »

ksk wrote: post #57
beloch wrote: post #21

Audiophiles rag on Bose pretty hard. It's easy to see why if you look at their product line. They have home theater systems, but all of them use tiny plastic cube speakers that trade sound quality for unobtrusiveness. They have soundbars and waveboxes. Bose 901's are arguably their "flagship" audiophile product, but these are designed to bounce additional sound off your walls to make your room sound like a concert ha…

I'll have to disagree with your comment there. >Audiophiles rag on Bose pretty hard. >Bose simply doesn't target audiophiles. They don't make audiophile products. That would paint the the audiophiles as ignorant. > Bose has somehow managed their image so that people think Bose really can cram audiophile-grade performance into precisely the kind of tiny, plastic boxes no other audio company can get halfway decent soun…

It's funny, but I'd offer just the opposite advice these days. Most people don't spend enough on their speakers, both in terms of cost and in terms of devoting the space and time to set them up properly.

The amount of money you should spend on your source as compared to the rest of your gear has just kept going steadily downwards. Back in the vinyl days you really had to spend a mint to get a good record player, and it didn't hurt to keep buying copies of records that got a lot of play. Spending even more would net you concrete reductions in noise, less wear on your records, etc.. These days S/PDIF out from an the on-board audio chipset of a motherboard and a decent receiver/pre-amp or DAC are overkill for 99.9% of the sound systems out there. High end CD transports are pure snake-oil.

Re: Bose's new beat

#60

Post by [deleted] »

Someone1234 wrote: post #23
danielvf wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've used my Sony MDR-7506 daily for 18 years now. They sound good. You can get new pair from Amazon for $80. And it has you totally covered in your wish for an oversized cord.

Sony's studio headphones are seriously underrated. I suspect because they aren't marketed to the hip and trendy crowd. They actually look pretty ugly (like a 1970s reject) but they work so freaking well. I've had mine for twenty years, no issues, no frays, and I'd replace them with other Sony studio headphones if something were to happen. The cord is a beast. I'm not worried about it failing.

[deleted]
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