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Bose Hearphones

hearphones.bose.com

401–410 of 429 posts

Re: Bose Hearphones

#401
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hearing aids are expensive, because they are a medical device. And they are also only available to people with a hearing deficiency. By not being "hearing aids", these are available to a wider audience.

Syringes are a medical device: they're cheap and available to anyone. Where are you and why aren't hearing aids available to buy for anyone who wants them? Is that a legislation thing, do hearing aids damage not-as-hearing-impaired people's hearing?

Because syringes are inexpensive, you're making the mistake of thinking there isn't a huge markup due to it being a medical device. I'm pretty sure if you were to buy a syringe for injecting plants or something non-human, they would cost a fraction of what they currently cost.

In these very comments someone talks about their hearing aids costing US$6000, being similar in function to the product being discussed.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#402
post #86

they need to get into something they can rent at clubs and concert venues. Clubs are ridiculous. Every time I go to a club, I don't wear hearing protection, and this means that I am consciously making a choice to lose some of my hearing. I should be able to get some foam things that reduce my hearing damage to something reasonable. but imagine if I could rent some kind of insert that actually lets me talk with others…

> Every time I go to a club, I don't wear hearing protection, and this means that I am consciously making a choice to lose some of my hearing. Maybe you should consciously make a different choice, such as bring ear plugs with you. There's plenty of brands that come in a container that fit easily on a keychain so they're not forgotten.

What I can recommend (if you have the disposable cash for it), is to get your doctor to prescribe (or pay for it yourself) custom ear canal shaped plugs.

The custom moulding can be mounted on most high grade earbud bases.

If you want to get really fancy and you play in a band, you can fit the custom plugs with in ear monitors, thus basically sealing your ear from damage on stage.

For the guy worried about hipness.... custom plugs will be completely hidden in the lighting of clubs, so don't worry, you'll still be able to buy drinks at the beer for someone that catches your eye without being laughed at.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#403
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure you have decent hearing? I thought I could hear what people were saying in noisy environments, but couldn't understand anything. This was one of the major symptoms for me before I was diagnosed with moderate/severe hearing loss. It's very isolating. No problems now with a decent set of hearing aids. Have yourself tested! The quality of life improvement from a set of hearing aids is incredible! edit: I wa…

I have a similar problem in loud spaces. Given my activities (motorcycling, guitar playing, powertools, etc) I had assumed my hearing was bad, but when I went to an ENT/audiologist for unrelated things I had them give me a good test on a whim. For me, the results were that I have hearing ability on-par with a ~5 year old, and they only see adults like me every 18 months or so. I've got a printoff of the chart around…

Same-ish, I have perfect hearing and my eyesight is 20/15. I can barely hear people in bars or clubs. The best solution I've found so far are musicians ear plugs which attenuate most of the bass and highs in such environments. I've tried a few brands from Etymotic to Surefire to Alpine and I generally like the Alpine ones the most. Flare Audio also makes some, and I've looked at DUBS before as well. A few years ago, Etymotic was one of the only good products in this space, but there are a few now.

I'd definitely pony up for a pair from Bose. Their headphones don't impress me in the outright SQ department, but they have the best noise cancellation tech I've heard.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went to an audiologist a few years back because I could hear certain things that would drive me up the wall. I thought it might be tinnitus or something like that- I ride motorcycles, am on the water in boats, use power tools, etc. Turns out I have exceptional hearing as well, and much better high frequency responses than an average 30 year old. Certain cheap lights and power transformers can drive me absolutely fr…

I'm glad to know it is not just me! Our cheap HP printer makes the worst racket, when the house is quiet I can hear it in all the way in the kitchen from the other side of the house. Nobody else notices it, and I tried unplugging it once and it made an even worse noise (probably would fade as the capacitors discharge but when I was trying to sleep without a fan in another room I didn't care to wait). As a kid I alway…

Yep, I have to be in a top-floor apartment with earplugs and double pane windows. I live near the mountains and it has done a lot for my quality of sleep and quality of life.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#407
post #260
post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't go to concerts often but when I do, I tend to bring foam earplugs: partly to protect my hearing, partly because otherwise the music is usually subjectively painfully loud. Sometimes when I haven't brought them I make do with tissue. Problem is, even without earplugs I always find it pretty hard to actually experience the music, comprehend the lyrics, etc. at concerts because it's so loud and distorted. Earplu…

Foam earplugs are absolute garbage. The difference is night and day. With foam, it's like being at a rock show underwater. With musician's earplugs, it's like being at a rock show at a reasonable volume. Spend the $20.

With the sorts of metal and rock shows I go to, it seems like the 12-15db that flat response earplugs reduce isn't enough. My ears still ring with foams that do 33db, even with the highs being muddy. Are there any really expensive ones that have a flat response to at least the 20db level?

Re: Bose Hearphones

#408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went to an audiologist a few years back because I could hear certain things that would drive me up the wall. I thought it might be tinnitus or something like that- I ride motorcycles, am on the water in boats, use power tools, etc. Turns out I have exceptional hearing as well, and much better high frequency responses than an average 30 year old. Certain cheap lights and power transformers can drive me absolutely fr…

I've wondered if hearing loss can be induced purposely for specific ranges for cases like this. Maybe just loud sound of a given frequency would work since that would only resonate with and damage its associated hairs inside the ear.

Naw. Just wear crappy earplugs (that is, that don't do a great job of silencing).

When I wear earplugs I can understand conversations better. Like many others in this thread, I have uncommonly good hearing but find it difficult to hear any conversation in a loud environment.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That makes sense. Thanks. I wonder what thing will be like after people have had 10-15 years of daily music listening through earbuds.

Hard as it may be to believe, earbuds/earphones/in-ear headphones were not invented with the iPod, or even the MP3 player. ;-) Today, many adults already have significant hearing loss from having regularly listened to loud music on portable players like the Walkman starting 30+ years ago. The first research on this seems to have been done in the mid-80's.

>"Hard as it may be to believe, earbuds/earphones/in-ear headphones were not invented with the iPod, or even the MP3 player"

Believe I am well aware of that time before ipod/iphone/streaming services etc :)

However back then there amount of time spent by people wearing earphone and headphones was much smaller comparison. Even with the existence of the Walkman it was not common to see people using them for instance in the office and at their desks for hours at a time during the work day.

People also didn't spend hours on the phone chatting socially with them either.

My comment was really more about non-congenital hearing issues being potentially common place in the future as a result of this change.

Re: Bose Hearphones

#410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't know about the QC30s. Amazon review mentions that the noise cancelling is not as extreme as QC20 or QC35 (by design, according to Bose). My guess is that the new buds will allow the iPhone as a 3rd microphone, with Apple's "Live Listen"

really? I own the QC30s and I had non idea that was not the best for noise cancelling. why would they design it to b be less effective than the other models?

Information was from the top negative review on Amazon: "I called Bose support and they told me the QC30 was never intended to be a replacement for the QC20. They said the NC wouldn’t be as strong and wasn’t intended to be. That is why one is designated QuietControl and not QuietComfort. "

I missed the reply from Bose: "We apologize for the information you received from our support team as it is not accurate. The Quietcontrol 30 headphones should offer a comparable level of noise cancellation to the previous QC20 model. Although the level of noise cancellation is adjustable on the QC30, they should perform just as well as the QC20."

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