Bose QuietComfort 2 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• ASIN: B00021Y9OA
• Item model number: QuietComfort 2
  

Technical Details

• Noise reduction for travel, work and home
• Powered by: AAA battery
• Total weight with cable: 6.9 oz (196 g)

Costumer Reviews

First of all, let me say that I resisted buying the Bose QuiteComfort 2 headphones for a long, long time. I travel a fair amount for business, and had been looking for a pair of noise cancelling headphones for those long plane rides, but I didn't like the $300 price tag. I bought and returned a number of the cheaper Sony alternatives after finding them dramatically inferior. A business colleague had the Bose headphones, and I borrowed them for a test drive. There really isn't a comparison. Turn on the power and the ambient noise really does melt away, whether you have music playing or not. I now use them to review and edit audio files on my laptop when I'm flying, watching DVDs, as well as mowing the lawn while listening to my iPod. I never noticed the pressure that an earlier reviewer mentioned, but after reading their reviews it is there. However, it's never caused me any discomfort. Really, I have nothing bad to say about these headphones.

After reading some of the other reviews, I feel I must weigh in with my opinion of these headphones. I bought them online from Bose after some research of similar products. I'm not made of money, but $300 didn't seem bad, since I do really enjoy listening to music, and I own some incredible Klipsch speakers. I believe the most important component in an audio system is the final link, the actual sound transducers, whether they are the speakers, or headphones, so I tend to not scrimp on either.

That being said, I have listened to a wide variety of headphones, and I own a pair of Sony V600's. The sound quality of the Bose QC2's are on par with the best I have heard. I personally do not get the sensation of "pressure" mentioned by others, however the noise-cancelling feature does produce a sensation that, frankly, you don't get anywhere else. It's not bothersome to me at all, and I don't even notice it after the first minute of listening. As a frame of reference, I work in a noisy manufacturing environment, and I wear foam earplugs in my ears over 8 hours a day, so the QC2's are entirely unobtrusive to me.

As a testament to their noise-cancelling ability, I wear them when I mow my lawn with my cheap (noisy) riding mower, and in that capacity they are nothing short of phenomenal. I plug them into my Muvo MP3 player and turn the volume on the player up to about half to three-quarters, and I don't even notice the mower engine anymore. No other headphones I've tried were able to let me enjoy listening to music while I mowed.

The AAA battery seems to last forever. The construction of the QC2's can best be described as very high quality, but light. The 'phones weigh very little, but I wouldn't want to drop them off of a table for fear of them breaking. I tend to be very careful with my electronic "toys," but I still find myself treating these even more carefully than usual.

The bottom line is I am completely satisfied with my QC2's. They don't cancel all noise out completely, but they do reduce it very noticeably, cancelling lower frequencies (street rumble, footfalls on stairs and floors) better than higher frequencies (female voice, television sound.) When I bought them, Bose was running an offer of a free CD player with the purchase of the 'phones, and that helped push me over the fence. Even without the free player, I can recommend buying these without reserve.