Noise-cancelling headphones

[spiggy_topes]

I was in Las Vegas/McCarran airport on Friday and very, very nearly bought a set of Bose over-ear noise-cancelling headphones for $350 US (in the end I decided to refer it to SHMBO). What dissuaded me was the extra $50 US for the adaptors for non-US power outlets - the sales rep apologised but said he wasn't allowed to do a deal for the package.

My question is: (i) are these headphones available in Australia without the adaptor; (ii) how does this compare on price locally? My Ipod earbuds aren't bad but they're not much good for classical music when in flight.

Many thanks

 

[wallacej]

Interesting topic..

Whilst you probably cant go wrong with the Bose set, I ended up settling on a set from Sony that was about half the price. Powered by a single AAA battery contained in the headset I found the quality of noise reduction was comparable to my friends Bose set.

I have had this set for a number of years now, and '000's of km's, and they haven't missed a beat.

The only issue is that even when foldeded they still take up a bit more space than I like.

I saw someone on a flight with a very flat set, however, even though they took up very little space, the battery was kept in the lead which even though weighed very little, still made the set pull to one side.

 

[Febs]

It'd be great if they charged via USB (do they?), especially with larger aircraft starting to have USB jacks in every seat.

spiggy_topes - RRP in Australia is a hefty $599AUD. Couldn't you just use a small power adapter, or are they 120v only?

There was some discussion on MacTalk about these (and alternatives) last night which might be of interest (admins, hope this is OK?): Noise-Cancelling Headphones - which ones? - MacTalk Forums

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[dragonman]

It'd be great if they charged via USB (do they?), especially with larger aircraft starting to have USB jacks in every seat.

spiggy_topes - RRP in Australia is a hefty $599AUD. Couldn't you just use a small power adapter, or are they 120v only?

There was some discussion on MacTalk about these (and alternatives) last night which might be of interest (admins, hope this is OK?): Noise-Cancelling Headphones - which ones? - MacTalk Forums

Cheers,
- Febs.

Do not buy the QC3's which need an adaptor. the QC2's fit over your ears (rather than on them) and run on a AAA battery. They are also $100 US cheaper - and they are fantastic - best travel investment I ever made (bought them at the Apple store in Vegas)

 

[Febs]

Do not buy the QC3's which need an adaptor. the QC2's fit over your ears (rather than on them) and run on a AAA battery. They are also $100 US cheaper - and they are fantastic - best travel investment I ever made (bought them at the Apple store in Vegas)

Far too big to be "travel" headphones for me though. To be honest I think I'd find the QC3's annoyingly large to carry around.

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[dragonman]

Far too big to be "travel" headphones for me though. To be honest I think I'd find the QC3's annoyingly large to carry around.

Cheers,
- Febs.

YMMV but they fit easily in the carry-on. They are great headphones is all.

 

[Maca44]

I have the Shure EC3 which are very compact and great, but they have been discontinued and Shure now have the SE model which I assume would be better quality. NM might have these new ones and might be able to provide a comment. Shure - Earphones

 

[simongr]

Do not buy the QC3's which need an adaptor. the QC2's fit over your ears (rather than on them) and run on a AAA battery. They are also $100 US cheaper - and they are fantastic - best travel investment I ever made (bought them at the Apple store in Vegas)

Far too big to be "travel" headphones for me though. To be honest I think I'd find the QC3's annoyingly large to carry around.

Cheers,
- Febs.

This confused me a little - dragonman said not to buy the QC3 and you said the QC3 were too big - so you were in agreement?

But then

YMMV but they fit easily in the carry-on. They are great headphones is all.

WHo is recommending what now?

I use Ultimate Ears Superfi 3. The advantage of them over teh Shure is that you can replace the cables on the UE - which I had to do recently. I am thinking of upgrading to the SuferFi 5 but not sure I can sneak that purchase past mrssimongr... she is already on the lookout for packages from Zazz! One Day. One Thing. One Chance. ....

 

[Shano]

I bought a pair of the SE's on my recent trip to the US - don't have them with my so can't confirm which model they are but believe it was the 310.

Excellent sound and very comfortable considering I have not used sound isolating earphones before. Also very compact.

Now need to think of something other than NC headphones to ask the Y CSM when they give me my personal WP greeting.......

 

[dragonman]

This confused me a little - dragonman said not to buy the QC3 and you said the QC3 were too big - so you were in agreement?

Sorry Simon probably my fault. The QC2's sit over the ears and are bigger. The QC3's sit on the ear and are smaller and more expensive and need to be charged. I guess that some feel they are both too big. If the QC2's are too big its a price I am happy to pay for comfort and the quality and the noise reduction.

 

[dot]

I for one swear by the Bose Quiet Comfort 2s - not exactly compact and I have been tempted by some of the in-ear offerings (such as from Shure). I've had a set of cheap Panasonic collapsible headphones (on which the headband broke - just not sturdy enough for frequent use), a set of Bose QC1's (Bought at the Bose outlet in Las Vegas during the run-out period shortly after the introduction of the QC2s) which I left at the AKL QP . I replaced these with a set of Champagne QC2s (from the Bose outlet at Smithville, North Carolina) on which the head strap broke - really poorly designed (if you look at the AA J Bose headphones, you will notice their head straps have additional re-enforcing where mine broke) - well out of the warranty period, I returned them to Bose Australia and they replaced then with my current silver Bose QC2s for no charge.

While the QC2s are bulky in my carry-on, I try to squeeze them in whenever I can - I love the isolation and feeling of privacy (dumb I know) that they give me - not to mention the great sound from the on board AV systems (Soul Food anyone?), my laptop or my MP3 player.

The QC2's as mentioned earlier use a AAA battery in one of the ear-cups and dont require a charger - IMO a much better option than having to find a power outlet - you can buy AAA batteries almost anywhere... and they last quite a long time.

The only downside is that you cannot use them without turning them on - ie. no battery inserted = no sound

 

[NM]

I have the Shure EC3 which are very compact and great, but they have been discontinued and Shure now have the SE model which I assume would be better quality. NM might have these new ones and might be able to provide a comment. Shure - Earphones

I still have my E3s in my essential travel kit. I love the fact that the not only fit in my carry-on, but also fit easily in my pocket. No batteries needed either . Now just need to pull together 6 sets for a show in December.

 

[serfty]

Sorry Simon probably my fault. The QC2's sit over the ears and are bigger. The QC3's sit on the ear and are smaller and more expensive and need to be charged. I guess that some feel they are both too big. If the QC2's are too big its a price I am happy to pay for comfort and the quality and the noise reduction.

I find over ear head phones like the QC2's to be far more comfortable than those that sit on, or in, my ear - especially after an hour or more of use.

So, for me, I happy to deal with the more bulky type. In-ear like E3's, Earbud types and on-ear like QC3's don't get a look in! (or a Sounding )

 

[Travel Guru]

I've got the Bose on ear headphones and absolutely swear by them.

I dont the that the battery needs charging as an issue as it comes with a spare, and ive never yet run out on a 22hr flight.

Would never got back, they're fantastic.

TG

 

[Febs]

This confused me a little - dragonman said not to buy the QC3 and you said the QC3 were too big - so you were in agreement?

Dragonman said get the QC2's. I said they're far too big for me, and I even consider the QC3's (which are smaller) a little on the "large" side for a pair of travel headphones.

Mind you, they still seem to be the smallest NC headphones (as opposed to earphones) out there.

 

[Maca44]

I still have my E3s in my essential travel kit. I love the fact that the not only fit in my carry-on, but also fit easily in my pocket. No batteries needed either . Now just need to pull together 6 sets for a show in December.

On a separate issue, but related to earphones, does anyone know of an adapter I can obtain so that my single pin Shures can work in the three pin J class audio/video.

 

[NM]

On a separate issue, but related to earphones, does anyone know of an adapter I can obtain so that my single pin Shures can work in the three pin J class audio/video.

You don't need the three pins, just the two audio pins. The third pin is to supply power for the noise cancelling technology.

They can be found here.

 

[simongr]

Dont forget if you have in ear buds that form a good noise blocking seal that you maybe need a dampening to reduce the volume of the onboard IFE so it is not deafening.

With my UE in ears I play my ipod at pretty much the lowest volume setting and it is still pretty loud (but cant be heard by other pax). On board I use the dampener on most flights.

 

[spiggy_topes]

I was in Las Vegas/McCarran airport on Friday and very, very nearly bought a set of Bose over-ear noise-cancelling headphones for $350 US (in the end I decided to refer it to SHMBO). What dissuaded me was the extra $50 US for the adaptors for non-US power outlets - the sales rep apologised but said he wasn't allowed to do a deal for the package.

Thanks for all the useful feedback. Bother, I've realised those Bose earphones were actually quite reasonably priced - especially with the strong AUD. Next time I'll know what to look for!

 

[kpc]

After reading about the Shures, esp. on NM's advice, I recently bought a pair of Shure E4s for $280 on ebay. After field testing them on a domestc and international trip, they are much better than my old Sony Noise cancelling MDR NC11. The added bonus is that they don't need a battery, and I bought the adaptor form DSE mentioned above. The E4s came with a sound dampener fortunately, otherwise I would have been deafened!! Thanks NM for your advice!

On a separate note, I recently travelled on CX J, and was unable to prize their earphones out of the socket, and had to use their inferior NC earphones.:evil: Anyone else encounter similar problems?