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The company that I work for purchased these for me a few days ago: http://www.amazon.com/Bose%C2%AE-QuietComfort%C2%AE-Acoustic-Cancelling%C2%AE-Headphones/dp/B
by robflynn 13y ago
The company that I work for purchased these for me a few days ago: http://www.amazon.com/Bose%C2%AE-QuietComfort%C2%AE-Acoustic-Cancelling%C2%AE-Headphones/dp/B0054JJ0QW http://www.amazon.com/Bose%C2%AE-QuietComfort%C2%AE-Acoustic...
I'm pretty happy with them. I'm fairly easily distracted by noises: Heavy walking noises, talking, laughing, phones ringing, folks rustling potato chip bags... It can all mess up my concentration if it comes at an inopportune moment. I'm the only programmer here so most of the folks here do not understand how easy it can be to derail someone that's coding when you catch them in the middle of a thought.
Anyway, now I feel like I work in 'silence.' I have my music playing at a much lower volume than I used to and cannot hear the office antics.
These specific headphones fit over and around ear (they provide a fairly good seal which muffles out a decent amount of sound even when they're not turned on.) Once turned on, most noises disappear. Sometimes I can still hear voices but they sound like they're very far away. A little music at low volume tends to filter out the remainder of the "very far away" voices.
The battery life is about 36 hours of active use time. The headphones have a switch on the side to turn them off. Music cannot be played through the headphones when they are 'off.' The headset takes 1 AAA battery, so I just keep some rechargeable batteries on the shelf behind me.
These have their pros/cons like pretty much anything.
My apologies for rambling. :)
OH! I will add, if you have these things on your head and switched 'on' but do not have any sound playing.... you'll feel... odd initially. I felt slightly disoriented when I first put them on my head sans music. I guess it was a mild sensory deprivation thing.
edit
Also, if you just happen to not like Bose, check out the amazon link anyway. The top most customer review compares the headphones to similar models from two other brands and lists pro/cons of those models as well.
- gregors 13y agoI also have a set of these, they work great!
- eatmyshardz 13y agoI don't own a pair myself due to their cost, but I've known a few people who swear by them.
- johnymontana 13y agoI have a pair of these also. I wear them most of the day in the office. The noise canceling feature is great, but I also can't emphasize the importance of the "over-the-ear" ear cups vs. "on-the-ear" enough. Over-the-ear makes a huge difference if you are looking for isolation. EDIT: forgot to mention one minor annoyance I have with over-the-ear headphones is how some ear cups fit over my glasses. With these Bose it's not much of an issue since the ear cups are soft enough, but has been much more annoying with other headphones. Something to be aware of, at least.
- robflynn 13y agoThe glasses angle is something that I had not considered. The QC15s fit nice and snug around your entire ear (not in an uncomfortable way) so glasses could potentially be an issue. They are fairly soft, though, so I suppose it could be worse.
- sveme 13y agoThanks, that is really helpful. As I will have to block out constant babbling, passive noise blocking is probably the most important factor. That is a really helpful overview in that amazon link. Sounds like I should explore the sennheiser line-up in more detail. PS: someone just opened up a package of crisps/chips and is now munching on them. Wonder how active noise cancellation would fare with that.
- rscale 13y agoI also have a pair of the Bose QC15s. They're fantastic for my open-plan office. Even very quiet music, when combined with their noise cancellation, will silence nearly all background noise.
- oahziur 13y agoI also have a pair of QC15. It is amazing, but for some reason, I cannot use it while I am wearing glass. so most of time, I work without wearing glass (Although it is hard for me to see my code clearly).
- theandym 13y agoI owned a pair as well until I left them in the seatback on a flight. I was given them as a gift and really enjoyed them - the quality and isolation provided by the noise cancelation was very good considering the price range. I will say that it is somewhat inconvenient to have to enable the noise cancelation in order to use at all. There are some instances when I prefer to have some external awareness, and this didn't really accommodate that need. Overall, I think these are a great option for someone looking for a pair without significant tradeoffs and with limited time to research. That said, there are definitely pairs with better quality out there. If you have the time I highly recommend reading reviews on Head-Fi prior to purchasing.
- pit 13y agoDoes anyone know if noise-cancelling headphones are bad for your hearing? By creating a wave that's out of phase with ambient noise, isn't that just as "loud" as the noise around you?
- robflynn 13y agoI can not speak scientifically about what you're asking, but I can theorize. The headphones that I have cover the entire ear and have quite a bit of padding. Simply having them on your head lowers the volume of ambient noise by a pretty good bit. I suspect that the engineers that designed the headphones took the dampening properties of the physical object into account and adjust the out of phase volume to compensate. I haven't felt any kind of discomfort or pain that is typically associated with loud noises. They seal well enough that sometimes I swear I can feel a quick pressure change if I remove the headphones quickly enough. That bit could just be my imagination, though.