Headphone News

New York Times writer David Pogue has an interesting round-up of 9 noise-canceling headphones. The article compares headphones like the JVC HA-NC100, the Logitech Noise Canceling Headphones and the Sennheiser PXC 450 against the market leading Quiet Comfort 2 and Quiet Comfort 3 from Bose.

As expected, Pogue has the Bose models as his favorite but does rate the Panasonic RP-HC500 and Audio-Technica ATH-ANC7 as being right up there. It’s an interesting read and shows that you can get almost match the Bose Quiet Comforts and for a lot less money.

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Mobility Today have put up a short review of the Bose QuietComfort 3 headphones and, as with previous reviews, it’s very positive.

As with nearly every other review, it’s the noise-cancelation of these headphones that gets the most praise, although the reviewer also loves the sound. The battery life, design and comfort of these headphones are also commended in a review that is almost entirely positive.

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Looks like Bose have done the right thing after numerous complaints about the fit of their IE earphones and will send all existing owners an upgrade.

The upgrade consists of a new set of ear tips, an around the ear lanyard and a spring clip on the wire which should prevent the headphones falling out during active use (walking, breathing, etc.). After the 16th of March, existing users can order their free upgrade by calling 800-819-7032 with the replacement ear tips being sent straight away and the other goodies to follow in June.

In addition, the new headphones will appear in the shops from the 15th of March.

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Reviews of the recently released Bose TriPort IE earphones have been mixed with some testers reporting problems with a poor fit. However, it looks like Bose have taken the criticism on-board and are holding a press conference next week where they will discuss the problem and their solution to it.

Good for Bose, hopefully they’ll be able to do something for the disappointed customers out there.

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CNET have posted a review of the Bose TriPort IE headphones and unfortunately it pretty much tallies with earlier disappointing reviews.

The headphones receive a pretty poor 5.7 out of 10 in the review with the lack of noise-isolation and poor fit being the largest problems. The reviewer also comments on the very heavy bass on these earphones, something which has been noted as a negative previously.

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Top girls gadget guide Shiny Shiny have listed their top 5 noise-reducing headphones focusing on both electronic noise-reducing and passive noise-isolating technologies.

It features a number of Headphone News favorites including the rather gorgeous V-Moda Vibe and the ever popular Bose QuietComfort 3.

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TechTree have another review of Bose Quiet Comfort 3 headphones and again it’s largely positive.

Awarding them 4 out of 5, the noise-canceling and sound quality of these headphones once again impress the reviewer.

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Headphone News reader Emmanuel has posted a review of the Bose TriPort IE headphones that I thought was worth recreating as a post of it’s own. Take it away Emmanuel:

I was looking for a pair of headphones for my SonyEricsson W950i to replace my Sennheiser CX300 when I came across the aforementioned Bose at an airport duty free shop. Mostly out of curiosity, I decided to purchase them and may I say what a big mistake that was.

At this stage I should perhaps say that I am lucky to own a pretty good range of headphones including Shure, B&O, Sony, Sennheiser, Etys, Grado and now the Bose.

Build quality: The build quality is not as good as the pictures imply. They are made of poor quality plastic and the logo is just another piece of plastic glued on. The cable is of regular quality on par with the CX300 but keep in mind that the Bose are twice the price.

The pads, although good quality silicon, keep on popping out. This happens very regularly indeed and some point I thought I lost one them.

There is one good quality item though; the little leather case. Other manufacturers should take notice of this little case.

Comfort: I found the IE are very very comfortable with the largest silicon pad fitting my ear perfectly but take note: these are not in-ear as the name suggests; they sit outside the canal like regular earphones.

Sound quality: Where do I start? As soon as I hit play on my w950i I was shocked; the track was Her Voice Resides by Bullet for my Valentine encoded at 256Kbps VBR. The only thing I could hear was incomprehensible bass completely overshadowing everything else. I promptly changed the EQ settings to Treble Boost to no avail; there was no treble to speak of.

Given the fact that the w950i is not the greatest sounding MP3 player, I plugged them in my HD5 player. There was a marginal improvement on Judas Priest’s Hellrider encoded at 256Kbps ATRAC3+ but the improvement was really rather insignificant and came after a lot of tweaking the player’s sound preferences.

In general, the sound lucks detail and clarity. There are no highs, overwhelming lows but with no detail. I thought of giving them a chance in case they needed burning-in but no, after a week of 4-6 hours of listening they really sound bad – certainly not as good as the £70 tag implies.

Conclusion: Poor build quality, poor sound quality, good fit and good leather case. The Bose TriPort IE are seriously overpriced and seriously over-rated by pocket-lint.

I have since replaced them with the Sony MDR-EX90LP which I am quite happy with.

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Last month, Pocket-lint reviewed Bose’s new TriPort IE headphones and awarded them an excellent 9 out of 10.

The great rating is mainly due to the sound quality of these in-ear headphones which the review describes as “perfect and even better than the eShure’s we’ve got. Sound was crisp and clear if not a little bassy”. In fact, a slightly heavy bass is about the only criticism they can come up with.

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Australian newspaper The Age have a quick round up of four headphones that anyone thinking of getting a set of headphones as a last minute Christmas present should check out.

First up is the Skullcandy Skullcrushers which are awarded a lowly 2 out of 5 due to their overwhelming (and over-vibrating) bass. Slightly better are the Sennheiser MX90VC receiving 3.5 out of 5 but much worse are the Creative SL3100 which only get 1 out of 5.

Finally, and best of all, are the Bose Quiet Comfort 3 recieving 4 out of 5. The Age were impressed by the noise-canceling technology on these ‘phones but feel the comfort let them down.

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