Bose® QuietComfort® 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headphones

Bose QC3 Noise Cancelling Headphones   January 6, 2009
First got to try the QC3 on an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Germany. Very effective noise cancellation and terrific audio. The free "test drive" convinced me. Love them and am considering buying another pair as a birthday gift. Nevertheless, was disappointed with how the headphones were packed for shipping. Bose simply put a label on the "shelf" packaging and sent it out by UPS. Product arrived safely but the packaging allowed every handler along the route to read the content of the box exposing it to possible theft. Additionally, if this was a gift purchase the surprise would have been ruined. Is the margin so thin that Bose can't pack the box in a plain box?

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perfect combination   December 29, 2008
For my opinions, I like it because it's comfortable, compact, and style.
SOmeone might say this headphone is overprice...yes I think so. But you cannot find anything like this at this price also.

For noise canceling ability, it's so so for me, however, many reviews claimed that it's better than many headphones (85% noise canceling). Bose never tell you the specification, but I can say that it can do upto 90%.

So, if you want to buy noise canceling headphone for canceling the noise only. You shouldn't buy this kind of headphone. You'd better buy noise canceling earmuff like Peltor H10A Professional Noise Canceling Earmuff.
It costs you only $15, and works better than any other headphones in the market at all price.

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For flight rather than just home use at the cost   December 27, 2008
Noise cancelling:
I bought these because I had several plane flights planned, but naively thought they would carry through at home with cancelling out noise from my teenagers. The noise cancelling is specific to low rumbles. You actually can carry on a conversation (with the music down) while the noise cancellation is activated. Mid-tones and treble are only slightly muted. While sitting in my seat on a small twin prop commuter flight the un-cancelled noise causes distortion to my uncovered right ear. With the Bose headphones the engine noise is brought down out of my personal distortion range and becomes a doable background sound. Additionally, the music from my iPod is no longer buried in engine noise. Bass is quite audible and pleasurable. Flights are more restful. At home the headphones improve personal listening if a stereo system is already being used by someone else in the room, but they certainly do not cancel all of the sound. I live near the coast and the phones completely cancel the distant sound of the ocean. Ironically, they add a faint white noise that I have mistaken for the sound of rain.

Sound quality:
Bose QuietComfort® 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphones ($349) compared to Sony MDR-V300 Monitor Series Headphones with Folding Design ($49):
Both of these headphones are on-ear. However, the Sony is NOT a noise cancelling device. I'm comparing sound quality with these because they are the only two headphones I currently have. The Sony pair have a remarkably greater treble response. Tones clearly heard in the Sony pair and NOT heard in the Bose pair include percussive tapping of saxophone, breath of flute, faint finger squeaks on strings, initial percussive strike on vibraphone. However there is a better mid range and significantly more bass in the Bose pair. This results in what I believe to be a much truer mix to the original recording. Being able to hear the a crisp high hat is nice, but it shouldn't be a dominant instrument on every track of every artist. Consequently, even with the lesser treble response I prefer to listen with the Bose headphones at home.

The difference between MP3/AAC and Lossless on an iPod with the Bose QuietComfort® 3:
I did this with the most discernment while listening to Radiohead Hail to the Thief. With Lossless rather than AAC instruments regain their timber while electronic generated sounds regain their distinct edge. After listening in Lossless the high hat in MP3 format is more like the "idea of a high hat" rather than the actual instrument (the quality of Lossless appears much more real). Listening to a CD from a stereo system is in turn much better than Lossless on the iPod (probably because of the iPod's smaller output). Because these headphones have a much higher quality of sound than in-ear earphones for my iPod I've now put my favorite music in Lossless format and the rest of my collection that I want with me in AAC, or MP3.

Recommend:
These really are for people who do frequent flights. If this is your situation and you want to listen to your music and/or simply want to have more restful noise-diminished flights they are a strong recommend.

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Great product, but pricy   December 20, 2008
First, please note that the Quietcomfort 3 are smaller than the Quietcomfort 2. They sit on your ears, instead of around your ears. I checked them both out at a Bose store after I had ordered them on Amazon, and I couldn't really hear the difference in the sound between the two. But the QC 3 is neater in it's design.

It's got absolutely great sound and quite good sound cancelling performance. They are also by far the most comfortable, physically, of any head phones I have used. I used them for the first time on a 10 hrs intercontinental flight. I wore them during the entire flight, and only took them off occasionally just to feel the difference in background noise. I will never go on a flight without them again. I plugged them into the aircraft's sound outlet for the movies, and I only had to bring up the volume to a minimum compared to what I had to with the airline's own head phones. You can use them instead of earplugs. But they're quite expensive if noise cancelling is all that you need...

But for daily use, it's a bit too bulky, and you're always worried that you will loose them. If you're a frequent flier, it's a must.

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Worth every penny   December 20, 2008
These are great headphones. They do a really good job of canceling noise and they sound great. I got them as a gift and can't thank my wife enough for buying them for me.

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