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Sound-cancelling headphones?

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I've been watching and hoping for a while now that we can get a drop on a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones. I'd love a pair of Bose QC's but don't want to spend that much. My current Monster Inspirations leave something to be desired with the sound quality during noise-cancellation (actually sounds like it's just noise amplification instead of cancellation).
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Barry_Bogart
Feb 10, 2020
EMF meters - there are some Android apps that are good enough. I do have a standalone.
Russmaf
7
Mar 13, 2017
This is just my opinion but I feel as if Bose makes plenty of money to ever do a sale through massdrop. They are very stringent on their prices and cant see them dropping it just to get more sales. Unless a new model comes out I don't see the price dropping much if at all. Good luck though hope you find something.
Jaydenconfrey
1
Mar 29, 2017
Get the QC 25's. The same thing but not wireless. I've got them and they're awesome.
Keebler808
15
Apr 6, 2017
JaydenconfreyFor $50, I'd rather just spend a little more and get the QC35's. I won't use the bluetooth feature often but it will be nice to have. Plus, I've read some reviews that say the 35's actually have a slight sound improvement over the 25's. I haven't compared them myself and the specs are pretty much identical which could just be listener bias. I'm stuck between the Sony's and the Bose right now.
Turkay
363
Mar 9, 2017
I would always prefer passive noise cancellation over actives for better audio quality. In ear monitors help a lot, like 20+dB SPL. I hear almost no outside noise when I go out with my Shure SE846s. And very very low engine sound in planes, trains etc.
Turkay
363
Mar 9, 2017
You will end up with audio quality degration whichever active noise canceller you go with. The principle is they capture the sound around you and inverts the phase 180 degrees and mixes it to the audio that is coming from your device. So in theory that would cancel all of the sound around you. But it never is the case due to imperfect response of the mics and the delay time of the signal process in electronics.
Keebler808
15
Mar 9, 2017
TurkayYeah, I understand how noise-canceling signal processing works. I'm willing to give a little bit on sound quality though for extremely noisy situations. IEM's work good for me in most situations but there are times I just really want over-the-ear NC headphones.
DropTheQC35
1
Mar 8, 2017
Is there another to buy the QC35's at a discounted price?
Juka
191
Mar 6, 2017
Pretty much all noise cancelling headphones has a slight buzz. If you are after purely noise cancelling, the QC35 are the best choice. If you want something that sound better though, you should check out the PSB M4U2.
Keebler808
15
Mar 6, 2017
I read through the reviews on Amazon and while a lot of people give the M4U2's good ratings on sound quality, there were a bunch of recent reviews that were less than optimal when it came to build quality or technical issues.
Bose actually used to be a very respected speaker maker, they then came up with those silly tabletop radios that employed some rather tricky acoustical engineering to give tiny full range speakers bass. Those things were so popular they stopped making audio-focused speakers and sunk all their efforts into consumer level audio "gadgets"...sound quality took a back seat. I've heard the QC35 is leaps and bounds better than the early gen noise cancellers but like most of that ilk, struggle a bit in the treble region.
peji70
3
Mar 5, 2017
For me is Sony MDR-1000x the most wanted headphones...
Bluetoothguy
4
Mar 15, 2017
The Sony's come with a cord of your battery dies. Simply plug them in and yourself good to go. You can keep the cord in the case for when you need them.
Bobraz
2631
Mar 15, 2017
BluetoothguyGood to know, but what I mean is, I prefer AAA because after a couple of years, internal batteries start losing the ability to hold long charges, and you either change your equipment altogether, or you have to start surgery on your equipment if you want to change the battery (you have to open the equipment, sometimes un-solder stuff, etc.). That is, if you find an OEM replacement internal battery.
The battery on my QC3 is starting to lose its wind, and Bose replacement batteries are frikking expensive. There are clone batteries, but they have bad reviews.
It's same as smartphones, I'll never understand why they switched to internal batteries to save a couple of millimeters. Or, rather, yes I know; it's called planned obsolescence I guess.
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