Hello, I just joined, primarily for the audiophile products. Looking at purchasing the NHT C3 speakers for our new living room. Space is about 15 feet wide by 33 long and they will fire long ways. Space is just for general listening, music room with all equipment is downstairs, so hoping they will fill it with sound nicely. Cheers.
Mar 18, 2024
Audition these headphones yourself see if the comfort is good for you. For me personally the QC35 beats out the PX for comfort, however I’ve not heard the Sony or Sennheiser
https://fiil.com/products/fiil-canviis?gclid=Cj0KCQiA5t7UBRDaARIsAOreQti9tB_wIochdpY3IKkFjrta3eRoNeAFJphGmqxJxWLfNPUxAjaEYOUaApKbEALw_wcB
I have no affiliation with the company. I paid full price for my headphones.
I like them because: the sound is great. But it's not as good as the QCs. You can't beat the QCs for sound quality. Don't get me wrong, the FIILs are close, but not as balanced - they are slightly warmer with a little more weight towards bass. They're not Beats. But the QCs are a tough act to follow.
However, the FIILs do a better job, for my purposes at active noise cancellation (ANC). On full ANC mode, I'd say the two are on par with each other - maybe a slight edge to the QCs - due more to them being over-ear as opposed to the on-ear FIILs, but for "open" mode where you want to hear your surroundings (which is important to me as I listen mostly while walking through Philadelphia), the FIILs are better. They amplify the ambient noise better and maintain the fidelity of sound better on that setting than the QCs. They also have a couple of features I really like for listening on the go. (1) touch controls - the right earcup is touch sensitive and can adjust volume or skip tracks - no hunting around for the button, (2) cycling through ANC modes is super easy with a little toggle switch (again on the right earcup) that round-robins through three levels of noise cancellation - it's really easy to switch on the go and the only button that protrudes so it's easy to find, (3), they pause when you take them off your head and rest them around your neck, resuming when you put them back. This is so much more useful than I expected. Walking home, I stop in a bodega for beer, put the FIILs around my neck, and the music pauses - it resumes when I put them back on my ears. This is brilliant and I love it. They don't fold flat. I love that the QCs fold flat so I can put them easily in my briefcase. The FIILs fold, but not flat. That might be a con for you. I think the FIILs are better looking. But that is totally subjective. They also (in my opinion) feel more premium. The QCs are amazing cans, no argument to be had, but they are super light plastic (not a bad thing) and the FIILs, while still light and comfortable for hours of wearing - they just feel nicer.
Here's the rub, the FIILs (if you don't care about on-board file storage or voice control - both of which are options) are at least $100 less expensive.
I own both. The QCs have a special place in my heart. But the FIILs have become my daily driver. If I could only own one, it would be the FIILs.
I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. Happy listening!
- Patrick
For portable, I'm using a bluetooth adapter and my normal IEMs/portable headphones with a shorter cable. It works very well, and sounds fantastic. In my case, it's currently the EarStudio ES100 with my DIY balanced short cables (~2 feet) for Audeze Sine headphones and iSine earphones. They sound fantastic using AptX HD.
Hope this help.
I've tried out Bose QC35 and Sony WH-1000x and can say that the QC35 is the by far the most comfortable I've ever tried around my head. I've worn the PX a lot over my head and I have a fairly large head (hat size is just shy of an 8) and there's definitely a strong clamping force which either has loosened up over time or my head has gotten used to the pressure or both. Sony's were more comfortable than PX but not like the Bose. Comfort is a big factor for long periods of listening and especially for use on long commutes and/or flights.
Bose is no stranger to high quality sound and they sounded great but B&W sound is simply amazing for me and my ears. Balance (in so many ways) is key for me a lot of times so the dynamic range on the B&W just seems more complete to me compared to the others. Sound is very subjective so your experiences will vary as will mine over time. A lot of the professional type reviews you see rate B&W PX as the best sounding between the three but take their (and my) opinions with a grain of salt.
Features outside of ANC I think Sony wins here just barely. The "hold hand over right ear cup" and "lower music/raise environment" is super nifty along with the touch panel swipe gestures. Bose's dedicated Google Assistant button doesn't do much for me since I'm in the Apple ecosystem. B&W smart sensors don't work for me which is a slight bummer but I have these for their sound and don't use ANC unless I'm on a long flight which happens once in a blue moon.
Overall, I would rate Bose high for comfort, Sony for features, and B&W for sound. All three don't slouch in the other categories but if you were to pick the headphones for one sole reason, those are how I would pick.