bilavideo's Full Review: Bose QuietComfort 2 Consumer Headphones
I hate to be what Arnold Schwarzeneggar would call "da party poopa," but if you're going to spend three bills on a pair of headphones, you might want to think twice before you buy these. That's not to say these headphones are all bad. With big, puffy, earpads, they're comfortable - especially for an on-ear headphone. They're also great for tuning out what you don't want to hear. Those big puffy cushions don't just sit on the ear; they cover them up. This effectively blocks outside nose. The additional noise-cancelling technology also works wonders in providing effective sound isolation.
It's in sound reproduction that Bose QuietComfort 2 headphones leave something to be desired. I've listened to these same headphones - at BestBuy, The Apple Store and my local Bose store - multiple times and on different days. My initial impression was positive, due to the sound-isolation qualities of the headphone. They also provide impressive bass. These are cans with skull-pounding bass. The problem is, whether listening to them alone or in side-by-side comparisons, these cans may block out unwanted sound and provide great bass, but the resulting sound is still unacceptably muddy. The bass is there but it's not tight, while the midrange and treble are muddy and muted. High-frequency detail is so muted, I found myself testing at least a dozen display units (at four stores in three cities) out of sheer disbelief. At this point, I'm satisfied that it's not the display models; it's the design. This is a headphone that clearly puts noise-isolation and boom-boom ahead of clarity and detail.
My listening samples included a variety of artists and styles: Alicia Keys' No One provided good thumping material, more than adequate to bring out the bass, but the vocals sound muted on these cans. The artificial pop of dubbed/simulated record scratches seemed to disappear, as did the subtle guitar work in the right channel. Colby Caillat's Bubbly provided an opportunity to listen for the plucky detail of guitar work, which was more pronounced on this track than on No One, most likely because of the prominence it plays on the track. Still, to my ears, the lack of high-frequency presence was disappointing, sort of like replacing Aurum Cantus ribbon tweeters with one of those crappy $50/pair paper twidders in a Bose JewelCube satellite.
For a closer look at texture and detail, I turned to the world of Jazz. Grant Green's Cantaloupe Island is a great source for ear porn - from its wood blocks and cymbal crashes to its sax-and-trumpet grinds. It's not as open as Cedar Walton's Jazz or as intimate as Charles Mingus's Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, but it's great material to show off the sonic abilities of a good pair of cans. Unfortunately, QuietComfort 2 slaughtered the material like a middle-school jazz band. Quietude it delivered but sonic detail was so muddy, I wanted to toss these cans to the floor. Switching to Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. just added insult to injury.
The problem is in the design. QuietComfort 2 puts so much emphasis on blocking outside sound that it doesn't leave enough space for allowing sounds that have every right to be there. The soft bean-bag-like cushions provide an excellent seal for blocking outside noise but the aperture for transmitting detail from the driver is too small. The pleather-like cushions are great for creating a sonic barrier, but the size of the aperture and the material used over that "hole" filter the high-frequency far too much.
In testing the Bose headphones, I encountered the Dr.Dre brand, which is apparently competing with Bose, using a similar method of going with the soft, on-ear bean-bag-like cushions. But with the Dr.Dre Beats, there's one difference that highlights what's wrong with the QuietComfort 2: You can turn the Dr. Dre's just enough forward as to let in the high-frequency detail. As a Grado user, I'm used to repositioning my headphones for maximum effect (speaker placement, on the head, is as important as speaker placement in a room). Ironically, for a company that puts so much stock in speaker placement, the Bose QuietComfort 2s turned out to be the least accommodating to adjustment. I could modify my placement of the Dr. Dre's and get them to "open up" but these QuietComfort 2s sounded the same regardless of what I did: annoyingly muted.
Notiwithstanding their virtues, I would not pay $300 for these cans. In fact, I wouldn't pay $20 for them (though many would think otherwise). While I appreciate the sound isolation these cans offer, and the bass is ample, their clarity is so bad, it ruined the ride. For some people, that may not matter. But if it doesn't matter, why pay so much for a pair of headphones? You can pay more than a grand for caviar cans, but even at the low end, if you're paying more than $100, you should expect to hear the difference.
Retreat into a private world of fantastic Bose sound. Ergonomically designed to be extra comfortable, the Bose QuietComfort 2 Acoustic Noise Cancellin...More at QVC
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