GrussGott

In case this helps anyone, I recently did a shoot-out of the QC35s, the new Sony MDR1000Xs, and the B&W P7 wireless which are not noise-cancelling. I tested them in many, many scenarios with all kinds of sounds:

* over head jets you could hit with a rock
* ambulance sirens
* loud cafe sounds (glasses, conversations)
* Monster air purifier
* quiet room

We're all different but the net-net for me was I determined that I prefer great sound with occasional background noise to mediocre sound with lowered low frequencies.

The only scenarios I would want noise-cancelling headphones for are:

(1.) A loud noisy office where I don't listen to anything - in that case I'd use the ANC along with white noise played in them.

(2.) Silence in a room with airconditioning running or loud "whoosh" noises but no variable higher frequency noises like voices or glasses clinking.

In all other scenarios, i.e, where I'm listening to a source like music or a show, I prefer great sound with the occasional intrusion of background noise. This is because ANC doesn't block voices or variable noises like glasses clinking or engine whine. Also, the ANC has huge performance-dip right at the frequency of human voices (you can see this graphed on innerfidelity) - I wonder if that's for legal reasons? But the result is, yes airplane white noise is gone, but voices and screaming babies aren't. Those are the things I care most about cancelling. With the P7s, they sound so great and the passive cancelling is good enough that at even moderate levels you don't hear a thing. The QC35s and the Sony just don't have this type of immersion.

So after using noise cancelling headphones for 4 years for flights, etc I'm now off them because they just don't sound very good, and I picked the P7 wireless which sound fantastic. Watching a TV show on an airplane for example, I hear all kinds of sound effects and noises that I just don't hear with the QC35s or the Sonys and, ultimately, that's much more immersive to me than not hearing the airplane engines at very low volumes.

So for travel, for me, it's the Bowers & Wilkens wireless P7s - they're the headphones I look for excuses to wear.

KRSW

Does anyone have trouble with the NC causing an uncomfortable pressure feeling in their ears? I've experienced this with prior versions of the QC's and it's been bad enough that I won't use them. For that matter, I've experienced this in a few cars which used ANC instead of proper sound deadening materials & design.

Do we know what type of battery is used in the QC35? If it's Lithium Ion, I'm out -- that chemistry of battery degrades amazingly quickly. In tropical climates, I've seen them last barely over a year. If it uses NiMH or NiCd, then I might be interested.

For now, still using my well-abused 10+ year old Sony MDR-7506 cans modified w/sheepskin ear pads + acoustic "sheet" to smooth some of the edge off the treble. The upgraded ear cups/pad setup on these provides better isolation than many ANCs, every single part is field-replaceable, they're cheap, and no batteries required.

paperwastage

https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/...-wireless.html

click on FAQ


is it uncomfortable pressure, or just uncomfortable silence?

KRSW

@paperwastage: Thank you for the link! The spec sheet for the headphones didn't mention the battery chemistry, as is the way of Bose who never publishes real specifications.

Despite my tinnitus, I can handle silence. The master bedroom of my one condo was built to be a semi-anechoic chamber. I know a few people have found it a bit unnerving and we've added a sound machine for when guests are using the condo.

I actually feel an uncomfortable pressure when I've tried ANC headphones in the past. Likewise for some of the cars with ANC I've driven. The best way I can describe it is the feeling I get when someone opens a single window on a car at speed and you get buffeting or standing in front of a commercial/concert subwoofer.

nmenaker

do you have a modern day cell phone, like an iphone or samsung android type of phone,, or amazon phone, anything?

any one of those chargers will work, it's micro usb on the power end and USB on the other - just like all the above listed devices. ;-)

KCZ

I've experienced the pressure discomfort with my QC-15's, but it's less with the 35's, and for me it goes away if I lift the earpieces up for a few seconds and doesn't return for at least a couple of hours.

ETA: I've got noisy home renovations underway right now, and I've been using these for 4-5 hr stretches. The announced battery level only drops by 10-20% with each usage, and it seems to be improving over time. I'd give these headphones a big thumbs up for battery life.

KRSW

@KCZ: I just checked and it was a coworker's QC-15s which I borrowed and had difficulty with. I'll have to try some of the newer models and see if they're still troublesome.

jawnbc

Himself has finally worn his AudioTechnica NC headphones into the ground after nearly a decade (I go through mine in 2-3 years because I travel a lot more). So for Crimbo he asked Santa for a pair of QC35s. And Santa felt it important to test a pair himself for, you know, quality control.

I used mine on a trip to Canada and the US. I'm not an audiophile/snob so I won't claim to be a sophisticated user. And mostly these are for use on flights. Here are a few thoughts:
+even with my clownishly large head and ears, these feel bulky. Not a dealbreaker, but noticeable.
+noise cancelling is better than my QC25s, AudioTechnicas or Panasonics.
+Bluetooth integration for iOS is great: watching a movie on my iPad but able to take calls on my iPhone.
+microphone works well for phonecalls. Really well.
+being able to use in wired mode is good
+battery life is awesome
+quick charging is awesome
+sound is fine. Perhaps not quite QC25s, but close enough

Overall Santa is very happy with them. So is Himself. In terms of pricing, this worth noting:
AKL airport duty free NZD520 (USD 372.62)
USA (Cali) Target, BestBuy or Bose USD349 + 7.5% tax=USD375.18
Canada Bose CAD449 + 14% tax = CAD511.87 (USD383.74)

psychokilla

I bought my QC35s in the Bose shop in London, and got a few hours out of them on that trip, but at the airport before a 19-day jaunt around the USA, the on/off/bluetooth switch broke, it would just slide frictionlessly across and back. I need NC, so I picked up a pair of Sony MDR-ZX770BN at the airport. I immediately noticed the difference between these and the QCs. The NC isn't nearly as good (I actually brought them back to get some advice as I didn't think the NC was working at all) - I tend to listen to podcasts 99% of the time, but the QCs are definitely better at blocking out bg (airport) noise. The Sonys also felt bulkier and plastickier.

And now the happy ending . I popped into a Bose Outlet store while I was in the States, and showed them the broken switch. The guy told me the stores weren't linked, but he did something on his machine, and then gave me a brand new out of the box pair of headphones and the audio cable which had been attached. No questions asked, no proof of purchase, no registration (I hadn't had time). I'm now being a little more careful with these ones just in case they go the same way, but I used them on several flights, and absolutely love them. They're now attached to my PC and my only regret is that I don't travel more than I do.

So anyone want to buy a pair of Sony headphones?

GrussGott

The new Sony MDR-1000X are slightly better at ANC and sound better to my ear than the QC35s and also come with a bunch of other features the Bose don't have like the ability to turn off ANC. That said, the QC35s are more comfortable.

For podcasts I think i'd pick Sony's (1000x) unless I routinely did 8+ hour flights and then I pick the bose. For me, I travel in the 3-6 hour range and mostly listen to music and movies/shows so I went with the B&W P7s which don't have noise cancelling since, with them, for the first time in 4 years I don't need it.

gooselee

Before I go off an start a new thread - has anyone here tried the newish Sennheiser PXC-550s? (Amazon link) I'm currently deciding between these two sets.

From what I can tell from various online reviews, the QC35s have a very slight NC advantage but the sound quality on the 550s is superior. I of course trust FT reviews somewhat more than others on the interwebs.

FWIW, I did find a pair of 550s on demo at some store in the ATL airport and tried them on. In the 5 minutes I had before scooting off to my flight, I was very impressed with the sound quality just streaming some jazz from my phone. NC seemed perfectly adequate, though of course all it had to compete with was some light noise from the concourse. The actual headphones were comfortable and provided a good amount of noise isolation even with NC turned off - again, only 5 minutes of use.

Anyway, someone tell me if I should head off to another thread. Posting here since they seem to be a direct competitor to the QC35s so I'm wondering if others have already made the comparison for themselves.

michalis

I have not tried the PXC 550s but another good option would be the Sony MDR1000X - whose noise cancelling is (apparently) as good as the Bose.

I personally own the QC35s and would probably not consider any of the others as I value the comfort and the excellent NC of the Bose above anything else.

gooselee

Thanks. I really need to find a store somewhere that carries all three of them...

aceman

Just bought these coming from QC15 which died... Terrible support on them (5% discount offered). But these are spectacular.

Can't even hear the mrs talking in the same room on the phone, like literally nothing. Blown away.

gooselee

I ended up disqualifying the QC35s and buying both the PXC 550 and MDR1000X to compare.

Still deciding, but I just started a work-in-progress comparison if anyone is interested:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...-mdr1000x.html