So, I have owned the QC1's for about five to six years, and have bought about five paid or them, and about five pair of the QC2's all as gifts.

I really was excited when the QC2's came out, foldable, more packable and a bit smoother ear cups and more supple leather. they DO sit a bit more softly on the ears, and the foldability is really nice. #1 1K GF would NOT carry the pouch for the QC1's in her bag, and even then they were simply thrown in - and could be damaged.

True, in absolute silent, the QC2's have no "hiss" as is reported sometimes, so if you want silence in a quiet room for example, they will give you that. On an aircraft, I cannot notice the hiss.

But, BUT the audio response of the QC2's is differant than the QC1's, a bit more muted, not as dynamic in its range and not as delicate in the delivery of things like vocals, percussion and silent classical. For pop, jazz, rap and crap this is fine. Fro really listening to your favorite 192 kBps MP3 files, one can notice the differance. I wolud compare it to the differance between Dolby B and C. Not as pronounced of course as the differance between no noise reduction and Dolby 1, or B.

Now, that said - #1 1K GF cannot notice the differance, so she carries the QC2's always. I, continue to carry my trusty Qc1's, and still love them.