niceflyer1186

I said this in another thread but I got rid of my Bose qC-15 and switched over to in ear headphones. I got AirBuds (www.air-buds.com) for about 40$ and they really block out noise (through isolation) better than the bose and the memory foam tips makes them unnoticeable. I would recommend trying these out before spending all of the money on the bose. Other people on this thread have enjoyed them as well.

robroy90

I ordered a pair of the Nokia Purity Pro cans, I was intrigued with the ability to connect via Bluetooth w/ APTx quality, and a wired connection if the need arose. The Parrot Ziks were almost a winner, but no APTx codec support I could see. I use QC-15s now, so I will do a comparison.

thomwithanh

I picked up a refurbished pair of Bose QC 15's... love them, only set of headphones I've ever had that completely filters out the HVAC noise at my apartment.

dr88

I love my QC-15's. Worth every penny. Long battery life and excellent noise cancellation both in the air and on the ground.

ianp

I would go for Bose , especially if you can get them for a good price.

powerful pete

Another happy Bose I customer here. Expensive and take up a bit of room in the carry-on, but well worth it.

Ghentleman

I'm very happy with the Senheisser PXC 360 BT.
Very comfortable even after hours of use. Good Noise Cancelling. Like the Bluetooth feature, although you are generally not allowed to use BT on a plane (you can turn it of and connect with a cable)

evergrn

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I'd like some advice on what to do.

I bought Bose QC25 and found it comfortable and completely pain-free wearing it ~12 hours to/from HKG and I think I slept better in-flight as result, although my ears did get hot after a while and I didn't like the space it took up on my carry-on. I did have to return it because one earpiece would stop transmitting sound from time to time.

Then I bought the in-ear Q20. I love that it doesn't take up space, my ears didn't get hot of course, and it was initially comfortable. But after a few hours, they felt uncomfortable in my ears. The discomfort wasn't intolerable, as I managed to keep them on the entire flight to/from TYO. But it was uncomfortable enough that it affected my ability to fall asleep. Plus I felt the noise-cancelling wasn't as good as QC25, although this is a minor point. I tried both the small and medium tips.

I was really hoping Q20 would work out for me, since I hate the space that QC25 takes up and I'm now nervous about going back to an over-ear NC headphone after the sound issue I experienced with the QC25 (I got a bum product that malfunctioned right from the get-go, but I've read other people developing similar issues after 1-year mark.). But I'm thinking about returning QC20. Comfort, reliability and portability/size are the most important factors for me.

Questions:
- I know that discomfort with in-ear depends on the person, but are there many folks out there who've switched from IE to over-ear for that reason?
- Am I wrong to expecting to be able to keep an IE on for 8-13hrs straight without discomfort? (I fly to Asia avg 4x a year) Are earbuds only meant to be worn for a few hours at a time?
- Are there any NC earbuds universally considered more comfortable than QC20?
- The issue with sound cutting out in one earpiece ... is this inevitable after a while in any over-ear NC headphone?

AnaTravel

Evergrn, personal preference plays a part. Yes, I switched from IE and have been using Bose around-ear headphones for years. My husband prefers earbuds and dislikes the look of over-ear. Buds hurt my ears. Others find them very comfortable. You are not alone re finding IE buds uncomfortable.

paperwastage

can you pinpoint the discomfort?

afaik, the only difference between s/m/l is the size of the hook (the actual flanged earpiece is the same size)

is the hook digging into your ear? try it without the hook fully secure?



everyone that I've talked to loves the stayhear+ tip design (hook makes it secure, the flanged part doesn't require a full suction/seal which makes it less irritating)

I use it almost the entire time for 10+ hour flights, no issues (other than needing to charge it)

evergrn

Okay, so you are like me. And my wife finds over-ear uncomfortable but IE to be no problem.

It's not the hook that's the problem. I can't even feel that part. It's the part that goes into the ear. And when I take it out, I can actually feel the skin dent/crease it's made on my outer ear canal.

Dubai Stu

I've been reading a lot of rumors that Apple may be introducing noise cancellation with Airpods 2.0. I hate the size of over-the-ear headphones, but have an Australian flight coming up and am definitely packing them.

COSPILOT

My concern with Airpods and airplanes are probably obvious, but if my cell phone happens to fall into the black hole of j class seats and is difficult to recover, how the heck am I going to find the airpods?

I'm still traveling with my QC15's, and I can only guess, but they are probably nearing 2,000 hrs on them, if not more. I'm partial to Bose in many, but not all products.

javabytes

evergrn

So that I'm clear about QC35, can you verify that all of this is true for QC35? I'm trying to decide between QC35 vs QC25.
- It can be used with ANC, wired or wireless.
- If used wired (eg, airplane IFE) and your battery goes, you lose the ANC but you still get sound/music.
- It is no bulkier than QC25.