I don't think anyone ever suggested that they would. They're designed to eliminate the whoosh and roar that accompanies air travel. In that regard, they're superb. Interestingly, I notice that, even if I don't listen to music, removing that background white noise roar makes a huge difference in how rested and relaxed I am when I arrive.

Which ones do you have? The QC1s used to bother me a bit after serveral hours. I can wear the new QC2s, though, throughout the longest flight without discomfort.

I, too, bought the QC2's earlier this year. They are good. But big and there is something better for both sound isolation and acoustical quality. And a far better value.

My QC2's are for sale now, no regrets.

The better,IMO, product is the Shure earphones. I have the E2c's ($99.00) and just got the E5c's ($499.00) I will return the E5c's - they are just not that much better. Purchased on the Shure web site, they can be returned within 30 days "no questions asked."

The E2c's DO block out conversations as well as engine rumble. I just retuned MXP -ZRH - DFW -SFO yesterday. Arrived rested and having enjoyed two movies and hours of music from the iPod as though I was sitting in my living room.

Best wishes,

Teacher49

I guess I'm one of the non-believers. I have tried the QC2's on several occasions. I will note that they ARE very comfortable. The noise-cancelling is acceptable, but not anything special IMO - I never claim to be H :-). I have taken my $50 targus NC headphones into a bose store and up to a bose kiosk and let them try to sell me. Each time my cheap targus set cancels the noise better than the Bose. I even handed it to the girl at the bose kiosk at PIT and she was just dumbfounded. In any case, I walked away without a set of QC2, but with $250 in my pocket.

When my targus headphones broke and I couldn't find them anymore (stupid me - I sat on them) I evaluated the field all over again. I was so dissatisfied with what I found that I drove 75 miles to a compusa that still had two pairs.

My targus set cancels up to 16db. I can't say how it compares because Bose does not publish specs - a carryover from the fact that they don't publish specs for their speakers due to their poor midrange performance. I would strongly suspect that they are right around the 10db-12db camp.

The short of it: I wouldn't buy a set of headphones without listening to the competition. My requirements may vary from yours since I prefer use a seperate set of high-end headphones for non-NC use, but if NC capbility is your primary requirement then I don't think the QC2's are a no brainer.

Bose claims 30db.

I'm unfamiliar with the Targus phones you're referring to. However, NC phones need to be tested under conditions similar to where they'll be used. A kiosk in a mall is not going to present the same aural environment as an airplane in flight. The Bose do an amazing job of reducing the whoosh and roar of the noise generated by the engines and airstream.

I have compared NC phones, and find the Bose to be the clear leader, both in terms of cancellation and in terms of audio quality. You might want to try them in-flight. As I recall, Bose has a 30-day money back guarantee, no questions asked.

They do? You do know that 30db is the attenuation provided by most foam earplugs, right? The Bose are good, but they're not that good . . .

I have borrowed a pair in flight, by the way.

Could you provide a source for 30db? I am skeptical. Would love to see credible sources.

Edited to add: IIRC, each 10db reduction is roughly equivelant to a 50% drop in the percieved sound level. For example, to the average person, 60db sounds twice as loud as 50db. 110db sounds roughly twice as loud as 100db. Therefore a 30db reduction would result in a sound level roughtly 1/8 of the percieved sound level before reduction.

The human perception of volume does not follow a linear relationship like the db level.

A couple of days ago I just took my first flight with the Shure E3cs (which are priced slightly higher than the E2cs but still much lower than the E5cs), which cost me around $130 on sale at ECost.com. Anyway, it was a wonderful experience to insert the earphones and instantly remove about 80 to 90% of the ambient sound without even turning on my mp3 player. Then with the music turned on as you say, it was like being in one's living room and not on a plane. There could have been a screaming baby in the next row and it wouldn't have bothered me.

Only problem is you have to be good at lip reading and learn to control the volume of your own voice without the normal auditory feedback.

Any doubts I may have had about the purchase were erased by that first flight experience with the headphones. To me these in the ear canal ear buds were worth the hassle of learning how to properly insert them and getting used to wearing them.

I can't find a reference, except for Bose' aviation headsets. Perhaps I'm remembering it wrong.

I carry both the QC2s and the Shure E2c's
 

Use either or both depending on the aircraft and what/whether I'm listening to.

On RJs, the noise is an order of magnitude (10dB) louder than mainline a/c, so I'll typically use both - E2c's plugged into my audio source (MP3 player or laptop) and QC2's over the ears, with the cord removed.

On international flights I'll usually just use the QC2s, with foam earplugs for sleep periods.

Audio on the QC2s is very good, and the ANR is adequate for most flights - on 777s they're all you need. The QC2s alone allow one to converse with others (FAs etc.) while the "double-bag" of EC2's in-ear plus the QC2s on ANR mode pretty much blocks ALL sound, inhibiting normal conversation.

Any way to get miles for the purchase of these headphones or are they only available directly from BOSE?

Link to Hammacher-Schlemmer from something like Mileageplusmall.com.

And use a mileage earning credit card.

I finally gave in a week ago and bought the QC2s (here at Bose in SIN: S$90 off, a free CD player--which I don't need but which will make a nice Xmas present--and a promotion with Citibank credit cards for up to 36 months interest-free installments). Have used them for my two short flights since then, and already loved them. Am actually looking forward to SIN-LAX in a couple of weeks... :D

I got mine from Crutchfield, free shipping and the bonus CD player. I think it was 299, but worth the price to me. Not only for the airplane, I even use them around the wife and kids at home when I'm trying to work. :D

I used the CO chase MC. Or you can go through skymall but they kill you on shipping charges and probably won't give you the cd player but I'm not positive on that.

To the people who own or use the bose queit comfort 2-

Would you recommend the produce?
Does it elimiate all sound?
Does it eliminate the sound of other people talking?
Is it worth it?
Does it really work ?
And what is it really good for?
Thanks

I'd recommend the QC2 to people, with light sound playing in the headphones they do not cancel out all sound but a lot of it (for me), without sound playing it does deaden the sound but not elimite it totally. Cancels enough noise out without music for ME to sleep. It is worth it to me (I would buy them again or buy them for gift for others). As I mentioned earlier, I use them at home and office as well as travel. I have tried the E2C's but did not like them in the ear. It was just not comfortable to me. Everyone is different, E2C's are a nice product, some people prefer in the ear headphones and others do not.