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Matt Meiser
07-08-2012, 2:35 PM
I've been looking at these things for years. Every time we end up an outlet mall I go in the Bose store while the girls shop for clothes. I'm thinking of finally breaking down and buying some. I'm leaning toward the QuietComfort 15. I like that they use an AAA battery instead of proprietary, and I like that they are $50 cheaper. I like the size of the QuietComfort 3 better for travel. I think I like the over-ear design better than the on-ear, but a few minutes at a time in a store isn't a good guide of that. I'm going on the fact that I just think they'd seal better and/or be more comfortable after a few hours.

Anyone use them in the shop or while mowing?

Before I buy Bose though, any others I should look at?

Anyone have (or had) them hate them? Why?

Ken Fitzgerald
07-08-2012, 3:10 PM
Matt....as you know I am deaf. I now have cochlear implant implanted on my left ear and I wear the most powerful hearing aid (HA) made on my right ear. While CIs and HAs help give you some hearing, the ability to hear in noisey situations is one of the most difficult of hearing functions. At the recommendation of several other CI recipients, I bought some Bose QC-15 headphones. They work great on airplanes as they cancel the engine noise and I could still hear the cabin announcements.

In March I wore them to the NASCAR races in Bristol. How well do they work? They eliminated most of the engine noise in "Thunder Valley", I nodded off and slept through 30% of the Nationwide race on Saturday. (We had a late night arrival into Knoxville Friday evening and got to bed late).

In short...they work very well!

Bruce Page
07-08-2012, 3:43 PM
I love my around-the-ear QC15’s. I don’t know if I would like the on-the-ear type, probably not. I use them in the shop, mowing, vacuuming, on airplanes, and just listening to music. I bought another pair of cheap, $50 Logitech ANC phones to use just for the shop. They weren’t as effective as the Bose and the headband/cup joint broke a couple of months later. The Bose are well made.
BTW, that little AAA battery will last for 30+ hours of use.

Jim Becker
07-08-2012, 8:44 PM
I have used mine in the shop occasionally and they worked fine. (Mine are older QC IIs) They are very comfortable and certainly quell a lot of noise. I still feel a need for something with more noise blocking when I'm running the planer, however.

Dan Friedrichs
07-09-2012, 10:27 AM
I have the 15's for work (because I have a hard time blocking out others' conversations in the cube farm), and don't think they're worth it. They're GREAT for eliminating the low-frequency noise (like on a plane), but don't do as much for the high-frequency (voices) stuff. I knew that they wouldn't be as effective at high frequencies when I bought them, but the "cut off frequency" is much lower than I expected.

Matt Meiser
07-09-2012, 12:00 PM
Dan, that's an interesting comment because I was trying them at the Apple Store the other day which, like every Apple Store I've ever seen, was crowded and noisy. It seemed to drown all that out. But its not cube-ville sound with all the hard surfaces in there. Also when I took them off the inventory control alarm at the door was going off which I hadn't heard before. I was wondering how they'd work when an announcement was made on a plane but from your and Ken's comments it sounds like those would be audible.

Jim, have you tried yours on the ZTR? Its a good bit louder than the diesel tractor was for mowing and I'm finding hearing protection a must. Running the planer which is time consuming and boring is another place I'd hoped to find them useful. I'm very disappointed in the sound quality of the Peltor Worktunes I bought last fall. I'd also tried some combination ear bud/ear plugs which I wasn't real fond of. So far the best solution I've found is decent ear buds with good ear muffs over.

Fred Perreault
07-09-2012, 7:01 PM
I have been using the Bose QC for a few years. I operate heavy equipment (that's where the wood is!), and they not only drown out the heavy drone of the large diesel engines on the bulldozers and excavators, but I connect my older iRiver 1gig mp3 player/fm radio and listen to tunes all day. Both gadgets use AA oe AAA batteries, so charging isn't an issue (actually I use rechargeable batts). All is wonderful.

Jim Becker
07-10-2012, 8:59 AM
Jim, have you tried yours on the ZTR? Its a good bit louder than the diesel tractor was for mowing and I'm finding hearing protection a must.

No, I've not worn them on the ZTR, but I do use heavy noise protection on that machine...it does get loud! I have worn them on the Kubota when doing prolonged backhoe and FEL work as well as when using the chipper. They are not as good for "protection" as more dedicated solutions, but do provide a reasonable level of sound level management.

Brian Elfert
07-10-2012, 10:26 AM
Isn't part of the point of these headphones to be able to hear voices while blocking other loud noises? I wouldn't imagine these would be good for blocking voices in a noisy office.

I drove a Toro commercial riding mower for six years in the late 80s/early 90s. The first Toro rider I used was gasoline and I couldn't use hearing protection. If I did there was a whump whump sound that was amplified. For my last year or two I drove a Toro diesel rider and I absolutely had to use hearing protection on that one.

Ken Fitzgerald
07-10-2012, 11:28 AM
Brian......you are correct........

Greg Portland
07-10-2012, 2:46 PM
Consider in-ear monitors. They completely block all sound (think ear plugs with speakers). Depending on your application, these may be a better option than the active cancellation Bose solutions. Etymotic, Shure, and Ultimate Ears all sell excellent options < $100. Note that the ear pieces will eventually need replacement (just like the foam covers on over the ear headphones). These plugs are readily available online.

Regarding using active headphones as hearing protection -->
I would never want to entrust my hearing to an active-only solution. When you look @ shooting or industrial protectors they block the sound (plugs or muffs) and then have a small speaker inside to transmit sound @ a lowered sound pressure level. They do not rely on active cancellation (except to enhance low frequency noise reduction). An interesting paper: http://www.e-a-r.com/pdf/hearingcons/anr.pdf

Matt Meiser
07-12-2012, 6:25 PM
I went ahead and picked them up Monday on my way to the airport for a short trip to Chicago (but first I stopped at Kroger and bought gift cards and saved myself 60 cents per gallon on 23 gallons of gas for my truck.) The 37 minute Toledo-O'Hare flights didn't really give me ton's of time to try them on the plane but they really do cut out a substantial amount of the noise. Flight attendant had to tap me on the shoulder and tell me it was time to put them away on the way home. I also tried them at the hotel while reading with the Kindle app and it was nice to block out all the general hotel noise. Tried them while working today and missed 2 calls on the home phone which was fine too.

I fired up the mower and they do very little to control its sound and that plus the music is just too loud.

Roger Feeley
07-14-2012, 7:42 PM
I won't travel without mine. The freaky thing is that they eliminate the engine noise but not the conversation coming from 4 rows away. Those folks are trying to talk over the engine noise and were it not for my headphones I wouldn't be able to hear them. Sometimes I get too much information...

I haven't ever tried them in the shop or with the mower. My guess is that they would kill the dust collector but not the router.

Another consideration that hasn't been mentioned is that these things have microphones. I would imagine that they were never designed for a dusty environment.

BTW, I can turn mine on without using music. I have a pair of Technics that must have something plugged in and on to cancel the noise. Never figured out why.

Greg Portland
07-18-2012, 1:44 PM
Again, active noise cancellation is NOT a substitute for hearing protection. PLEASE do not use these for hearing protection, you will damage your ears!

glenn bradley
07-18-2012, 3:36 PM
Again, active noise cancellation is NOT a substitute for hearing protection. PLEASE do not use these for hearing protection, you will damage your ears!

Correct. I believe Matt understands this. These are not for the shop if you want hearing protection. All marketing hype aside, they are designed to reduce ambient noise so that you can listen to your music at a comfortable level in noisy environments.

Bruce Page
07-18-2012, 5:49 PM
I agree to a point. I put on the industrial orange protection when running my DC, 15" planner, router, jointer, or drum sander, and when I'm doing a lot of TS work. I find the Bose effective for prolonged sanding with the festool/fein combo and for most other power hand tool work.

Matt Meiser
07-22-2012, 3:12 PM
I've flown on 5(!) flights so far since I got them and I'm loving them on the plane. I've been wearing them in the hotel room too to listen to music or watch videos and its a nice respite from the usual hotel noise.