Linux Format forums

Marrea · Posted: Wed Mar 29, 2006 1:37 pm Post subject: Bose noise-reduction headphones

Paul, I hope you will report back in due course on the Bose headphones. I have been considering buying a pair but held back (a) because they are a bit expensive; and (b) I am not sure whether they will be suitable for what I want them for - not using on a plane but for use on trains and buses where the constant chatter of people around you can be very distracting. I am not sure whether the noise-reduction is intended to deal with this sort of noise. It certainly didn't work with the Sennheiser pair I bought a little while ago and ended up returning them because I could still hear voices all around me exactly the same as if I had been using standard (ie with no noise reduction) closed-back headphones.

pofadda · Joined: Thu Mar 16, 2006 11:45 pm Posts: 5

Someone's tuppence worth:
My wife, who is enraged by others' talking, phoning, tinny Walkman-sounds, etc. splashed out on a pair of tiny Etymotic 'noise reducing' ear bud things. She loves them and has done so for easily 3 years now. She hears HER music and not others'.

I looked closely at the little things - they fit deep in the ear with a pair of gaskets sealing out the sound. I can see nowhere any clever actual noise-cancelling circuitry could fit... I think their effectiveness comes from the neat ear-piece design. Which is a bit of a cheat when you see their price...

But if you want peace, you pay for it, i suppose.

I'll go away now.

Marrea · Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 4:11 pm Post subject:

Paul

Well, I'm pleased to see that you are more than happy with the headphones and that they are extremely effective in cutting out aircraft noise. I'm just wondering though if they are any good at reducing sounds which are not a steady continuous tone like aircraft drone. For instance, people talking around you, or noise from a TV set if you are trying to listen to music using the phones in the same room. Have you by any chance tried them in that sort of environment?

Great photos by the way. Really enjoyed looking at them. And I loved the bit about Bill Oddie (as did my husband, a keen birdwatcher). Mr O shouldn't go round looking so dishevelled, should he. Laughing

Hudzilla · Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 3:12 pm Post subject:

The headphones do a fairly poor job with people speaking. They are hard to hear because the headphones' padding muffles sounds, rather than the noise cancelling doing anything clever. That said, if I wear them while listening to music, it's quite dangerous - you can only just hear the traffic around you, so you need to be on your guard.