Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am a professional musician who does a fair amount of travel. My main considerations in choosing a pair of headphones were sound quality & noise cancellation. I tested the Bose, Sennheiser, & Sony — paying particular attention to those two parameters. Here is what I found: N O I S E C A N C E L L A T I O N BOSE: These have the best noise cancellation by far. One of the tests I did was to turn on a vacuum cleaner beside me and listen to the differences. Bose’s ability to cancel the sound is quite amazing. All that was left was a whisper. I also turned on the dryer in an adjoining room. With the Bose, all that I heard was the click of the buttons on the drum. SENN: The Senns do a pretty good job of canceling sound. What’s left from the vacuum test contains more mid-range noise than with the Bose. The annoyance factor is cut way down, but Sennheiser is clearly not trying to equal Bose in this regard. With the dryer test, I could still hear the machine, though greatly reduced, and the quiet sound of the clothes. SONY: The Sonys are about equal to the Senns in the vacuum test, but the spectrum of what’s left is different: Whereas the Senns let pass a fairly neutral midrange, the Sonys pass a smaller spectrum focused in the high-midrange. They bested the Senns in the dryer test, almost equalling the Bose: Most of the machine sound was gone, but more of the upper-mid sounds of the clothes remained. VERDICT: For cancellation the Bose are the clear winners. The Senns are the weakest in this regard, and the Sonys about in between. One thing must be noted here: Only the Sonys have the capability of running Bluetooth without NC. This is an advantage in that NC causes a slight amount of hiss — and the Sony’s hiss is just slightly more apparent than that of the other two to these old ears. Turning off NC does not otherwise affect the sound. S O U N D Q U A L I T Y BOSE: Of the three, the Bose offer the least pleasing sound — which is not to say that it’s bad. The sound is very clear and tight, but it’s also kind of brittle — a little too pristine and bright. In passive wired mode, this effect is mitigated and the sound is somewhat warmer. SENN: Here is where the Sennheisers excel. Of the three, these sound the most like an audiophile headset. Whereas the other two tend to flatten the sound, the Senns have a lovely transparency. They have the richest spectrum, such that you can really hear the subtle raspy timbre of a voice or the expressive nuance of a bass tone. The sound is even slightly more luscious in passive wired mode. SONY: The Sonys fall about in the middle between the two, although this may be a matter of taste. They offer a truly beautiful, warm sound — clear like the Bose but without the brittleness; warm like the Senns but with less detail. In passive wired mode, the tendency toward a bass-forward EQ is accentuated. VERDICT: If sound quality is the most important factor, then the Bose are not in the running as far as Bluetooth performance is concerned: the other two are a significant notch above. Those who prefer a transparent, detailed sound will prefer the Senns. Those who prefer a warm, focused, bass-forward sound will prefer the Sonys. If wired mode will be a significant use, then the Bose can be considered at least in the same league, with the Senns setting the standard. L O O K & F E E L BOSE: A nice feature is the pivoting earpieces, which make them the most comfortable to hang around the neck. These headphones put the least pressure on the head, and the pads are very comfortable. All controls are on the right ear. The on/off/pair button is well-designed and satisfying. The Silicon-Valley Generic voice gives a percentage of charge on boot-up. SENN: These have a kind of vintage look to them. They offer a bit more pressure on the head than do the Bose, but the leather pads are luxurious. The volume/pause/skip button is an elegant design feature. The voice on boot-up does not give a charge percentage, but the lovely British accent almost makes up for it. SONY: These are some sharp-looking pieces! I got the teal-colored ones and they’re stunning. Pause/skip and volume are nicely separated on the right side, with on/off/pair on the left. They provide the most pressure on the head, with nicely-finished pads. The boot-up voice gives a high/medium/low accounting of charge. While not as sensuous as the Senn’s Brit, the Sony’s Midwest Professional voice is more refined than the Bose’s. VERDICT: The Bose are the most comfortable, the Senns have the most elegant volume/pause/skip control, and the Sonys are by far most fun as a fashion accessory. S U M M A R Y These are all well-designed headphones. Not one of them is better in every way; rather each offers a solution that makes different trade-offs. The Bose favor NC. The Senns favor sound quality. The Sonys offer a kind of compromise between these two, while adding the NC-off option and a fashion-forward look. You can’t go wrong with any of them, but the optimum choice will depend on the user’s priorities. S P E C I A L N O T E T O M U S I C I A N S The third test I did was to play soprano & tenor saxophone with NC on and no incoming audio, as one of my intended uses is to cut a few dBs off the volume while practicing. All three headsets function better in this regard than do custom in-ear passive hearing protectors, as the ear canal is not blocked. The Senns let through the most natural sound by far. The Sonys are a slightly better at reducing the highs, but the resulting sound is a bit hard-edged. The Bose cut down the overall dBs the most, but the result is a downright tinny sound.