11 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
Sleep on a plane full of screaming children?!? Are you crazy??
Date of Review: Oct 3, 2001
The Bottom Line: If you want to sleep in an economy seat on a plane, get these.
With the help of these awesome albeit expensive travel companions. For $300, they are a bit on the pricey side, but worth every penny and more if you travel often or on long haul flights. I regularly travel over the pacific on 10+ hour flights and these things make the flights almost bearable. What's so cool about them?
First, these are the only headphones that I've worn for the full length of a flight without taking off. With other headphones, you will usually have a headache after hours and hours of wear, but not with these. They are very comfortable and do not get hot or annoying at all. The leather ear cushions are very soft, almost satin like and keep your headphones feeling comfortable.
Second, the noise canceling is unbelievable. The headphones ear-encompassing design block a lot of sound, but when you hit the switch on the battery pack to turn on the noise canceling feature, you will be amazed at how the whir of the plane's engines just disappear. Your jaw will drop to the tray-table the first time you try it, I guarantee. I have even turned on the headphones during a flight without anything hooked up to them...just to cancel the plane's noise. Every noise from the plane's engines to screaming children across the aisle is almost muted from just turning the switch on. Now, if you hook up a CD player then you won't be able to hear anything aside from the music you are listening to. Don't want to carry a CD player and CDs? No problem! The Bose QuiectComfort come with adapters to hook up to the funky headphone jacks still found on some planes.
Third, the accessories are really neat. You get an extension cord, the funky dual prong airplane connector, a padded leather carry bag that has room for your CD player, and a soft bag for storing the headphones when you don't want to bring the slightly bulky leather bag.
The only major complaint I have with this product is the bass response. I like my music with a little bit heavier bass sound so for me, these headphones lack the bass power I like. I expected a heavier magnet for the money I was paying, but for the most part, the other capabilities of these headphones far outweigh this one minor oversight by Bose. I would gladly pay more for their 2nd rendition of this product with upgraded bass response.
The battery pack is also a bulky item to have around. The batteries do last quite a while (about 30 or 40 hours), but still, I would have the batteries embedded into the headphones themselves (even if it were to increase the size of them).
All in all, this is a wonderful product for anyone who travels often or over great distances. I wouldn't recommend it for everyday use, but you just can't beat the fact that you can get a good rest in a coach seat of a loud plane.
