Apples £549 Over Ear Headphones

[Narcisus]

£549 !!! Another Apple #iss take or do I need to have my Sony XM3's on eBay ?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55230656

[CustardOnChips]

wker tax

[rjfp1962]

I'd just get some nice AKG's Or Sennheiser's...
Apple is like Bose... You pay a lot for the name.. even though no doubt they are good quality.

[CoolHands]

That, is pretty insane

[NMNeil]

rjfp1962 said:

I'd just get some nice AKG's Or Sennheiser's...
Apple is like Bose... You pay a lot for the name.. even though no doubt they are good quality.

They are being made in China and Vietnam.
I don't believe Apple are having them made overseas because of any quality concerns.

[Tony1963]

People judging a product before they’ve tried it or even read a review?

Oh sorry, I forgot. It’s by Apple, so slagging it off is the predictable response.

No, I won’t be buying them, but plenty will.

[alorotom]

They’re too rich for me.

I recently (August) returned my Sony XM4s for the third time with issues and was waiting for these

I’m not paying £550 for a pair of headphones though. Think they’ll be a tough sell to a lot of their demographs - esp where it’s the parents purchasing!

[Narcisus]

alorotom said:

They’re too rich for me.

I recently (August) returned my Sony XM4s for the third time with issues and was waiting for these

I’m not paying £550 for a pair of headphones though. Think they’ll be a tough sell to a lot of their demographs - esp where it’s the parents purchasing!

Whats been the probs with the XM4's I have XM2's ( not 3's as I put above ) and they have ben superb. No desire to upgrade.

[alorotom]

Narcisus said:

Whats been the probs with the XM4's I have XM2's ( not 3's as I put above ) and they have ben superb. No desire to upgrade.

The first and second pair kept disconnecting from both my iPhone and Mac and also cut out for probably 1/3 of a second every 2-3seconds

The third pair was the same as the above plus wouldn’t transfer between devices.

They were all on the most recent firmware and had the latest app software (and device software). They were all suspected to be from the same batch from a John Lewis store ... I may retry at some point but I’m happy with a set of Powerbeats Pro in the meantime (albeit no ANC)

[Narcisus]

alorotom said:

Narcisus said:

Whats been the probs with the XM4's I have XM2's ( not 3's as I put above ) and they have ben superb. No desire to upgrade.

The first and second pair kept disconnecting from both my iPhone and Mac and also cut out for probably 1/3 of a second every 2-3seconds

The third pair was the same as the above plus wouldn’t transfer between devices.

They were all on the most recent firmware and had the latest app software (and device software). They were all suspected to be from the same batch from a John Lewis store ... I may retry at some point but I’m happy with a set of Powerbeats Pro in the meantime (albeit no ANC)

Yeah that's a shame I've heard about this prob did you post before ? Keep an eye on Hotukdeals XM3's sometimes pop up at great prices if you still fancy a pair.

[RVVUNM]

I have to defend my Bose Quietcomfort 35's that I have had for four years. I use them most weeks including long haul flights and in all that time they have never faulted. The sound is amazing and they are comfortable to wear. They were expensive for a reason, they are excellent.

[Narcisus]

RVVUNM said:

I have to defend my Bose Quietcomfort 35's that I have had for four years. I use them most weeks including long haul flights and in all that time they have never faulted. The sound is amazing and they are comfortable to wear. They were expensive for a reason, they are excellent.

I dont understand why Bose gets the bashing it does. I've not had any headphones but I have had a few of the smaller speakers and they have all been excellent.

[thebraketester]

RVVUNM said:

I have to defend my Bose Quietcomfort 35's that I have had for four years. I use them most weeks including long haul flights and in all that time they have never faulted. The sound is amazing and they are comfortable to wear. They were expensive for a reason, they are excellent.

Totally. I have had my qc35ii for a few years and they are brilliant. I would say that the price they are now (£230) they cannot be beaten.

If they broke or were lost I would buy them again over any of the newer releases.

[paulguitar]

It's true. Bose is good stuff and the customer service is exemplary, in my experience.

There are some similarities with Apple. Yes, it's expensive, but it also tends to be very good. I am using a nine-year-old Mac Mini as my main computer, and it's still utterly superb. I'm happy to have paid the extra in saved time alone, as I have not had to deal with all of that nightmare stuff that I used to have to deal with when I was using non-Mac computers.

[Tony1963]

Bose, for speakers:

They don’t (or didn’t many years ago when I last checked) publish any meaningful technical data for them. Their advertising blurb always went on and on about their patented features when, all they’d done, was to slightly change a well known technique and then patented that. They would threaten legal action against anyone who used the term Lifestyle in any way if it was related to recorded music reproduction, but not to one of their Lifestyle systems. Shoddy build quality of the Lifestyle system speakers. Much better sounds available at lower prices.

Their headphones do review well.

I was subjected to a demo with a few workmates while on a holiday, sorry... training course, in Ohio in 2003. It was hilarious, and I felt so bad for laughing at what the sales guy was trying to show us.

I’ll cover my comments by saying I’ve avoided anything by them for over 20 years.

[Narcisus]

Tony1963 said:

Bose, for speakers:

They don’t (or didn’t many years ago when I last checked) publish any meaningful technical data for them. Their advertising blurb always went on and on about their patented features when, all they’d done, was to slightly change a well known technique and then patented that. They would threaten legal action against anyone who used the term Lifestyle in any way if it was related to recorded music reproduction, but not to one of their Lifestyle systems. Shoddy build quality of the Lifestyle system speakers. Much better sounds available at lower prices.

Their headphones do review well.

I was subjected to a demo with a few workmates while on a holiday, sorry... training course, in Ohio in 2003. It was hilarious, and I felt so bad for laughing at what the sales guy was trying to show us.

I’ll cover my comments by saying I’ve avoided anything by them for over 20 years.

Good enough reason not to buy in 2020 ..... Because of a demo you had in 2003 ...

[Tony1963]

Narcisus said:

Good enough reason not to buy in 2020 ..... Because of a demo you had in 2003 ...

Well, I’m happy with what I have, and haven’t seen or heard of any change in their culture. So I’ve no reason to spend any of my time with their speakers.

[Narcisus]

Tony1963 said:

Narcisus said:

Good enough reason not to buy in 2020 ..... Because of a demo you had in 2003 ...

Well, I’m happy with what I have, and haven’t seen or heard of any change in their culture. So I’ve no reason to spend any of my time with their speakers.

Guess you post makes perfect sense then !

[paulguitar]

I think most 'high-end HiFi' types don't seem to respect Bose very much. As a professional musician, I make a judgment mostly with my ears, and from my limited experience of their products (QC30 headphones/Soundlink mini speaker/L1 Compact PA), I think they sound warm, with good separation, and well-balanced.

Also, as a working musician, they have done some very clever practical things. My 'T1 Tonematch' mixer is a thing of wonder for a gigging player.

[tonyg58]

Narcisus said:

I dont understand why Bose gets the bashing it does. I've not had any headphones but I have had a few of the smaller speakers and they have all been excellent.

Bose produces some great products (QC headphones and bluetooth speakers among them) and some which are very poor value compared to the competition.
When i heard a prototype of the first Soundlink Mini i was blown away by how good it was.
The Lifesytyle surround systems are outperformed (IMHO) by systems costing less than half what Bose charge for theirs.
And as pointed out elsewhere, they do not publish any technical data on their systems to allow meaningful comparisons with other manufacturers products.