Bose QuietComfort QC45: what 9 Hacker News owners think

Doesn’t like itOwned 3 years

So this is a tactic? My iphone and macbook recently just started acting up with bt connections to my Bose QC45. Used all of these for about 3 years with no problems, two weeks or so ago, i need to re-pair the headphones every time i want to use them (they connect fine but the audio gets send to… /dev/null?). Not upgraded anything in the past Months. Weird

Likes itOwned 2 yearsStill going

As an alternative anecdote, Ive used my bose qc 45s every day for two years without issue. I don't have experience with any other over-ear headphones to compare.

Neutral

If it could work marginally, I suspect this would require at least a pair of giant subwoofers right next to the fan, but then I wouldn't expect it work very effectively. Instead, it's probably a better idea to not create the noise in the first place. PS: Typed while wearing a pair of fairly tattered Bose QC45 1st gen because I'm intent on repairing perpetually rather than $$$ replacement.

Likes it

>> NO: they have undefinable effects on your psyche. Maybe "pressure" or some sort of non-silent silence that your body still reacts to? I understand the pressure comment. It does not bother me that much and it's wayyy worth getting used to. I have tried the Apple Airpods Max and QC45. I think QC45 is a little less on the pressure than the Apple noise cancelling. Just my 2c.

Likes it

I suffer from Misophonia and I wear my Bose QC45 10 hours+ a day - each day. Without them I could not function and they made life with Misophonia somewhat tolerable.

Doesn’t like it

My problems were very varied, depending on the specific model. Trying not to make it a full rant. While I have many types of music on my player, primarily I listen to rock/metal. Common problem: ANC changes the music too. It messes with the mids and highs, regardless of the model. Some are better than the others... but of course ANC can be turned off, which I did frequently in the past years. Oh, and the low battery warning: "ATTENTION - battery will be empty in 4 hours, let me disrupt your music every 60-120 seconds till the end of time!". Bose QC35, QC45: They are pretty much the same, both inside and outside. Very comfortable, can't argue with that. They randomly they cut off the first/last 2 seconds of the tracks (how did they even release them like that is a mystery for me). Also, no bass, no highs, just a pile of mids. Almost 0 dynamics - you will never hear any other instruments else during a bass-guitar heavy track... Sennheiser PCX-550 ii: It sometimes sounded fairly decent, even with ANC, however rather uncomfortable. The touch interface is catastrophic (in humid weather all the controls activate at the same time. Literally: volume up-down, play-forward-pause-call, all at the once). It had the worst bug I saw so far: about once every 2 weeks it made some extra loud shrilling noise that made me shit my pants (I'd guess the ANC got into some self-amplifying feedback loop). After it came back from "warranty-repair", it did it again within 3 days. Marshall Monitor II

Doesn’t like it

i’ve started carrying the cheap wired Apple earbuds because the call/microphone quality on Bose QC45 headphones and Ultra Open earbuds is so bad, especially when outside. i really wish there existed some solution to use the phone’s built-in mic when using bluetooth headphones

Doesn’t like it

I have the same issue with NYT recommendations. The initial build quality of the product is good, but then just outside the warranty period it all falls apart all at once. I think the products are optimized for the tests, not long-term ownership. Rigors of ownership are what you see reflected in the comments. Like Bose QC45s. Feel nice. Sound great. Works well overall, for the first year. Then the firmware started acting up, mic stops working during Zoom calls, and getting secondary pairing to work correctly makes breeding pandas look easy.

Likes it

Headphones: How do they work with iOS (if you use that?). I've used all kinds of headphones, on Android, PC and iOS and I find the only one with some form of stable connection are iOS ones with the H1 chip. Bose QC45 + iPhone 12 Pro have been rock solid stable for me. Hundreds of hours.

Recommends it

- Apple Airtags. I've got about a dozen. I spend so much less time looking for things now. The even bigger win is that I spend so much less time worrying about losing things. Especially when traveling. - Label Maker I don't often need it but when I do, I do. - Stackable Plastic Shoeboxes (& the key to organization in general) I have a lot of hobbies that involve a lot of little bits and pieces and tend to become clutter nightmares. Solution that I belatedly discovered: label 'em and stack 'em. I realize how stupidly obvious this sounds. More generally, the key to staying organized is coming up with the most frictionless possible organization system. It doesn't have to be the "best" system. That was the real discovery. - Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones Common choice here it seems. Literal life-changer for all of the obvious reasons. I have the Bose QC45 which have been flawless. Didn't really compare with the competition head to head, just always had good experiences w/ Bose headphones so I stuck with them.

Recommends itHasn’t owned it

I can recommend the Bose QC45 or the Bose Headphones 700 as a less overpriced and more compatible alternative to the Max. Very good audio quality, comfortable fit (although the Headphones 700 tend to be rather tight depending on your head shape), and great noise canelling.

Bose QuietComfort QC45

What owners wrote