Ron Reviews - Active Noice Cancelling Headphones - Bose QC 35

Context

I've always enjoyed reviewing things, from writing extended reviews about products on amazon, movies and games on social media, to random life experiences and activities, at times more of a rant. However, I have too many interests with not enough knowledge / experience in most topics to write detailed reviews or in depth comparison for most topics. So I want to write more on the impact on my life experience, rather than specific product or performance with its competitors. In short, I'm not trying to write about Bose QuietComfort 35 vs Sony WH-1000xm3; I want to talk about if the products' "concept" is even necessary (for me), and why I think it may or may not be useful to people. 

Today I will start with the noise cancelling headphone, and I may want to write about Kindle, Apple Watch and a few things in the future. I purchased the Bose QuietComfort 35 II in November 2018, and have used it for over 3 months now. 

ANC headphones 

Active noise cancellation headphones, aka ANC headphones, are headphones who "actively" blocks out the noise. Active, as oppose to passive (like ear plugs or traditional headphones that covers your ear up), means they have a mic and monitors the noise around you and play sounds that causes destructive wave interference so you hear much less of it. 

My exact model, Bose QC35 - blue limited edition 

For the longest time, I thought it's a stupid concept. For pure noise-blocking, it will not fare better than a high quality noise blocking earmuff. I'm talking the type you use at a gun range. You could even have earplugs + earmuffs for the true blockage. Some people's awe at how quiet it seems to be with an ANC-headphone rubs me in a wrong way. It's like they've never had the need to use a high-quality earplug / earmuff, and must be amazed at anything new technology has produced. As a once-upon-a-time drummer who practiced 3-4hrs a day with heavy playing and music blasting at ear shattering volume, if ANC-headphones were the answer, I would be deaf by now. 

Musician earplugs can block out damaging / nasty frequencies while retaining good sounds in mid range! Understand your purpose before making such purchases

For the argument of better music quality, it's highly debatable on where exactly is the level of noise such that the ANC helps the music sound better than a traditional high quality headphones, especially in the same price range since good ANC bumps up the price tag. For many people a bose QC35 is their very first $300 headphone, and they are amazed at how good it sounds. But what are they comparing it to? Any traditional headphones by Sennheiser, B&O, Sony, Beyerdynamic or even Bose itself should sound noticeably better at the same price range without ANC tech (the best should be open-back which leaks sound, not ideal for office and such, of course). Different models tend to have different sound profiles and characters, sure, which can be better or worse to people subjectively. But it's hard not to notice how much the ANC itself disrupts the music quality. 

A high-end open back headphone which sound "leaks out"

So what's my conclusion? It's by far the best product I've bought for a long time... I'm serious. 

Reasons I love my ANC headphone

To me there's 1 key reason, but I've experienced a few more scenarios myself which made it shine. On top of that, a few neat things I never thought about and pleasantly surprised me (as in better than expected). 

Best part - listening to audiobook or podcast or any type of listening which requires delicate details. 

As my previous blog has addressed, I've recently gotten into both reading and listening to books. For listening to someone read a book, the ANC is a godsend. It is so easy to get lost in a sentence, or even a paragraph, should just a few key words get blown out from a sudden blast of a loud car exhaust or construction site drilling. It's not the same as missing a beat, or even a bar of music as you simply cannot continue without feeling frustration, and even more annoying to have to rewind and listen again. 

The ANC smooths this out. I can imagine this being similar for phone calls or potentially quiet (maybe classical) music with not enough bass and loudness to pierce thru most noise. More specifically, audio which lack the super high fidelity quality of modern music productions to utilize a high-end headphones to begin with, yet we are still trying to listen for the most delicate details. In those situations, I believe the ANC will greatly improve the experience. 

This is the most impactful reason for me and why I believe it's an extremely good purchase for me. 

More Reasons

A few more scenarios I've found it to be great in can be summed up to one general category: Constant loud-ish background noise.

While I find the ANC not as noise-blocking as solid earmuff / earplugs at the gun range, nor justifiable for music listening over traditional headphones with occasional loud backgrounds or relatively moderate noises (such as offices). There's a point for it if you are having constant background noise which is loud enough to pierce thru music playing over long periods of time. 

Right after I got my Bose QC35, I went on a series of flights. That was when I realized an ANC headphone is good. Sure I can plug in earplugs, but I was going to get bored over many hours regardless, and there's noise from vibration which goes directly thru my body and bones that's practically unblockable. I needed something playing over it. But to drown them out, you'd have to blast music almost at full volume on traditional headphones. With ANC, listening to books and music at moderate volume made my flights quite pleasant. I was shocked every time I took off my headphones due to how fcking loud the airplane is. 

I can see this as equally valuable for someone who takes long commute daily which are very loud in old screechy trains to weirdly explosive buses. This isn't a deal maker for me because I am not in such a situation very often. But I still recognize its potential and usefulness there. 

A Few More Details

Unlike the normal high end Hi-Fi headphones market which focus solely on the sound quality, ANC headphones tend to focus on convenience and as far as I know are almost exclusively wireless. A good ANC headphone can help anyone get through a myriad of situations, sometimes highly appreciated, while others less so - may want to turn the ANC off, but ultimately, we can carry this single headphone and get thru any kind of day relatively satisfied. It's the flexibility and peace of mind of "having the power". 

One concern I had was charging because I'm lazy, careless, and having any headphone is better than none, which is why I stayed with chorded ones for the longest time. However, unlike many Apple-ish type gadgets, the wireless headphones as a product category have great battery life. Mine, Bose QC35, stunned me with its longevity on a single charge. I listen to audiobook daily averaging about 1-2 hours of listen time, and it gets me thru a couple weeks before it's a concern. By the time I randomly thought to charge it "just in case", it's usually somewhere between 30%-50% battery. Yes, after a week or two. I suspect audiobooks are less demanding than music, but it's still amazing. It's also very power conserving when accidentally left on with nothing playing. Sometimes I pause and forget to turn it off before sleep and wake up to find the headphone still at 100%. 

Another concern some sensitive people (including me) have is ANC can sound "weird" in of itself, like having a type of "pressure" in the ear or a slightly uncomfortable sensation. However, we are usually testing these headphones out at a relatively quiet store or home (if ordered online to try it) which can make it sound more concerning than it is. When you actually sit in the plane and have babies crying, you'd not notice a single bit of discomfort from ANC and only the sensation of a loving warmth as you kick back and relax while maintaining eye contact with the baby to make it cry harder (ok maybe not that). Lastly, most of these headphones allows you to turn off the ANC when not needed. 

Conclusion

I still find some people purchasing such headphones unnecessarily - tho power to you. For others, if you can work out daily routine well with consistency, consider using actual earmuffs / earplugs for noise blocking and a high-end headphone without ANC for the best musical quality - often times, they have enough power to drown out noise anyways. I have a Beyerdynamic DT 770 at home for recording on piano... and sometimes singing cough it's so bad cough. It has great passive noise blocking from its closed-back muffs and I highly recommend people to try it if they aren't sure ANC is necessary. Its sound profile is a bit blend for sake of accuracy (great for recording) but still decent for general listening, another popular one with more of a modern bass-heavy default sound would be Audio Technica m50x. Or the household brands all have normal headphones too (Sony, Bose, Beats by Dre... cough) 

However, if you find yourself often listening to something delicate like audiobooks and / or bothered constantly by noise piercing thru other alternatives I've mentioned or simply live a dynamic style with many uncertainties, it can be a life changer. 

I love mine! 

Stock images poses lmaoz - I will have what she's having thanks