Headphone Recommendations

[bigboss]

Can anyone advise me or give me a reason why I should choose Bose over Dr. Dre? I'm thinking of either the Bose Quietcomfort 45 or the Dr. Dre studio 3.

My wife got a Beats noise cancelling headphones free with her MacBook Air few years ago. I found it extremely uncomfortable after 30 mins to 1 hour of listening. My Bose 700 is a lot more comfortable for several hours and is my go to headphones for long haul flights.

 

[Rodolfo]

Have you tried both q35 and q45? Is there a big difference?

Sorry, I've only tried the Q45. I connected them right away the first evening to my HiBy R3 Pro Saber, and they sounded great, though not as great as a wired connection, as expected. HOW-ever, late in the evening I downloaded the app on my Samsung phone and while the software worked fine, the LDAC procedure/selection/setting specifically, would not work. Yesterday noon I called Soundcore support in California, and after some research, they confirmed that the devices were incompatible. Thus, I will be returning the Q45s; and because Soundcore said the Q35's LDAC would not work either, I am very reluctant to even open the Q35 package,

While I only tried the Q45s for a few hours, I was definitely impressed and was very disappointed to learn of the LDAC incompatibility with my player, which as I had noted, was my main requirement, since otherwise, I'll just connect wired which I've loved with the HiBy. In fact, I had decided by the second hour that I was fully (prematurely) satisfied with the Q45s, and probably would not even need to open the Q35s. The ONLY "buts" I had with the Q45 was that the volume they reproduced required me to raise the volume on my player to its highest levels to optimize the sound, particularly for my favorite test albums/tracks/sections. I tried a wired connection with the Q45 and that also was excellent. including its volume capacity. The other "but" was minor and that was that the voice notes (this or that engaged, this or that setting) from the Q45 were barely audible -at least with music playing. I had a limited need for that feature, and neither of these two limitations would have discouraged me from keeping the Q45s had LDAC worked and impressed me.

BTW, even well into my eighth decade, I have excellent hearing, thankfully; in part because I make it a point to resist HIGH volumes, or to never do it for longer than a moment, or two, or three. I've also avoided/resisted it in live settings.

BTW2, the HiBY is my only LDAC-equipped device so I could not extend my testing even before calling Soundcore.

BTW3, Soundcore now-RARE telephone support (at least in the US, or at the US number) is a GREAT reason to try/use their products.

Sorry, again, that I cannot answer your compare question.

 

[podknocker]

Had my Sennheiser HD600 over 20 years and I will never replace them, unless they fail.

I got them half price, at £150 and I still think they are worth £300 and they still cost this online.

You might find a bargain somewhere.

I plug them into my new PC, with a decent sound chip and Spotify has never sounded so good.

 

[Rodolfo]

Following up on my prior post on Soundcore headphones:

I had been so impressed by the Bluetooth performance of the Soundcore Q45s that I trialed this summer, that on last Prime days last month, I decided to try the Q35s to see if I could get LDAC to work, or even to "settle"/go for a very nice non-LDAC, Q45-like sound. I am happy to report that I've happily kept the Q35s, and I'll share some additional experience.

First, I'll repeat that I've had a wired preference/bias for all my wireless/Bluetooth years. I have used various earbuds, but I never thought that spending over $50/100 was "smart" given the ceiling I had experienced and/or perceived/sensed/imagined with Bluetooth. (I have exceeded that some on a couple of portable speakers I like, but I have a much lower bar for portable -indoor or out- listening.) I have now managed to overcome my bias to the extent that I now feel/believe/Hear that LDAC offers close-to-wired listening results.

Second, opening my thinking has improved my LDAC literacy and also allowed me to learn that the HiBy player was not my only LDAC-equipped source after all: my daily. dated, and still-fully-satisfying Samsung S10e has LDAC, and/as I've learned most any (post-Android 9?) Android phone does so because the capability has been written into the OS itself.

AnyWay... this openness inspired me to shop for LDAC-equipped headphones this year, and I really like these Q35s; AND I find that, in contrast to my Q45 experience, they work fine with LDAC enabled on both my HiBy player and my S10e. I'm now not sure if the Q35s are LDAC-different, if Soundcore may have changed something since this summer and my Soundcore support consultation, or if a HiBy update may have enabled Soundcore compatibility.

Regardless, I am impressed and fully-satisfied with the Q35s, and from what I remember of the Q45s, they are as-excellent or enough that I felt no need to re-trial the Q45s. I've listened to a broad range of my FLAC-ripped files, and to Amazon Music subscription HD offerings, and I am now finally a satisfied wireless music listener, thanks to HiBy, Samsung/Android, and Anker/Soundcore.

P.S./BTW: I have very little need for/interest in ANC and only used the Q35s in their "normal" or no-ANC setting.

 

[Rodolfo]

I needed to replace a set of Cowin SE7s that I've used for late-night TV for ~10 years. With the sales on Amazon this week, I decided to try the Soundcore Q30. These are also excellent! They do not feature LDAC like the Q35s, but still sound impressively paired with my HiBy player and Samsung phone, I believe A/B tests with the Q35 would be a tight match. The construction quality feels not-quite Q35-level -about as I expected from the price difference, but still fine. The ear cups are a little smaller and the fit is slightly tighter than the Q35s, but they do sound surprisingly great. I am fully satisfied with the sound and have until Jan 31st to improve?/evaluate the fit .

(I also tried the Tozo HT2s, because they have extraordinary Amazon reviews and are even cheaper; but, while the build feels as good or maybe even better, they don't compare feature or sound-wise and are going back. The Soundcore sound is great on the 3 models I've tried, and the app features and associated software is the best I've experienced.)