Bose QuietComfort 20i Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones

REVOLUTIONARY, NOT EVOLUTIONARY: THE BEST BOSE YET
NOTE: See the second post in the comments section for my updates to this review.

I don't use the word "revolutionary" casually. Truth is, a product rarely qualifies for that accolade. But knowing as much as I do about noise-cancelling technology, I would not have believed that what Bose has accomplished with the QC20 series was even possible. In fact, I'd say they've created the best all-around earphone or headphone on the market today for everyday use with portable music players. Note that I said "best all-around" which is not to say it's "best" in every category. If audiophile sound quality is your top priority, then look elsewhere, as both my Etymotic 4PT and Shure 530 series earphones sound better than the QC20s. However, those better-sounding 'phones have other drawbacks in actual use (more on that later), and they now sit in a drawer while the QC20s go with me everywhere. Bottom line: if you're looking for the best noise-cancelling on the market today, bar none,...

The best headphones... the perfect headphones for air travel. Now, with Bluetooth... sort of


Wonderful Technology, Still Imperfect
These headphones are pricey, so you expect them to be amazing. And they are. The effect of cancelling out the drone of an airplane engine or central air unit is, to me, well worth the price.

As for sound quality, there are two caveats. I'm not an audiophile in the strict sense, but the reproduction of the highs and lows is superb while the mids may be just the tiniest bit overshadowed. I love the sound... when they noise cancellation is ON, or when it is in AWARE mode (more on that later). However, when the noise cancellation is OFF, or the unit is unpowered, the lows tend to be muddy and exaggerated. Quality definitely suffers when they noise cancellation is turned off. They're still fairly good, just not the crisp sound you get when they're on.

The other caveat is that, when noise cancellation is on, there is an audible hiss. That's the white noise that blocks out the ambient sound of the world. You'll love going from a noisy plane or train to just this quiet...

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