Great sound & compact, but expensive...

Comfort

Simply - Amazing. They fit so nicely, warm and I can wear them for hours without feeling I need to get them off. Infact they become transparent, and forget they are there.

I would say these are the most comfortable pair of cans I've tried.

Sound

This is a difficult one. Mixed reviews about the Bose so I was skeptical of buying these but since I heard Bose's other kit I decided to try them.

I myself had mixed feelings at first, I thought I paid too much for some cans.

Lets go over the bass first before I mention what I discovered...

The bass for headphones of this size is fantastic. It's not too boomy but cirtainly delivers. At first I actually found these cans a little treble heavy but over time found otherwise, they are quite balanced.

Mid/vocal range is slightly distant sounding but still, it's there and it does sound fine in mu opinion - especially when you read what I discovered...

Now treble is good but this is where I had issues...

I found on some music they would crackle slightly, particulary MP3s from my MP3 player and very much so on the computer. It wasn't just crackling though, the treble tended to start to distort ever so slightly on some tracks.

I wondered, no? This can't be my expensive Bose Cans? Being I guess a bit of a geek... I decided to buy another set of headphones and a headphone amplifer and do some testing. I will leave the other brand out of this review but it wasn't a cheap brand, and it was one of the highly regarded ones in HeadFi forums.

I actually found that the MP3s were ever so slightly distorted. The Bose amplified and made an issue of that normally standard headphones wouldnt pick up.

In other the words the Bose eq had optimised the treble so much so that little sounds within the music you cant normally hear are amplified.

This is not a fault of the speakers but more of the crap material I was playing through the headphones.

However, I found a few CD's with the same issue - these were badly recorded CD's and I have confirmed that on a non-Bose system which also slightly distorted the tweeters.

I have since put this down to the Bose's clarity reavling the problems of poor recording or MP3 compression.

Bass definition can be lost sometimes on the Triports and the vocals can sound distant and the treble quiet.

So, I thought? hmmm... I found over 2 years of using these headphones if you drive them loud - they are damn nice.

They take power alright! You think your computer headphone jack is enough? well, the headphone amplifer I purchaced did cost an arm and a leg (more than the cans actually) but was able to drive the Bose harder and this is when the Bose came into their own.

They have little distortion, bass is pretty much head shaking (yes my ears and head did shake - don't laugh, just turn them up, you'll see!)

I am to this day kind of impressed but not so impressed. I like bits about them and not others. They are great headphones now they have just been reduced in price!

Inside there appears to be two pretty much normal maylar looking headphone drivers, with three tuned ports.

The ports produce very little to no port noise even when driven hard. This is something even the new QC's faulter with.

I think otherwise they have a pretty good sound but only when listening at a higher volume. You dont need a headphone amp unless you want to push them seriously hard.... but a headphone jack on your computer or MP3 with the volume pretty wacked up should do the trick.

Size/Durability & Cost

I would say they are portable. They are a little large for regular commuters.

Durability is not so good, it's a flimsy design. Even for Bose... but they designded them to be lightweight so I guess they had to trade that.

They haven't broke on me yet, but I have heard of people having the headbands snap... but maybe that could be abuse? But it looks possible with moderate force.

The units themselves are reliable, I pushed them hard remember? I was supprised not to see smoke - my £20 Sony headphones didn't manage it - they caught fire almost. The other high end brand also managed through that test but I wonder which would win the super 20Hz burn out test at full volume?

Cost, well yeah they are a bit expensive. I would purchace them again though. They are a great can, considering the cost has been reduced too!