Before my last flight from Berkeley to London, I bought a pair of the latest Bose noise-canceling headphones. They set me back just shy of $350. Had I to make the decision to get them again, would I? In a heartbeat.
On the flight from Berkeley to London, the phones enabled me to retreat into my private cocoon, removed from the din of the jet engines. The headphones don’t knock out 100% of the cacophony, but they can cut the volume down to a very dull roar.
The Bose units come with an adapter that lets you plug into the soundtrack emanating from your armrest. I was quite satisfied with the sound as I watched Nixon/Frost and The Days of Harvey Milk on the way home. When I tired of movies, I’d pull the plug and retreat into my private isolation booth. Sometimes I’d listen to songs from my iPhone; other times I’d just nod off.
I’m listening to Leonard Cohen on the Bose phones as I write this post. The neighbor could get out his chainsaw and it wouldn’t register on my consciousness. I spend an increasing amount of time taking part in online events. You will, too, if you don’t already: it’s an inevitable outcome of living green and connecting to the larger world. Guess what? No more cheapo ear-buds for me: I’ll be wearing the Bose phones.
Some of you are undoubtedly thinking it’s absurd to lay down $350 for a headset. That’s the wrong way to look at it. An experience is only as good as the weakest link in the chain that gets it to you. I’ll spend sixty hours on planes in the next couple of months, and I’m happy to pay an incremental $5/hour for comfort. Actually hearing the movie without having to fiddle with free but dorky airline headsets is a bonus, as is the greater fidelity when listening to music and events on the web. Before long, my average cost will drop below $1/hour.
I got the Bose® QuietComfort® 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headphones. They go for $314 on Amazon.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi George,
As a long-time sufferer from the loud ambient environment in aircraft cabins on the Dublin-Dulles route, noise cancelling headphones have been part of my carry-on luggage for a number of years now. While I wish I was able to take advantage of their capacity to enjoy the on-board entertainment, I usually end up having to work an a presentation on the plane. My (Sony) headphones allow me to concentrate more effectively on the task at hand.
I think that the name “Noise Cancelling” is a bit of a misnomer though: the headphone ‘cans’ each contain a small microphone that picks up consistent ambient acoustic noise (i.e. jet engines) and, through some electronic jiggery-pokery, inverts the signal and attenuates it.
This works great for low-frequency noise, but is less effective at removing higher pitches, such as the human voice and the general hurly burly of in-flight dinner service, for example. However, as anyone who has ever worked in an open-plan office knows, people are pretty good at “tuning out” this kind of noise anyway.
Now if only someone would invent a mask with virtual, 3-D, or heads-up display so that I could cancel out the visuals in an aeroplane cabin and concentrate on building that demo…
–
Tēnā koe e George! Kia ora e Michael!
The cans are certainly a wonderful accoutrement to have on a long flight – it generally takes me 2 to 3 hours before my ears really start to ache and I could only avert this by using uncomfortable ear-plugs.
But the term ‘noise cancelling’ is closer to what actually happens, for, as you say Michael, the sound is reintroduced in inverted form (180 degrees out of phase) so that it really does cancel out the noise coming directly through to the ears.
I am confident that the technology will improve. At the top frequency end of the sound spectrum the problem is simply because of the greater difficulty in getting synchronous cancelling with high frequency. It gets more difficult as frequency increases. It’s a lot to do with the design of the cavity inside each can rather than a required sound phase adjustment. The likelihood is that it will vary from person to person depending on the shape of individual ear cavity.
Catchya later
They really are awesome.
The only improvement that could be made is to their durability; the foam tends to soften quite quickly and the plastic goes a little brittle. Hence, the piece of tape I have holding one of my earphones in place!
But if you treat them well they should last you a few years..
Bose headphones are very effective noice canceller. And you are right that an experience is only as good as the weakest link in the chain that gets it to you.
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