Bose headphones

Bose headphones are a family of headphone products sold by the Bose Corporation. The company was a pioneer in the development of headphones that use active noise cancellation technology.

Timeline of Bose headphones

Some names have been abbreviated and at times full names have been shortened to save space
("QC" = QuietComfort; "SE" = Second Edition;"IE" = In-Ear; "MIE" = Mobile In-Ear)
("AE" = Around-Ear; "OE" = On-Ear; "BH" = Bluetooth headset)
Sources: Bose owners guides

Active noise-cancelling headphones

See also: Previous Bose Noise Reducing Headphones

Bose's consumer range of active noise-cancelling headphones are called QuietComfort. For industrial noise-cancelling applications, Bose produces the A20 Aviation Headset, Space Shuttle Headset and Combat Vehicle Crewman Headset.

Noise-cancelling headphones development

The idea of personal noise protection by actively controlled headphones was originally documented in a 1960 Russian patent application. In the United States, the idea for active noise cancellation for helicopter and aircraft pilots was patented by Dr. Lawrence J. Fogel as early as the mid 1950s U.S. Patent 2,866,848, U.S. Patent 2,920,138, U.S. Patent 2,966,549 and Canadian patent 631,136. According to Bose, the company started noise-cancellation involvement after Dr. Amar Bose went on a 1978 flight to Europe, utilized the headphones provided during the flight only to conclude that he couldn't really enjoy the sound with the roar of engines in the background."

In 1986, Bose applied their noise-cancellation technology to develop headphones to protect the hearing of pilots participating in the first non-stop around-the-world flight.

One source notes that "nearly simultaneously, the US company Bose and Sennheiser in Germany presented active headsets for aircraft pilots," citing a 1986 American Society of Mechanical Engineers paper about the Bose product and a 1988 Funkschau (see de:Funkschau) paper about the Sennheiser. Bose's first noise-cancelling headsets were released to the public in 1989.

After about 10 years of research and development Bose released their first consumer level noise reducing headphones for pilots called the Aviation Headset, released in 1989. The current model includes (non-adjustable) electronic equalization.

Like all such technology, it mixes an inverted sample of the ambient sound outside the headset with the sound that reaches the inside of the headset, partially cancelling out the noise. Active (battery-powered) noise cancellation is never perfect, and is better at low frequencies than at high frequencies.^{[citation needed]}. The power source for these active noise cancellation headphones is batteries. All Bose noise cancellation headphones are closed-air to increase passive noise reduction.

Bose QuietComfort 3 Headphones

Bose QuietComfort 3 Headphones

Bose released the QuietComfort 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones ("QC3") on June 15, 2006, the company's first pair of on-ear headphones. Bose states that, although headphones which envelope the ear provide greater passive noise isolation, the QC3s have the same amount of total noise reduction as the QC2s due to improved active noise cancellation. Memory foam is used to improve the passive noise isolation. In 2006, they were the first headphones to receive a Sound & Vision Editor's Choice award.

The QC3 feedback algorithm is suspected to become unstable in certain circumstances, causing a high pitched "squealing" in the following situations:

• Pressure on the earpads, such as that caused by the user leaning their head against a flat surface.^{[citation needed]}
• Manually pressing on the headphones.^{[citation needed]}

The QC3's earcups are are powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery instead, Bose claims a battery life of twenty hours.

In 2006 QuietComfort 3 were the first headphones to receive a Sound & Vision Editor's Choice award., in the same year they were awarded a Potentials Magazine Gold Star Award

• 2007 Red Dot Award for product design on QuietComfort 3

Bose QC3 headphones are provided by American Airlines for use by passengers in premium flight classes on some long-haul flights.

Bose QuietComfort 15 Headphones

On August 19, 2009 Bose announced the release of the Bose QC15's. A model to supersede QuietComfort 2 Revision 2, both the QuietComfort 2 Revision 2 and the QuietComfort 15 share the same cosmetic design,, however the QuietComfort 15 uses a microphone on the inside and outside of each earcup. The QuietComfort 15 has a slot for a AAA sized battery and a "High / Lo" switch to adjust for sources with high and low output levels and the cushion is redesigned . The QuietComfort 15 was released 20 August 20 2009, priced at $299.

American Airlines provides QuietComfort 15 headphones to first- and business-class passengers on some long-haul flights. Bose has made American Airlines several special edition versions of the QuietComforts starting with the original QC1 that had blue ear cups and an American Airlines logo on them. American Airlines became the first airline to offer the QuietComforts. On 1 July 2006 JAL started to offer QuietComfort 2 headphones to First class customers on some flights Air-India also offers QuietComfort 3 headphones to its Premium Class customers on some long haul flights. Cathay Pacific provides their First and Business Class passengers a pair of customized Quiet Comfort headphones.

Space shuttle headset

Bose makes noise-canceling aviation headsets which have been used in the Space Shuttle, where the noise cancellation feature helps prevent astronaut hearing damage.

A20 aviation headset

See also: Previous Bose Aviation Headsets

Released on July 26, 2010 as an upgrade to the previous "Aviation Headset X" (aka A10), they are noise reducing headphones for pilots. It either runs on two AA batteries for 45 hours or is powered by the airplanes electrical system. It has an Aux in for a separate audio device, and better noise reduction and less clamping force than its predecessor. There are two models, one that includes a Bluetooth kit for cellphones or one that excludes this feature.

From 2000 to 2005 Aviation Headset X was voted #1 by Professional Pilot magazine's headset preference survey five years in a row.

Combat Vehicle Crewman Headset

In 1993 Bose introduced an active noise reduction system for use by crews in United States Army combat vehicles.

At noise levels of 115dBA SPL, Bose noise cancelling headsets improves speech intelligibility scores to 95%, compared to 80% for conventional headsets. At low frequencies, Bose headsets are much more effective in attenuating noise than passive noise reduction headsets. A binaural talk-through feature allows crewmen to talk directly to each other without removing their headsets.

This product is not available to civilian consumers.

Triport Tactical Headset

The Triport Tactical Headset (TTH) introduced in 2004, also called the Improved Tactical Headset (ITH), is an improved version of the Combat Vehicle Crewman Headset, is in widespread use today. This system is for use in wheeled vehicles that while quieter can produce 95dBA SPL or higher. It fits under infantry ballistic helmet.

On-ear Headphones

See also: Previous Bose TriPort Headphones

The "triport" earcup structure has three miniature air ducts that claim to allow the drivers to make larger excursions before distorting.^{[citation needed]}

On-Ear headphones

The Bose On-Ear headphones were introduced on October 12, 2006. The Bose On-Ear is similar to the Bose QuietComfort 3 Headphones, but without active noise cancellation. The cord is detachable; both 43 and 16-inch cords are available.

Shortly after the release of the iPhone in 2007 Bose redesigned the OE's headphone plug on the detachable cords to make it iPhone compatible.

In 2008, the Red Dot Award for product design was awarded to Bose On-Ear Headphones (note, this design award does not consider audio quality in the evaluation criteria).

AE2

Bose Around-Ear 2 (AE2) headphones

On October 15, 2010, Bose released the AE2 on-ear headphones, a design which envelopes the whole ear. Connection is through a detachable cord that connects to the left side of the headphones. The foam on the original headband of the original TriPorts has been replaced with a synthetic leather and the earpieces rotate flat for improved storage, similar to the QuietComfort models.

In-ear headphones

IE2

On August, 16 2010 Bose announced the IE2's. Unlike "canalphones", the IE2 models are not inserted into the ear canal, they have a fit similar to an earbud. Therefore noise isolation is less effective than canalphones The tips which are required to hold this design in place are called "StayHear" tips by Bose. The audio quality of the IE2 is outperformed by other models in its price class.

Mobile Headsets

See also: Previous Bose Mobile Headphones

MIE2

The MIE2 headset is the same as the IE2 headphones, but with a microphone added so that it operate as a telephone headset

Some complaints about the early production In-Ears have been that the "silicone ear tips become detached under certain conditions" and that the "stability of the headphones during certain activities, such as exercise, could be improved", Bose setup a website to send redesigned ear tips and a new clip and the lanyard for free.

MIE2i

The MIE2i headset is a version of the MIE2 design for Apple devices (including the iPhone, iPod, iMac, iPad). It incorporates an in-line remote control for volume, track up/down and access to select Apple voice applications.

Bluetooth Headset

On November 1, 2010, Bose released its first wireless Bluetooth headset. Ambient noise sensing automatically adjusts the volume level based on background noise. Signal processing attempts to amplify the caller's voice and reject background noise, allowing the caller to be heard more clearly, however in practice call quality is poor for models without A2DP. The headset design is similar to Bose's IE2 headphones. .

The first release of the Bose Bluetooth Headset was criticised for having poor call quality, a lack of features and a high price tag. The updated model included A2DP for improved call quality, however the lack of features and high price remained.

See also

• Bose Corporation
• Previous Bose Headphones

References

• Bose Aviation X owners manual