Any way to make the Bose QC noise cancelling any better?

Imapancake22 · January 26

Recently had to send in my Sony xm4 for repair but I'm thinking of looking into a new pair of headphones because of other issues I have with them. I wanted to get the Ultras but ratings said they have noticable wired latency, the normal QCs have worse noise cancelling than the XM4s which I don't believe but the XM4s hurt my ears after a few hours so I really don't know what to get. Is there a setting in the QCs that makes them cancel sound better or will I just have to make the trade off

Cocococo · January 26

How do they hurt your ears? and what would you want most in a set of wireless headphones? i've been trying quite a few sets recently and might be able to steer you to something better for your needs

Imapancake22 · January 26

Just now, Cocococo said:

How do they hurt your ears? and what would you want most in a set of wireless headphones? i've been trying quite a few sets recently and might be able to steer you to something better for your needs

They push up against the helix of my ears because I have a modmic on them but they sound so much clearer compared to any headphone I've had before so I put up with it. Looking for noise cancelling or at least a way to get the clear sound that comes with anc headphones and preferably a mic built in

Cocococo · January 26

32 minutes ago, Imapancake22 said:

They push up against the helix of my ears because I have a modmic on them but they sound so much clearer compared to any headphone I've had before so I put up with it. Looking for noise cancelling or at least a way to get the clear sound that comes with anc headphones and preferably a mic built in

I take it the modmic is for gaming? frankly there is a wireless headset that absolutely destroys everything for sound quality and clarity but no ANC, ANC is the anthesis of good sound, isolation is still very good so unless you're by an airport, highway or train tracks/ bus routes or have really loud appliances i wouldn't say ANC is as necessary as many believe (also ANC headphones typically isolate noise really badly compared to the conventional closed headphones, i imagine it's to make the ANC seem more impactful)

As for the pushing on your helix the ear cushions are clamping too hard on your head and the cushions are not large enough to envelop your ear and clamp around your ear instead, this will also give you a very poor seal on your head that massively reduces bass but allows outside noise to get straight into your ears, the ANC of your Sony XM4's was acting more like a band-aid than true noise cancelling.

Providing you have the budget for it the Audeze Maxwell are likely the best solution to both problems, but if you really feel like ANC is necessary i've been liking the Sennheiser Accentum, the ANC isn't anywhere near as good as your xm4's but they're pretty good value for the sound they deliver ('d just get Maxwell though, they are comfortably the best buy in audio atm)

Imapancake22 · January 28

On 1/26/2024 at 1:52 PM, Cocococo said:

I take it the modmic is for gaming? frankly there is a wireless headset that absolutely destroys everything for sound quality and clarity but no ANC, ANC is the anthesis of good sound, isolation is still very good so unless you're by an airport, highway or train tracks/ bus routes or have really loud appliances i wouldn't say ANC is as necessary as many believe (also ANC headphones typically isolate noise really badly compared to the conventional closed headphones, i imagine it's to make the ANC seem more impactful)

As for the pushing on your helix the ear cushions are clamping too hard on your head and the cushions are not large enough to envelop your ear and clamp around your ear instead, this will also give you a very poor seal on your head that massively reduces bass but allows outside noise to get straight into your ears, the ANC of your Sony XM4's was acting more like a band-aid than true noise cancelling.

Providing you have the budget for it the Audeze Maxwell are likely the best solution to both problems, but if you really feel like ANC is necessary i've been liking the Sennheiser Accentum, the ANC isn't anywhere near as good as your xm4's but they're pretty good value for the sound they deliver ('d just get Maxwell though, they are comfortably the best buy in audio atm)

Just to make sure I'm reading this right. The maxwells can isolate audio around the same level as my xm4 while sounding the same and having the clarity I like about it while also being cheaper? Just want to make sure because this sounds really good