Headphones recommendation: ATH M50xBT or Bose QC II or Sony 1000XM3

[BeeBee8]

I'm planning to get a wireless headphone in the upcoming thanksgiving sales and I came down to these models. I've never experienced active noise cancelling tech and like to try one so, a bit leaning towards Bose or Sony. But, I don't know if it's worth the extra 150 bucks (pricing as of now). Please let me know if I should look into any other models or brands. I listen to a variety of music genre but would like it slightly high on base rather than being completely neutral. I'm a student and also new to the US, so $350 is what I'm prepared to. Maybe around 380 if it's really worth it. Sorry if I butchered the language and thanks in advance.

[RasmusDC]

i have the MS660 BT Sennheisers at work.... BOSE has a bit better NC on my old company NC headphones (non BT) but the Sennheiser, are better in nearly every other aspect.

 

better Comfort, better sound, more flexible with BT.... none of them i "GREAT" audio headphones, but they are nice..

 

i do love NC in a working enviroment, but never use them outside, so many better headphones, but they do stack well up to the ATH-M50X which is a really poor headphone.

[kevinisbeast707]

Actually I just got back from fry's where they had the sony 1000xm3, bose qc35 II, and sennheiser pxc 550. From briefly trying them they would all fit your sonic preference with the sennheisers being slightly more neutral. The sennheiser's by a bit had worse noise cancellation. The bose noise cancellation was great but they definitely don't sound the cleanest. The sony's seemed like the best sound quality balance between the two where it sounded good but not overly neutral but what really blew me away was how much better they cancelled out the noise. I remember trying the x2's of these and thinking that they were as good as the bose, but I think bose now actually has a competitor whom actually outright beats them. Sorry bose but the sony 1000xm3 do imho do a better job at what they're designed to do than the qc35 II. Though the 35's are still slightly more comfortable probably due to their lightness.

[lufihengr]

2 minutes ago, kevinisbeast707 said:

 

I think the Sony's are newer so should expect them to be better. Bose are the most comfy though as you said.

 

@cbhhargava If you might not need wireless, look at QC 25's. They are super cheap now and for the price I don't think they can be beat

[BeeBee8]

On 11/13/2018 at 4:09 PM, lufihengr said:

I think the Sony's are newer so should expect them to be better. Bose are the most comfy though as you said.

 

@cbhhargava If you might not need wireless, look at QC 25's. They are super cheap now and for the price I don't think they can be beat

I do need it to be wireless. My phone doesn't have a jack. I've almost decided to pick up the Sony and now QC35 II is on sale. And I'm conflicted. 50 bucks is not a big deal but I always look for value and IDK if those extra features are worth that much...

[BeeBee8]

On 11/13/2018 at 4:03 PM, kevinisbeast707 said:

Actually I just got back from fry's where they had the sony 1000xm3, bose qc35 II, and sennheiser pxc 550. From briefly trying them they would all fit your sonic preference with the sennheisers being slightly more neutral. The sennheiser's by a bit had worse noise cancellation. The bose noise cancellation was great but they definitely don't sound the cleanest. The sony's seemed like the best sound quality balance between the two where it sounded good but not overly neutral but what really blew me away was how much better they cancelled out the noise. I remember trying the x2's of these and thinking that they were as good as the bose, but I think bose now actually has a competitor whom actually outright beats them. Sorry bose but the sony 1000xm3 do imho do a better job at what they're designed to do than the qc35 II. Though the 35's are still slightly more comfortable probably due to their lightness.

On paper it's just an ounce heavier, can you really feel it? My roommate owns a QC and he preferred Sony which he tried on a while back.

[kevinisbeast707]

On 11/19/2018 at 2:03 PM, cbhhargava said:

On paper it's just an ounce heavier, can you really feel it? My roommate owns a QC and he preferred Sony which he tried on a while back.

I think it has more to do with a combination of factors including that the depth of the cups in the qc35 II is deeper which means that my ears don't press against the sides along with just how soft the leather (pleather?) earpads are and the clamping force is just right. I also believe that their weight distribution has something to do with it since most of the weight is centered around the ear cup whereas the sonys have a heavier headband which makes the headphones move forward and backward ever so slightly more when moving your head than the qc35. The bose make you feel like you could go jogging in them and they'd stay on no problem but the sonys feel like they would slide off or at least slide around distractingly which is actually probably fine since you probably shouldn't go running with full sized noise cancelling headphones anyways. Another thing to note is that the bose seem more "sure footed" is I guess the phrase I'm going to go with here when putting them on. You kind of just put them on and then you just leave them there knowing that they're doing their job to the best of their ability. The sonys on the other hand actually do still do an overall better job at blocking out noise but it just seems like the exact placement on the ear does ever so slightly affect both sound quality and noise cancelling quality. Not to any really problematic degree but as someone who will switch headphones based on the song I'm listening to this does bother my slight addiction to having a perfect fit every time.

[Froody129]

The Bose is essentially perfect in every way except for the actual sound quality. It sounds goodish. It's not really amazing for the price.

 

I haven't personally tried them but I always see the Sony pair recommended over the Bose. NC is a bit less effective but it sounds a lot better. I don't have experience with the M50x.

 

Maybe try in-ear monitors if you want good sound blocking. They are astoundingly better sounding for the money and imo my M6 Pro set sounds better than the QC35 and blocks out as much if not more sound passively.