The Bose QC3 is an evolution of the QuietComfort 2 that is now a common sight in any business class cabin, so much so that some airlines even issue them to their first class passengers instead of the nasty earphones the rest of us are forced to wear. For those of you who know the QC2's well skip the next bit and join us for the comparison of the QC2 and QC3's.

Bose have made quite a name for themselves in noise cancellation technology and there are a number of competitors who are also producing similar products, some are quite basic and rather poor and some like those from Sennheiser are very good. The thing that the good units have in common is price and at £275 the QC3's aren't about to buck that trend.

Noise cancellation as deployed by Bose uses a  pair of microphones on the outside of the headphone units which sample the background noise and then uses this as a comparison with the audio from your MP3 player or audio source. The clever programming then applies a corrective signal to the reproduced audio which cancels out sustained external noise like engine roar or road noise and even the background clatter on the tube!

Our previous experience of the Quiet Comfort 2 units was very good and they left us impressed at how they managed to reduce the constant ear battering roar of an Airbus engine while leaving the majority of the Hammond organ rich acid jazz (favoured by LP) intact. To do this the QuietComfort range are powered headphones and the QC2's used AAA batteries to do this which could lead to your running out of juice mid Atlantic.

So when we got our QC3's while on a trip to Las Vegas (city of sin) we couldn't wait to get onboard our Maxjet flight back to blighty. The Quiet Comfort 3 headphones have changed quite a bit from the earlier model so when unpacking them we immediately noticed they they now fold flat in their case, the earphone units rotate 90 degrees and pop into a slot which holds them very firmly. This is all down to the choice to make the QC3's on ear rather than over the ear as with the earlier model, whether this is a good thing is all down to personal choice as there is a slight compromise on background noise isolation versus comfort. The larger over the ear QC2's may shield some noise purely because the cover the ear but for us they also felt more cumbersome and made the ear mighty warm on a long trip. The revised QC3's are lighter smaller and for us more comfy and cooler but they do leak a little noise through making the work of the noise reducing circuitry that little bit tougher.

Other changes include a switch from AAA batteries to a small Lithium rechargeable unit which slides into the top of the right hand earphone, this small battery cell needs to be removed and placed in a charging holder in order to top it up. Battery life in our tests was around 19 hours (Bose claim 20) which is ample for a trip to the west coast of the USA but not quite enough to get us all the way back, so your charger will have to go with you unless you fork out for a second battery. Perhaps if you live on a plane this would be worth while as it's not as easy as just buying more AAA's as you did with the QC2. A nice touch is being able to unplug the cable from the earphone unit as well as the seat end, this saves you getting all tangled up when you get out of your seat and also means you can keep your valuable headphones with you.

So just how do they sound? Well as we kicked back in our overly larger and slightly retro Maxjet seats the QC3's were applied and iPod pressed into service as soon as we were allowed to use "electrical devices". The first thing you notice is the effect they have on the cabin noise which even with no music playing and the earphones switched on drops dramatically. They seem to remove the harsh bass and drone from the cabin and leave more of a whisper hiss, so not 100% noise reduction but then Bose don't claim that. We opted for a Podcast from Mr Fine Wine (Downtown Soulville) for the first hour of the journey, soon the cabin was transformed into a funk and soul party and it was all too easy to forget where we were as a rather polite air stewardess had to remind us as it was time for dinner.

The audio quality is excellent although we'd say that those who like their bass rich and warm over those who like absolute clarity may prefer the QuietComfort 3's as opposed the 2's. Plugged to the iPod the QC's pumped a bass rich bevy of tracks muscling their way through deep Hammond tracks with ease but perhaps just clipping the top of some vocal and cymbals. Further testing on some more mellow tracks as we tried to get some shut eye revealed that the relaxed style was suited to a range of music but perhaps not some of the lighter airy genres.

For further comparison we also tested Shure E2C's against the Bose headphones, the in ear design of the Shure's did cut out a lot of noise but at the price of comfort and still the background resonance was there which the QC's almost eliminated. The Shure's handled the whole audio range slightly better but the cabin noise was there throughout making the Bose audio quality better overall.

The key decision driver for us in choosing the new Bose units over the QC2's (which are still available for slightly less) is comfort. The on ear design while holding onto your ears very firmly (ideal well you nod off on a plane) are also supremely comfortable and much much cooler than the over the ear enclosed model. Plus to our minds they also looked less like a Cyberman on a package holiday and more urban style with their silvered finish and little red lamp showing they are more than your ordinary earphones!

Putting £275 of your cash into headphones may seem like an extravagance but the pouch and its contents show you that you are getting everything that makes international travel more comfortable. Apart from the QC3's themselves, there is a jack adaptor which will convert to all varieties of aircraft entertainment systems and the battery charger, all built well and with a sense of quality.

Arriving at the salubrious London Stanstead we felt much more refreshed than on previous flights, we can't entirely attribute this to the QC3's (as opposed the 60" seat pitch!) but they did help us get some good hours sleep and made the journey more relaxed. As to if they are worth £275 we'd say a cautious yes, just make sure you are going to be exercising your carbon footprint a few times a year or at least a few Tube journeys a week.

Published - 28/04/2007

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