Bose has available a QC, QC45, and QC Ultra. I’m thinking the Ultra is out on price alone. The other two are comparably price.

Being a headphone neophyte, I’m confused. Recommendations would be appreciated

Thanks

Bose are to some extent, the reference standard, but there are other worthy manufacturers as well. Sony makes an excellent product. I have a pair of NAD HP70 headphones which are exceptional.

The audio cancelling is absolutely dead air, and the music is expansive. Hunt for sales, and they are fairly affordable. I paid $135 for mine which are nominally $449 bucks, and couldn't be happier. I found them on Drop.com.

Wifey has a pair of their QuietComfort Ultra wireless headphones.

Artie accurately describes them. I have a pair of their ear buds that I use for depos. Worth every penny.

I'd wear the wife's but the color is White Smoke with is really close to hazy pink.

Check out Woot, lots of closeouts, refurbs etc from el-cheapo to fairly expensive

They have noise cancelling from JBL, Dyson, etc..

Link

I’ve been in the music business since 1992. Sennheisers are the only brand I use (corded). Wireless I have no clue. Audio quality I’m going corded every time. Still on the same pair of HD-25’s from the mid 90’s. Kevlar cups, and they’ve seen 1 million watts of power over the years playing professionally. I thought mine were finally done one day and bought a spare pair. Turns out I just needed to replace the coverings on the cups. Drivers, etc, still 100%.

Not familiar with the OP so I googled and I’d have a look at rtings reviews. They’ve always been a very valuable resource for me on anything AV related.
https://www.rtings.com/headpho...iews/best/headphones

QuietComfort is the newer version of QC45.

You probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between QC and QC45.

I have the QuietComfort 45, Sennheiser Momentum 4 and Sony WH-1000XM5.

Personally, the QC45 are the most comfortable headphones of the above 3; however, for battery life, the Sennheisers beat the other two. The Sony's have the best sound quality and active noise cancellation.

If you're going to wear the headphones quite a bit, buy the best you can afford.

Bose offers refurbished headphones with a factory warranty on their website. Also check out Costco for Bose, sometimes they have great deals on the QuietComfort SC (soft case).

quote:

Originally posted by lkdr1989:
Personally, the QC45 are the most comfortable headphones of the above 3; however, for battery life, the Sennheisers beat the other two. The Sony's have the best sound quality and active noise cancellation.

I'd disagree on the Sony's sounding the best. I found the XM4 and XM5 to sound muddy compared to the Momentum 3 and 4. The problem with the Momentum 4 is the controls are buggy.

The Bose QC will be the easiest to use with physical buttons vs touch/swipe controls and very comfortable.

You can also check eBay for used copies of the QC45 to save more money. It all depends what features you're looking at the most.

Just bought a pair of AirPods Max today, as a matter of coincidence. I cross shopped them against the QC Ultras.

The Bose get high marks for being lighter, more compact, and also have the best noise-cancelling. The APM’s get high marks for sound and usability. Personally, I prefer the APM’s as they are really a high quality item (and priced like it).

I would suggest the QC45s. That’s the sweet spot.

I have the Sony XM4. Great set which I bought on sale years ago. I also have a corded nose canceling earbud set from Bose I bought almost 10 years ago.

Sam’s Club and Costco had the QC45s on sale a month or so ago for 25-30% off.

I have a pair of the QC45, I got these for when I fly and they are great. The noise canceling is great and the aware feature while at the gate is a very nice feature. For the money there are well worth it.

What is your use case?

I am not the OP, but want to emphasize and concur with FenderBender's question.

Use case is an important consideration. With all Apple equipment in this house, any headphones I purchase must integrate with everything. I routinely walk from computer to computer to iPhone to AppleTV, and the AirPods must keep track of which device to connect. Apple makes it seamless.