Noise cancelling headphones! Oh Joy! (and other ways to block sound)

JemPD said:
do you wash them?

I use clean ones only, then wait till I have 10 or 20 pairs & run a bowl of warm water with antibac soap (about 3 hand pumps of soap to about 2L of water) & rub them all together in the water & then leave them to soak in that for a few hrs. Then rinse multiple times until the water runs clear after squeezing them.
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That’s far top much work for me, unfortunately. I just swap them out after a while (but the old ones are much more comfortable than the new ones..)

I’ll see if I can find some of those you mention to use in the meanwhile. I don’t like them either, but it might be the best option short term.
 
Utsikt said:
That’s far top much work for me, unfortunately.
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yes I'm not as sick as you. I just do it when i go to the bathroom, in the bathroom sink which is next to the toilet so i can sit down, it only takes a few seconds to run the water & put them in out of my dirty bag. But I get that you wouldnt be able to do even that.

I was hoping you might be able to get someone else to do it for you.

I hope you can find some of the others
 
@Utsikt I wipe the silicone tips for my Bose earbuds with a tissue soaked in this, which seems to work well without irritation. I havent tried it on the foam but I will & let you know how i get on. It's food safe & non toxic & kills bacteria & fingal spores.
Not sure if you can get it in your country but I imagine there might be a similar product based on hypochlorous acid I think there are a few.
 
In case anyone happened to be interested I edited my post about washing them. Just washing mine & thinking what I wrote was possibly misleading.
You could also wash 1 pair at a time while washing hands - but have some ready diluted soap to use because the sponge absorbs it & using it neat makes it a pain to rinse.

They wash well I have some I been washing for many yrs still going strong.
 
JemPD said:
@Utsikt I wipe the silicone tips for my Bose earbuds with a tissue soaked in this, which seems to work well without irritation. I havent tried it on the foam but I will & let you know how i get on. It's food safe & non toxic & kills bacteria & fingal spores.
Not sure if you can get it in your country but I imagine there might be a similar product based on hypochlorous acid I think there are a few.
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Yes it works fine to clean. Sprayed on liberally squeezed so they absorb. Leave for few mins then wipe with wet cloth & allowed to dry.

Maybe others will share how they wash theirs?
 
Yann04 said:
Yeah. All sounds are terrible. To me a hum is less bad than acute blips, so if i could I wouldn’t mind having whitenoise just for caregiver visits to drown out their sound.
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I been thinking about this for ages kept forgetting to come here to comment. Wanted to warn you, as yr issue is worse with short blips… I’d avoid Bose because although they amazing they do make a sound when they turn on. And it’s for me quite loud. I know it’s coming so I hold it away from me. All brands make a tone to let you know they’re on. but Boses is louder than soundcore or Sony.

They also talk to you when you turn on.

So short sound, then “battery 80%”

Then when battery is low they say “battery low” when they running low. This can make me jump if I had them in several hrs eg at night!

Also You hold your finger on them to cycle through the modes - eg noise cancelling on or off. Soundcore and Sony make a beep but the Bose ones say the words. I can’t remember what the beeps mean they all sound the same to me I get v confused frustrated so I better with the voice.

For me the upsides far outweigh the negatives because the occasional moment of sound is much better than the ongoing racket of neighbs etc.

but wanted to mention it in case it would would be worse for you. I mean at least with Bose you can try them get a refund if no good but didn’t want you to be taken by surprise!
 
JemPD said:
They also talk to you when you turn on.

So short sound, then “battery 80%”

Then when battery is low they say “battery low” when they running low. This can make me jump if I had them in several hrs eg at night!
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Seconding this - beware!

Using the Bose app, you can turn off some of the sounds and voices, but not all, and the "battery low" warning is the worst. For those using the headphones to block sound rather than to listen to things, or if listening to, say, a podcast at the lowest volume, it is like someone shouting in your ear - and unlike when you turn on the headphones, it cannot be predicted, it just comes out of nowhere when you're lying in the dark. I have been pretty impressed with most other aspects of the headphones, but the battery warning is a killer. At present, I just make sure to charge them whenever I am not actually wearing them; it's obviously not a perfect solution.

Edited to add: I am not giving them up, however, as they remain the best NC solution for noisy environments I have found - better than the comparable Sony and Sennheiser options (though I much preferred Sennheiser back when I could listen to music). I don't know how I would have survived the roadwork in front of my flat during the summer without them.

For clarity, I have the Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen).
 
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Yes that’s exactly how I think feel about them @DHagen !! A voice in the dark in the early morning is the worst! But if I use the headphone rather than buds I put ear plugs in under them so the voice is lower volume then!

Im curious to know whether you had the NC700 ones before you got the QC ULTRAs. ?… wondering whether to upgrade to the Ultras but not sure how much better the NC will be whether it worth it
 
JemPD said:
Im curious to know whether you had the NC700 ones before you got the QC ULTRAs. ?… wondering whether to upgrade to the Ultras but not sure how much better the NC will be whether it worth it
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I did not previously have the NC700 myself, but my father owns a pair and I was able to try them out and compare a bit. I would agree with what I've seen written online, namely that there does seem to be a noticeable difference; it's not huge, but the QC Ultras do seem to have an edge. I also think they're a little more comfortable, but I know people who feel the opposite, so this is likely just a matter of find the best fit for one's head and ears.

Whether or not the difference is worth paying for an upgrade is a difficult question - if you have money to burn and you're looking for some minor improvements, I would say go for it. Likewise, if you are going to be purchasing new headphones any way because your old ones are having battery issues or have been damaged, or for whatever reason, I would recommend opting for the QC Ultras. If, however, your NC700s are still serving you well and your funds are limited, I might suggest holding off - the new cans are unlikely to dramatically change your life.

I hope that helps - sorry I am not able to give a more definite recommendation!
 
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