Hacker News Reader

Comment by anonu | Hacker News Reader

I live in NYC and I'm a longtime user of the Bose QC20s. They are probably the best commercial noise cancellation devices. I even sleep with them. The article promises some significant leaps in the technology. No doubt as processing gets faster and smaller we'll have even smarter noise cancellation. Looking forward to that...

View on HN

Can't they stop human voice, music and children crying?

These three are literally the only things I want to filter out while I'm focusing.

Noise cancellation is designed to cut out the ambient noise - which is mostly white - of which there is a lot in a big city. It does this with a phase cancellation of what is probably a fairly predictable waveform. Human voices I can imagine are not that predictable. Maybe advances in machine learnings and processing may be able to provide better cancellation techniques.

> I even sleep with them

I used to do that with my QC15 first and then after it broke twice, with my QC25 replacement. Sleeping with them on is really tough on them, though. After the third replacement device, I decided I couldn't keep on doing it no matter how much I actually enjoyed putting it on at night and hear that soft static. The slight pressure actually felt pleasant.

Quitting using them for sleep was hard, though. I certainly felt the urge to buy a new pair but now I sleep with a pillow on my head if I'm sleeping on my side, or a puffier pillow put sideways under my head positioned in a way that it will cover my ears if I am sleeping on my back. It is no perfect replacement but I think the reason why I do that is because I am still seeking that QC20 feel.

They make a pair for sleeping with if what you want is white noise: https://www.google.com/search?q=bose+sleepbuds

It isn't exactly white noise that I am looking for. It is the residual waveform QC25 has after it has done its best effort at noise cancellation.

With that being said, after looking at here [0] it actually looks pretty promising although it seems to not have active noise cancellation.

[0] https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/wellness/noise_masking_s...

I'm assuming you've tried basic earplugs with white noise generator at full power? When I used them to block out building construction noise, they worked well. Maybe even too well - I was wondering if I'd wake up if a fire alarm went off. Active noise cancellation doesn't work well with noises like ambulance sirens.

Are you using earplugs then? I tried to sleep with headphones but it never worked for me and finding a comfortable but effective earplug is kinda hard.

I completely agree. My QC20s are probably hands down the best electronics purchase I have made. A gadget that has significantly increased my quality of life, and they last a long time.

I was on the fence about them. I had the Sennheiser BTNC 4.5 shortlisted since they're cheaper. Is Bose's noise canceling significantly better than Sennheiser's?

I can't rate Bose vs Sennheiser, but I can tell you that my $300 Bose QC35 II is far, far more effective than either my $100 Creative HN-900 or my SO's $100 Audiotechnica QuietPoint ATH-ANC7. I have a friend with both the Bose QC35 II and the $300 Sony WH-1000xM2 and he rates them about on par for noise cancelling, but puts the audio quality on the Sonys a little higher.

The two cheaper models are garbage by comparison, to the point that I'd say to just skip the noise cancelling altogether if it's only as good as the cheaper ones.

There is a new Sony coming out now they is supposed to be the best until Bose release their next I guess.

https://www.google.ch/search?q=sony+noise+cancelling+headpho...

Those Sony headphones had a defective design, the plastic would crack consistently in the same spot. You can get a sense by going through the products web page on Sony’s website

I have not used the Sony's, but the Bose QCs are absolutely fantastic. I think they a very safe bet.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com