| Since its inception in the mid-sixties, Bose Corporation has introduced some fantastic treats to the world of sound. The Amar Gopal Bose-founded company started with its 901 direct/reflecting speaker in 1968, which was quite a marvel in those times.
|
| |
| The gadget delivered performance superior to its peers by an ingenious piece of engineering: it reflected nearly 90 per cent of sound off walls producing a real-life concert hall-like effect.
|
| |
| Ever since, the company has reinvested millions of dollars of profits back into its research and development activities to produce speakers that deliver stellar performance to a wide range of customers — from the professional musician to the average commuter waiting for his train in a subway station, from the classical connoisseur to the airline pilot.
|
| |
| Audiophiles may still swear by brands like Bang & Olufsen, but even they will bow to the benefits of sound theory and engineering Bose has brought to the marketplace.
|
| |
| On review today is a recent product the company introduced in India: the Bose QuietComfort 2 acoustic noise cancelling headphones. The headphones — priced at a very steep Rs 21,900 (about 1.5 times an average Indian’s annual income!) each set — pack solid value if, and only if, you fall under both the following two categories: (a) you travel one hell of a lot and (b) you are a very, very discerning listener of music.
|
| |
| Bose’s acoustic noise cancelling technology is based on a principle called “active noise reduction”, which has its early roots in physics of the 1930s. Devices employing active noise reduction reduce the amount of background noise — typically, the roar of aircraft engines or the clanging of railway compartments on tracks or even a crying baby — by detecting such unwanted noise and cancelling it out by creating inverse (or opposite) sound waves.
|
| |
| For the uninitiated, this might sound a lot of gobbledygook. After all, if the idea is only to keep out unwanted noise, you could do it by using headphones with fully enclosing ear cups and sound absorbing materials, right? Well, that would be called passive noise reduction and such headphones are often uncomfortable and heavy.
|
| |
| In passive headsets, air space inside the ear cups is used to reduce the amount of noise. The more the space, the better the attenuation (reduction). But for significant gains in passive noise reduction, large ear cups will have to be used.
|
| |
| Because such ear cups also tend to be heavy, they don’t make for comfortable headphones. They are sure to add to your headache on a 14-hour cross-Pacific haul in an oxygen-starved tube of aluminium and composites.
|
| |
| In its QuietComfort 2 headphones, Bose uses external ports to detect external noise and cancel them. Such an active noise reduction technique is used primarily to cancel out external low frequency waves, while the soft and pliable ear cushions in the ear cups help keep out the high frequency sounds.
|
| |
| My experience with the headphones was remarkable. I used them on a plane journey, a five-hour train ride and, even on an overnight road journey.
|
| |
| The headphones deliver great quality of music, especially when used with a Discman. (The QuietComfort 2 comes with a normal headphone jack that can be plugged into a Walkman, Discman, laptop audio port or even a TV’s audio output.)
|
| |
| The active noise reduction technology was most in evidence during my train journey — it delivered just the music minus the loud steel-on-steel racket. The difference becomes pronounced when you compare it with the normal Discman earphones.
|
| |
| My only crib with the Bose QuietComfort 2 headphone is that my ears sweated if I used it for more than an hour at a stretch. Then, although the headphone folds neatly into a padded carry bag, there is no provision to also carry a Discman or a Walkman in the same bag.
|
| |
| (The writer works with content company perZuade. His views are personal and may not be endorsed by his employers, the company’s investors, customers or vendors. Comments may be sent to josey@perzuade.com) |
| |
|
| |
Content Guide
