Bose QuietComfort 25 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones

I balked at buying the Bose, because I thought it was overpriced, and that probably all the manufacturers used the same generic digital signal processing chip. I've had two other inexpensive NC headsets, and thought they worked alright. The first non-Bose headset, I had two of, because the cables kept fraying and breaking. Can't remember the brand name anymore, but they were only about $35, so I thought, well, just my bad luck. Replaced them with inexpensive ($50) Sony headsets, and the Sony cables are durable, but the sound quality and cancellation wasn't quite as good, to my ears. Nevertheless, I kept the Sonys (and still have them), thinking again that Bose was just too darned expensive. Then I saw one day in the classroom that I work in, that there were several Bose QC25 headsets that the school had purchased, so I thought, hey, here's a chance to see if they're really worth all that money. The teacher let me borrow a pair, and as I left the school, I parked on the street, with my windows down, to listen to the car traffic go by, and try these out in an A/B test with the Sony NC headsets. Wow! It took me all of about 30 seconds to decide that they were worth the money. One of the reasons, perhaps, that they work so well, is that the headset completely covers my ear, and the Sony headsets did not have complete ear coverage. I've worn them for long periods of time, without discomfort, although if I wear them on the treadmill in the gym, they need to be wiped off from the perspiration on my head. My first A/B test with the Bose QC25 was to put it on, without plugging it into any device, and just switch the NC on and off, as cars and trucks passed by on the street. The results were simple: switched off, there was car noise; switched on, there was silence. I ordered a pair immediately, and have been happy with them ever since. They are great at cancelling droning noises, such as cars, or airplane engines, but not so good at nearby conversations. I do use them when working in a library, and they do a fair job of cancelling out the noisy kids at the next table, but not as profound as engine noise reduction. The big advantage I see to this model is that they use a single AAA battery, which lasts me about a week of listening to audiobooks, and the case has a holder for a spare battery. A rechargeable AAA battery works just fine, and the later model Bose headsets use some sort of proprietary non-replaceable battery, which in my view is a deal breaker. Your views about the bluetooth feature may make you think that the later Bose model would be better, but in my mind it's not, due to the many documented problems with bluetooth. These wired headsets just simply work, with anything that has a standard audio jack. The cable is not an inconvenience for me, and the easily replaceable AAA battery is a big plus. As for the cable, when I unpacked the box and saw it, my first thought was that if these expensive cables fray and break, I'm going to be out a bunch of money to replace them. Not true, you can buy generic replacement cables on Amazon, I did buy a couple, tried them, out, and tossed them into the drawer as backups, after finding that they worked just fine. I got two generic cables for less than the price of one Bose cable. My only advice as to these cables is this: they come in two flavors; one works only with Android and generic devices, and the other flavor works with Apple. Make sure you order the correct one for your device. I have used the Bose QC25 in place of my Plantronics bluetooth on my phone (android), and they work just fine, although legally I can't use them if I am driving, and must use my little hands-free earbud instead. They also work fine on my laptop, and a little generic MP3 player. The sound level is about the same in these headsets, with the power on or off, but they do sound a lot better with the power on. In short, spend the money, they're worth it.