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Active: 650 users

REVIEW: Bose IE2

Blogs > kineSiS-
Post a Reply
kineSiS-
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
Korea (South)1068 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-06 05:07:17
May 06 2012 01:18 GMT
#1
Bose IE2

[image loading]

INTRO
Two years ago... okay wait. Let's clear some things up first. This is a pitchfork and torch free area; furthermore, tarring and feathering is not allowed. Please leave these items outside of the room.
With that out of the way...
Last January, I hadn't a clue about the ins and outs of audiophilia and could not tell the ins and outs of the subject matter. My father had come home from a business trip from Korea and had purchased me a set of Bose in ears. I reiterate this for my own safety, I didn't know any brands besides Beats, Bose, Skull Candy, and those cheap five dollar JVC ear buds that kept breaking every other week.


Unboxing

Upon receiving the gift from my father, I was floored by the beauty of the packaging and the lack of the horrid and dreadful and ubiquitous plastic packaging that my previous five dollar ear buds had come in. Inside I discovered a warranty card with a sticker containing the pertinent information in case the IE2's suffered from any manufacturing defects or failed to function within the one year warranty time period. In addition, there was a nice leather-like case with ample room to store the in ears and a nice thin layer of padding on the inside and some product information about their, and I quote, "Bose quality sound", Quiet Comfort 15's. And the last but not least, the Bose IE2 with minimal StayHear ear tips, which at first were intriguing and anomalies compared to my past audio experiences.




Design & Build Quality

Although I can't find any sources for technical specifications, it seems that due to the metal grill on the external portion of the in ears combined with a small hole at the top, I assume it is a single dynamic driver of unknown proportions and unknown impedance and so on.
The appearance of the headphones is quite nice, actually. Although the design of the StayHear ear tips is unconventional, unlike most ear buds, it allows the IE2 to stay comfortable and unnoticeably in the ear with little to no pain after extended durations of time (3-5 hours). Personally, I have experienced some discomfort in one ear forcing me to take off one side to allow my ears to recover but my ears are quite sensitive any contact. The black and white cable in a swirling fashion is very distinctive and in public use draws attention of passerbys and gains instant recognition as the "Bose" brand. The housing is made of black plastic that seems quite sturdy and near the metal venting grill the Bose logo is branded in plastic covered with a thin veneer of metallic-silver paint. The strain reliefs are nicely designed and have held up with years of use and mistreatment and the 3.5mm gold plated jack is nicely angled for stress relief.
Overall, the design on these headphones is very nice, very noticeable, and will draw attention in public and probably admiration.

[image loading]

Picture of the 3.5mm jack strain relief and the in ears themselves.
The left ear tip is from the old non-Stay Hear designs.


Sound

As a notice, I have no affiliations with Bose, nor am I in any way attempting to endorse or slander their product.
For the intents and purposes of this review I will be listening out of an iPhone 3G, T-Mobile MyTouch 4G, and a Sager and HP notebook.

The meat of the review, the sound. I could go on and on about everything else, but what we all want to know is, is this another overpriced, typical bad Bose product. Well yes... but to an extent. I would have to applause Bose on making a product that is particularly decent.
Due to the vented design, there is no isolation of any sorts, which is useful when exercising or partaking in conversation, but completely removes the possibility of enjoying any sort of music fidelity while outside of the house, the optimal use of these headphones is in a quiet and undisturbed environment. However, this vented design does not leak sound very much at all so that is a definite plus.

Highs
As a consumer oriented headphone, these in ears have rolled off highs and accentuate the lower end of the frequency, catering to people who prefer more bass and midrange as opposed to detail oriented audiophiles. While not terrible, they definitely take a back seat and I would go as far to say that they are veiled. A definite advantage is the fact that there is no sibilance at all in these headphones.

Midrange
Although not mid-forward, definitely has a mid-centric sound. Vocals take an intimate and forward quality. The details and inflections that might be noticeable in a live performance or in other headphones is dulled over in favor of giving a sweeter tonality to the voice, yet fails to translate the emotions and other subtleties. Those in favor of a detail oriented headphone will want more. In acoustic performances there is decent articulation yet it is hard to make out all the notes in fingerstyle acoustic performances and other more intricate styles. During complex passages, the articulation of the passages becomes muddled and it is hard to trace each note or instrument, which would be fine, yet at the 100-130 USD price range competes with a lot of other mid tier in ear monitors.

Lows
Sadly, while there is a decent amount of bass, there is little to no impact, yet I'll admit it is pretty tight with decent decay. The sub-bass is non-existent and in the dubstep genre, it fails to do any justice leaving the wearer to be wanting. Still, for other genres such as vocal-oriented or instrumentals this is less of a problem (Captain Obvious to the rescue!)


Soundstage
The soundstage is surprisingly not that wide even with a vented design. The sound projects from inside the head (like most other in ears) and is nothing to write home about. However, it does induce a state of claustrophobia and is not overly closed in any manner.


Conclusion

I don't want to bandwagon and state that all Bose headphones are bad. These are definitely of good build quality and have a nice presentation upon purchase. It will draw attention and has amazing comfort levels and is difficult to dislodge from the ear accidentally. However, at this price range other bass heavy headphones such as the Future Sonics MG7 would be a better choice.
Would I recommend to this anyone, maybe, but I wouldn't go as far as to say it's horrid.
And on that note, I bid you adieu, with more pics to come!

***
Soloturtle
Profile Joined February 2011
Canada333 Posts
May 06 2012 04:17 GMT
#2
Great review, can't wait to see more of these in the future!
Hopefully you might review something I'll be looking into
Cool
Carson
Profile Joined September 2010
Canada820 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-06 04:51:10
May 06 2012 04:50 GMT
#3
Solid review; the best headphones I've ever owned are sennheiser in-ear, I don't know the specific make, and those are leaps and bounds better than anything else I've tried.

This review makes me curious to hear what an "actually good" pair of headphones could produce.

"You have to remember something: Everybody pities the weak; jealousy you have to earn." Arnold Schwarzenegger
Djzapz
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Canada10681 Posts
May 06 2012 05:06 GMT
#4
I can't comment on those headphones, I personally have had bad experience with Bose in general but I've heard that some of their products are decent. I just find it strange that they don't release any data or specs for any of their products. To me, it's annoying, and so I don't trust them too much.

That said, people really do neglect sound quite a lot. Many of us willing to pay hundreds for a lot of frames per second and good graphics for the eye candy, we eat fancy food, and consume adult entertainment in 1080p (sorry, drunk, can't unwrite it) -- and yet many of us are not willing to spend the extra buck for good sound.

In late 2011 I started visiting the headphones enthusiast thread looking for new headphones, at first I had a budget of $100 for headphones and I ended up spending over $1000 for headphones, an amp and a DAC, and trust me - now music is something else entirely. It used to be a sort of "side dish", an activity that I'd only do while I also did something else. I would play a game and listen to music, write a paper and listen to music. Now I'll occasionally just sit and listen.

For much less than that, it's possible to get a very competent sound system that'll blow pretty much any gaming headset out of the water - and you'll never look back. So - think about it.

Thanks for the review!
"My incompetence with power tools had been increasing exponentially over the course of 20 years spent inhaling experimental oven cleaners"
kineSiS-
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
Korea (South)1068 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-06 05:17:27
May 06 2012 05:06 GMT
#5
Thanks a lot guys. I have a series of review samples coming in from a headphone company in addition to their portable digital audio player. I'll make sure to create a series of additional blogs!


@DJZapz

Great comments, message me your audio rig, I'm intrigued
Djzapz
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Canada10681 Posts
May 06 2012 05:31 GMT
#6
Sent a PM. I have to admit however that I don't quite have the vocabulary to review my audio equipment like you did.
"My incompetence with power tools had been increasing exponentially over the course of 20 years spent inhaling experimental oven cleaners"
FaZe
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
Canada472 Posts
May 06 2012 05:40 GMT
#7
A mod tested them,
"I like my 10 dollar ones".
Kennigit was wrong.
"Victory needs no explanation; defeat allows none."
ZeromuS
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Canada13389 Posts
May 06 2012 06:37 GMT
#8
On May 06 2012 14:40 FaZe wrote:
A mod tested them,
"I like my 10 dollar ones".
Kennigit was wrong.


Depending on the cheap headphones, the major advantage to the bose in that case would be build quality as opposed to audio quality.

I personally have a set of shure SRH840s for over the ear and Shure 210s for in ears. Though the 210s are breaking

There is a lot to be said for good quality headphones, they make music awesome but when the audio source is bad then it becomes very apparent.

Im watching Sase's stream right now and my god are the high ends so so sharp and distorted don't notice it on my cheap little phones much but on my over ears, so bad.
StrategyRTS forever | @ZeromuS_plays | www.twitch.tv/Zeromus_
loginn
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
France815 Posts
May 06 2012 10:48 GMT
#9
Bose is usually pretty bad. Bass are awful and there's no highs. They have a pretty good ambiant sound cutting system though
Stephano, Taking skill to the bank since IPL3. Also Lucifron and FBH
kineSiS-
Profile Blog Joined September 2009
Korea (South)1068 Posts
May 06 2012 19:25 GMT
#10
On May 06 2012 15:37 ZeromuS wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 06 2012 14:40 FaZe wrote:
A mod tested them,
"I like my 10 dollar ones".
Kennigit was wrong.


Depending on the cheap headphones, the major advantage to the bose in that case would be build quality as opposed to audio quality.

I personally have a set of shure SRH840s for over the ear and Shure 210s for in ears. Though the 210s are breaking

There is a lot to be said for good quality headphones, they make music awesome but when the audio source is bad then it becomes very apparent.

Im watching Sase's stream right now and my god are the high ends so so sharp and distorted don't notice it on my cheap little phones much but on my over ears, so bad.


It depends on the headphones also. You have a pair of what I would consider less-forgiving in that it'll tell you the quality of the source and punish you for opting out of more high quality audio files. However, headphones like the HD600 and HD650 are definitely more forgiving of lower quality music (192 kbps, although I would never go below 320kbps if I had to).
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