Air conditioning season is approaching. Is there any additional input? I wish that I had an option beyond a window air conditioner, but that is not in the cards at the moment.

I've had Bose, B&o, Sony, and Sennheiser models. Below is my personal opinion of them.

(Best Noise Cancellation)The Bose had the best noise cancelling but just good sound quality, my mom never gave them back after loaning them for a trip to Alaska.

(Best Bang for Buck)The Sony's were pretty good all around, wife confiscated those.

(Best Sound Quality & Comfort)The B&o's, to me, have the best sound quality, pretty decent noise cancellation, and are the most comfortable of all of them, I won't loan them out.

(Best All Around)Sennheiser makes some great models, my gaming headset is amazing, and their noise cancellation model was great and pretty comfortable, but was liberated by someone with sticky fingers at a layover.

All the models were in the $300 price range, with the Sony being at the lower end and the B&o being at the higher.

Also, none of them are current models, so I am sure that newer ones would have been improved.

I have the Bose Quiet Comfort 35 II and an older pair of wired QC35's. I wore the Quiet Comfort 35 II's yesterday wile mowing the lawn and listening to the Astros game. I could hear the game as clearly as if I was watching it inside on TV, and didn't even have t have the volume up too loud.

If there is one thing Bose does well, it's headphones. I also have a pair of their Sport Earbuds for working out and bike riding. They are not noise cancelling, but you don't want that if you're in traffic, or might be in someone's way.

Redbiker98: Ha, you need to chain these things to your ankle.

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Earbuds are not for me. They are uncomfortable after a while and I'd need to wear them for extended periods. I also worry about the seal deteriorating, keeping them clean over the long haul, and battery run time.

Replacing ear pads is usually not a big deal.

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Admittedly, I have an attitude with respect to Bose.

Comfort is very personal. When we were selling headphones, I could not predict which model a customer would like. Comments for the same model would be "breaks my ears" to "very comfortable".

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I'm not sure if anyone is demonstrating headphones at the moment. Actually, I don't think that demonstrations would be too risky. COVID does not survive very well on surfaces. I'd just need to make sure that there is no snot dripping off the unit. I could be anal and bring some surface cleaners along.

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Thanks for the comments.

Admittedly, I listen more to talk radio, the comedy stations, and Audible, more than I do music. Maybe the actual sound quality is not as important, but even when I do listen to music, I think the Bose sound pretty good.

FWIW: Woot has the Surface Headphones on sale today for $96.

[Link: computers.woot.com]

That's a crazy good deal and they work very well. I've got the QC35 II's and the Surface Headphones. The Surface is noticeably more comfortable and I think the noise canceling is better.

I hear the new Bose PC OS coming out is supposed to be pretty good.....All kidding aside, I used to use the Microsoft gaming headphones, they were comfortable and sounded pretty good, however the broke pretty easily. I will stick with buying headphones from companies who specialize in it instead of computer companies.

It's funny how no one has mentioned Beats.

That's because everyone on here knows how cheaply made and overinflated beats are. They are the "designer" headphones that kids want because a rap artist backed them so they have to be good (not knocking Dre, knocking the mindset of todays youth).

People (kids/teens) that use them say they are great because they are comparing them to $30 in-ear headphones or the $h!tty apple earphones, yet have never used Sennheiser, B&O, B&W, Bose or other top brands that have been making headphones for decades so have nothing to compare them to.

I was out shopping.  Only, the Sony WH-1000XM4 and BOSE 700 were available to compare. Contrary to some reviews I read, the units are somewhat different in their effectiveness. The music available was not very useful, likely the 700 sounded a little more open. The critical part for me is the noise cancellation effectiveness. Neither was stunning, but the Sony was noticeably more effective for canceling low frequency energy from the air conditioning system and noise leaking through was more natural sounding with the Sony. In “Ambient” mode (conversation is passed through) the 700 sounded much more natural. I wish that both units would mechanically block more noise, but this would result in heavier, tighter fitting units, “heavy” and “tight” reviews, and market failure.

I settled on the Sony, but have not yet used it “under fire”.

Another contender would have been the Apple unit, but it was not available for demo and it busted my budget more than the Sony. Easily replaceable ear pads would have been a big plus for the Apple.