Bye, bye Bose

So yesterday, I mentioned our cash flow was a little slow. It might seem very hypocritcal of me to now post that I recently bought a pair of disgustingly expensive Bose Quiet Comfort headphones. It wasn’t so much a luxury as a necessity—I needed silence to keep up with all the writing jobs I’ve had lately. I just can’t think when it’s noisy, and with a house full of animals, it’s always noisy. These headphones were a last-resort purchase (12 months no-interest, plus a free MP3 player) to try to help me work more efficiently.

On the plus side, they are quiet. They use some sort of noise-cancelling technology which generates a “noise vacuum”—it’s like “audible silence”. Unfortunately, the noises which are cancelled are things like hums and buzzing, so regular sounds like barking dogs and the television come through loud and clear. That’s how they’re supposed to work (you’re supposed to be able to still have conversations while wearing them), but that’s not really what I needed. I wanted total silence. These would be dreamy on an airplane, though, and would make a great gift for a loved one who travels frequently (if you’re rolling in cash).

On the negative side, they’re actually a little bit “too good”. They’re supposed to be the most amazing headphones for listening to music, so I plugged them into my computer, but they’re so sensitive that I can hear all the static and line noise from inside the PC case. Also, they don’t have their own volume control, so I have to set volume by using the sound card on my computer. Everything through the headphones is so loud that I need to turn my sound card nearly off to avoid deafness, but at the “nearly off” level, I can hear all the background computer noise along with the music. These headphones are just too good and not good enough for me.

Bose had one chance to redeem themselves (because frankly, it’s a pain to return things). When I ordered the headphones, they sent me a free MP3 player preloaded with music so I could hear the amazing sound quality of the headphones. Unfortunately, the MP3 player doesn’t work! There’s no audio, I swear! It’s like the fates have stepped in an told me to return these headphones before my 30 day trial period is up, and so I shall.

I’ll probably eventually end up at Home Depot, buying whatever the guys with the jackhammers wear on their ears.