After about a month of research I ended up going for the QCU2. Two weeks in now and I'm pretty happy with them. Here's my thoughts.
Hello everyone, this is my second time writing an extensive review of a headphone model, so my write-up might not be as professional as some others.
Introduction
When I started my internship back in february, I was sitting in a flex-working area of the office. People were going in and out of the room all the time, and the coffee machine was also there. I very quickly decided it was time for me to get a pair of ANC headphones, as my normal headphones and earbuds didn't cut it as far as passive NC goes.
First Impressions
My first immediate thought when I opened the package that the box was in was that the box was incredibly compact! The headphones fold very flat in the carrying case, which I believe is made of p-leather and EVA. This is one of the major selling points over other competitors i.m.o.
Design and comfort
I was worried that the yokes would feel cheap and plastic-y, especially with the ability to fold the headphones flat. To my relief, the yokes feel very sturdy, and the hinges aren't flimsy either. The plastic of the cups feels thick and very high quality. It's almost as if you can feel the bronze-gold texture of the colour. As said before, the case is very convenient and sleek.
Another thing that sold me is that it is quite low-profile on your head. From what I've seen, the Sonys and the new Sennheiser HDB 630 are very wide on your head.
With a name like QuietComfort, you kind of expect two things from it: phenomenal ANC and great Comfort. But naming a product to what it's supposed to do always raises some sort of doubt in me.
I am happy to say that these headphones are one of the most comfortable headphones that I've ever worn. The only thing that annoyed me a bit is that the cups have a really good seal, as they're also made from p-leather (I think). This enhances the ANC capabilities of the headphones but also makes it so your ears (can) get a bit sweaty if you wear them for long periods of time, like me at the office. (I'll make another post about the aftermarket cushions I bought)
The app is very minimalistic. I am coming from the Jaybird Vista (1) earbuds, and they have one of the best EQ apps out there (well, that was 6,5 years ago). But they have a 5-point parametric EQ, which, compared to Bose's 3-bar EQ, is much more flexible and customizable. Some other things are missing, I feel like, such as having different EQ presets per profile, as well as the option to turn on wind-blocking without having the ANC all the way up.
Sound Quality
As I'm used to from Bose - previously with the SoundLink Mini - these have way too much bass for my taste. The headphones have a very heavy V-shape sound profile, which is common in a lot of consumer headphones, since that's what most people find fun to listen to.
I have quite sensitive ears, however, so I found the bass too boomy for my taste. I use the The Headphone Show EQ settings that they showed in their video (-5 lows and -4 highs), and for now, I've been pretty happy using that. Honestly, compared to my Sennheiser x Drop HD 58X Jubilee and Fiio FT1, they sound okay, but nothing too special that stands out. I haven't had the chance to compare them with any other ANC headphones, so sadly, I can't comment on that.
Now, the second thing you expect from the name is Quietness. And to be honest, I was a bit underwhelmed by it, but as I said, I haven't had any comparison with other brands. This feeling comes from the hiss or white noise in the background when you have Quiet mode on. Which is more noticeable in an already relatively quiet room, but less when you're in a noisier environment. I noticed it didn't cancel out the noise of the air conditioning at the office, while it did a pretty good job of dampening the sound of people talking, the coffee bean grinder and a vacuum cleaner.
It also has this special mode that's supposed to block out wind, which works very well, as long as you're not on the move. If you're on a bike, you'll still get wind noise in your ear, so I don't recommend it.
As you might have seen in the picture, I bought the Sennheiser BTD 700 to go with it. I'm using fairly old devices, which use old audio codecs (Aptx HD). With the Bluetooth Dongle from Sennheiser, I can make use of the Aptx Adaptive codec, which basically enables a low-latency mode and a higher bitrate. However, my ears aren't trained to hear the difference between qualities.
Conclusion
All in all, they are an incredibly comfortable set of cans that, on top of sounding great, also look great! I am very happy with this addition to my headphone collection, and it fills in the gap that I had of a portable, easy-to-use pair of headphones that lets me get my environment quieter so that I can focus on my tasks better.