Headphones for music and calls
Discussion
I work from home now and usually just use speakers and the laptop mic. However a building site has appeared at the bottom of our garden for a new housing estate so I'm after some over ear noise cancelling headphones.
Requirements are mainly
Over ear
Bluetooth
Noise cancelling headphone and mic
No software to be installed as I want to be able to use them one clients laptops for calls too.
I'd rather buy once (i've had some wired Sennheiser headphones for about 9 years and the ear padding is only just starting to fall apart).
I've had a look at Bose Quietcomfort 45 and they get some good reviews, so just really after any suggestions from experience would be appreciated!
Requirements are mainly
Over ear
Bluetooth
Noise cancelling headphone and mic
No software to be installed as I want to be able to use them one clients laptops for calls too.
I'd rather buy once (i've had some wired Sennheiser headphones for about 9 years and the ear padding is only just starting to fall apart).
I've had a look at Bose Quietcomfort 45 and they get some good reviews, so just really after any suggestions from experience would be appreciated!
It's worth understanding the limitations of Bluetooth.
When you are listening to music the headphones will use a high quality audio profile like A2DP (aptX, LDAC, AAC etc). These sound as you'd expect for decent high quality music listening.
However, when on a call and you are using the microphone, it will switch to Hands Free Profile (HFP) - which is garbage. It's a very old protocol but is still used for compatibility everywhere. For human speech it is basically okay (everyone who is using bluetooth headphones to make calls is using it, and perhaps doesn't care). It's really noticeably awful if you are doing something like playing games/listening to music and chatting to somebody. For a basic Teams/Zoom call, it's probably tolerable.
It means ironically that a cheapy £30 pair of wired headphones with a microphone (Jabra or Poly or something) will sound better on a Teams/Zoom call than a nice £250 pair of Bluetooth Sony/Bose. For music though, the higher end headphones will kill it.
There are 'workarounds like using a wired microphone like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/V-MODA-BoomPro-Microphone... But that's a whole other tangent.
For over the ear Bluetooth headphones, the Sony WH-1000XM4 tend to be considered the best of the bunch at the moment. I have a pair, they're awesome. I suspect in the real world there is basically nothing in it between them and the Bose QC45 though.
Although, for reasons as above, and as somouk says, they are odd to wear for long calls. I tend to use my cheapy in-ear wired headphones when on a call.
When you are listening to music the headphones will use a high quality audio profile like A2DP (aptX, LDAC, AAC etc). These sound as you'd expect for decent high quality music listening.
However, when on a call and you are using the microphone, it will switch to Hands Free Profile (HFP) - which is garbage. It's a very old protocol but is still used for compatibility everywhere. For human speech it is basically okay (everyone who is using bluetooth headphones to make calls is using it, and perhaps doesn't care). It's really noticeably awful if you are doing something like playing games/listening to music and chatting to somebody. For a basic Teams/Zoom call, it's probably tolerable.
It means ironically that a cheapy £30 pair of wired headphones with a microphone (Jabra or Poly or something) will sound better on a Teams/Zoom call than a nice £250 pair of Bluetooth Sony/Bose. For music though, the higher end headphones will kill it.
There are 'workarounds like using a wired microphone like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/V-MODA-BoomPro-Microphone... But that's a whole other tangent.
For over the ear Bluetooth headphones, the Sony WH-1000XM4 tend to be considered the best of the bunch at the moment. I have a pair, they're awesome. I suspect in the real world there is basically nothing in it between them and the Bose QC45 though.
Although, for reasons as above, and as somouk says, they are odd to wear for long calls. I tend to use my cheapy in-ear wired headphones when on a call.
I have the Bose QC 35 ii and they're great for listening to music, and I used to use them for phone calls. But the microphones in all these type of headsets are built in to the earphones and intended to pick up background noise to cancel it out. This means while they're fine for making calls in a reasonably quiet environment, and the other party sounds fine to you, they're hearing all the background noise in the room. I think this is pretty common for lots of headphones, a friend uses apple ones for calls and you can hear everything in the room.
Ideally you want something with a boom and a decent directional microphone for calls. I bought a Plantronic Blackwire headset having used the cheaper models at work and the mic quality is vastly superior, and I can use them on USB or a phone jack, but they're not noise cancelling.
If you want noise cancelling and a decent microphone look at gaming headsets rather than ones you'd normally look at for music only
Ideally you want something with a boom and a decent directional microphone for calls. I bought a Plantronic Blackwire headset having used the cheaper models at work and the mic quality is vastly superior, and I can use them on USB or a phone jack, but they're not noise cancelling.
If you want noise cancelling and a decent microphone look at gaming headsets rather than ones you'd normally look at for music only
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Thursday 20th January 10:28
I got a pair of Bose NC700 free with my (crap) Pixel 6 Pro.
https://www.bose.co.uk/en_gb/products/headphones/n...
WFH I'm using the VOIP app on mobile for my work landline number and discovered the Bose are brilliant for this. The noise cancelling is superb, everyone I've asked has said the call quality sounds great and the nice thing is that I can have music playing when not on a call which cuts when the phone rings and resumes when the call ends. The battery is something like 19 hours and the earpads are incredibly comfy. Huge thumbs up from me.
There's loads for sale on ebay around £150 new unopened - probably people who got them free with a Pixel 6 no doubt!
https://www.bose.co.uk/en_gb/products/headphones/n...
WFH I'm using the VOIP app on mobile for my work landline number and discovered the Bose are brilliant for this. The noise cancelling is superb, everyone I've asked has said the call quality sounds great and the nice thing is that I can have music playing when not on a call which cuts when the phone rings and resumes when the call ends. The battery is something like 19 hours and the earpads are incredibly comfy. Huge thumbs up from me.
There's loads for sale on ebay around £150 new unopened - probably people who got them free with a Pixel 6 no doubt!
Bose Noise Cancelling 700.
Best ANC headphones currently, AND they're currently ~£150 on ebay as everyone is selling their free pair from the Pixel 6 promotion.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_t...
I've been using mine for a few weeks now, and they're very comfortable, great ANC and sound.
Best ANC headphones currently, AND they're currently ~£150 on ebay as everyone is selling their free pair from the Pixel 6 promotion.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_t...
I've been using mine for a few weeks now, and they're very comfortable, great ANC and sound.
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