Bose® IE2 Audio Headphones

How many of you have likely spent hundreds of dollars buying one cheap pair of earbuds at a time, only to have them break or blow out after a period of use? Well I know I have for years now. This just makes the point that buying quality the first time will doubtlessly save you money and frustration in the long run. I purchased these last week, and have been very happy with them. Here is a breakdown of what I like about, and possible concerns if you're thinking about a purchase: 1.) The fit is different than that of other earbuds you have tried. They buds themselves are constructed of a very comfortable silicon, and I have yet to have any comfort issues. The way they work is by sitting more shallow in the ear than other earbud style headphones. They have a small piece that inserts deeper into the canal for ideal sound quality, but the the majority of the bud sits in the outer ear canal. They also have a "wing" I will call it that fits along the upper contour of your ear, keeping the bud in place. Now at first you might have trouble getting it to fit perfectly in your ear, this is ok and can be resolved in a few way. Firstly try just replacing the silicon bud cap with one of the other two sizes that come in the packaging, After a few minutes of frustration trying to get the medium size that come on the buds to fit I replaced them with the smalls and they fit great. the other issue is that you just don't have the wing properly resting in your ear. Once you get this all figured out you can headbang to that techno drop all you want without worrying about your earbuds flying out of your ears. All in all, the comfort of these once you get used to them is superior to others I hav tried. Since they rest shallow in the ear you ear canals don't become fatigued after prolonged use. 2.) the audio quality of these earbuds are very nice, the base is rich and the high notes are reached fluidly without straining the speakers. I give these 5 stars alone for the quality of audio, you will not regret them for that. 3.) Overall quality is very nice, the cords are a bit thicker and seemingly more robust than i was expecting, very nice feel. the little things were considered when making these, for instance: The 3.5mm jack is set at an angle out of the peg so the the cord doesn't not bend at the contact, making sure that the cables aren't strained at that point of wear. This will greatly prolong the period of usage of these headphones. Again, excellent quality. In summary, these are a great buy if you spend a decent amount of time with headphones on. I personally don't do a lot of vigorous gym workouts or running but I can see how great these would be for such purposes as I couldn't make them fall out if I tried (which I did). I will further review this product in the future if anything fails or becomes less awesome.

If you are looking to buy this item, be prepared to redefine the way you hear, well, everything. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Well first, allow me to tell you a story and some things I have personally observed as being an avid audio listener. My previous headphones were a pair of $30 Sony earbuds. They were good and I received a full equalized sound. I did not complain, and I enjoyed these headphones thoroughly until one day I forgot I left them in my cargo pant's pocket and ran them through the washing machine :( Days later I decided: "You know what? Since I love listening to music, I am going to splurge and spoil myself!" I looked at Shure ($100 is my limit thus ultimately way out of my budget) and Klipsch (looked very reasonable!). I came across Bose and was impressed by its reviews, and not simply because many family members of mine swear by it :P My first impressions: It was well sealed and came with a nice but flimsy leather case, along with a wonderful variety of silicone ear pieces so that you get a good fit. You receive small, medium, and large pairs of StayHear buds and regular buds. Due to the earphones shape, I did not feel confident with using the regular buds. Instead, I chose the StayHear buds and they fit quite well. Putting them in is awkward but will not come out easily, which is great during exercise. The black/white twist cord makes it easy to spot (and looks cool), but a few inches short from comfortable. Volume is good enough and you'll adapt fine; any higher and you're deafening yourself. These earbuds do not have a full seal in your ear and will reduce but not block all outside sounds. I get some outside noise with these in the gym or on a public transit bus, but that's a fraction of my day and I frankly don't care. Now if you are in a machine shop, go get the Quiet Comforts. Now we get to the listening part, and good lord almighty, what a difference! The Bose IE2 earbuds fed my ears with crisp, near flawless details of everything I instructed my player to execute. Every song I listened to was exactly like being there in the studio. When I used to listen to rock or indie, guitarists were just guitarists. Now I put these on and can hear the individual strumming of each guitarist and even the base player. Vocals are literally right in your face with amazing clarity. What about electronic? I was able to hear each complex audio overlay with such precision that each sound seemed improved from what I was used to. Rap? Impressive beyond belief. Here is a quick list some songs I listened to and their details I had never heard before (320+kbps MP3 / FLAC) Pink Floyd - Time: I can hear the woman's "oooh-ahhh" sound oscillation, perfectly. Sting - Moon Over Bourbon Street: The drummer's cymbals are crisp and whole. Drake - Little Bit: The distance echo is cleanly felt throughout my head. Deadmau5 - I Remember (Original): Bass and its compliments fulfill this song. Ave Maria - Charles-Fancois Gounod: Wow, simply wow.. My music had changed, but did it really? I bet most people will put these on, listen to their music, say, "No. No, that sounds like nothing of what I am used to!" and then deem the headphones as flawed. The truth is, it's the other way around. The problem is that you are not adapted to this kind of change. Bose is giving you more that what you bargained for and you must retrain your ears to accommodate the reality of the music it was intentionally recorded and balanced in the studio by the artists. I was so used to friends' car audio systems with bass, home theaters, and "just your regular audio" speakers, I ignored the details. With these headphones, I am overwhelmed and re-listening every song I have. There is not a song I do not like now, and for those I did like very much, and I am now saying to myself, "Really? That's what it sounds like? That's Awesome!" I was not prepared, nor will you. Buy it and break your ears into the unadulterated reality of sound. P.S. - If you have mp3's, strive for over 250kbps. To get the ultimate experience, listen to music with lossless encoding (OGG,FLAC) or CD's.

These are the best earbud style headphones I've ever heard. That's a subjective claim and I'll not doubt people will disagree with my subjective opinion, but to my ears this model is gold! I think a lot of an individual's impression of an earbud is probably based on the actual unique shape of one's ears, so my praise of the IE2's may not equal your exp. But lest you doubt my credentials to make the claim that the IE2's are excellent -- you should at least know that I've owned and heard a fair share of quality ear phones and earbuds. I've owned about eight different sennheisers. I currently own the HD595, and previously owned the HD-600's, HD-580's, HD-570's, HD-535s. I've owned the Grado SR-225's and SR-60's. I've owned high end DJ-V700 Sony headphones, and Denon headphones. I mention the previous ear phones to say I've owned some high quality, very respectable equipment in which I've based my positive evalution of the IE2s. I've also owned some high quality earbuds, including up to the Ultimate Ears TrippleFi 10. Retail $400! The IE2s are my favorite ear buds I've ever heard. The IE2's REALLY just fit my ear perfectly and sound absolutely excellent. The fit with the unique shapped medium sized silicone piece is perfect for me. I love that they don't seal in my ear canal --- meaning I don't feel that pressure in my ear as I push them in, they lock in tight and don't fall out (in fact they won't even come out if you catch the cord on something), yet they have excellent bass and excellent musical quality. Again --- it is subjective, but I really strongly recommend the Bose IE2's and personally think they are fantastic. Side by side compared to the $400 retail Ultimate Ears Tripple Fi 10 ear buds --- IMO the Bose IE2 sound better -- and just as importantly are vastly more comfortable to wear. I have compared them side by side several times on the same songs - on the same source. I'd take the Bose IE2's over the Tripple Fi 10's any day of the week. Don't discount these until you've tried them. Again --- the shapes and styles of ear buds are subjective, but they fit like a glove and sound golden to me. They come with a half dozen different silicone ear pieces so you can find your exact fit and preference. A++++

Overall, these are great headphones but they do have shortcomings. When I first received these I plugged them up to my iPad and my current ones (Skull candy noise canceling which were about $40) to my iPhone and played the exact song together one in each ear and then switched them and played again to review the sound quality. At first I didn't notice anything so I played a classical song since its a better genre to judge sound quality in my opinion. Bose beats them out as far as sound quality is concerned. You could hear the horns, percussion, and the subtle cymbal hits that bring out the feel of the music which I couldn't hear on the skull candies. Another good thing was after about 2 minutes I didn't even feel that they were in my ear, they were that comfortable. I was skeptical that they weren't going to stay in my ear during exercise, so I ran a mile just to be sure on rocky terrain and they never moved, so these are great for exercise as well. There is a negative though and that is there is no noise cancellation. However, These CLEARLY state these on the packaging and the description so that is not why I gave it 4 stars but I believe that for the ordinary user this could be a deal breaker. I have a fan on high in my room and I had to turn up the earphones quite a bit to not be able to hear it anymore so if you are on a plane or a busy subway station you may not be able to cancel out all of that noise and that's it gets 4 out of 5 stars. With the Skull Candies and others alike, they are cheaper and have decent sound quality and also include noise cancellation. I will say this though, if you are going on a long trip go with these Bose because you won't be able to feel them, others I've tried are very uncomfortable after awhile. All in all I would definitely recommend these earphones, by far have the best sound quality of all the ones that I have tested and by far the most comfortable.

So just to give some background, I owned the Sony MDR-V6 headphones which are studio quality headphones used to monitor music to make sure it is completely accurate, I also currently own the Sony MDR-7509HD headphones, both of which are over the ear and completely envelope the whole ear. Now, I read extensive reviews about these earphones and most if not all of the reviews praised their bass and just music quality in general. I won't argue with the first statement at all, the bass is definitely impressive, especially since these are in-ear earphones, I was actually surprised myself. However, most of the other reviewers praised Bose as the highest standard in audio, this is simply not true, Bose simply markets its products the most. I got these earphones for their portability so I can listen to music as I walk to and from classes etc, which I can't really do with a huge bulky set of headphones. I compared these to my pair of headphones and the bass was impressive, however, the mids and especially the highs were completely muffled and sounded like a pillow was over my ear. They are almost like another version of the Beats by Dre which just focus on Bass and everything else just goes by the way-side. For example, while listening to rock music like Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, etc, the bass of the guitar drowned out the lead which shouldn't be happening. The StayHear tips do work well and I was very pleased with how the earphones don't fall out of my ear, even when I jump up and down fast. I haven't had the chance to go on my runs with these yet so I don't know how they will hold then, but I'll add it into my review when I do. Overall I would give these a 3.5/5 but amazon won't let me, so I rounded down to 3/5. Mainly because the sound from the higher frequencies just isn't as crisp as I would have expected it to be from a pair of $90 earphones. The sound clarity just isn't there which was disappointing. Otherwise the Bass is impressive, but again, BASS DOES NOT constitute if a pair of earphones are good or not, you cannot just look at bass quality which is why I feel a lot of general consumers looking for good headphones are content with company's like Bose and Beats since they can "feel" the bass and automatically feel that the whole headphones are elite quality material, they ARE NOT. I was happy with the sturdiness of the StayHear tips which actually work quite well. Pros: Impressive Bass and great StayHear tips to hold them in your ears even with vigorous motion Cons: Overall lacking in sound quality that is expected from a $90 pair of earphones. So I would first recommend that you listen to these and other earphones before deciding to purchase anything, the Bass felt overpowering for me, maybe not for you. And if you don't mind getting over the ear headphones, get the MDR-V6's which are better than anything you'll ever listen to (for the money)

I bought this pair because I lost my the last one. The first pair was the last generation and did not have the stay flanges that this pair has, but other than that, they are the same. I read most of the review before I bought my first pair, and again before I bought this replacement pair. I don't understand the complaints I see on here, the number one complaint is about bass, I can say that as a person that predominantly listens to r&b, blues and jazz, this pair is outstanding. Now do you get as much bass as a Beatz audio, no you don't, and if bass is all you are looking for, than you should not be looking at Bose. Now for the rest of us that like to listen to the music and not simply feel our eardrums bleed, this pair is just for you. The Pros: Comfort - Originally bought these in Afghanistan, and I must say that I would spend hours with these in my ears and I would never get the pain that comes from wearing in-ear headphones. These are the only headphones I have ever been able to sleep with comfortably and not wake up with a terrible ear ache. Working on an airfield, if I wanted to get some rest I needed to drown out the noise, which these did a good job of. Sound - This is a pro and a con, so I will address the good here. The range of musical notes you can hear with these headphones is ridiculous, now the ear pieces are not 'in ear" per say, they do not go in your ear canal, they cover the ear hole, so with that being said, I wear a medium with most in ear headphone, but have to wear the small ear piece to get a good "seal". Quality - You can immediately tell these are good, solid quality, I am not sure what some of the other reviewers were talking about when they said theirs frayed after wear, I used mine traveling in UH-60s, CH-47s and C130s in full military gear for 12 months, in and out of vehicles with them hanging to my side and not once did they fray or get damaged, I did manage to lose a few of the end pieces, but I ordered extras from Bose for 8 dollars. Cons - Sound - The volume is not ear shattering, I will say that at the loudest you will only be about 80% of what other headphones give you, with that said if you are looking to blow out your eardrums these are not for you. Also with the sound all the way up, there is no distortion in sound, which I think might be a reason why the volume doesn't go up as high as other headphones. Cord - The cord on this second pair is much shorter than my last one, Im not sure if it is just cost saving measures or what, but at 6 feet tall I can still my iPhone in my pocket and the cord barely reaches my ears, so if you are taller you might need an arm band holder. Hope this helps.

I purchased these to replace a pair of fairly cheap Sony sport earbuds that I'd thought I'd lost. Two days after I received these I, of course, found the Sony's in the pocket of my shorts. Go figure. But I'd wanted a nicer pair of earbuds for awhile, and I'd always wanted to own something Bose, so I figured what the heck. I also feel a little empty if I don't have some new toy being UPS'd to me, so it was really a win-win. My main requirement was that I wanted something that would stay in my ear and allow me to exercise. I agonized over getting a pair of noise isolating buds, but I always envision myself exercising with earbuds in and figured that these were my best best for all-situation usefulness. In reality, I only work out in month-long spurts and spend the rest of the year laying in bed like a slug listening to music, but I digress. It's the thought of exercise that counts. These IE2 earbuds sound pretty great. I was impressed with the clarity and the seemingly "real" sound of my music. I have a feeling that the cheaper earbuds I've been using up until now haven't really been doing a good job reproducing the true sound of the music, while these strive to. My music sounds clearer and deeper. I'm fairly impressed with the bass, but it isn't going to give you the skull-rattling bass that some noise-isolating buds will. I'm a major nerd and listen mostly to the Battlestar Galactica soundtracks all day, and these buds do them justice. So I'm happy. The best pair of headphones I've ever owned were a $35 pair of Koss over-the-ear phones based off a design from the 80's. I can't remember the model number, but they sounded fantastic. However, they hurt my ears after about 15 minutes and I ended up breaking them because they were based off a design from the 80's and featured pretty crappy build quality (two tiny little plastic prongs to hold the phones in place? Really?). My point, if there is one, is that these little IE2 guys are extremely comfortable. I've had them in for the past 3 hours and I forgot they were there at least, like, 2 hours ago. For all I know, Bear McCreary is standing behind me rockin' out like the rockstar he is. He isn't, but the headphones are still comfortable. I work at a job that requires me to wear a little rubbery ear-piece in my ear all day, and the design between that and these buds is very similar. The rubber is quite soft and fits nicely into my ear. I would, however, be a little alarmed to see the ear size of somebody using the included "large" rubber parts. Possibly for elephants, but I can't be certain. All in all I'm quite pleased with my purchase. The included case is quite handy, much moreso than other cases I've never found a use for. The zebra stripe cord is a little weird, but it's growing on me, and soon I predict that I will feel kitchy and cool because of it. Recommended.

I had the first gen of these & used them daily for over 4 years. Cold, hot, rainy, snowy, the originals held up brilliantly over lots of daily use. The cording where it came out of the plug ended up bending enough that they needed electrical taped eventually and the ear bud jellies got switched out to new once a year. But other than that, they were golden & never failed me. Then I left them ontop of my van after a running race and drove 60 miles home. Ugh. How sad! Gone forever to the road gods. So far, these seem the same as far as sound goes. They look very similar & the extra ear bud jellies I have from my old ones fit these just fine. There is a better central cord slider where the buds for each ear branch off. And they now have a small clip that is heavenly! My favorite improvement over the old version. The clip keeps the cord from getting pulled down your collar as you workout, so I don't end up with tight cords that I have to pull back up for slack every now & then. The new extra hooks on the ear bud jellies were odd to get used to at first but after a few wears, I hardly notice. The wings sortof help you place the tips correctly in the ear bowl, whereas before I would sometimes get one askew and it would fall out or not sound as clear. The wings help keep it in and placed correctly without hooks over your ears or a plastic bar behind your neck, both of which don't work well for me. The plug is now at a 90 degree angle, which is the one "improvement" I don't like. You limit yourself to only using certain thickness cases for some devices so the bend won't work with them. Maybe it will help with the bendy issue I had on my old ones that needed electrical tape by the plug. But still, it limits you so if you find these unstable with a certain device, frayed cord won't matter...you won't use them anyhow. The new zipped case big enough to keep your MP3 player in is a great upgrade! I used my old case religiously but having stuff together is great! The price is high but they sound great and do their job well.

ottima qualità

本品は、以前にＢＯＳＥのＣＤ再生機を購入した際のプレゼント品として手に入れたものですが、コードが割けて中の銅線がむき出しになってしまったため、今回改めて入手しました。購入理由は「音がフラットで滑らかなこと」と「イヤホンの耳への感触が心地よい（無理に奥に押し込む必要がない）」です。決してハデな音ではないので、高音の「とがった感じ」が好みの場合には物足りなく感じると思います。ただ、音域レンジ自体はかなり広く捉えていると思います。周囲が静かな状態で聞くと分かります。ただ、特定の音域をことさら強調する鳴り方ではありません。ソースを選ばず、毎日自然に聞ける良いイヤホンだと思います。なお、最初にお伝えした通り、コードが物理的にもろくて、扱いに気を遣っています。今回は２回目の使用なので最初の経験を活かしてできるだけ「ねじれ」を直してやる様にしていますが、この点だけは少々手を焼いております。

The best headphones ever, I have used them on a plane and woa!! what a difference between these BOSE and the ones you get on the plane; the volume, the clarity is amazing... I am planning to buy the bigger BOSE headphones in the future.. My ears love them!! Happy with my decision in investing in a good headphones.. :)

Phantastische Kopfhörer. Meine Ohren sind sonst absolut resistent gegen Kopfhörer. In-Ear fallen nach ein paar Sekunden raus, egal welche Größe, egal welche Richtung, egal wie fest ich sie ins Hirn drücke. Zum Sport aber immer Headphones zu tragen ist bei vielen Übungen sehr lästig. Ein befreundeter DJ empfahl mir diese Kopfhörer und ich bin wirklich begeistert. Sie halten bombenfest ohne mich zu stören. Der Klang ist fabelhaft und das wichtigste ist, dass sie geräuschdurchlässig sind. Unterwegs sehr sicher. Ich höre Warnsignale, Rufe und Verkehr. Möchte ich Geräusche ausblenden gibt es leider nur den Weg die Musik etwas lauter zu machen, aber meistens stört mich das bisschen was durchkommt nicht allzu sehr. Das Kabel hat eine gute Länge, der beigelegte Clip sehr praktisch beim Sport und unterwegs. Die schwarz weiße Musterung auch sehr schick, mal was anderes. Die Kunststoffummantelung lässt sich leicht und gründlich reinigen. Das Geld ist hier wirklich zu 100% gut angelegt.

Es sind meine dritte Bose in Ears Kopfhörer, wo ich immer super Erfahrung hatte. Weil die vorherigen zwei sind mir leider kaputt gegangen durch das Kabel. Lag auch dran, weil die voll belastet waren durch die Arbeit. Aber bin sehr zufrieden mit den Produkt, sehr tollen Bass wenn man alles optimiert durch die Einstellung des MP3 Players. Top Akustik. Und besonders die Kopfhörer sitzen bequem und es gibt keine Beschwerden. Kann ich nur empfehlen.