This guy has a lot of misconceptions.

> Bose are great headphones for looking like you are
> an audiophile. As far as I can tell – from talking
> to friends who are recording music in studios – nobody
> uses them professionally.

Listening to music at home != listening for professional use.

Most common pro studio headphones are Sony MDR 7506's. They are pretty enjoyable for home use too but (like all studio headphones) are a little thin on the bass.

Leaving aside the "audiophile" term since it means different things to different people.

Home headphones have bass that is typically either moderately boosted (as in the Bose QC15/25/35) or ridiculously boosted (some Beats headphones, especially the early models) That doesn't mean they're "bad" because his "friends who are recording music in studios" don't use them. You just can't realistically use them for creating professional audio.

> They do a pretty good job with steady constant droning
> noises (like the HVAC fans) but any higher frequency
> sound – like people talking – is left uncancelled.

Not true. High frequency sound isn't attenuated nearly as much as low frequency sounds, but is pretty effectively blocked by the Bose if you have any audio whatsoever playing, even at low volumes.

> (i.e. they break apart within a few months of daily use)

Wow. I know lots and lots of people who own them and they typically last years. What's this guy doing to his headphones?

> you need to purchase expensive replacement parts for them. I’ve
> replaced the ear cups on them twice so far and for the last pair
> I’ve been very careful not to damage them. The problem is they
> come undone even if I barely use them and at $30 a pair they are
> expensive!!!

Ear pads last a year or two of daily use. Never had them "come undone."

BTW when I say "daily use" I don't mean abusive daily use. If you're transporting them you can't just throw them into a bag or they will wear out/break sooner. Of course that's true for most headphones.

As far as expensive replacements, there are great $15 unofficial pads on eBay, they are indistinguishable from the OEM pads to me.

> I noticed that most of their “noise-cancelling” was actually
> passive and consisted of good noise suppression from the good
> seal created by the headphone ear cups.

This guy's really living on another planet. There's a very significant difference when you flip the switch from passive to active.

> Music after a while gets tiring – especially when I’m in my
> 8th hour of listening through emotionally taxing soundtracks
> like Two Steps from Hell

"I listened to emotionally taxing music for eight hours straight and I found it emotionally taxing" Cool insight!

> I got myself a pair of [actual passive noise canceling headphones
> like you'd find at a hardware store]

In all seriousness, if serious noise cancellation is what you need, yeah -- it's true. A cheap pair of passive noise cancellers from a hardware store will block more sound than a Bose. It's what I wear when using my table saw or other power tools. They are much, much larger than the Bose though. If you're cool with that, then you're set.

Lest anybody wonder if I'm some kind of secret Bose operative, I will also say that Sony's latest noise canceling headphones have really closed the gap in my opinion. Of course, maybe I could be some kind of secret double triple agent working for multiple Big Headphone entities.