Bose Tweaks Noise Reduction in QuietComfort 15 Headphones

Bose has refined the active electronic noise reduction technology in its QuietComfort 15 headphones to give better audio quality in even noisier environments.

If you live or work in lcoations with a ton of extraneous mouse (the author look meaningfully out the window at the rumbling carpet cleaning van 15 yards away), noise-cancelling headphones can be a godsend if you need to be able to hear details in audio or music, rather than just recognize bits and pieces as they go by. To that end, high-end audio company Bose has announced its QuietComfort 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones, which improve on the active and passive noise reduction and cancellation technologies in earlier models to deliver improved audio quality across a wide range of frequencies in even noisier environments.

“We believe the QuietComfort 15 headphones offer a combination of benefits unmatched in the industry,” said general manager of Bose’s noise reduction technology group Sean Garrett, in a statement. “We’ve applied our research in noise reduction using an integrated systems approach—an approach as proprietary as our technologies. It requires meticulous engineering to ensure all elements of the headphone work together to achieve our very ambitious performance requirements.”

The closed-ear headphones uses a proprietary acoustic design to block out external noise, as well as active equalization technology that adjusts the frequency response of the headphones so audio remains accurate even in noise environment. The headphones also feature a tri-port design to improve low end response without adding additional electronics boosting low end in the audio signal.

The headphones run on a single AAA battery (good for about 35 hours of use), and one earcup can be detached for untethered noise reduction—just flip a switch on the earcup once the cable has been removed.

The QuietComfort 15 headphones are available today at a suggested retail price of $299.95. They replace Bose’s earlier QuietComfort 2 headphones; however, the QuietComfort 3 headphones are still available for $349.95.