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268 of 277 people found the following review helpful.
Clarity, Comfort, Construction
By Richard Blumberg
These are the sixth or seventh set of earbuds I've had for a succession of iPods and iPhones. I'm slightly hard of hearing, and I've gone for the 'phones that get best reviews for sound. Before these, the best I've had were the Klipsch s4i; those produce great sound, and good noise isolation, but I had to jam them so far into the ear canal that they got uncomfortable after a short while, or if I were sweating.The Bose 'phones don't get quite so far into the bass as the Klipsch, but nothing I've ever tried beats them for clarity of overall sound. Nothing else even comes close. I find myself hearing lyrics clearly for the first time; the overall crispness and balance is absolutely amazing. I don't miss the pounding bass at all.And I've decided, after wearing these for a couple of days, that noise isolation is over-rated. Sure, I can hear what's going on around me, but the same holds true when I hear music live, or listen over a speaker system. With the clarity of sound that Bose delivers, my attention is focussed on the music, even in a coffee shop where there are people talking at neighboring tables. I've even found that I can listen comfortably at significantly lower volumes and still distinguish the words and hear every riff and arpeggio distinctly.And speaking of comfort. Wow! When I first put these on, I was sure that they were going to fall out, because I wasn't able to jam them into my ear canal. Didn't happen. These ear pieces sit most lightly, and they never budge! (I did find that the large tips fit my ears better and feel more secure than the medium tips that are on the ear pieces coming out of the box.) I can wear these for hours, and I feel no discomfort whatever. And because I'm listening at lower volumes, and the 'phones are not isolating me from my environment, I don't even have to take them out when I'm dealing with a cashier at a store or getting a grocery list from my wife.Construction quality seems superb; the cables are thick and fairly stiff, so they don't tend to tangle. The "Stay Hear" tips clip into place, so that I can be virtually certain that I won't have the problem I've had with other earbuds (especially the Apple In-Ear units) that the tip stays in my ear when I pull the bud out.The MIE2i handles the iPhone functions just fine, although, like with most iPhone headsets, it takes some practice to feel the inline controls with precision, so that you don't stop the music accidentally when you just meant to change the volume; double-clicking is just as sensitive and tricky as it is on other iPhone sets. Clarity at both ends is excellent, and the stiffness of the cables keeps the mike from rubbing on my clothes and generating noise.The only negative thing I have to say about the Bose is that they are glaringly ugly. The cables are a bizarre black-and-white swirl; combine that unfortunate design decision with the fact that the shape of the buds and the stiffness of the cable causes the cables to stick out from your ear further than most earbuds, and the whole thing calls attention to itself and looks more than a little ridiculous.Still, if you're looking for great sound and awesome comfort in a pair of earbuds that you're likely to be using for a long time, look no further than the Bose MIE2i. Worth every penny.
103 of 117 people found the following review helpful.
Bose's signature sound works in its advantage
By John Barta
When you take 100 dollar earbuds the biggest hurdle is the technology. No matter how accurate the earbud WANTS to be, its going to be hindered by the cost. Earbuds are smaller than a penny, there is amazing technology inside of them, but they are limited by the competitive pricing.Klipsch, Sennheiser, Shure, and a host of others have competitive products in the market. I am not a "nose in the air" audiophile, I am just a lover of music. My Current line up of Audio gear I have is the Sennheiser 555 for recording music, and Bowers & Wilkins P5 for listening to music around the house. My Audio gear is powered by my MacBook Pro, iPad 2, iPhone 3GS, and iPod Classic. I have no interest in dealing with amplifiers at this stage.I tried and really enjoyed the Klipsch Image S4i. I specifically bring these up, because they are probably the closest competitor to the Bose IE2. The Klipsch were very accurate, the way it presented the music, sounded like they were much more expensive. My problem with the Klipsch's were that, no matter how hard they tried to present the sound in its natural way, the treble hissed, and gave me headaches. It was not noticeable in every song, but it sounded like I was in a 5th grade choir class learning about the importance of the "s" sound. The technology got in the way of an otherwise great earbud. I couldn't take it. Soon after I tried the Sennheiser IE7, but because i couldn't create a good seal, they ended up sounding terrible.Enter the Bose IE2's.I am far from a Bose faithful, I think their product lineup range from incredible to trash. Bose's most concerning quality is their custom EQ. In which they EQ their headphones and speakers to sound a specific way. Every company does this to some extent, but Bose has been known to do this far more prominently. The catch is, I think their custom EQ works to the IE2's advantage. While the BOSE IE2 is not natural and accurate, they manage to make these baby's sound far bigger and bolder than they are. Nothing sounds bad on these, nothing sounds tinny, or muddy, it comes off sounding warm and full. The Treble doesn't sound tinny, the mids are solid, and the bass sounds like they are being produced by larger headphones. These still have that polarizing Bose sound signature, but they are done in a tasteful and welcoming way.The design is plastic, but its good looking plastic. With the black and silver accents, along with the alternating black and white chord it gives them a stylish and professional look. The most interesting part of the design is the "stay hear" tips. The tips fit around the outside of your ear, and the earbud peeks into your ear canal. Never going in, and most importantly never falling out. This design is simply.. refreshing. I am not someone who hates the feeling of IEM'S that go deep into your ear, but hate the feeling of not creating that all to important seal. With the IE2's you never have to worry about that seal, you get the perfect fit every single time. Its bliss, it really is. I walk around the park, and they never fall off, I sleep with them in nightly and they don't come out until I pull them out.Overall the value of these are worth the asking price. They are reasonably priced, they are stylish, and they sound pretty darn good. I am sure you could find better IEM/Earbud's for the price, but in my opinion everything sounds good on these. Meaning that, for around 100 dollars you'll get a pair of earbuds that don't sound tinny, but sound full and fun. I purchased the Bose MIE2i, which were made for the iPhone in mind. I have not tested the microphone yet, but the music controls work perfectly on all of my Apple stuff. I will give these earbuds a solid 4 out of 5 . Why not 5/5 ? Because I know that there are better earbuds out there, heck the Klipsch S4i's had some attributes that were better than these, but overall I think these are the best choice for me, for the price point, and perform well with everything I have thrown at it. hopefully this review was helpful.
132 of 156 people found the following review helpful.
Shortest lasting earbuds I've ever had
By Jet Cho
I've tried around a dozen earbuds in the lifespan of my iPod touch, and these by far had the best sound and greatest comfort.It's too bad they didn't last.Less than a month after purchasing them the control broke. None of the buttons work but the sound is fine. If only that was the worst part...It's not simply that they don't work but will constantly skip songs, fast forward songs, stop, and (worst of all) activate voice control every 5-20 seconds. This is a bit useless too since the mic no longer works. I took them to the apple store to test on other iPods with the same reaction so it is certainly the earbuds.I tried using these at the gym and on my commute to work. I took good care of them and didn't expose them to anything that would cause this kind of damage.Unfortunately I was stupid enough to think the Bose reputation would hold these up and didn't keep my box or my receipt. Now I'm SoL since Bose won't help me and I can't return them.My experience may be in the minority so you're free to give these a try. Do yourself a favor though and be smart. Keep the box and receipt for at least a year.Too bad, I really liked these...Date of Purchase: December 28, 2010Date of Death: January 22, 2011
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Does what it needs but....
