Noise Cancelling Headphones 700

I bought a pair of Sony XM5s on my flight to US. I kept using them for a month at work, the headband dug into my skull. Even though I knew the AirPods Max would be way too expensive, I ordered them to just try and see if that price was justified. Only when I compared the same songs on the same music service I realized how good the APM sounded. To me their sound signature is high-end. They somehow manage to keep vocals bright and bass punchy at the same time. The Sony XM5s despite being top-of-the-line at the time sounded muddy. Through a strange series of events, I don't have those with me anymore. I now have Bose 700 NC. I got these for calls. They sound like butt for music. I can't afford APMs anymore. APMs may be expensive, but there is nothing in that price range that sounds this good, and has such elegant design.

Bose qc35ii and NC700 are typically reported to still be well and sound after almost a decade. I wonder if you consider them to be high quality

The outside covers or pads? Because the pads are famously weak point in Bose headphones, but they are cheap and easily replaceable. As for the outside covers, I don't know anyone who has ever replaced that part. But I believe it is a matter of undoing some screws hidden beneath the pads.

NC700 are pretty light headphones (around 254 grams) so this surprises me a bit. The XM6 weight about the same, the QC a bit less and the really good ones I have (Bathys/Px8) and the Px7s3 a lot more. Would look at the XM6 which has a phenomenal microphone and ANC solid (if a bit bass forward) sound (EQ helps) and pretty comfortable although I don't like the shallow earpads. The Bose QC Ultra and QC are also right around the XM6 and NC700 in weight but may feel more comfortable for you as they don't use the same headband.

I'm going to say no based on the following selection of headphones that I own: Dynamic: Verite Open, Focal Elegia, Beyerdynamic T5/3rd generation and HD650, Planar: DCA E3, DCA Noire, Hifiman HE1000 Stealth, Audeze LCD-2f. IEMs: FiiO FH7s, Westone Mach 40; earbuds: Galaxy Buds Pro 2, Galaxy Buds Pro 3, Jabra Elite Active 8, Sennheiser True Momentum 4, Bose QC II, Bose QC Ultra and ANC headphones Bose NC700, Bose QC Ultra, Sony XM5 and B&W Px8.

I use a Bose NC700, because the ANR for the mic is the best Now I did compare it vs the Sony WH-1000XM5 But anyhow it is personal preference

Yes both work great, actually I own my NC700 for a few years and used it already with my MBA M1 At that moment the ANR on the mic of the 700 was the best. I can talk in a busy place like a Starbucks and the other end almost notice zero of my enviroment I say almost, don't expect ...

Depends on which I recently got the AirPods Pro 3 and the noise cancellation & passive isolation is much better than my over ear Bose NC700s

Yeah, these are my favorite as well, I think they're the most comfortable. They feel a lot lighter on my head than other noise canceling headphones I've tried (I think JBL was the worst for comfort. Sony was okay but I did switch back to Bose in the end still. I think the bose QC ultra are more comfortable than the Bose 700 were, especially for wearing glasses. My only real complaint with the QC ultra is that the on button seems to have a bit of a delay and it's a little finicky at times, and sometimes the spatial audio stops working and I have to repair it with my phone a couple of times to get it to work. The noise canceling is pretty reliable though, which is the most important thing to me)

Most are not focused on the mic cancelling noise when you talk- I have older Bose 700 which actually have a good mic. If work is the priority, I’d recommend Jabra or something geared towards calls